„Tan-taran-tan-dan. Tam-taram-pam-pam, tu-ru-ru-ru-ru, u-uu-u-u,” was singing Baradar, jumping from one foot to another while he was getting through the forest and carrying two baskets with flowers, full to the brim, in his hands.

And how not to sing if the minikin was happy and his happiness was closely related to his heart?! That day was the 365 anniversary of his Queen and the one who he loved to bits.

The night was still young and its beauty was due to the forest that he was getting through and to the stars that were so powerfully shinning in the sky, bathing the woods into a golden light that was filling his soul and of the trees with peace, and, namely, because they saw that earthly beauty, the stars started to shine even brighter than the sun during the day.

That's why everything around was sunken into a fairy-like world, where the golden rays of that light were warming the world with a holy breath, making the earth seem as if it was a big, golden apple: appetizing and magic, which could freely compete with the sun in a kind of competition of - who's shinning brighter?!

„Live the Queen! Long life to the Queen!" were just a few of the cheers heard from afar.

„They started that party without me," Baradar shouted and, leaving the baskets on the ground, he quickly climbed an oak as if he was a monkey and, skilfully moving through the trees, as if he has been a squirrel all his life, the minikin reached the top of the oak and looked in the distance, curious to find out what was happening at that moment in the palace's gardens.

„That's madness,” the minikin happily shouted, seeing how many people came to the party, to celebrate the queen's birthday. Suddenly, he made a wry face: „Oh, God, even the gnomes have been invited? But... why? They've been our enemies for so long. Why did they also come?" Baradar murmured unhappily and, sitting down on the thick branch on which he had stood before, he crossed his arms over his chest.

„That's not fair,” the minikin murmured again. „Some of us would have done everything to be there, but they can't, for they have things to do, for it's correct to do those things, for they are enough kind to be considered the fools of the year, while others...," and that „others" has been practically hissed through his teeth. „Well, Baradar, eventually it's only your fault for accepting this mission instead of being at the palace and having fun with the others. So: stop blaming others, for being such a fool."

A reproachful sigh has been heard behind Baradar. The minikin instead didn't scare but looked upset at those wooden eyes that had opened to his right. „Do you also think that I've been a fool?" Baradar asked the tree on whose branch he was sitting.

„Well, if to carefully think about this… maybe you're right," the oak said to the minikin in a slow voice.

„Nice of you for agreeing with me, but this definitely doesn't make me happy," the minikin said, taking another sitting position, a little bit more comfortable than the previous one.

„Why so, young master?" the oak asked, raising one of the branches that served him as arms and scratching his head with his long thin branches in the form of fingers.

„Because this isn't funny… at all… to be considered a fool," and Baradar deeply stared into the green eyes of the tree that were slowly blinking with their wooden eyelids.

„Oh, this isn't what I've meant. And... you definitely aren't a fool, minikin. You are just a kid that shows his dissatisfaction with the world."

„And this for sure didn't sound better than what you've said before, Hiamstar," and the minikin turned his back on the eyes. „You always agree with me when we talk about my clumsiness. But you never say anything when I do good things."

„Is that so?" murmured Hiamstar, smiling. And how not to smile when he knew that child for so long, that he learned to love him so much, with all his caprices, for, in that child, Hiamstar was seeing his youth when he was only an acorn, blown by the wind on the ground.

„Yes, absolutely," said Baradar upset and his nose, till then small and white, suddenly became red as it happened all the time the minikin got nervous.

„Don't be upset, my boy, for nobody in this world does good things or bad things without a purpose or reward," the oak continued his thought while gently touching the minikin's head with one of his thin branches. „And you definitely aren't a fool, boy. You just didn't live enough to make a difference between good and evil."

Hiamstar's word eventually reached their goal: the minikin forgot about his upset and slowly turned his glance toward the oak's eyes, curious to find out what's next.

„You know, I lived longer than any other creature in this forest and I got to know each blade of green grass and each moss that grows on my roots or around me, that I can feel the smell of nature and that I love so much the butterflies that are all the time touching my trunk and my branches with their tiny wings that prickle my skin and makes me feel thousands and thousands of tingles all over," and the oak slowly shook his body as if he felt those tingles at that moment, passing throughout his wooden shape.

„But, Hiamstar, did you ever feel the burden of your years?" the minikin asked and stared at the oak, with a kind of alive blink in his eyes - the sparkle of innocence.

But Baradar's question made Hiamstar smile, and, in his smile, he put all the burden he was carrying in his wooden chest. „Of course, I felt it, my boy, and not only once. This world has its own hidden secrets: deeply in the underground or up-up in the sky, in the cold water, or sneaking onto mountain paths. But not always finding out a secret is a good thing. Sometimes secrets are something to be scared about and only with whispering them you can bring the curse over your shoulders."

„The curse? What's a curse, Hiamstar?"

Hearing that innocent question of the boy, the oak's eyes fixed on the small and skinny body of the minikin, but even if the oak was looking straight into Baradar's eyes, it was felt as if he was looking past the minikin, seeing something from his faraway past, like a painful memory of those times.

„A curse…,” the oak stuttered, „it's like a spell, but with a reverse effect."

„Well, this definitely doesn't tell me too much," the boy said reproachfully.

„Because you are hurrying, young master: these aren't things that one can talk about it without thinking about it meticulously at first, for a curse isn't a rigid thing. I mean here that a curse doesn't have only one target or aim. It's like a gust of wind that trembles everything around, and if that thing, shivered by the wind's blow, is weak, it'll be taken out of its roots, or if it is strong enough to not be taken out of the ground, it'll never forget the coldness felt in its serum while the wind blew over it. And... that coldness isn't something that passes in time. No. It can be remembered for a whole life: by the birds, by the humans, by the trees. Even the fluffy bunnies feel that coldness sometimes."

„And… why do I feel that this curse has a story too?"

„Because is it true?! Oh, my boy, the curse has a starting point like any other thing or creature in this world, for nothing is born on this earth without having a story or a history."

„Then, tell me that story, Hiamstar. I'm so curious to find it out," and the minikin's curious eyes started to quickly blink and he completely forgot about the party, that he was rushing to fulfill his promise of bringing fresh flowers to give his queen as a gift, and that he planned that night to see Noea, to smile her and to later dream about her. But Baradar also forgot about one more thing: that evil must be somewhere close, lurking on him and that listening to a well-told story not always can be a good thing, and that not all stories had a happy ending.

„Well, if you insist that much listen to this story, then… close your ears, calm your breath, leave your imagination free, and be ready, for only this way you'll be able to live the story with all your being," and Hiamstar started later to whisper the story with his small leaves, a story about the past, a story without a happy ending and bringing the power of the curse, unwillingly, so closer to those realms.

***

„Long-long time ago, almost 4 thousand years before us, there was a fairyland on this earth, further north of ours, known by others like the Realms of Siar," Hiamstar started his story by shivering his leaves.

„And those lands were full of happiness and of a godsend, rich and large, with a lot of fruits and vegetables and, of course, there lived a lot of animals too, that were feeding themselves on those lands. And, one could see there tigres and lions, wolves and foxes, rabbits of all kinds, sheep and cows, dogs and cats, and, of course, there were also fluffy bunnies. But what was the most beautiful there was the king's daughter, named Curse. And that girl was so beautiful and kind that many kings and princes came to the King of Siar to ask for his daughter's hand. But Curse never accepted anybody, for she was dreaming to be the Queen of a single Spirit, whose name she also didn't know.

Curse saw that Spirit only once, in her dreams, on a long and cold winter night while she was turning back to the palace from a long journey when they decided to halt in one of the Glades, in Kiago Forest.

And they decided to halt there for the princess saw her crew tired. So, she ordered them not to lay the tent, but only to bring a fur closer to the pyre so that she'll sleep like that. And when her orders had been fulfilled, she laid on it and she fell asleep right away.

And even if it was winter and the wind was rebellious and sharp, the princess Curse's crew was safe, deep in the woods and warmed by the fire they ignited in the pyre. That's why, because they didn't feel any danger around, even the guardians fell asleep very soon, one after another.

Then, when everybody was asleep and when there was so calm around, the flames started to slowly move as if being touched by something or somebody unseen, a touch that made those flames wave, and, on the white and pure snow, footsteps had been seen approaching the princess. But... those footsteps appeared on the snow from nowhere, for the body of those footsteps'master wasn't seen.

And, as if feeling that someone was approaching her, the princess moved in her sleep and turned her face toward the Unseen Spirit, who squatted next to her when he got only one step from her and slowly-slowly he revealed his face.

That Spirit, who approached Curse, wasn't a Spirit like any other: he looked like a real human, but he was completely white - his hair, his skin, and even the blink of his eyes had a white shade as the snow has.

„You are the queen that I've always waited for," he told the princess in a whisper when she opened her eyes. And she has been so amazed by his beauty and she raised on her knees, staring like charmed at that Spirit.

„I'm here, my heart. I came to you," she whispered too and her hand touched the white cheek of the Spirit... his arms wrapped around her… their lips touched in a kiss and they fell prey to the love… there… next to the fire, without being afraid that someone will see them, for the Spirit had in his power the ability to freeze everything around and even if there were a lot of witnesses in that glade, none of them was aware of what happened there.

The next morning, he was gone as he appeared: so suddenly and without a trace. And when the princess opened her eyes, she has been so afraid of not seeing him. She asked everybody from her crew if they saw him, but none of them could answer her, for they were asleep and they didn't see or hear anything.

So, convinced eventually that she simply had a dream, they left that glade after she gave the order to everybody to rush for it still was a long way home, and they didn't have time to waste in vain. And they left: in a hurry and, very soon, they had been lost at the horizon.

But that one hadn't been for sure just a dream or princess Curse's madness: what happened in that glade was real and it has been revealed to the world very soon - when princess Curse's crew left the glade, there, next to the pyre, where she spent the night, on the snow, a few red drops were seen. But nobody spotted it for being so in a hurry to leave that glade.

But there was someone there who saw it and his mad voice has been heard so soon echoing around: „betrayal," he shouted and the gusts of wind carry the madness of his voice along. Then, the wind started to powerfully blow that the trees around were bent to the ground as if pushed by an unseen force and forced to kneel to ask for forgiveness for being unwilling witnesses of that betrayal. And, soon after this, other footsteps had been seen on the white and soft snow - black footsteps approaching the pyre that was still smoking.

Getting next to the pyre, the black footsteps'master revealed himself to the world: he was similar to the white one, but he had a black soul, with traces of evil in his glance and, from time to time, in his black like pitch glance, sparkles of fire could be seen.

„You took what was mine," the Black Spirit whispered with hatred. Then, his roar shook the horizon. But he didn't roar only to show the world his dissatisfaction but to also call to fight the one who betrayed him and, soon after, the White Spirit showed up in front of the black one and, in their hands, swords appeared - one made from fire in the hand of the Black Spirit and an ice one in the hand of the White Spirit.

„Island,” the Black Spirit hissed through his teeth. „You have completely forgotten about manners if you dared to take something mine."

„Tit for tat,” Island told the Black Spirit. „You also forgot what you took from me. It was time to take something yours, Ahi."

And one sword struck the other, left leg by the right leg approached while their eyes looked with hatred into the other's glance, and the fight started. And soon, a circle made from fire surrounded them as if closing them inside of a cage - those two brothers that decided to fight for life and death in that glade.

„You deserve the worst, Island," Ahi hissed again through his teeth, „and, because of this, I'll punish you by taking everything yours. These lands will be mine eventually, as the one that you made yours the last night."

„Do what you have to do, Ahi, but never brag with something that you don't have in your hand. I've always defeated you and I'll always do this, for Ice is always above the Fire in this Kingdom of Coldness, always surrounded by winds and by snow, and you won't ever be welcome here."

A skillful movement of Island's hand and the blade of his sword touched Ahi's right cheek, scratching it only. Then, a few drops of black blood colored the purity of the snow in the same shade. But the wound quickly healed, and the blood that touched the snow melted it till the black soil hadn't been seen under it, a soil covered by dried and dead leaves. And, due to that black water, in which the snow has been turned into, the ground had been covered with ice of the same shade. But the ice didn't cover that ground for long: it suddenly cracked when, from the ground, black leaves appeared, stuck on a thin branch.

„Ahilar!” Island furiously murmured. „The Devil's Tree. How did you dare to bring this plant of evil on my lands?" Island shouted and his strong voice had been heard everywhere. But his voice, as his power, was useless in front of Ahilar, for he hadn't the strength to destroy that tree.

Ahi loudly laughed instead, and his laughter wandered the surroundings far and wide. „Because I have the power to kneel you, brother and, if I can do that, I'll do it and, so soon, something will happen to this tree - it'll start to grow, bigger and bigger and, when the hand of innocence will touch its dried leaves, this tree will kill the innocence and, from that soul, it'll get a life. Thus, your curse will start," and, saying this, Ahi vanished into nothingness. In his place instead, demons with black-like pitch skin appeared and surrounded Ahi, forcing him to fight.

But Island was skillful enough: he knew to fight and how to hold a sword in his hand, and he was definitely not willing to give up on his life. But days have passed like hours while they kept fighting, for none of them had enough power to destroy the enemy or at least to kneel him down.

However, unlike the demons, Island had something on his side - the trees were breathing with ice around, and this was giving him the strength to fight and to think at the same time, trying to find a solution and end that mindless battle.

And the solution didn't last long to be found - at a moment when he has been kneeled down, after one wrong turn, trying to avoid the hit of one of the devils'palm, Island saw the red stains of blood on the ground, the blood of Curse. „Purity," he murmured, seeing those drops and he touched them with the tip of his sword. And, when the blade of the sword touched those red drops, it had been colored into red, filling the sword with power. „Now is the moment," shouted Island and jerked up, spinning in the air, and cutting the void with the red blade. And that sword not only cut the void but also the demons'bodies, filling the horizon with red sparkles of fire.

But as nothing lasted forever, the sparkles of fire vanished, too, leaving Island standing in the same circle where he stood before, surrounded by a wall of flames and another one of ice. However, even if that moment seemed to be a hopeless one, Island decided not to give in to despair. So, he kept squeezing the handle of the sword, smiling, and something changed in his physical appearance: instead of his totally white hair as he had before, he had a strand of black hair in front. And the same happened to his eyes - they were dark blue now, and not bright blue as they had been before. But even so, his beauty was still there and he was as handsome as he has been before.

Nine long months have passed and, one day in late autumn, Island heard the scream of a newborn, coming out of one of the rooms from the Palace of Siar: princess Curse gave birth to a boy. But she has been chased out of the palace soon and forced to wander the surroundings: getting through thick forests and deep valleys, washing her unknown sin this way with days in solitude, for the People of Siar couldn't forgive her betrayal of having a boy with God knows who, as they couldn't allow that child to be their king later.

And Curse wandered days and nights in a row after she had been chased from the palace, carrying her baby in her arms: both hungry and tired, and namely that tiredness made Curse blame her days eventually and the fact that she chose to spend that night in one glade of Kiago Forest, nine months ago. Eventually, she got to the glade where Ahi and Island fought, and she recognized in that glade the place where she spent that night, a long time ago. But instead of a white vastity, as she saw that night, she saw a tree growing right in the middle of the glade, in the same place where the circles of ice and fire surrounded Island, nine months ago. But that tree was lifeless and leafless and this made her feel sorrow for it too, as sorrowful as she was for her own life and for her baby.

That's why Curse decided to approach the tree and touch its dried branches, feeling sorrow for it: „poor tree," she whispered, „they also chased you away and left you lifeless as they did to me." But instead of giving some comfort to the tree, she cursed her life more, for, soon after she touched that branch, the nature around started to hoot and the glade has been surrounded by foxes... hungry foxes that were approaching Curse and her baby, more and more.

Scared, Curse started to crawl back, closer to the tree of Ahilar, till her back didn't touch the tree's trunk and she didn't feel herself a captive of the tree's wooden arms, which tightly hugged her and held her to its trunk, making her body liquefy and enter its bark.

Curse shouted, with all her force, but nobody came to help her. There were only the foxes that were surrounding the place, but they weren't anymore so hungry and evil as she saw them before... they only stood around the tree and looked at how the Ahilar was swallowing her and her baby.

But even if the foxes just stood there and watched, the gusts of wind didn't sleep. And namely, the gusts of wind carried Curse's weep up-up on the mountain, till it got at Island's palace, hidden inside of a huge grotto at that moment. And, listening to that weep, Island stood up from off his throne and listened to the surroundings. But more than Curse's weep, he heard the cry of his child. That's why the blood started to boil in his veins, for he felt the calling of his blood asking for his help. And Island couldn't stay still and watch how his offshoot was destroyed. So, he jumped on his horse's back and left to the Kiago Forest, to the Glade of Ahilar.

„Don't touch that creature,” Island shouted to the tree, and, tightly holding the handle of his sword, he started to cut the tree's branches, the same branches that were holding his boy. And, soon after, from those cut branches, a red dark serum started to be sput all over and the tree started to lament its wounds.

Being hurt, Ahilar released the boy, who fell into his father's arms. But even if he wanted to save Curse too, Island understood that it was too late. And, with his boy in his arms, Island looked at Curse, who was almost totally swallowed by the tree, and she was also looking at him, with frightened eyes. But even so, Island could see, in her eyes, the sparkle of gratitude, for he saved their child. And, when she finally vanished inside the tree, Island looked at his boy and told him in a whisper: „now, we are the only ones left, Boor. And... I'm sorry that you lost your mother, but I couldn't also save her," and, feeling great pain in his chest, Island roared, and his roar had been taken by the wind and carried on, for the wind felt the sorrow from Island's chest, who roared to cry for his beloved woman's death. Then, he jumped again on his horse's back and left that cursed place.

Handless, Ahilar bowed his crown, listening to Curse's weep from inside him: „this world to carefully listen to my words: those who chased me away and forced me to wander with my recently born boy in my arms, feeling weakness, pain and hungry, to lose everything they had. Their heirs to never have some rest and their houses to be burnt to the ground, as my soul has been burnt while crying my death and the loss of my child." And, soon after, Ahilar started to burn, but no sparkle of fire has been thrown over him: it ignited by itself and burnt to the ground.

And not only the Tree of Ahilar burnt that day: the wind, at Island's command, who listened to his beloved woman's curse, scattered those sparkless of fire in the air and sent them over the Kingdom of Siar. The first that started to burn had been the dried leaves, ignited by the sparkles that fell from the sky. Then, the trees, the bushes, and the houses also started to burn while Curse's cry and the words she spoke after her death were heard around. And the Siars finally understood the big mistake they've done. But it was too late to do something or to change. And, from that moment, they started to call their fate „Curse," as their princess'name, and whoever listened to that cry could never forget it later.

***

„Wow, what a sad and beautiful story at the same time," the minikin said, looking with curiosity at Hiamstar.

„This isn't just a story, my boy. This is the story of the Curse."

„Of course, it is. But it's just a story, in the end."

„And …what if the curse definitely exists? What happens if one has to definitely face the curse one day? What will you do if you have to face a curse?"

„Me? I'll just live with this, Hiamstar, for if something like this has been predestined to me, I must accept it. As a part of me."

„You're wise, boy, even if you are so young. But even so, you should know something: never think that a curse is inoffensive. A curse can be even more destructive than you ever knew."

But the boy didn't listen to what Hiamstar said, in the end: he suddenly turned his glance and looked west, as if something or somebody had summoned him to look over there. And his keen glance, which pierced the space, could see Noea, standing at her window, combing her long hair, and talking to the minikin: „you're already late to come back home, Baradar. You must turn back, immediately. And, on your way home, don't eat and drink anything that others give to you, or everything around will be cursed and destroyed," and when Baradar's glance and Noea's met, the boy looked elsewhere right away - he was too ashamed to look into his queen's eyes and too scared to find out the truth hidden in her glance.

„I'm coming,” only whispered Baradar, and, jumping from one thick branch to another, he got to the ground, took the baskets with flowers into his hands, and started to run toward the palace.

Left alone, Hiamstar raised his glance and looked at the starry sky, whispering: „please, Chaos, allow this boy not to feel so painful the curse that will be thrown on his shoulders, for harsh times are waiting for him, forcing him to wander the world for an eternity, getting through darkness and thick forests while looking in vain for his rest." Then, the oak kept silent, closed his eyes, and only a barely heard sigh has been heard coming out from his wooden chest, from time to time.