Albert's Journey Through the Mountains

By David Alvord

Albert was very happy living in his tiny house with his three daughters in the Hollow by the Stream, but that was about to change.

There had been whispered rumors about the return of the evil Sorcerer Brak Zorak who, along with his black army and some type of terrible beast had been laying waste to the distant lands.

It wasn't until

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Jul 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958678084

Book preview

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

Once upon a time; along long time ago, in a land far, far away; there was a little village tucked away in a hollow next to a large stream that was strewn with large moss covered boulders and lined with trees that were so tall, with branches so big and leaves so thick, the light of the sun did not shine down through the trees to the village except in the early morning; and when the sun would shine on the deep pools of the stream, the large Golden trout that lived there in the deep waters would come up to the surface and feed on the large shiny black insects with the metallic blue wings that lived in the grass that grew along the banks of the water; and the brightly colored birds that lived in the trees would go busily about their day, singing their beautiful songs while finding their food, building their nests and taking care of their families and life was very pleasant and peaceful there in the hollow by the stream.

In the village there was a little house that was situated at the edge of a small meadow, which was located behind the house; and the front of the house looked out onto the village square. The windows of the house were covered with frost, and the smoke from the fireplace drifted lazily out of the chimney, and hung in the air over the small house, for the mornings in the hollow were getting chilly this time of year.

On this particular day, just like every other day, the market place in the square was full of people, and bustling with activity. At the market place, people could buy clothing, fine silks, exotic rugs, various household items such as candles, lamps, and soap, and pretty much whatever else a person could ever want or need; you could even buy a chicken or two. Yes, today seemed like just another day but that would soon change.

Back in the house, there lived a little man, who’s name was Albert. Now, Albert wasn’t just any old run of the mill member of the village, oh no. Albert was much more than that; he was the village’s Wizards Apprentice, and although this title did not make him extraordinarily important to any body in particular (except his three little daughters who he loved very much), the title did make him known throughout the village and the surrounding countryside.

Albert was scurrying about his home with great anticipation and nervous excitement this morning because later that day, an important visitor would be coming to see Albert and his family in their home. Who’s coming to visit us today Daddy? Asked Alberts’ oldest daughter Lenore. Ifs a surprise, answered Albert, if I told you I’m afraid that you would not be able to keep such a secret, and soon the whole village would know who is coming, and with that, Albert finished getting ready for the secret visitor.

Hours passed, and the visitor had not arrived yet. Albert and his family went about doing their chores, thinking that by staying busy, the time would soon arrive that the visitor would appear; this however, would not be the case. Morning became afternoon, and the afternoon turned into evening and evening into night. Albert and his daughters, Lenore; the oldest, Serena; the second born, and Clarissa; the youngest became tired of waiting and got ready to go to bed.

All of a sudden, all the lamps and the candles in the house went out, the inside of the house became so dark that when the girls put their hands up in front of their faces, they could not see them Clarissa started to cry. The darkness that was inside of the house was a kind of darkness that Albert had never seen before; he had heard about such things, and had read about this kind of darkness before in his Masters spell books, but had never experienced anything like it before.

Suddenly, the fire in the fire place made a loud WOOSH, what once was but a few smoldering embers had now became a roaring fire so large that the flames looked as though they were going to engulf the house at any second!

By this time, Albert and his daughters were very scared; and then, everything in the house turned back to normal just as quickly as when the darkness had come and the fire exploded. The sudden change was then followed by an eerie quiet, the crickets in the grass stopped chirping, the frogs that lived by the stream stopped croaking, it seemed as if Albert and the girls were the only living things on the face of the earth. Just when the quiet became SO quiet, a column of grayish-white smoke began to form in the middle of the floor of the main room of the house, the column got bigger and bigger and as it got bigger and bigger, the smoke turned darker and darker, just when the smoke turned the blackest of black, the column of smoke began to spin, it started out very slowly and then began spinning faster and faster, and even faster and the faster the column of smoke spun, the whiter the color of the smoke became. All at once, when the column of smoke was spinning faster than Albert thought was possible, there was a loud BOOM, and as the smoke cleared; standing in the center of the room was the visitor! Alberts’ master, the famous and powerful Wizard Byron!! Master Byron! exclaimed Albert, so nice to finally see you again; please sit down sir, I’m sure you’ve had a long journey and must be very tired. Once Master Wizard Byron had sat down, Albert and the girls gave him some milk and crazy cake to eat, Byron loved crazy cake. While Byron was eating the cake and finishing his milk, he was very quiet; which was unusual for the Wizard Byron who was normally very talkative. After he finished his snack, Byron looked at Albert with a very serious expression on his face, What’s troubling you Master? asked Albert, You look as if you have something important to tell me. Byron sat in his chair for a few more minutes, and then started to speak. Albert, you have been my apprentice now for 10 years, in which time you have learned much and have served me well, Albert knew