Lord Desaint rested in his high chair, smoking his pipe and gazing pensively at the flickering flames in the fireplace. Adriantic logs burnt brightly without emitting heat, throwing a glare across the handmade patterned carpet. Every now and then they crackled, throwing out cold sparks that quickly disappeared up the chimney. Noon was apparent in the clear sky above the Rainbow Dale, spreading a mellow quietness across the land, so much valued by the elf. And only soft splashes of water from the waterfalls, trickling through the wide-open window of the Oak Fortress, broke the reigning idyll in the Great Hall. By the way, noise from trickling water didn’t disturb him one bit, he had lived with it since the day he was born.
Countess Rowanna softly entered the room with a decanter and a couple of glasses on a small tray.
“It is particularly hot today,” said the dryad, arranging the drinks on the coffee table. “Would you like a cup?”
“Why not?” answered the elf with a smile, leaning forward slightly to fill the glasses.
“What time are we setting off?” asked Rowanna. She adjusted her dark-green dress and sat in the chair next to him.
“After lunch, I think,” suggested Desaint. He grabbed a glass and added, “I hope the heat will drop a bit by then”. He took a sip and a smile broke out across his face. “Peppermint!”
“Meckero,” answered Rowanna, shrugging her uncovered shoulders. Suddenly the corridor filled with the sound of sprightly footsteps and the dryad and the elf quickly turned around.
“Yuffie!” the dryad exclaimed happily, as the dwarfess appeared in the doorway. She stood up, placed her almost empty glass on the table and hurried towards her.
“Oh, what a beautiful skirt Yuf! I haven’t seen one like that before!” unable to contain herself from Rowanna’s compliment, Yuffie beamed and gave Rowanna a twirl, showing off in front of her without any embarrassment.
“It’s completely new, Rowie! Granddad let me wear it because of some special occasion in our family. To be honest, I can’t remember the details,” she confessed and made a welcoming curtsey, opening out her skirt to reveal some embroidered bright-yellow solier flowers.
“My dear, Rowanna and I are going to Innolius for a few days,” lord Desaint informed her.
“I was going to leave the Fortress too, to be honest,” Yuffie answered resonantly and held up her hands, drawing out a semi-circle: “This is how much I have to do – the whole garden!”
The elf’s face changed instantly and a questioning expression formed. He narrowed his grey eyes and looked intently at Yuffie.
“I have taken enough food by the way!” She was one step ahead of him and fluttered her eyelashes, obviously happy with herself.
“Ok, let’s get ready then. I will let Gef know that we are leaving,” said the elf with a smile and got up from his chair. He walked over to the hand-shaped lamp, right of the fireplace, that was being used as a candleholder and pulled it towards him, just like a lever handle. Right away a light metal grinding noise rang out from somewhere behind the wall, changing into a practically inaudible rumble of cogs. The fireplace slid smoothly to the side and revealed a niche with a spiral staircase, leading to the workshop of blacksmith Gefestion.
“I’ll be back soon,” said the elf to Rowanna. Then he pulled a candle from the lamp, held it in front of him, and started to make his way down the stairs. As soon as he disappeared from sight, Yuffie started laughing merrily.
“Granddad and Meckero alone together! They will turn the whole Fortress upside down!”
“My poor pixies,” Rowanna shook her head, smiling, “I will have to ask them to keep an eye on things.”

***

Having adjusted her rucksack, filled to the brim with many different types of seeds, Yuffie closed the entrance gates, waved to Rowanna and entered the dark forest that surrounded the Oak Fortress. Merrily walking down a path covered with emerald grass, she whistled her favourite tune from the underground waltz and glanced up at the huge crowns of majestic adriantic trees, which prevented even a single sun ray from breaking through and maintained coolness. An hour into the journey, the forest started thinning out and the adriantic trees gave way to oak trees. Between the trees, far away, she could see the Great Hills. “What are they hiding?” asked Yuffie, having stopped singing. Not once had she asked her granddad about them, but he always found a reason not to tell her and swiftly changed the subject, although he always remembered to warn her not to go anywhere near them. But now her curiosity took hold of her and Yuffie, charmed by the splendour of snow-white clouds, hurried towards them, paying no attention to her path. The silence of the forest was replaced by cheerful singing of meadow birds, but their warbles became quieter and quieter as she approached the Hills until they stopped all together. The sudden silence mystified the dwarfess and she stopped abruptly.
“That feels safer now,” she mumbled and put on a silver brass knuckle duster, given to her by her granddad for her last birthday. She slowed her pace to admire the ornate patterns of the deadly weapon as if plucking up courage, and made her way onto the foot of the barren hill.
“I didn’t realise how high you were,” uttered a disgruntled Yuffie, wiping sweat from her brow having walked less than a hundred steps. “Don’t cross over the hills,” her granddad’s words echoed in her ears. Yuffie looked back – there, the Rainbow Dale her second home, was spread out in all its beauty. Having noticed some smoke on the tops of the trees, she sighed - Rowanna had probably already started cooking dinner.
“That’s it!” The dwarfess turned around and cheerfully exhaled, climbing up to the very top of one of the hills, but suddenly she was struck by silence. Yuffie didn’t expect to see what presented itself in front of her. She shuddered at the sight of it.
On the other side of the Great Hills was the vast Oblivion Valley, which the dwarfess knew nothing of yet. This land didn’t take its name by chance: anyone who set foot in Oblivion Valley was doomed to sacrifice themselves and forced to live there forever. And its soil could not sprout any life neither takes anything in as it was bewitched by Geniuses. Desperate to hold onto life, to feel alive again, the Valley did not allow anyone to leave. And so its dry grey lands were wandered by the living and the dead.
“Oh my god,” said Yuffie in astonishment, looking under her feet, “why does nothing grow here? Why is there not even one tiny blade of grass?” she trembled in bewilderment. “Well, maybe further on?” Quietly she pushed herself on-wards, biting her lip in anticipation. Yuffie looked into the distance, somewhat hesitant, as if scared that the earth might open up and swallow her, and stepped on the dry land. At that moment she felt a sharp coldness in her leg and her heart almost jumped out of her chest in fear. Barely breathing, she gazed down slowly and winced, “A-ah,” she cried, “don’t touch me! Get away!”
Some grey fingers sprouted out of the soil, firmly grabbed her by the ankle and for an instant froze, disturbed by her loud scream. Yuffie pulled at her leg with all her might, but lost her balance and fell on her back, plunging her brass knuckle duster into the soil. Spitting out dust that had flown up, the dwarfess struggled to catch her breath, her eyes full of fear, remained focused on the hand with deadly-pale skin. In response, something angrily growled from underground and the next moment the hand shuddered as if in convulsion and gripped the girl’s leg even tighter, so tight that it brought her to tears. Then it hurled her into the air, as if she was light as a feather, and flung her back down with all its might.

***

Quite soon the evening, like a throw, had covered the Valley with a warm-grey haze, appearing lifeless at first glance. In the dull sky dimmed stars shimmered, followed by the appearance of unkind eyes, like those of somebody just woken up from a daily nap. The ghost of a young dark elf was sat on a slanting stone on the bank of the Great Swamp in the very heart of the Valley. He yawned and aimlessly blinked his transparent eyes. On the surface of a dark-green slush, not far from the bank, ripples appeared, followed by the appearance of a disgusting looking head, covered with stunted algae and water insects. It lazily stuck out its long split tongue, licked them off its head, then chewed and spat them out in the form of a ball swarming with many tiny legs and wings.
“Errrrr”, mumbled the ghost and screwed up his face.
“There are guests in the Valley,” hissed a high pitch voice from somewhere behind the stone. The ghost bent down and saw a tiny snake curled up.
“A little girl!” the snake flashed its bright-green eyes and started to rise up into the air, flapping its tiny leathery wings under its head a great speed.
“I see,” answered the ghost indifferently, “and where is she?”
“Near the hills, over there!” it bent its tail and pointed in the direction of north-west. “I wonder, what will happen to her,” the snake giggled, “when she dies, I mean”.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” the ghost shook his head, “I’m going for a walk”.
“You mean you don’t want to see her?”
“Maybe, maybe,” the ghost shrugged his shoulders, “perhaps it will be more fun than watching Fentra eat herself for the thousandth time. “Hearing her name, the head in the swamp shrugged and opened her single mucus filled eye. “Ok, I’m going,” the ghost rose up into the air and slowly hovered away in the direction indicated by the snake.
Not afraid to get hurt, the ghost squeezed past the meleroy thicket, covered with its sharp spikes that grew around the swamp. All the while he watched how one insect ate another crunching its antennas and claws. “Poor things,” he thought, “what a misfortune, to be killed every day by somebody’s paws, teeth or claws just to come back to life tomorrow in a new body, a body even uglier than the last.“ Lost in thought, he didn’t notice how he stumbled across a shimmering bronze horn of a creature, covered with acid-red skin. It stood up lazily on its short hind legs, stretching out its front legs towards the ghost, but with nothing to support itself on, lost balance and with an unhappy howl, collapsed on the floor.
“You will catch somebody else,” said the ghost dryly and looked at the clumsy creature that, frustrated, had started scratching the ground. “What difference does it make who will become your dinner, there’s no need to get upset.”

Yuffie slowly opened her eyes and rose up, supporting herself with her hands. “Not a bad flight,” she thought, examining her scratched and bruised legs. “Granddad’s going to tell me off, so I must think how I’m going to explain this.” She reached for the rucksack that lay beside her and shook the dust off it. From a small hole on the side, a tiny oblong seed fell out.
“Oh no, that’s the last thing I need!” with an unhappy look she squatted down and pulled the rucksack onto her knees. Yuffie moved her finger along the hole and stuffed it with a strap.
“You probably won’t grow here,” she uttered hopelessly, looking at the lonely seed, “but it’s worth a try!”
Yuffie made a little hole in the ground, placed the seed inside and tenderly covered it with a handful of soil.
“I hope you grow, for it’s time for me to go home,” she said to the seed. She stood up and looked around her. But in every direction she could only see a sad, unfamiliar landscape standing before her eyes.
“Strange, very strange,” said the dwarfess out loud, “where have the hills gone, the ones that I fell from?”
But the hills stood close by, with dried amertha shrubs at the foot, where strange looking lizards were scurrying around. Yuffie simply couldn’t see the ones, where any form of life still existed. And it was one of the grim secrets of the Valley, which only revealed itself following the torturous death from hunger or thirst.
Yuffie felt a slight earth tremor and abruptly turned around, instinctively raising her hand to her head to protect herself. From the crack in the ground, right in front of Yuffie’s eyes, a tiny grey shoot started to sprout upwards, curling and twisting as sharp leaves sprouted from its stem at a phenomenal speed. They immediately intertwined with one another and dropped to the ground with a crash. In seconds a bud formed at the top of the stalk out of the transparent petals, which started to swell, filling up with a dirty bubbling liquid.
“Oh Oh, I don’t like this,” whispered the dwarfess and instinctively covered her head as it popped. The bud abruptly opened up and revealed a couple of thin tentacles. They shot up, twisting together, untwisted and ominously hung in the air with an unpleasant hissing. A high pitched whistle rang out that deafened Yuffie. Without tearing her eyes from the plant, she stepped back hesitantly, her body covered with goose bumps, sharply turned and broke into a run.
“A-a!” she screamed in a high pitch. “You are horrible!”
One of the tentacles caught up with her, ensnaring the dwarfess and clamping around her hand, forcefully pulling her towards the stalk. Yuffie’s hands flailed desperately as she balanced on one leg.
“I’ll get you!” she cried angrily and sharply turned to face the enemy. With lightning speed Yuffie hit out with her knuckle duster and the tentacle instantly recoiled, spraying the earth with strange cloudy droplets, which were absorbed in the dry earth with a hiss. The stalk reclined backwards, shaking, and as if threatening her, the bud slowly swayed, then sharply shot forward and spewed its insides at her.
“Help!” cried Yuffie, trying to evade the splashes flying at her.
“Follow me!” called out a voice from behind and Yuffie in a moment turned around.
“Who is it?” she asked cautiously, peering into the endless grey distance.

“It doesn’t matter who I am, but I will not hurt you,” the sound flashed past her right ear.
“But I can’t see you!” cried the dwarfess in despair and rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands, “I don’t understand!” Cloudy streams of salty water ran down her cheeks as she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
“Please don’t cry, let’s just go,” the voice tried to calm her down, “I have not yet thought of a way for you to see me. In order to see the Valley and myself,” the voice became quiet for a moment, “you will have to die.”
“Die?” Yuffie stopped crying and wiped her face. “But I don’t want to die!” She looked pleadingly in front of her.
“In this case I will have to talk constantly, so you don’t get lost,” continued the voice, “but I am not used to talking, especially with living creatures.”
“Tell me then, what is this place?” asked the dwarfess, having calmed down a little, “it’s not so cosy here! And scary!”
“Ok,” agreed the voice. “A long time ago, following the Battle, the superior powers decided to create a border between the lands of D’Elem and Mederoth. They created the Oblivion Valley, and cast a spell over it. No one can remove the spell, except the creators. The effect of the spell is simple - anybody who comes here, has to stay forever. You’ve probably seen nothing but grey earth?”
“Yeah,” nodded Yuffie, “I haven’t seen anything else.”
“The spell doesn’t allow seeing or feeling anything that is outside of the Valley,” explained the voice. “And the area affected is quite large. By the measures of time in your world, our journey might take a few days.” Suddenly the voice burst out laughing.
“What happened?” asked Yuffie anxiously.
“How can I put it? You just crushed a semper.”
“Who?” she stopped abruptly and looked under her feet.
“Sempers are what we call flying caterpillars. They always spawn either on the roads or on the banks of the Great Swamp. And I haven’t laughed like that for a long time!” the voice again became dry and serious. “We are heading to the Swamp, the spell is weaker there and I hope you will be able to see me.”
“I’d feel better then,” muttered Yuffie.
“Of course,” sighed the voice. “Some years ago our Goddess chose me as a sacrificial offering. My fate really scared me, as everyone in our town has known for centuries that nobody leaves the Goddess Tower alive. And the night before the High Priest’s messenger knocked at the door with my name on his list, I ran away from my parents’ house as I knew very well, that even the connections of my distinguished family would be nothing against the will of the Goddess Kheora. I remember how my legs weakened treacherously when I first left the underground town. Back then I thought the reason I was so weak, was that the air around me was very different – outside it was clearer and sweeter. But then a different thought came to me that it might be because the Goddess had cursed me, because by that time I was actually supposed to be in her belly. I tired quickly and kept losing consciousness. I woke up the next day in the afternoon, still feeling tired, although not as bad as before. I got up, dusted myself off and started walking the path that leads to the dense Forest of Core, where gigantic trees grow so close together that the sunlight can barely struggle through their crowns. The forest was filled with an anxious silence, as if waiting for something, occasionally rustling its leaves. When the sun went down the twilight of the woods changed to pitch-blackness and I felt properly scared. I cautiously moved deeper into the woods, and looking around me I noticed how rapidly the forest was coming to life: here and there the scarlet flowers of the roktenys were in bloom and the nimble grey omerks ran along the trunks of trees. Suddenly I heard a growl from behind me. So I turned around and in front of me stood a gigantic volloik. Its hazy amber eyes gleamed and looked right at me with clear purpose. I sensed my life was over, although I really didn’t want to die by his sharp claws so I pulled out my short sword and thrust out my arm, in full recognition of how ridiculous my idea was. The volloik roared loudly in reply, almost with a grin, then threw out his massive paw and knocked the sword from my hands. Paralysed by fear I stood and watched the animal slowly approach me, and then it started sniffing me and finally licked my hand. How surprised I was when his tongue came out. The poor volloik pulled his head back, shaking it in confusion. At this point I even thought I’d lost my mind. How shocked I was when I reached out to a small boulder and couldn’t feel it. I jumped up in absolute confusion, and out of fright, screamed out across the whole forest.”
“Wow,” said the dwarfess in amazement.
“For a few days I walked along the road, losing myself and becoming paler by the day, until I left the forest and approached the Hills. Back then I didn’t know what was hidden behind them, and it didn’t concern me either. When I got to the other side, the look of the local creatures didn’t make me feel any better. And I wanted to turn around, but something invisible and unperceivable stopped me, like a wall at the foot of the hills. So I accepted my fate. What difference does it make where I while away my time, I thought, and that is how I started living in the Oblivion Valley. To begin with I got scared every time a creature turned into a monster after death, whether natural or otherwise, but I eventually got used to it. I got used to everything: constant howling, screams of those who tore others apart or of those who tried to escape such a fate. Later on I settled and even got to know some of the others. And that’s my story,” the ghost coughed. “My name is Vincent by the way.”
“And I am Yuffie,” answered the dwarfess. “Or you can call me Yuf, if you like.”
“Well,” there was a welcoming tone in the ghost’s voice, “we’re not far away now. I want to warn you about something in advance. If you see something, please don’t run and don’t scream. The Valley’s inhabitants cannot hurt living creatures. Of course a few might want to scare you, but there is absolutely no reason to be scared, believe me. But when you will see them, I can’t tell you as I don’t know myself.”
The dwarfess nodded and narrowed her eyes, looking ahead into thin air. “So far I can’t see anything. Tell me Vincent, why are we going there?”
“Do you really want to die and stay here forever?” asked the ghost in surprise. “I have been roaming these lands for a long time and have explored far and wide. For many years of my life I have studied it and learned a lot”.
Vincent went quiet for a moment and then added in a whisper:
“I found an underground passage and am sure it leads out of here, but only for the living. When I found out that you were in the Valley, I thought that you might be able to get out.”
“And why are you doing this?” said Yuffie suspiciously, “why do you want to help me?”
“I am curious as to whether my theory is right, and anyway, why not?” murmured Vincent. “Maybe when you get out you will find a way to bring me the peace that I have yearned for so long, and not only me, but also the thousands of creatures who have been imprisoned here for centuries against their will.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to believe you as I’ve no other choice.” The dwarfess shrugged her shoulders and flinched. “Oh, I think I can see something!” she cried and froze. “It looks like a snake with wings, right over there in front of us!”
“Mertalia,” answered Vincent, “is harmless. Be prepared to see a lot of them, we’ll not escape the attention of these nosy creatures.”
The ghost laughed unexpectedly, “Hm, too late, I think we’ve been noticed.”
Driven by curiosity the snake flapped its two pairs of webbed wings and flew towards Yuffie, who at this point was paralyzed with anxiety. She had seen Vincent many times hence paid him no attention. Now she was interested only in his companion. Mertalia drew closer, giving off a cool breeze from her wings, exhaled and blinked her coral eyes.
“You are not really that ugly,” the dwarfess tried to smile, “in fact, quite pretty.”
The snake flapped her wings and flew higher as the scales of her daintily curled neck glistened.
“You’ve become acquainted, good! Let’s go quickly before she has the chance to tell her many relatives about a strange two-legged creature.”

---------- Post added 2012-07-03 at 01:08 PM ----------

Soon after, she saw the scattered silhouettes of tall trees with barely any leaves, their tops disappearing in a heavy fog. In a dark hollow of one of them, three bright dots flashed then disappeared, followed by a sad howl mixed with a loud cry. The air slowly filled up with a light chirping sound.
“It’s so depressing here,” whispered Yuffie bitterly and, kicking a tiny stone, looked to the right. “Ouch!”
“Do you see something?” asked Vincent, noticeably worried.
“Yes, but not very clear. Beautiful!” Yuffie sneakily looked at the ghost and kept on walking, looking in front of her. “I guess he can’t cause me any harm.”
“Is it much further?” asked the dwarfess awkwardly, looking sheepishly at the ghost.
“If you’re tired, we can take some rest,” suggested Vincent, “but we’re not far away now. You see that tree,” Vincent pointed out a tall forked trunk with his hand. “The Great Swamp starts beyond that tree and in the middle of the swamp there’s a small island.”
“Well, let’s go then, I’ll take a break later.”
“Ok,” Vincent agreed, “and whilst we’re walking, I’ll think about how to get you onto the island.”
Beyond a dead tree the terrain started to go downhill, covered with sparse vegetation. Yuffie’s attention was caught by the increasingly noisy flapping of wings and she turned around. A trio of mertalias flew around the dwarfess with obvious interest, hissing, hovering for a moment and then flew away in different directions.
“Ha!” Vincent laughed out loud, but pulled himself together. “Sorry.”
“It’s Ok,” smiled the dwarfess. She stopped right before the dirty-green water, her hands on her hips. “Here we are.”
“Hey Fentra?” Vincent whistled, looking at the swamp. “Come out, we have guests.”
Disgruntled, the ghost shook his head and whistled louder once again:
“Fentra!”
The surface of the swamp bubbled and Fentra appeared. The creature blinked indifferently, staring at Yuffie and Vincent.
“Yuf, please don’t be scared,” whispered Vincent to the dwarfess and swam in the air towards Fentra.
“I need your help,” began the ghost, looking her straight in the eye, “well, all of us need your help actually.” He turned his head towards Yuffie. “And she can help us. Do you understand?”
Fentra yawned despondently and shut her mouth, leaving her tongue stuck out.
“Help her to get to that island, and then maybe she’ll be able to save us. You’re a good creature, right Fentra?” said Vincent with a slight doubt in his voice.
Fentra slowly moved her gaze between the ghost and the dwarfess and back again.
“C’mon, please”, asked Vincent. In reply Fentra opened her mouth abruptly, revealing a row of sharp teeth and snorted loudly, covering the ghost with somebody’s remains.
The water rippled and Fentra slowly made her way up out of the swamp. Her head rose up higher and higher, her neck swaying, although nothing more than the neck appeared. Suddenly a jet of water shot up around her, so high that the creature was fully hidden from sight. The massive jet of water crashed down loudly, whipping up dirty foam that dispersed in circular waves. Slowly the waves calmed to reveal the body of the amphibious creature. With her usual laziness Fentra moved all three of her massive white flippers, shaking away her underwater admirers and swam towards the shore.
“Oh my god,” thought Yuffie, her body covered with goose bumps, “I have never ridden such a creature before.”
Trying not to fall too far behind Vincent, Yuffie carefully stepped on its scale-covered gently sloping back.
“Hold on!” insisted Vincent, glancing at the dwarfess.
“Ok, Ok,” nodded Yuffie, gripping a fin.
Fentra threw a glance at them and roared. A tremble ran through the creature’s body, which caused her flippers to become covered with large goose bumps. A second later with an ear-splitting roar, she raised her enormous wings out of the water and shot up into the sky.
“Aaah,” Yuffie couldn’t stay on her feet and fell down, but didn’t let go of the fin and gripped until her knuckles went white.
“Hold on, hold on, you can’t fall,” pleaded Vincent, recognising that there was no way he could help her. Gritting her teeth, the dwarfess pulled herself up towards the fin, struggling to catch her breath and greedily inhaled.
“Oh my!” she uttered, squeezing the fin tightly between her legs, “what a ride!”
She shook her head to get some hair out of her face and froze, looking at the thick curtain of approaching clouds. Feeling anxious, she took a deep breath and shut her eyes tight. When she opened her eyes she beamed at the sight of a full moon, staring at her with its clear light surrounded with softly lighted clouds which reminded her of ripened fields of grain waiting for reaping, slightly waving in a light wind. Fentra roared with a heart-breaking cry and sharply dug downwards, ripping up the silver air with her leathery wings.
“We’re almost there Yuf, hold on...!”
The ghost’s words were drowned out by the whistle of air and the spray of water from Fentra’s wings as they ploughed into the water. She slowly swam to the shore and unusually for her, pompously stretched out her flippers. Maybe she was proud of herself, maybe not – nobody will ever know for sure.
“Thank you Fentra,” cried Vincent to her, as soon as they were on land.
In reply she snorted casually, turned around and took off towards the horizon.
“Well, it’s time for us to say goodbye,” Vincent turned to Yuffie and looked in her eyes, “in the mountain over there there’s a cavern with a stairs inside that leads down. I hope this has all not been in vain.”
“I will come back for you, Vincent!” Yuffie’s eyes filled up with tears, she blinked and pressed together her eyelashes. Salty water streamed down her cheeks, “I will definitely come back for you!”
“I don’t know why, but I believe you, Yuf,” smiled Vincent in reply, “and now it’s time for me to leave the island, it’s difficult for me to be here. Maybe because it is all so real, look – sand, stones.”
“I can feel it!” nodded Yuffie, inhaling the familiar smell of the coast – “it smells.”




Such words from a living creature brought a grimace to Vincent’s face. He couldn’t take it any longer and flew up into the air.
“See you soon, my dear dwarfess! Promise you will take care of yourself!”
“Wait for me!” shouted Yuffie, reaching up towards him with her hands. “Wait for me my dear ghost!”