No cont.

Chapter II

Clouds billowing high in the northern part of the red-blue sky began to move with increasing speed, creating a swirling hole in the planet's atmosphere. At that same moment, five rays of light shot out, racing toward the planet's surface, aiming for a luminous circle pulsating with light. Each of the five rays sped toward one part of the circle. When they touched its surface, a miraculous transformation occurred—the atoms fused, and a moment later, each part contained a child. The circle pulsated with red light for a moment longer, before finally extinguishing.

Piotrek, Michał, Konrad, Ala, and Basia emerged from the circle. They looked around. They couldn't make out many details, blinded by the glare of the suns, but someone had seen them.

At an altitude of three kilometers, a strange craft, resembling an Earth dragonfly, circled. It flew silently; the children couldn't hear it, but the heat sensors on board detected the intruders. The lights on the dashboard began flashing with a red alarm. The pilot practically jumped up from his seat, snapped a few photos, and hurriedly returned the plane to base.

The children stood on a hill covered in blue-green grass and strange plants with bright red flowers as large as dinner plates. An ocean of trees surrounded the hill, seemingly stretching on forever. The trees were so even that it looked as if they had been cut from a single template. They noticed a slight bulge in the smooth surface of the trees, but because of the harsh glare of the suns, they couldn't tell what it was. Far off on the horizon loomed enormous mountains, unlike any found on Earth. They were steeper and more pointed.

The most awe-inspiring, yet intriguing, were the three peaks connected as if by a bridge. The two lower ones were of equal height, but the third, the middle one, reached into the clouds, its summit obscured by a black disk that pulsated and flashed periodically with lightning.

A path led down the hill towards the forest. They descended. When they reached the first trees, they were gripped by even greater dread, for the sky suddenly darkened, the menacing ring around the highest peak widened considerably, until finally a section of it descended at great speed. Screeches, squeals, and occasionally shrill screams echoed around them. The children rushed towards the nearest tree and hid in its branches.

"Are you all right?" Ala asked quietly.

"No," they whispered.

"Where are we?" Piotrek asked, his voice trembling with anxiety .

"I don't know," Michał said, "but it's definitely not on Earth."

After a moment, everything fell silent. They ventured out of their shelter. They looked at the peaks. The black ring around the tallest one remained, and faint movements could be seen within it, but for the time being, there seemed to be no danger.

"Listen," said Konrad, "we have to move, so gather your things.

" "Yes, but where?" asked Michał.

"South.

" "Why?" Piotrek asked, surprised.

"We'll go towards that dome we saw from the hill. It seemed to me it was an artificial structure.

" "Okay," Piotrek replied, rising. "It doesn't matter, we can go south too. Maybe we'll find out what actually happened to us."

After a while, they found themselves in an exceptionally gloomy forest. The fact that all the trees were the same height meant that their crowns were joined together, letting in only a few rays of sunlight. Twisted tree branches leaned over the path. Something was moving in the bushes. They felt it, but it clearly didn't want to show itself, or perhaps it was afraid.

The forest seemed to stretch on forever. The journey took them almost the entire day, and there was no end in sight. It was starting to get dark; one sun had already set, and the other was approaching the horizon. Movements along the edges of the road seemed to intensify, and suspicious sounds could be heard every now and then. Suddenly, the path ended, and they found themselves in a vast clearing. The surrounding trees were arranged in a neat circle, as if afraid to stray beyond the radius. Beneath them lay scattered bones, gnawed white. In the center of the clearing stood a stone tablet covered in strange markings, and next to it a rectangular boulder that looked remarkably like an offering table. Black streaks, apparently dried blood, were visible on its sides. The entire square was surrounded by statues of priests, about 5 meters tall, with long faces and long ears, holding stone torches.

"Not a very inviting place," whispered Anne.

They approached the tablet. Now they could clearly feel the gaze of sinister yellow eyes on them, regarding them with curiosity.

"What are these creatures?" Why aren't they coming closer?" Michał asked in horror.

"They're probably waiting for us to fall asleep," Konrad said maliciously, "and then... they'll come and eat us for dinner.

" "Stop it," Michał shouted with unconcealed terror.

"Shut up, both of you," Ala screamed.

It was getting dark quickly. A terrifying roar pierced the forest silence every now and then. Yellow eyes began to draw closer, and after a moment they were so close that one could tell who their owners were. They were creatures the size of a grown man, but in place of faces, they had wolfish jaws, from which protruded long fangs, and their bodies looked as if they had been flayed. Their bones and muscles were visible through what was left of their skin. They approached slowly, confident of their superiority; it was obvious they wanted to enjoy the terror of their victims.

"They'd probably been following us since we entered the forest, but they were afraid to attack because they don't like light," Basia stammered.

"Yes, you're right," whispered Ala, her brain working at 200% efficiency in the face of danger. "I think so too. Look around, we're in a strange clearing. What purpose could it serve? After all, these creatures didn't put these statues here. Maybe they're some kind of protection, but how to use them?"

"Perhaps the answer lies on this tablet," Piotrek remarked. Ala, you have to look at it.

He pushed Ala toward the tablet. She studied it for a few moments, then walked over to the boulder and began tapping it inch by inch. Suddenly, her hand found a recess and she reached inside. There was something there and she pulled it out. It was a small key with an ornately decorated head. She put it in her pocket. She stuck her hand in again but found nothing. She was about to retreat when she encountered a small button. Without thinking, she pressed it. In an instant, the torches held by the statues flared with blinding light. The monsters didn't have time to hide in the forest. The torchlight made their bodies shrink, as if they were losing water, until they were reduced to a pile of ash on the ground.

"Ah, you're brilliant," Konrad shouted. "Serves them right, and I thought we were finished."

The children decided to spend the night in the clearing; they felt safe with the torches. They sat down near the stone tablet, snuggled close to each other, and, waking and falling asleep every few moments, waited for the new day.