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.
“I think they were interested in Earth long before, it’s just that after their defeat in Ameron their influence on Earth increased. I should also mention some peculiarities about Earth. In some ways it is even more mysterious to us than Galfar. A long time ago, several centuries back, there was a close bond between Ameron and Earth. There were many natural ‘windows’ between the two spheres, and people could quite easily move between them, sometimes without even noticing. But gradually, due to some unknown causes, the ‘windows’ became fewer and fewer. People of Earth visited Ameron less and less, and those who continued to visit other spheres were persecuted and sometimes even killed. Evolution of life on Earth went in a totally different direction than here in Ameron, a direction strange and incomprehesible to us. Centuries went by, and Earth forgot about other habitable worlds, not on distant stars, but literally within arm’s reach. Moreover, in their stubborn pride, people of Earth not only lost connection with us, but refused to believe in the existence of any life other than their own.
That
