The Alabaster Roses

By PHK Schoeffner

It begins with three siblings and his elder cousin, being in a wood where there are some strange black flowers. Their cousin told them the legend of the magician Schoenboeck, who brought those flowers with their curse: who smells one of those flowers will fall in a deep dream. The only cure that exists is some kind of roses that only the magician owns: alabaster roses that keep deeply in his castle Drachrosenstein.
Unfortunately, the smallest sister, that is about six years old, caught some of those flowers when the others were not looking at her and fall in a deep dream and nobody was able to awake her. The other two brothers decide to look for that alabaster rose and get into a new world, a magic new world where there was given a locket by the old man that meet at the entrance gate. That locket owns the magician and they need it to get to Schoenboeck, the Dragons Master. If they need help, they can use the locket to get some. But they have to keep carefully the locket because, if they lose it, they will not be able to get Schoenboecks castle and nobody is going to give them another one.
Gorkievich, the dark magician, wants to get that locket in order to invade the whole magician world and get it under his dark control. Therefore, he will try his best to get it from the children.
Both siblings will get in a magic adventure with dragons, deserts, woods, caves, mirrors, labyrinths and all kind of characters. The way is not going to be easy

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456797430

PHK Schoeffner

P.H. K. Schoeffner was born March 15 1964 in the city of Ulm an der Donau, in the federal state of Baden-Würtemberg, Germany, beside Danube. He passed his childhood between this city and the Bavarian capital, Munich, of where they are their first memories (the brezel, the apple juice and the flag to blue and white rhombuses). The family moves to Madrid, where he studies his superior studies. He speaks English, German and Spanish and he defends in French, Portuguese and Russian. Graduate in optics and optometry, is a great fond of the classic music, especially the Baroque one. He sings at a choral as tenor since 1986.

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The alabaster roses

PHK Schoeffner

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© 2011 by PHK Schoeffner. All rights reserved.

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First published by AuthorHouse 12/12/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9744-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9743-0 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

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SUMMARY

Chapter 1 The Legend

Chapter 2 The Adventure Begins

Chapter 3 The Golden Desert

Chapter 4 The Cave of the Golden Dragons

Chapter 5 The Diamond Desert

Chapter 6 The River Nymph

Chapter 7 The Fairies’ Forest

Chapter 8 The Little House in the Woods

Chapter 9 The Labyrinth

Chapter 10 The Invaded Valley

Chapter 11 The Garden of Princess Iradia

Chapter 12 The Three Tests

Chapter 13 The Cave of Mirrors

Chapter 14 The Room of Images

Chapter 15 The Wine Country

Chapter 16 A Road That Doesn’t Lead Anywhere

Chapter 17 The Land of Superstitious

Chapter 18 The Palace Rousalles

Chapter 19 The Story of the Knight

Chapter 20 Magic Mountain

Chapter 21 The Mirror of Ice

Chapter 22 The Land of Forgetfulness

Chapter 23 The Great Steppe

Chapter 24 The Magician Schoenboeck’s Castle

Chapter 25 The Cave of the Alabaster Roses

Chapter 26 The Land of Flowers

Chapter 27 Back in the Land of the Wine

Chapter 28 Back in the Garden of Iradia

Chapter 29 The Last Failure of Gorkievich

Chapter 30 The Liberation of Brittkenschweig

Chapter 31 Back to Reality

Chapter 32 The End of the Adventure

Prominent Figures, Places, and Objects

FOREWORD

Some people believe that imagination is just kid stuff. Woe to those who do not believe in her, because she can sometimes lead to a world more real than the physical—one that is intangible and free of constraints. In the world of magic, things that are vague in our reality become clean and clear even things of great significance, but not in excess, because in the land of magic, the entire physical world is perfectly ordered and relationships are precise, and at the same time, everything is free. In this world anything is possible, and nothing needs to be explained because everything is well known.

Although doing so is not easy for everyone, you must simply desire to jump into that world that is imaginary for us, for in that world is a different view of all the things around us and that view may even give us a more accurate perspective. You have to enter this world wholeheartedly in order to see castles and dragons, flowers unknown, and reasons incomprehensible; you just have to accept everything without reasoned trial and refrain from doubting your first impression. Sometimes, things are simpler than we think; everything is in harmony, and everything has its colour, its place, and its power. Everything opposes evil, and any limitation has its antidote.

But above all, it is important to be honest with ourselves, which is a good way to be open to new ways. We must not try to confuse things by saying that we can see what we don’t see; after all, we are not all equal, and not everybody is prepared or knows how to enter the world of imagination. Maybe it’s just not the right time. Perhaps it is better that a cave has no doors or entrances; we may not understand what is right, perhaps because we may try to interpret rationally that which is not rational. There are small hurdles to overcome, but know that, somehow, they are pushing us towards a goal that is not always too clear. However, it is true that the front door, or rather, the exit door has always been always, but not all are able to see it. Just believe in it and wait for the right time to discover it.

Cecilia A. Díaz Casado

Chapter 1

The Legend

—   Thorsten, why are these flowers black Natalie, second of the three siblings, was pointing to a small group of flowers, which were black like a jet, next to a high thin stone. Her cousin looked at the handful of small flowers.

—   Well, they are part of a legend—, answered Thorsten vaguely.

—   Would you like to tell us that legend?—suggested Natalie.

—   Yes, yes, cousin; tell us the story—, requested Bärbel.

Bärbel was the youngest of the three siblings, and she liked those kinds of stories very much. The two elder siblings, Jochen and Natalie, didn’t care to listen to them. They were in the Forest of Rocks, named thusly because all throughout the forest, thin extended rocks were elevated, like dragon’s teeth. The forest was in the slopes of the Bavarian Alps, close to the border with Austria. This forest was not very far from the place where the three siblings were spending their summer vacation, in their uncle’s home.

—   Very well; I’ll tell you—, Thorsten said, sighing and seeing that he had no choice but to tell the story. All you can see in this forest has something to do with the legend, odd stones you noticed when you arrived.

Jochen had climbed up to one of the rocks. Natalie and Bärbel had sat on the fresh grass.

Thorsten paused for a moment to put remember the legend’s sequence.

—   Well, many years ago, at the beginning of the Middle Ages, according o the legend, a witch lived in this forest. In fact, she was an ugly woman; indeed, she was devoid of any beauty. Due to her ugliness, and as it was habitual at that time to call ugly women witches, she was taken as a witch. It was said that she had a pact with the devil. But the truth was that she was not a witch and she had never damaged anybody; rather, she lived in the middle of the forest, separated from everybody, and nobody ever went to bother her. She was devoted only to gathering herbs for somebody she called Schoenboeck. This person for whom she gathered herbs was taken as the same devil, and the townspeople thought that she was brewing potions for him. That was what people said anyway.

—   In addition, ever since the woman lived in the forest, there began to grow all over the forest a blue flower in the shape of a dragon, with a wonderful aroma and miraculous properties. The flower was able to cure diseases that, until then, did not have remedy; it relieved all kinds of pains; and it quickly improved the appearance of girls who were ugly. It did all this in a very simple way. People had only to inhale the magical aroma of the flower. The flower became essential for the people of that time.

—   But one day, a boy of the town disappeared. For days, the townspeople looked for him everywhere, but they did not find him, and the people began to think that the witch had kidnapped the child to eat him or to sacrifice him to Satan, by which they meant to Schoenboeck. So strong was their conviction, that one day, the whole town went to the forest to catch the woman. In vain, she tried to deny the accusations brought against her. The villagers caught her and took her to the town. Even as she insisted her innocence, they burned her in the seat of the town.

—   Some days later, a shepherd of a nearby village arrived in town with the missing boy. The truth was that the child had run away to play in the mountains very far from his house, and he had gotten lost. A shepherd had found him hungry and frozen. The shepherd had taken the boy into his refuge.

—   The commotion in the town was enormous. But worse things were about to happen. Shortly thereafter, a man with a great dark cloak appeared in the town in the middle of a dark night, during a great storm. He was Schoenboeck, who was a magician who had nothing to do with the devil, and he was furious because of what had happened. He sent a curse; the blue flowers would be transformed into other flowers of a black colour, and not only would they lose his curative properties, their nauseous scent would be scattered all over the forest so that the people would remember their horrible crime. And all who dared to approach the flowers would fall into a deep dream from which they would never wake up. Saying this, Schoenboeck disappeared.

—   Since then, the people lived without that wonderful flower and avoided approaching the forest because the rotting scent had invaded it completely. The diseases returned and became serious problems, and the girls who were not pretty could do nothing to improve their appearance.—

—   That’s a sad story—, commented Natalie.

—   I have not finished—, continued Thorsten, raising his hand.—One day, many years later, the count of the region arrived in the town with his daughter and decided to construct a castle here; the castle is now those ruins that are on the hill at the entrance of the town. At that time, the stench of the forest had almost disappeared, but not its curse. The little girl was very mischievous, and hiding from her escort, she went into the forest.

—   Shortly thereafter, a soldier who was looking for her found her in a deep sleep next to a bouquet of strange black flowers. When the count learned of what had happened and of the legend, he was seized with rage and commanded that the forest be burned. When set ablaze, the trees were petrified; that is to say, their stumps were petrified. Those are the stones that have called your attention. But the black flowers did not disappear; they did not even suffer any damage.

—   But the big problem remained—how to wake up the girl. The count’s alchemist told him that only the one who had set the curse was able to break it, since he was the most powerful magician who existed. Thus, numerous horsemen rode off in all directions searching for antidote. They spent many months, but none of the horsemen who returned had had luck, until one day, a horseman, almost dead, arrived with a bundle, saying that he had the antidote.

—   Immediately, he was taken to the girl’s side. He undid the bundle and took out a white flower, which seemed to be made of alabaster or something similar. It was a white rose, and it was as hard as stone. The wearied horseman held the rose to the girl’s nose, and instantaneously, she woke up, while the flower became dust and disappeared.

—   The horseman died shortly thereafter, but before that, he was able to tell something of his deed. He said something about two deserts, one gilded and another one of diamonds; a lake of golden dragons; a labyrinth; a wonderful garden of a princess called Iradia; a cave of images; and other places that right now I don’t remember. But he was not able to explain how to get there. The only real detail he gave was that the entrance was in the forest. People said that he must have been referring to the Cave of the Deer, but many people have visited that spot, and nobody has found anything special in there. And there are no more caves in the whole forest!—

—   Why is it called that?—asked Jochen.

—   Because it is in that cave that the deer usually take refuge when there is a storm—, answered Thorsten.—Anyway, it’s only a legend. Nobody knows the true history, but just in case, it is better that you don’t approach those flowers. If animals avoid it, which they do, it means something; the animals know what they do. And now it’s best if we return home. It is getting dark, and it’s already supper time.—

With that, the group headed on their way home. During supper, they had already completely forgotten the legend.

Night passed, and the following morning, the house woke up completely changed. Bärbel was lying on the ground, sunk into a deep sleep, and nobody could wake her up. In her hand was a bundle of those black flowers, and in her small basket were still more of the flowers. The family called a doctor, but the doctor could not wake her up either.

Jochen, in a calm moment, spoke to his cousin Thorsten.—Listen, cousin—, whispered Jochen,—why don’t we go to look for those white flowers of the legend?

—   Don’t speak such nonsense!—exclaimed Thorsten indignantly.—That legend is only another legend. That world does not exist; nor is there a magician anywhere. I guess you have taken no black flowers, have you?—

—   No, we didn’t—, Jochen assured him,—only Bärbel took them. Really! We did not know that she had taken them.—

When night fell, Jochen noiselessly approached his sister, Natalie.—We must do something,—he said.

—   What are you proposing?—she asked

—   We can go and look for the flower that Thorsten told us about.—

—   Are you crazy?—Natalie retorted, almost exclaiming.—Do you think that the legend can be true? Remember what Thorsten told us!—

—   We can try it—, Jochen insisted. If we go to the Cave of the Deer, and we don’t find the entrance, we’ll simply return home, and that’ll be the end of that, okay?—

—   And what do you think you’re going to find there?—asked Natalie sarcastically—, a shop of flowers where we can buy the alabaster rose?—

—   Bärbel is our sister—, Thorsten said with determination. I think we would try it.—

Natalie twisted her mouth in meditation.—Okay, we will try. But if there is no entrance, we will return home immediately; agreed?—

—   Deal!—

—   And when shall we go?—

—   Now!—

—   Already?—Natalie nearly exclaimed.—But it’s too dark!—

—   Yes, but then nobody will be able to see us, and if we don’t find anything, nobody will notice that we were ever gone because we will already back.—

Biting her lower lip, Natalie looked doubtful, but soon she rose from the bed and got dressed.

Brother and sister left silently through the back door and went to the forest. There was a full moon and its light gave the forest a phantasmagorical and tenebrous appearance. The petrified shades of the stumps resembled long heads emerging from the ground.

After awhile, they arrived at the Cave of the Deer.

—   Have you brought a flashlight?—asked Natalie.

—   Of course, yes—, answered her brother.

—   Then, let’s go! The sooner we enter, the sooner we will return.—

Chapter 2

The Adventure Begins

Natalie and Thorsten went into the cave. Absolute silence surrounded them. They walked with a great deal of care, moving with unsteady steps due the tenuous light that hardly broke the darkness in which they were immersed. To make matters worse, the appearance of the walls of the cave and their shadows gave them the impression that they were entering hell.

A little later, after a bend, they came to a fork in the road. One path headed out of sight. The other way was on their right, behind another bend.

—   And now what do we do?—asked Natalie.

—   I don’t know; let me see.—Jochen illuminated the other gallery. The halo of light revealed a spiral staircase heading down.—Well, we’re going to try this way down—, he decided.

—   Okay!—she agreed.—I just hope that we don’t run into any problems down there.—

—   Don’t be ominous!—

With that, they began to descend the staircase. The steps seemed to have been carved, but in a very rough way. Some of the steps were in bad shape, and on occasion the pair stumbled but neither fell.

They were going down for what seemed an eternity, until finally they got to a place that wasn’t very big.

—   End of the line!—Natalie said, illuminating the walls of the little place.—There’s no outlet.—

—   Are you sure? Look again!—

Natalie shrugged and sat on the last steps, trying not to fall asleep, while Jochen shone the light around the cave. Suddenly, the beam of his light stopped on a wooden gate.

—   See? Here is a wooden door!—

Natalie jolted from her half-asleep state and turned her head towards the light.

—   It’s true!—

She stood up, and the pair approached the door and tried to open it. But they found that there was no knob or lock or anything.

—   It was to be expected—, said Jochen, disappointed.—It’s closed! And very well closed!—

—   I think we’d better go home—, Natalie said.—Let’s go!—

—   Yes, we have nothing to do here—, Jochen agreed.

—   What are you looking for here at this time of the night?—asked a voice gently.

The two siblings gave a start and turned around to see a little old man sitting on a rock. He was smoking a pipe and watching them curiously. He was wearing a green jacket, pointy shoes, and a hat that came to a peak.

—   Who are you?—asked Natalie.

—   I live here—, said the old man—, naturally.

—   Is this your cave?—

—   I haven’t said that. I just live here, and maybe I can help you. What are you looking for?—

—   We are looking for an entrance—, said Natalie.

—   An entrance, hmm? An entrance to where?—The old man took a long draw from his pipe.

Jochen and Natalie looked at each other. The fact was that they really didn’t know where they wanted to go.

—   Well, we are looking for something—, Jochen replied.

—   I suppose so. But what are you looking for?—

Natalie and Jochen explained the problem with their sister as briefly as possible, although a little hastily.

—   So you’re looking for the great magician, Schoenboeck, aren’t you?—

—   Can you help us to find him?—asked Natalie.

—   Maybe—, said the old man, raising his eyebrows mysteriously and taking another puff on his pipe.—It is true that you have to go through this door in order to find the wizard, but that’s a magic door; it is the door of desire. It has no lock or anything that you can use to open it. Only if you really wish to pass will it open itself. Is that what you want?—

—   Yes, that’s what we want—, Jochen assured him.

The door opened with a loud grinding noise. The old man looked at the open door with raised eyebrows.—Well, that’s what it seems—, he said.—I must confess that not many people can open that door. But before you cross through it, I have to tell you a few things you must consider. You are going to cross into the world of fantasy, and everything you’re going to see from this moment on is magical. The first place you’re going to find is Festenburg Castle, which is the castle of Brittkenschweig. This door leads to its dungeons. Brittkenschweig is the guardian of the gateway. He is an old knight at the service of the great magician, but now he has serious problems. Gorkievich’s shadows…—

—   Who is Gorkievich?—asked Natalie.

—   The Wizard of Darkness. You might say that he is the rival in this world of Schoenboeck, the great magician. You will have to be very careful with him because he has now launched a great offensive to seize the whole world. And, as I was telling you before I was interrupted, Gorkievich’s shadows have invaded Brittkenschweig’s castle; they dominate it by night, and the knight does during the day. So you must not find yourself there at night. Finally, before you go, I would like to know something. Do you know the way?—

Jochen and Natalie shrugged.

—   We have no idea—, confessed Jochen.

—   That’s what I supposed!—said the old man, as he pulled something out of his jacket.—Well, take this medallion. It will be your guide to Schoenboeck. You mustn’t lose it or give it to anyone, because, without it, you will become hopelessly lost. Do you understand? I wish you good luck!—

Jochen took the medallion and put it on. That annoyed his sister.

Then the siblings thanked the old man, said goodbye to him, and crossed the threshold of the door, which closed itself after them, chirping followed with a slam.

They were surrounded by the most complete darkness. Now, there was no turning back.

—   I don’t like this place—, whispered Natalie, clutching Jochen.—I’m afraid!—

—   It’s too late to turn back.—

Jochen illumined the old man’s gift. It was a large golden medallion with the image of a dragon rampant with a rose in its claws.—

—   This must be the emblem of the magician Schoenboeck—, guessed Jochen.

—   And that must be the rose we are looking for—, said Natalie, pointing to the flower the dragon had gripped in its claws.

—   And how will it lead us to the wizard?—

—   You ask that now? You might have asked the old man!—

—   You could have also, my dear Natalie!—

—   But I didn’t pick up the medallion.—

—   All right! For now, let’s see how we get through this.—

He moved the light over the room. They were at the end of a long corridor with many doors on both sides. Some of them were closed; others were open, but they didn’t look inside as they walked, just in case. Indeed, they were in the dungeons of the castle, judging by the appearance of the place. At the end of the corridor, there was a stone staircase that ascended. They were going towards the stairs when the batteries ran out, and darkness surrounded them again. Jochen shook the flashlight several times, but it was useless. Jochen walked first and Natalie walked behind him, gripping his belt. The way until the staircase seemed to be very long, and they found it when they stumbled over it. Suddenly, a series of wailing noises erupted, raising the hair on the back of their necks, and they rushed up the steps, as if they were being pursued. Natalie