The Cup of Galfar. Alderosa's Daughter

“I think I know.” Allie stopped, and then burst out, “We are not on Earth, are we?”

“You are a smart girl,” said Zand kindly. “And also brave. Well, that makes it easier for me to explain some things.”

Talking like that, they walked up the path to the top of the cliff. When they got there, Allie saw the neat little house made with rather large blocks of pinkish stone with golden streaks. The flat sloped roof made the house look like any regular modern cottage on Earth.

To the left of the house was the garden that Allie had seen from the window; to the right there was a tall round tower. It was no less than ten feet in diameter, and at least fifty feet tall. Not far from the house was the edge of the forest where Allie had wandered the night before. Further to the right she could see forested hills that gently sloped up towards picturesque rocky mountains.

The tower was made of the same kind of stones as the little house. A sturdy metal steeple on the very top held a big windmill with slowly rotating blades. Just under the tower roof there was a glass-sided observation deck.

And then Allie saw something that made her give a happy yelp and run toward the house. There, on its porch, sat Lu and Lemonade. They looked rather beaten up, especially Lu. She was covered with mud, one side was torn with the stuffing sticking out, her left arm was barely hanging on one thread. All in all, she looked so pitiful that Allie was ready to cry. She picked up the monkey and held her tight, whispering comforting words in her ear.

After the initial excitement had subsided, Allie cleaned Lu with a hard brush that Uncle Zand had found. He also found a needle and some thread, so Allie didn’t have any trouble patching up the monkey.

While she was busy doing that, Lu and Lemonade hurried to tell her what had happened to them the night before. It turned out that they had been pinned down by a large boulder. They didn’t know whether it was the same boulder they together had pushed out of the tunnel or a different one. They just felt that they were falling into the darkness and held on tight to each other. That was what saved them. When the heavy stone crashed on top of them, the monkey was on top and softened the blow for Lemonade. He was just pushed into some loose gravel.

When he came to his senses, Lemonade began to dig himself out from under the boulder. The storm was raging all around them. The cat was trying to call Allie, but realized it was all in vain in such noise. Then he tried to dig the gravel from under the boulder to set Lu free. She was unable to move, but other than that inconvenience didn’t feel any pain or discomfort. She and Lemonade could even easily talk to each other. That is why when Lu heard the cat digging, she insisted that he go find Allie first. She assured Lemonade that she’d be just fine, while Allie could be in grave danger at that moment. Lemonade found her arguments quite convincing and, making no delay, rushed to find the girl.

He spent a long time wandering through the dark groaning forest and finally, thanks to his night vision and keen sense of smell, found the girl lying senseless on a forest clearing. He himself couldn’t help the girl; fortunately, he smelled a human dwelling in the vicinity and didn’t hesitate to rush there, led by a pet’s instinct. That’s how he found Uncle Zand’s house, woke him up and led him to Allie…

When the girl was out of danger, Lemonade drank some buttery sweet milk and fell asleep in the big soft chair. But he woke up with the first gleam of sunlight. He didn’t want to wake Allie up, because she needed more rest, and went to rescue Lu by himself. He easily found his way back to the mountain and the boulder. It was only a matter of time to dig Lu out…

7. ANOTHER WORLD

While Allie was fixing the monkey and listening to Lemonade’s story, Uncle Zand was watching them with interest and some surprise. Allie noticed that and asked:

“Uncle Zand, sir, you must think this is all so weird?”

“Well, how do I say this? For instance, it’s really the first time I’ve seen a real cat, although its image is on our kingdom’s coat of arms. And, it’s been at least a decade since I last saw a dummy.” Zand nodded towards Lu. “And, I’ve never seen one that can talk.”

“What did you call her?” It was Allie’s turn to be surprised. “A ‘dummy’?”

“Well, yes, a dummy, or pseudolife, as our learned magicians call it. There used to be a lot of them around these parts before the war with Galfar. Only they couldn’t talk. But you don’t know anything about it, of course. I believe it is my turn now to tell you some things.”

Zand stopped, gathering his thoughts, and then began his story:

“I’m not a magician or alchemist of any kind. That’s why I’m going to tell it all simply, just how I see it, and only what I know for myself. You, Allie, guessed correctly when you said we’re not on Earth. That’s true. This land is called Ameron. I’m sure no one on Earth knows about it.”

Allie just shrugged.

“At the same time,” Zand continued, “Earth and Ameron are so close it’s hard to believe. To be more exact, they exist in the same space and at the same time. For example, we are now sitting in my house, and the very same spot on Earth would be, let’s say…”

“Three P’s,” muttered Lemonade.

“What’s that?” Zand was confused.

“‘Three P’s’ means ‘Polar Pioneers Park’, ” explained Allie.

“The place where the ‘Cave of Horrors’ is.”

“That’s right.” Lemonade said. “We get it. Parallel worlds or multi-dimensional space, we’ve heard something about that.”

Uncle Zand stared at the cat with a mix of astonishment and respect.

“I’ve never heard those words, but I feel that you understand what I’m talking about. It is truly a pleasure to talk with you. Well, then, I will go on. One time-space continuum can hold not just two or three, what did you call those, parallel worlds, but, farlan only knows how many. Here in Ameron we are aware of at least ten such worlds. We call them spheres. The spheres are sort of stacked into one another, and all together compose a Spheroid. One Spheroid can hold, according to some wisemen, two dozen spheres, or, according to others – an unlimited number of spheres. It is a complex issue, and we have no time to dwell on it. The main thing is, it is not difficult to move between the spheres. There are natural ‘windows’ between them, and also an experienced magician can create such windows for a short time. The only limitation is, the spheres are placed in a certain order in relation to each other, and from any given sphere you can only move to a contiguous, or adjacent, sphere. Ameron, for example, borders with Earth on one side and Galfar on the other. The sphere that borders with Galfar on its other side is Norba, and the next contiguous sphere for Earth is Vildi. I forget the others, and it doesn’t really matter.”

“Sounds like a nesting-doll,” Allie said, as if thinking out loud.

Zand gave her a quizzical look.

“Those are hollow wooden dolls of different sizes. And they stack into one another,” the girl explained. “In order to get to the smallest one, you need to open each one in turn.”

“Well, it’s a fitting comparison. In order to get to the farthest sphere, you need to travel through all the spheres in between.”

“Now I see why the car from the ‘Cave of Horrors’ can only get to Galfar through the icy grotto,” Lu, who had been quiet so far, joined the conversation. It seemed like she felt shy in front of Uncle Zand because of the way she looked. “We were really lucky that Earth’s adjacent sphere is Ameron, not Galfar.”

Zand stared at Lu in amazement. She felt embarrassed and clung to Allie.

“Oh, Uncle Zand,” Allie said with reproach and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t get used to a talking dummy.”

“She is not a dummy, she is a real girl like me. Only under a magic spell.”

“Put on her in that same Galfar, by the way,” added Lemonade.

“I apologize again, Lu. Please don’t be mad at me.”

Zand extended his hand to Lu. She hesitated a moment and then put her soft plush paw into his large palm.

“Well, kids, I see you’ve got many charges against Galfar,” Zand looked at the strange group with sympathy.

“Uncle Zand, why are they doing all of that?” exclaimed Allie hotly. “What do they want from us, from Earth?”

“I can only guess,” said Zand pensively and stroked the girl’s head. “Galfar’s dealings are shrouded in mystery, and even here in Ameron, a sphere that’s contiguous with Galfar, we know very little about it. They say that our ancient chronicles bear witness to the fact that there used to be no Galfar, at least not in our Spheroid, and Norba was Ameron’s adjacent sphere. No one knows how Galfar came to be or where it came from. At least no one among us ordinary beings. There are rumors and speculations, but the sure thing everyone knows is this: Galfar bears evil in itself, and all doings of Galfarians and their Supreme Guard of the Cup are destructive and bring only troubles and tribulations. Naturally, to other spheres. Galfar itself must be getting some profit from that. Galfar’s treachery became evident ten years ago, when it waged open war against us. Before that we’d been pretty good neighbors, there was even some trade going on between us. For instance, those dummies came from Galfar, and there used to be lots of them here before the war. They were toys and servants, and even laborers. After the war some wanted to destroy them, but then it was decided that, since they hadn’t done any harm to us even during the war, after Galfar’s defeat they couldn’t cause any trouble either. So they were all exiled beyond the mountains, to the Free Lands. But, I’m digressing.”

“Uncle Zand, your story is so interesting, but we really do have very little time. Can you just tell us who those Guards of the Cup are?”

“There is strict hierarchy among Galfarians. A Guard of the Cup is a kind of title that designates the hierarchical rank of this or that Galfarian. The highest rank is the Supreme Guard of the Cup, then there are the Guards of the Cup of two ranks, then it’s the two ranks of the Adepts, and at the very bottom are the masses – the Unattained.”

“So, what is this Cup then?” asked Lu. Allie and Lemonade nodded. Everybody wanted to know.

“Oh, that. Well, there is a legend that says there is a Universal Cup of Evil in Galfar. All evil that is committed in all spheres is collected, drop by drop, in this Cup. When it is filled to the brim, Evil will rule the Universe. No less and no more. To the Galfarians it must be some sort of sacred symbol, if you can say that about Galfar, that they worship.”

“Well, it seems that this bowl of theirs is not full enough yet since they couldn’t take over Ameron,” said Lemonade and scratched behind his ear.

“That’s true, they didn’t, but, honestly, they were really close. Those were very dramatic events. Fortunately, Ameron was fine in the end, although the circumstances of that victory might seem rather strange and inexplicable. But that is a different story. To cut it short, Galfar’s armies were defeated and expelled from Ameron, all ‘windows’ between our two spheres were sealed and blocked by Shelengh the Great and his assistants. After that there were no more dealings with Galfar…”

“And Galfarians now deal with Earth,” Allie finished his sentence.