NIGHT by I. Rin (fantasy books to read .TXT) 📖

valley stretching after the Nightmare Forest. There had been low grass and everywhere they met copses. Here the grass was almost reaching their knees. It was thick and fragrant as a carpet. There were not so many trees and they were scattered throughout the place. Here and there you could see a lonely tree.

 

“These are Ghosts Fields - a rather peaceful place. And be-hind them the cave of the Evil Wizard is. So let’s go! Now we haven’t got horses here,” the Prince’s servant said.

 

“And shall we turn into birds again?!” Lica suggested. “I will turn into an owl and you will be the eagle owl!”

 

Henry grinned.

 

“You know,” he said, “I can transform into a bird only for some time each night. Today I have exhausted my limit. So it can’t be help we will have to go on foot.”

 

The girl nodded, picked up her food basket and they set off. In the fields above the grass they often saw whitish figures remind-ing people and animals. Sometimes something was lamentably howling or someone was moaning but no one else was chasing our heroes or attacking them.

 

In the Wizard’s caves

 

 

 

The moon had moved to the opposite side of the horizon sky again and the high black mountains appeared in front of them.

 

“Here the Princess is imprisoned!” Henry pointed to the mountains.

 

“Is the Prince really still in love with her?” Lica asked gently. “How would I say…” old man hesitated “…it is his duty! And what about love; I would not say anything after seeing how he had

 

looked at you today.”

 

Joy filled Angelica’s soul. She remembered Edward’s eyes and smiled.

 

In about two hours our heroes came to the mountains. Very near there was a wide entrance to the cave.

 

“But there is no moonlight,” the girl said quietly. “How can we go in total darkness?”

 

“I saved some oakum and took a flint with me. And we could find some sticks right now!”

 

Henry quickly found two sturdy sticks wrapped them with oakum and set on fire. He gave one torch to Lica and the other left for himself. They put baskets at the cave entrance and went inside. The ceiling and the walls of the cave were covered with a thick spi-der’s web. Wrapped into spider cocoons birds, small animals and bats were hanging from the top.

 

“Well at least it’s good that there are no people!” Angelica said.

 

And she and Henry passed on. First the entrance narrowed then widened again and travelers came into a large room. There they saw a lot of bones lying around and some gnawed bodies.

 

Suddenly they heard some rustle behind. The girl and the old servant looked back and saw a huge house size spider was quietly creeping towards them.

 

“Run!” Henry shouted and pushed Lica into the side aisle. They were running but the spider did not want to leave their

 

victims. He spit a few balls of web chasing our heroes. Five minutes later Angelica and the Prince’s servant ran into another room where a fairly wide stream was flowing in the middle.

 

“Web is afraid of water! Jump!” the old man shouted.

 

He grabbed girl’s arm and pulled her along. She had no choice and obeyed. While they were running and jumping over the stream the spider’s web, following them, appeared. It rolled to the stream but did not jump over it.

 

“Thank God, you had been right,” said Lica barely breathing. But suddenly they heard ramble in the cave and at that mo-ment a strange gray-haired man in a black cloak appeared in front

 

of the girl and the Prince’s servant.

 

“Hello, Henry!” he said. “We haven’t seen for ages! You are getting old...”

 

“Greetings, Wizard! And you’ve changed for the worse!” the servant parried. “By the way, Angelica, this is the Wizard who kidnapped the Princess from Prince Edward.”

 

“Yes, I am!” the old man giggled. “Many years have passed... I see the Prince has managed to find someone who is madly in love with night!”

And the villain began to examine Lica with curiosity.

 

“She is very beautiful!” he said finally.

 

“You do not get distracted,” Henry pulled him. “We have fulfilled your condition, so you must return the Princess!”

 

“Princess? Oh, yes, please! I am not interested in her any-more! But the girl... I need a ransom!” the Wizard croaked.

 

“What ransom?” Angelica said.

 

“I want something that you haven’t had yet!”

 

“Please, take it!” the girl surprised. “If I do not have it and feel quite normal then why I need it?”

 

“Are you sure?” the Wizard laughed in his beard.

 

“Of course I am!”

 

The villain clapped his hands and they heard boom again. “All right, take your Princess! But she is not the same as she

 

used to!” the old man burst of laughing.

 

He whistled and the side wall of the cave moved apart. Lica and Henry saw a tall thin woman who tried going by touch to them.

 

“What happened?” Henry asked.

 

“Since being here in absolute darkness she has gone blind!” the Villain giggled.

 

“What a rascal you are!” Edward’s servant wiped at the Wizard.

 

“Henry!” the Princess shouted. “Stop it! Anyway you can change nothing.”

 

Laughing the Wizard had disappeared in the air.

 

“Have you recognized me, Your Mightiness?” the old servant said with tragic voice.

 

“Of course, because your voice has not changed at all! Come on, I’ll get us out of these caves!” the Princess replied. “I have ex-plored them well enough.”

 

She was leading Angelica and Henry some known only to her way. And our heroes came out quite far from the place where they had left their food baskets.

 

“We had better not to come back!” Edward’s servant said. “I don’t want to meet with the spider again.”

 

Lica and Princess agreed with him.

 

Without any incidents they got to Sleepy Lake and crossed it. Then Henry untied the horses from the tree, sat with the Princess and Lica mounted on the other. Riders pulled the reins and went across the wide valley to the Nightmare Forest. When they got to the edge of the forest the moon was on the other side of the sky again.

 

“Hooray!” the old man shouted. “One day has passed! My magi-cal power went back to me! Angelica, I’ll turn you into an owl and I will ride with the Princess through the forest. I would have bewitched the Princess but unfortunately she wouldn’t have seen where to fly.”

 

“But it is very dangerous!” the girl said. “I will not leave you!” “The less we are, the less we will have nightmares haunting!”

 

Henry said emphatically. “And never ever argue with the old!”

 

He muttered something quickly under his breath then took a

 

feather out of his coat pocket and stuck it into Lica’s hair.

The Wizard’s Curse

 

The girl felt how her body was getting shrunk again. And a minute later she turned in to the owl and she went up the sky and flew towards the castle. The Nightmare Forest, fields and valleys were had left far behind her. Lica was flying in the dark starry sky and her wings seemed to touch the clouds. Soon on the horizon she saw the spires of the tall building. It was the castle of Prince Edward, who Angelica nicknamed “The Prince Night.” Edward was sitting in his room and looking through the open window. Suddenly the owl flew in to. She sat down on the chair back and rubbed her head on it. The feather dropped from her head and the bird had turned into the girl.

 

“Oh my God, Angelica!” the Prince exclaimed. “If only you knew how I had been worried about you! What happened? Where’s Henry? Where is the Princess? Have you saved her?”

 

“We have saved your Princess! But, unfortunately, because of spending many years in the dark, she had gone blind. So Henry had to ride with her through the Nightmare Forest. However, he turned me into the owl. I think your friends will be here in just a few hours.”

 

“Thank God! She’s alive!” Edward said. “Or I would never have dared to tell you what I am going to say now. Angelica, I think, no, I’m sure that I love you! I am going to talk with the Princess about it! I hope she will understand and forgive me!”

 

The Prince Night came to Lica and kissed her on her lips gen-tly. Before she had not even dreamt about it! But at that moment they heard familiar hoarse ha-ha and the evil Wizard came into the room.

 

“Alas, Prince! In the caves to save the Princess, this girl had refused to you!”

 

“It’s not true!” Angelica protested.

 

“Do you remember you had given me what you hadn’t had in your life yet? It was the Prince’s love. So - sorry!”

 

And the villain rubbed his dry hands snidely. “Edward, no!” Lica screamed and ran to the Prince. “It’s time for the last dance,” the Wizard mumbled. Suddenly the Prince Night and Angelica saw themselves in

 

a huge bright room and heard beautiful music. Lica was wearing a great white ball dress, the one in which she had danced with Edward for the first time. The Prince offered her his hand gallantly and they whirled in a waltz. When the music was over the young man bended over to kiss Angelica but she suddenly disappeared...

 

“Young lady, how do I have to understand this?” Lica heard her mother’s voice.

 

She opened her eyes and saw that she was in her room.

 

 

“Mom, what a wonderful dream I had!” the girl said stretch-ing herself.

 

“This is good! But why were you sleeping in clothes and where did you get such a luxurious ball dress? I don’t remember that I or your father had ever bought something like this!”

 

Only then did Angelica see her lying on the bed wearing the white dress, in which she had been dancing at the Prince’s ball.

 

“Is all that has happened true?” Lica asked herself amazedly and joyfully.

 

Since now every night the girl stared out the window for a long time waiting for news from the wonderful Kingdom of night, where she had been lucky enough to visit.

 

Part 2 . Henry’s comeback