My name is Marron. I live with my parents and twin brother in a small town in southern Japan. We're a happy family with no major problems, except those everyone else has. Yesterday, my brother and I turned nineteen, and that day, my grandfather came to visit us. It was a very big event in our family, because my grandfather had been missing for over forty years, and no one had the slightest idea where he might be...
That evening, when the doorbell rang, no one expected to see my grandfather. My brother, Owen, and I, of course, didn't know him, but my mother and father cried with joy for a long time afterward. My grandfather is a very kind man. But I immediately noticed he was hiding something and that not everything was as he wanted it to be...
When, late that same evening, my grandfather and I were alone, because our parents, as they often did, were away on business, he told us his story of the past forty years... It was so incredible and so fascinating that, in accordance with his wishes, we decided to see if it was truly true...
Several weeks had passed since that conversation. Unfortunately, our grandfather died of a massive stroke shortly thereafter, and so we were left alone again. It was a very difficult experience for us, losing him again, but nothing would ever be the same again. My grandfather had instilled in us a story so incredible that we simply had to test it and see for ourselves if what he told us was true...
On that cloudy day, we slowly descended the enormous boulder fields stretching along the high face of the uwaj. Trees grew at the top, but we had no way to cling to them to descend safely. Owen and I had been hiking for quite a while, intending to reach the distinctive landforms created by karst processes later today. We were descending the steep wall of the field, which was about 400 meters in diameter. I was leading the way. I had a neat hiking backpack on my back, stuffed with everything we'd need later. My little brother, Owen, already had more luggage. We both look so much alike; from a distance, you can't tell us apart. Because we're twins.
"Finally," I stopped at the bottom of the field and looked around. There was nothing but tall grass.
"I saw a few sinkholes here from above," Owen said. "We'll have to be careful, Marron.
" "Isn't it wonderful here?" I asked, delighted.
"Let's go, it's getting dark."
I followed him. Along the way, we passed numerous sinkholes, both large and small, where water collected. Owen looked at the card. It was very old, having been drawn by our grandfather. He had once told us that when we were adults, we were to travel to the River Valley to find the way to Avinlion. Owen had promised this to his grandfather, who always told us about the strangest things to be found in that land...
Suddenly, during our journey, my leg slipped. I squealed, feeling myself sliding rapidly downhill. Owen bent down to catch me, but it was too late, and he himself slipped after me into a large sinkhole. For a moment, we glided at tremendous speed through some kind of stone tunnel until we fell into deep, cold water. Fortunately, we were both good swimmers. We managed to swim to the shore, where we sat down, exhausted. Then we looked around. We had clearly found ourselves in a vast cave. There were numerous sharp stalactites, stalagmites, and even draperies. A bright beam of light streamed through the cauldron through which we had fallen, so we could see that there were no windows or cavities, as are typical of these caves. The whole scene made an incredible impression on us. Owen rubbed his forehead, helping me to my feet. He was wounded and scratched, just like me.
"Look over there!" I squealed suddenly.
Just above the smooth surface of the water, three small lights gleamed. One was green, one purple, and the third red. They swirled above the water for a moment, then sped straight towards us. Just before us, they stopped suddenly. A green light hovered just in front of me, a purple one at the entrance to a tunnel we hadn't noticed before. Without a second thought, we followed suit; we didn't know what to do with ourselves anyway.
Walking through the narrow tunnel, with stalactites hanging from almost every corner, proved even more exhausting than swimming with heavy backpacks... suddenly, we reached a siphon. This was a place where a very low ceiling plunged into an underground river, through which we were constantly wading. Three mysterious lights dipped into the water and floated down until they disappeared from sight.
"So what now?" I asked my brother uncertainly.
"Let's go, Marron. Just take a deep breath..."
He waited for me to jump into the water, then followed me. We both took a deep breath and dove in. The lights showed us the way. But the siphon was very large, and I was slowly running out of air. Owen was also starting to get worried; I saw it when he looked up anxiously. In an instant, our guides disappeared from sight. I was terrified. But it was only a current that threw us to the surface with incredible force. I was breathing hard. Owen helped me swim. The lights were waiting for us, for we were somewhere else entirely. And it certainly wasn't the Dinaric Alps...
The sky here was a mixture of blue and lilac. Three suns, lined up side by side, shone with a blinding silvery light. We sat on the shore of a stone lake situated right next to a high, almost vertical rock face. We gazed open-mouthed at our new surroundings. The trees here reminded me of pine cones, pointing upwards, and were beige in color, with round fruit growing vertically here and there. Everything else was covered in tall, green grass. In the distance, we spotted mogotes—isolated, steep-sloping white outliers. It was a truly incredible sight. Owen was utterly fascinated.
"There are no fires. They've disappeared!" I whispered, astonished.
"Are we in the Land of the Sunsword?"
Owen stood up, and at the same moment, a fierce wind sprang up, carrying with it a vast number of tiny red flower petals. When we dared to open our eyes, two gray unicorns with large wings at their sides stood before us.
"It's really happening, Marron..." my brother whispered in a choked voice. "We really are in the legendary Land of the Sunsword!"
I looked at him and felt how happy he was, and of course, I was happy for him. But perhaps all this hadn't quite sunk in yet, because it was simply impossible for the human mind to comprehend. Owen was a very, very handsome young man. He had unruly brown hair cut in a pageboy style. Large, green eyes that looked at people and the world with a cheerful and daring gaze. His dark complexion and broad chest with protective shoulders—it all created an incredibly fascinating blend of noble features and handsomeness. I smiled at him. Until then, we hadn't believed Grandpa's stories, and only because we'd promised had we gone to explore this field, hoping to find the entrance to Avinlion. Now we stood here. We didn't know how or why, but it was truly real, and we still couldn't quite believe it...
"A map!" I exclaimed unexpectedly.
Owen dropped his backpack and began searching for an inconspicuous scrap of paper, but since it was in a waterproof box, it was unharmed. He spread it out on his knee.
"Look," I pointed, "We're here.
" Grandpa said something about a lake.
"He called it the Water Gate," I added, reading the inscription on the paper.
"And we're supposed to go here now..." He pointed to the mogotes in front of us. "And that's probably why these unicorns are here."
I looked uncertainly at the animals grazing peacefully in the meadow. Owen wasn't convinced either, but we decided to give it a try. Indeed, we managed it without any problems, and since we'd known how to ride since childhood, riding wasn't difficult. The unicorns were remarkably obedient and responded to even the slightest command...
It was already completely dark when we started riding. However, we didn't know where to hide from the rain or the wind. We were also afraid of wild animals, but apparently there was nothing here but vegetation.
After the long ride, I was quite tired, and I was starting to get annoyed by my brother's stubbornness, who was determined to reach the white outcrops on the horizon that very night. I didn't want to say anything, though; my brother was a sweetheart, but his impulsiveness sometimes scared me senseless.
"Owen..." I said uncertainly. "Have you noticed there are no animals here?"
"Yes... Look how quickly the fog enveloped the entire landscape.
In fact, almost instantly we found ourselves in a milky veil, through which we could barely see anything.
"Let's stop," he said, before I shouted.
Near one of the first fields, I saw the red eyes of an animal. My Pegasus was startled, neighing fearfully and rearing up on its hind legs.
"Owen!" I squealed. "Owen..."
The horse began to prepare to run, but when I opened my eyes to realize where we were, my Pegasus was suddenly rearing again. In a single moment, a giant suddenly appeared before him, holding the loose bridle of the mount, simultaneously halting it. Soon, Owen reached us. Terrified, I sat down on the ground to rest for a moment, staring in amazement at the huge man, probably two meters tall. He was an extraordinary creature, or perhaps a demon, I couldn't quite tell. His eyes were completely red, gleaming in the night. He had ram's horns on his head, and instead of feet, he had lion's paws, which was why he wore no shoes, and we couldn't hear him as he crept up to us. He wore only dark trousers made of light material. His face was elongated, with a slight stubble. His hands were broad and large. And his chest was hairy. He looked at us, observing us intently.
"Who are you?" Owen asked, kneeling on the ground beside me.
"They call me Peorth (i.e., initiation)," he replied in a deep, masculine voice. "I have come for you.
" "For us?!!" I was surprised. "For what?
" "Our lord and ruler, Henry, once foretold that you would come.
" "Grandfather?" we asked together.
"Our ruler wanted you to know his kingdom and take charge of it. Please forgive my behavior. I'm not used to talking to people; you are a very strange race..."
The same could be said of you, I thought, rising from the ground and mounting my steed.
"It doesn't matter, I just got terribly scared..."
During the ride, as Peorth silently walked ahead of us across the grassy plain between the enormous mogotes. At one point, I couldn't contain myself anymore and asked Owen quietly:
"Our grandfather was supposed to be their ruler? They must have made a mistake, after all, grandfather..."
"Quite possible, Marron. You know he wasn't home for 45 years... he could have been practically anywhere for that long. Even here in Avinlion. I wonder what life was like here...
" "Grandpa told us about it so often, but I never believed it. Now I'm ashamed.
" "Me too, Marron. However, since we're here, we should make the most of it...
" "All right, Owen. We've fulfilled Grandpa's last will. Now it's all in our hands, what we do with the entire country."
"Marron, tell me I'm not dreaming..." Owen whispered suddenly, staring at something below us.
When I glanced after him, I was speechless with the impression that took my breath away. A vast valley suddenly stretched out before us, and at the bottom lay a beautiful city, with red, steep roofs like those on Chinese temples. And in the middle of it all, a castle. It had four towers, was square in shape, and was built entirely of stone. Peorth looked from the city to us.
"This is the first city your grandfather built. Here before you—Clonassia.
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