Once upon a time in a country for away from the world we know spring just arrived. Up to the horizon people just could see hills. Green hills in fact. The grass on them seemed to be greener than everywhere else. Just in the middle of all those hills was a little town called Stanheld. But the inhabitants of this town called it just the haunted town. That was because of a danger that was somewhere in the green hills. Nobody left the town for centuries. But everyone was sure they are protected by huge walls so that they could have a happy life. And that the town was ruled by a king who always did his best to find the danger in the hills.

The market day just started and everywhere in the middle of the town little stands grew out of nowhere. The traders sold everything people could think about. And every inhabitant was on the marketplace. They all looked around for something they needed. Somewhere in between all of that was a young blonde woman. She looked interested in every good shown on the stands and watched the crowd around her.
‘Good morning, Gemma.’ An old man grinned at her and handed some apples over to her. ‘These are for you and your two sisters. Oh, and tell your dad I’ll come over this evening.’ The young woman took the apples and bowed slightly but didn’t say a word. She never did. Of cause she could speak but she didn’t do it often outside her father’s house.
Her father was the owner of the pub. In the evening nearly every man and some women came to it. Even the king has been in the pub once. Something Gemma’s father has been really proud of.

On that evening the pub was full of people again. Gemma and her two sisters Enola and Rufina had a lot to do helping their father to serve everyone. The whole town seemed to celebrate a successful day.
Gemma brought another beer to a man who was sitting at the bar for at least two hours. He grinned at her and she grinned back. Just to be friendly. She didn’t like smiling at drunken people but there was no other chance in her position. She was the waitress and always had to be friendly.
‘Help yourself to a beer and drink with me.’, the drunken man yelled at the blonde girl. She looked a little puzzled. Gests never asked her to drink with them.
‘No, thanks. I have to work.’ she answered a moment later, turned around again and wanted to go to a table with three older women. But the man grabbed her arm.
‘We have to celebrate our freedom today. The king is sending another knight out to fight the evil in the hills.’ he explained his command and showed his teeth in a big smile.
‘What makes you think that this one will succeed when so many before him didn’t?’ She couldn’t free her arm but it wasn’t yet a situation to call for her father.
‘He’s young.’ was the only answer. The man let her arm go. He was sure she won’t run away.
Being young isn’t a guarantee to succeed. Gemma thought but didn’t say it loud. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to make him angry.
‘And he is my little brother.’ the man said after little while. To that point he didn’t look drunk anymore. His dreamy eyes seemed to be very proud. He really believed in the success of his brother. Gemma won’t believe in it until the knight comes back in the town. Since she was a child knights were sent be the king to find out about the danger but none of them ever came back. So she won’t believe in that young knight too much.
The blonde girl turned away and looked around. She was looking for the red curls of her youngest sister which she found in a little distance at the table of the old women. ‘Rufina!’, she called out and showed her to come over. The red-haired smiled at the three women and came over to the blonde one. ‘I feel a little sick. Is it okay when I get out for a while?’ she asked her.
‘Of cause. Should I come with you?’
‘No. Just pay a little attention to the gentleman at the bar. No beer for him anymore!’ Rufina nodded and gave the man at the bar a short glace. Then she went back to the table.
Gemma went out of the entrance door and a little bit up the street. There she looked around – checking if anyone was on the street. When no one was in sight she started running. Her run ended in the north of the town. The castle was here and knights were standing everywhere. On the left side was one of three gates of the town. They were closed most of the time and guarded. Nobody was allowed to get in or out. None of the guards moved and the gate was closed. The blonde girl caught for breath.
Gemma didn’t feel sick. She just wanted to come out of the pub. So she could get here. When a knight would leave the town he would do it that night. The knights always left at night and the blonde girl and her sisters always watched them leaving. This night she was alone because nobody else seemed to know about it. Why she believed what the drunken man said she couldn’t say. She just did it.
The gate exactly opened when she looked at it. She turned her head to the castle. There he was. The knight the man talked about. He didn’t lie. The knight was young. He gave her a little glance. Then faced the gate which was fully open by that time.
Gemma wasn’t sure but in her eyes he was nervous. None of the other knights ever were. Or they just didn’t show it.
The knight stopped in front of the gate. He looked at the two guards and hesitated for another second. Then he went through the gate. It would be open for the next hour. In this time the knight had the chance to come back to the town. No one ever came back but the blonde girl wasn’t sure about this one. He might come back.
The open gate wasn’t only for the knight to come back. It is for every inhabitant to see how the world looks from the outside. So Gemma went to the gate, looked at the guards and finally went though the gate to the other side of the wall. She never did this before even though she had the chance. Her father always stopped her. But he was nowhere in sight and her curiosity too big to resist.
She looked around and saw the young knight in a little distance. He was sitting on a stone. Gemma walked over to him. Standing in front of the knight she realised that he looked scared.
‘Why are you sitting her?’ The blonde girl couldn’t understand why he was sitting there when the gate was still open.
‘I can’t go away but can’t stay either.’
‘Are you afraid of what will happen out here?’
‘Actually I’m more afraid of the reaction of the inhabitants. They will hate me when I’m not going.’ he explained to Gemma.
She smiled at him. ‘Your brother will be proud of you no matter what you do. And nobody knows that you are sent by the king else. It’s just me and your brother. So don’t worry about that any more.’
‘You know my brother.’ It sounded more like a question when he said that.
‘I met him in the pub.’ she said but hid that his brother was already drinking on his success.
The knight looked around and so did the blonde girl in front of him. All she saw were hills. The normally green hills. At night they seemed to be gray. She always wondered what was there. She couldn’t believe in any danger when those hills lied in peace for centuries.
‘Okay. I’m ready now. Let’s go back to the town.’ He got up and took some steps to the gate. But the girl didn’t move so he looked puzzled at her. After one moment or two she moved. Automatically her steps led her into the opposite direction. This was her chance to come away from a life that bored her.
‘Where are you going?’
‘When you go back I have to do your job.’ she answered. Just one little glance she gave the town. She didn’t know if she could ever take a look at the town again but saying good-bye never was a strength of her.
The knight ran after her. ‘That is too dangerous for you. You don’t have a weapon and you’re a woman.’
The last sentence made her turning around. ‘Oh, you’re thinking because I’m a woman I can’t survive out here?’ She really became angry. ‘You don’t know how my live is in that town. You don’t know what I can do. You don’t know what it’s like to be woman. You know nothing.’ She screamed at him and suddenly felt a lot better. She turned around and went on.
The knight shrugged his shoulders and went next to her. ‘I’m Trajan by the way.’
‘Gemma.’ she replied shortly.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Gemma.’

They walked in silence for some time. Gemma couldn’t believe that she really walked through the green hills. She had left her family to go with a man she just met to a place nobody knows. One thing was sure: when she will be back in the town her father always will have an eye on her. She would welcome that. But the question first of all was if she will return at all. Nobody did return in the past. So why should she?
The blonde girl never expected an answer to that question. But got some sort of a reply when Trajan and she walked down the hill they just climbed. The sun was about to rise.
‘Not a knight! She’s not a knight! Tell the others!’ something hissed. A little wind came up and Gemma had the feeling that something had gone. On the other side she still felt a presence and stopped walking. The knight stopped too and looked questioning at her.
‘What is it?’ he asked and looked around. He had heard the hissing voice too but didn’t feel the presence.
‘There is something or someone.’ Gemma answered and looked around. She couldn’t see anything but the feeling was still there.
‘You can feel me?’ the voice asked in a friendlier tone. Slowly some light came up and a shinning woman dressed in green was standing in front of them. ‘Nobody ever did that. Even my own kind not. You’re special.’ she said in a high voice. ‘My name is Klara.’ she introduced herself a moment later. ‘It’s nice to meet you two. Please follow me. We are already waiting for you.’
‘Waiting already?’ Trajan was confused. Not only by the waiting folk but also because of the woman who appeared out of mid-air.
‘You’re a Balish, aren’t you?’ Gemma was stunned. She never thought that her favourite fantasy beast really existed. A Balish was a mixture of a Banshee and the light of the sun.
‘That’s right So you heard of my people before.’ Klara said proudly while she turned away and walked some steps. ‘Oh. You can’t turn into light, can you?’ She turned to the other two again.
‘No, we can’t. And why should we follow you? Who are you?’ Trajan wasn’t that fond of the idea to follow a totally strange woman. He did it once and found himself in this position.
‘I know what you’re looking for.’ she replied. ‘Now take my hand. So we can go on and don’t waste time anymore.’ Gemma hesitated a moment. Could it be that the Balish were the danger in the hills and they wanted to bring the knight and her away, so that they can go on with whatever they have done? Trajan watched her closely. He had exactly the same thought. His other question was if they really knew the danger and if they might know a way to beat it.
Another look into the Balish’s eyes and the blonde girl took her hand. She looked at the knight then who was still hesitating. But he had no chance to contradict. So he took the other hand of the Balish. Together they slowly became light and vanished in mid-air.

Not a second later they became visible again. But the hills were nowhere in sign any more. ‘Where are we?’ Gemma heard Trajan breathing next to her. She answered with a silent gasp as she saw some people coming out the light. The knight looked up too. They were standing in a forest. So much light was not normal in between the trees.
‘Welcome in our colony.’ Klara announced proudly. ‘We are the Balish.’
‘Why are we here now?’ The young man placed himself before Gemma, ready to protect her.
‘Your people and mine need your help.’ the green dressed woman started talking again. She seemed to be some kind of queen to her folk. None of the others came to her or to the two visitors. ‘Your king sends you two because of the danger in the hills. He sent so many before. But all of them were knights. They couldn’t do anything. And now a woman is sent to end all trouble. But tell me why sent the king now you after all this time?’ While she was talking Klara didn’t look at neither of them but the last question she directly addressed to Gemma. The blonde girl blushed and looked to the floor.
‘Actually the king didn’t send me.’ she started talking quietly and looked up to the knight who looked worried back but smiled at her. ‘I decided to go out of the town. And he didn’t want to go. He was the one who was send by the king to beat the danger.’ While she said that she pointed at the knight with one finger.
‘When did you decide to run away even without knowing what will happen outside here?’
‘I decided it when Trajan was on the way to go back into the town. I mean someone had to go.’ Gemma explained. Her decision was all of a sudden but that was something she had to live with now.
Some of the Balish mumbled. ‘Who is Trajan?’ some of them asked. But none was willing to answer that question.
‘Why are we here now?’ the knight asked. His patience was at an end.
‘You are here because of the girl. Why did you follow her even though you wanted to return to the town?’ Klara’s voice became sharp and a lot higher. The banshee inside was all what Gemma thought. She was a little worried. The Balish queen didn’t seem to like knights.
‘Nobody knows what’s outside the town. And I couldn’t let her walk through the hills without a weapon.’ he explained. Klara began to smile again.
‘You’re noble.’ she said. Trajan smiled back at her, not knowing what to do else.
‘Larine!’ she shouted. A young woman – somewhere around Gemma’s age – found her way though the crowd of Balish up to Klara. ‘May I introduce Larine to you? She is the one who is responsible for the fight against the danger.’ The green dressed woman spoke directly to Gemma and Trajan. The young woman next to her grinned at both of them.
‘You couldn’t arrive to a better time. We are standing before another visit of the fairies. Now you can join it.’ Larinne told them with a happy sounding voice and a big grin on her face.
Gemma took a step back. She was a little afraid of Larine. That grin didn’t promise any good. Trajan felt the same way but didn’t show it the way the blonde girl did.

An hour later the knight, the blonde girl, Larine and some others of the Balish were standing in the hills again. Gemma starred around, expecting something to happen in any second. But nothing happened. The hills lied in silence as always. The only way the blonde one knew them.
Suddenly a fire was there. Everywhere on the green grass were flames. Gemma stepped back. This was a little too dangerous in her eyes. Trajan followed her. Only Larine and her people were standing motionless where they were. They seemed to know this scene. The fairies had appeared. They were just three but to the blonde girl they looked terrifying.
‘Like I see you have another knight out of the town.’ the one in the middle said. Those fairies didn’t look like the two humans expected a fairy to look like. They were just a little smaller than any of the other standing in the circle and they were dressed in red. The short dark brown hair seemed to be dark red in the sunlight. All of them faced Trajan who didn’t feel good at all.
‘He’s just the protector. This is the girl we want to introduce today.’ Larine explained in a cold voice. Her eyes were focused on the middle one. But she paid her attention to the other two as well. She pushed Gemma a little to the front so that the fairies could see her properly.
‘She looks beautiful. And you think with her you can stop us attacking your people?’ the one on the right side asked the Balish. The question made the knight thinking. ‘What do you mean with that?’ he asked. Not sure if he would get an answer. And he didn’t get one. The fairies and everyone else seemed to ignore him – except for Gemma.
‘What do you mean with that?’ she repeated what he said.
‘We will show you!’ The fairy on the left grabbed Gemmas arm and vanished in mid-air. Trajan stopped breathing for a second. ‘Get her back!’ he shouted at Larine when he realised what had happened.

The blonde girl found her feet on the ground again. She felt a little dizzy. She also felt the three fairies next to her but couldn’t see them. Then she looked up and found them suspended above her head. They were looking like fairies to that point. Tiny little women with great wings.
‘What did you do with me? Where are the others?’ Gemma asked. She had a little panic attack.
‘Your protector isn’t very good, is he?’ the fairy in the middle asked. She didn’t expect an answer to that question because she went on to answer the girl’s questions. ‘The others are still in the hills where we left them. And we brought you to our home to tell you what all this is about.’
‘You did WHAT?’
‘We brought you to the place where we live.’ the left one repeated.
‘I heard that. But why can’t you tell me the reason for all this in the hills? And why is Trajan not allowed to come with us?’
‘He’s a knight. We don’t trust knights.’ the right one answered her. That she only answered the last question didn’t matter to her. Gemma nodded. She understood the position of the fairies but she had the feeling that they didn’t understand her position.
‘Centuries ago the Balish wanted to have the hills for themselves. There they have a lot of light what the folk needs. The fairies lived in the hills and of cause the town you’re living in was there too.’ the fairy in the middle explained. Gemma had the feeling that she was the leader of them. ‘They fought our folk but weren’t strong enough to beat us. But the Balish didn’t give up. Klara addressed the king of your town himself. She wanted him to send out some knights. The king on the other hand wasn’t that fond of the idea to take part in our war.’
‘But he finally did. Klara wouldn’t be the queen when she couldn’t find a way to get her interests through. The king sent out some knights and as you know they never came back.’ The fairy on the right took over the story.
‘But where did they go?’ On one hand Gemma was confused and on the other she began to understand what was going on in the hills. It wasn’t a danger to the town at all. There was a war between two nations and the town is unfortunately in the middle of all that.
‘We fought everyone and are now holding them in a dimension between the worlds.’ The one in the middle explained proudly. ‘But some already died. We don’t know why.’
‘For how long did you have them in the dimension?’
‘They are there for centuries now. From the first knight the king sent to the one before you and your protector came. As we said before we are afraid of the knights and this is our way to handle things we are afraid of.’ Gemma watched the left fairy, who just spoke, closely. Now she understood completely.
‘Can you get those knights out of the dimension again?’
‘Of cause we can do that. But why should we?’ All three fairies looked confused at the blonde girl who could hardly avoid rolling with her eyes.
‘They could go back to the town. There they have families which miss them. And the king would be grateful if he gets back his best knights.’ she started talking. Now it was her turn to talk. ‘And some of them died because that’s what humans do when they are too old. We don’t get centuries old when we are lucky we can live one century.’ The fairies looked at her with huge eyes. They never believed it when the knights told that story about human’s life but now that someone told it, they trust, they had to believe it. There was no other chance.
‘What about your king?’ The leader of the three found her words at first.
‘He too doesn’t live for more than a century but in most cases less than that.’
‘Why did every king send knights then? The Balish didn’t come to the town for more than one time.’
‘In the town everyone talks about a danger in the hills. That was what the king always said. None of the knights ever returned. So everyone thinks the danger is still there.’ Gemma told them exactly what her father told her and her sisters years before. That was all she knew. She never met the king.
‘But when we free the knights to send them back to the town, the Balish will go to the king to make him send the knights back on us. They still want us out of the hills. So what are you suggest for that problem?’ All three fairies looked sceptically at the blonde girl.
Gemma thought of that for a moment. She couldn’t promise that the Balish would stop the war and of cause she couldn’t promise that the king wouldn’t send the knights back. ‘I could talk to the Balish. This way they may see that this is an unnecessary war. The hills are wide enough to not meet each other.’ she finally announced, not wanting anyone to comment on that statement.
‘And what will happen to the town then?’
‘The inhabitants would live in peace and don’t have to be afraid anymore. They can come in the hills and have their freedom back. After all those centuries.’ Gemma wasn’t sure if that was what the fairies wanted to hear. But that was what she wanted for the town and everyone who lived in it.
‘As long as they won’t harm us it is okay. So what are we doing now?’ The fairy in the middle didn’t look like she really believed in what she said. But she flew nearer to the girl.
‘I would like to go back to Trajan and the Balish. So I could talk to them about the war and about the knights.’ the blonde girl answered.
‘We will bring you back now.’ The fairies looked at each other before the left one said that. They felt that the blonde human girl was right. They had to live with the Balish what they’ve ever done before they started the war. All three of them nodded again and everything was black.

Larine just sat down when the fairies appeared with Gemma. Trajan jumbed to the front and hugged the girl in relief. He was glad that she was back. Alone with the Balish he wouldn’t hold out for a long time anymore.
‘What happened? Are you hurt?’
‘No, I’m not. Calm down. Nothing happened.’ When he hugged her, she wasn’t sure how to react but she was able to answer his questions.
‘What did you do to her?’ Larine stood up. Her voice was a hissing scream.
‘They did nothing. We just talked and found a solution but before I talk about that I want to talk to Klara.’ Gemma placed herself between Larine and the fairies who didn’t have the chance to say anything.
‘Tell me first.’ Larine demanded.
‘No.’ The blonde girl was getting angry. She won’t talk to that young looking Balish. She wanted to talk to the queen.
‘No dispute!’ Out of nothing Klara appeared. ‘When the girl wants to talk to me, she has the right to do that.’ She looked at all Balish and not only at Larine. Then she addressed Gemma. ‘It’s about the fairies, isn’t it?’
The blonde girl nodded while she watched the Balish stepping back. ‘Do you know how old humans can get?’ she asked. The knight gave her a questioning look like he always did when he didn’t understand her.
‘Of cause. Humans are immortal like we are and like the fairies are. Living for all eternity. This is our curse in life.’ Klara’s voice became dreamy and high at the same time. Then Trajan understood the blonde girl’s question even though he didn’t know where it would lead them.
‘And that’s not true. At least for the humans. A human can get one century at best.’ Gemma started talking. ‘You set up a contract or promise – whatever – with a man who is dead for centuries now. For all those years the inhabitants of the town lived in the belief that here is a great danger like a monster. But all there is are two bored nations that didn’t know what to do with their lives.’
‘You can die?’ Larine couldn’t be quiet anymore. So she asked before Klara was even sure that the blonde girl had finished her speech.
‘Yes, we can die and so could every of the knights sent out before.’ Trajan answered. By that time he completely understood what the girl wanted to say.
‘What did the fairies say about the war? Did they tell you that they steal out sunlight?’ Again it was Larine who was speaking. Klara turned to her.
‘It is not your time to speak.’ she told her. Then she addressed Gemma again. ‘I would like to speak to you alone.’ With a little glance to Trajan she added: ‘And he can come with us.’
‘What about me?’ Larine couldn’t help but asking what was on her mind.
‘You are a good fighter on the battleground but you cannot fight with words. So this will be a conversation between the two humans and me.’ Klara turned away from the other Balish to face the fairies. ‘This may take a while. A life we lived for centuries stands in question. We will meet here again tomorrow at noon when the sun reached its top.’
The fairies nodded and with another look to Gemma they vanished in a flame of fire.
‘Take my hand! We will go to a place where we are alone.’ Gemma and Trajan, faced each other before they grabbed the hand of the Balish queen. It meant they had to make another journey through the light.

They became visible again on a great meadow. The two humans couldn’t say how far away they now were from the forest.
‘This is the wide plain of the hills. Here nobody comes to listen to us. Nobody ever comes here.’ Klara explained a little proudly and the two others had the feeling she read their minds.
‘Why isn’t anyone coming here?’ The girl couldn’t stop her curiosity.
‘I cannot say that. Here is much light and it is beautiful but everything looks the same here.’ That made Trajan look around more closely. She was right. Nothing but bright green grass. ‘But do not talk about this place anymore. We are here to talk about this war, right? Please tell me what the fairies told you about all that.’
So Gemma started talking. She told the other two what the fairies said about the war and the vanished knights. And she of cause she talked again of the mortality of humans what was a great point in that war, she thought. Trajan listened carefully. He wanted to understand what this was all about. What the danger in the hills was for all those centuries. Klara nodded from time to time. Some parts of the story weren’t new to her.
‘We are still interested in having the hills for ourselves.’ she announced after the blonde girl had finished.
‘But why? The hills are wide enough to not meet the fairies in them at all.’ Gemma couldn’t believe it. Why can’t the queen see that point?
‘But we will know that the fairies are there – somewhere.’ Klara didn’t understand the girl’s opinion. The Balish should be the only folk in the hills. They had the right to have their own territory.
‘What about the town? It will be there too. It always was there.’ Trajan found his words again. He listened to everything and understood that this was the only chance to bring peace to the hills.
‘The king of the town always helped the Balish what means the town is welcome to the hills.’
‘And what is with this plain? You just said that here a lot of light. So there won’t be just the hills but this meadow as well.’ the knight didn’t give up jet even though he didn’t have so many arguments any more.
‘But it is so boring here. In the hills you do not know what is behind the next hill. Here you can see everything.’ Klara knew the other two were right – in a way. But she wanted the best for her folk and a bored life wasn’t the right thing.
‘That is exactly what we were talking about all the time. When you stop the war you can meet people out of town here. And if you like a fairy as well. Watching the children play, exchanging the latest rumours of the town.’ Gemma could see everything in front of her eyes. She hoped that the Balish queen could see that too.
‘You mean the people of the town will come to the hills as well?’
‘Yes. Many of them would love to see the hills but with a danger like a war in them they are too afraid for it.’ Trajan looked at Gemma while he said that. ‘There is just one really brave who would go to the hills without knowing anything about the danger.’ He added with a little dreaming eyes and a smile on the face, facing the blonde girl. She didn’t fear the danger people always talked about. She was the bravest.

When the sun was standing on the highest level, the hills near the forest burst into flames for a second. The fairies arrived.
‘Welcome in the forest.’ Klara raised her voice. ‘Yesterday I came to the decision that our war must end after all this time. The hills are wide and empty and the plain is this empty too. I would like to see some life in them.’
‘You finally came to a good decision, Balish.’ the fairy in the middle answered. ‘The war was unnecessary – from the beginning on.’ She nodded at the queen, faced Gemma and smiled slightly at her. ‘Because of you three folks can live in freedom from now on. Thank you.’
‘I did what I could. And now I would like to ask a favour of you. Please free the knights. Their families need them.’
‘The knight-thing is already done.’ the fairy on the left said. ‘They’re back in the town.’
‘Oh.’ was all the knight and the girl could say to that.
‘Tell everyone in the town that they are welcome in the hills. Here are so many great places we would like to show them. And of cause we can also lead them through the forest. On the other side are some other towns.’ Klara said kindly.
‘And we don’t want to see knight anymore.’ added the fairy in the middle. That was good, Gemma decided and smiled brightly at the knight who was standing next to her. He smiled back and enjoyed the idea of being home again in any moment.
‘The fairies brought home the knights so I think it’s time for you to return too.’ Klara said to both of them but smiled at the three fairies who nodded and vanished.

On the marketplace was a huge crowd of people. Everyone wanted to see something. Around noon knights had appeared at exactly that place. The knights were the ones which the king had sent in the last years. Nobody knew what that meant. Nothing like that ever happened before. Even the king had arrived at the place to see what all the people in the town were talking about. He saw happy faces all over.
But at the edge of the marketplace was a sad family standing. Gemma’s family couldn’t believe that she ran away and couldn’t be happy about the return of the knights.
Suddenly a lot of light came up. And everyone stepped back from it. In most of the faces was fear. Out of the light a woman – dressed in green – came. Together with her a blonde girl and a young knight arrived. At the moment both of them touched the ground with their feet, Klara smiled at them and vanished again in the light.
‘Gemma!’ a red-haired girl called out and ran through the crowd to her sister.

The blonde girl and the knight smiled at each other. They did it. They brought the freedom to the town.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.05.2010

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