Marsu, Keeper of Life’s Greatest Gift

​ Alden belonged to an old warrior family living in the distant village of Marsu, hidden within the quiet lands of the Kingdom of Ulmar. His father, Ravlor, was once a respected King’s Guard, now retired. His eldest brother, Darian, trained tirelessly to rise through the royal army, and his middle brother, Selvar, dreamed of serving in the King’s council one day. Their family was small and poor, but they lived with dignity among the people of Marsu. Behind this village lay a massive mountain. Beyond that mountain, the elders whispered of an ancient tomb known as the Obsidian Vault. Stories said treasure slept inside it, guarded by a giant serpent named Serethar. The legend claimed that anyone who discovered the tomb’s secret would gain everything he desired—power, glory, destiny. Alden had heard these tales since childhood. One day he asked his father, “Father, is the Tombs of the Mountain story true?” Ravlor answered quietly, “It’s not fake. There is some truth in it.” Selvar looked up and asked, “Then why didn’t you ever go look for the treasure?” Alden added, “You were brave. You were a King’s Guard. Why didn’t you go? Were you afraid of the serpent?” Ravlor shook his head. “No, my son. It’s not about the serpent. It’s about faith. That place reveals itself only to those with the purest hearts.” Hearing this, Darian, practicing his sword nearby, smiled slightly and asked, “So, did you not have a pure heart?” Ravlor lowered his eyes. “I don’t think I did.” The whole family fell silent. Years passed. Alden turned eighteen. Darian became a small captain in King Ervian’s army. Selvar traveled to the capital and cleverly befriended Lorian, the King’s nephew, hoping it would help him enter the royal council one day. Meanwhile, Alden still lived in Marsu, dreaming of something greater. One evening, Alden again asked his father, “Tell me the truth. What is the real secret of the tomb?” This time Ravlor sighed heavily. “Fine. The truth is… we once went searching for it. I, your uncle Korven, and many others. But we found nothing—no tomb, no treasure. Nothing at all. It’s just a story. Stop chasing it.” But Alden didn’t believe it. His curiosity only grew. His closest friend, Teren, approached him one day and said, “My grandfather told me he once found a pot of gold guarded by a serpent.” Alden’s eyes widened. “What happened to the gold?” “Sold long ago,” Teren replied. “No proof left.” “Then do you believe the tomb exists?” Alden asked. Teren nodded. “Yes. Something is definitely up there.” The two stood together, staring at the distant mountain, and made a decision. “We’re going to find the tomb,” Alden said. But the timing was terrible. It was the season of snow. Strange creatures prowled through the forest. No adult was willing to join them. Even Jathor, an elder of the village, warned them, “There is no tomb! Don’t go!” But Alden was determined. “We will just check and return.” At last, the village elders performed an old tribal ritual to send them off safely. A deer was sacrificed, its blood poured into a cup, and both boys were made to drink it for protection. Today that ritual ended, and now Alden and his friend had to leave. When they came out and began climbing the mountain, they kept walking for two days straight and reached far ahead, where they were about to lose their way. But somehow by looking at the map, they realized they were still on the right path. After walking further for some time, they decided to sleep under a tree. As they were sleeping there, suddenly they saw a creature watching them from behind a distant tree, hiding. When they saw the creature, they got very scared because it looked extremely strange — its shoulders were very wide, it had wings, its face was huge, and it looked like something no one had ever seen before. Alden and his friend had expected that there would be some animals there, some strange animals maybe… but such bizarre creatures they had never imagined. Then Alden’s eyes fell on the creature’s back, and he noticed it had something that humans have — and he was shocked. The creature suddenly started running towards them… coming closer and closer… They panicked and started running away. But then they heard a voice saying: “Stop! I’m not here to hurt you. I’m not here to kill you. I just came to talk to you. Don’t go there. The path you are on is not right. The path you are on is not right…” Saying this, the creature ran away. Such a strange creature, and everything happening so suddenly — it all felt unbelievable. They couldn’t understand anything. They treated it as a strange incident and decided to continue their journey. As they walked ahead, they found a strange path leading away from the mountain. They had never seen that mountain or that place before, so they couldn’t understand what was happening. But they kept going. Suddenly Alden slipped and fell into a pit, and his friend also fell in with him. Before they could understand anything, they realized this is a trap. And then they both fainted. When they woke up, they found thousands of similar creatures — the same kind they had seen earlier — carrying them toward a dark and strange path inside the mountain. Before they understood anything, they were attacked again and fainted once more. When they woke up the second time, they found themselves in a place surrounded by creatures and a huge throne. Their leader sat on that throne. The leader asked them, “Why have you come here?” Both of them got scared and started screaming because they had never seen such a thing in their life, not even an animal speaking. Hearing a creature talk shook their souls. In a low, trembling voice they replied, “W–We are here to find the tomb.” The leader laughed and said, “Don’t be afraid of us. We are humans too.” Hearing this, Alden and his friend were shocked. They said, “How can you be human?” The leader replied, “We are not humans now. We were humans once… humans who tried to find this tomb. But we got trapped in the curse… and turned into this.” Then Alden remembered his father’s words. His father had once told him: “When we went to find the tomb, only those with a strong fate survived.” From the group of 100–200 people who had gone, only Alden’s father and a few others survived. Realizing this, Alden was shocked. Alden asked, “If this is a curse, how did you get cursed?” The leader replied, “Because of our greed… our bad intentions. It was all about our faith. We were cursed for our intentions. But we will one day break this curse. And we will take revenge from him.” Alden didn’t know who “him” was. Then they said something that turned Alden and his friend’s fear into a threat to their lives. They said, “To break this curse today, we need a human… someone we can feed to the beast responsible for our curse.” Both of them were shocked and terrified. Suddenly Alden got an idea. He told his friend loudly, “Take out your bow and arrow! Shoot his eye!” His friend pulled out the arrow and shot the leader right in the eye. As the creatures rushed towards them, Alden and his friend ran. They kept running and running until they realized they were running on the mountain… and suddenly they fell down a steep slope and reached a dangerous spot below. There they found a frozen waterfall — completely frozen. Scared, they started breaking the ice so they could hide inside the waterfall. After breaking it, they entered inside and hid. When the creatures didn’t come for a long time, they started thinking about what had just happened… but they couldn’t understand anything. Alden’s friend leaned against a rock behind the waterfall… and suddenly a loud sound came. A big hidden gate behind the waterfall opened. Their bag, torches, and supplies had been taken by the creatures, so they had only one choice — enter the cave. When they entered, the cave lights turned on magically, glowing in strange colors, lighting the whole place. But surprisingly, there were no snakes inside. They found piles of gold and treasure. They decided to take everything and become rich. But Alden suddenly realized: “What are we doing? We came here for a reason. The real thing we wanted… we still haven’t found it.” They dropped the gold and decided to leave. Then Alden noticed the torch’s light position was wrong. When he touched it, another gate appeared — and a giant snake came out. They were terrified. The snake said, “Well done. You are the first ones who showed true faith. Before you, only one human showed such faith — and he survived.” Alden asked, “How can you speak?” The snake replied, “It’s something ancient… something you don’t need to know. I am alive, and that is why I can speak.” They asked for the eternal thing it was guarding. The snake said, “This thing gives great powers… but also brings a great curse. I will spare your lives because of your goodness.” The snake spit some kind of liquid on them, causing them to faint. When they woke up, they found themselves near the river that flowed below the mountain. Villagers took them home. When they told the villagers everything, some greedy villagers informed King Jennitsu. Hearing this story, the king thought it was a trap at first. But when more people said they had heard of the Tomb of the Mountain, the king and his council decided to search for it to defeat the Kingdom of Calandria and rule the world forever. Meanwhile Alden’s eldest brother — now a commander — was sent to battle Calandria. Then the king learned about Alden’s middle brother, who taught the king’s nephew. He called him to the court and asked him about the story. Alden’s brother confirmed the tomb was real. The king promised him wealth and a council position if he helped find it. The brother agreed and returned to Marsu village. The villagers warned him not to disturb nature. But he didn’t listen. He requested the king: “Send the same troop my brother commands.” Since both brothers were from the same village, the king sent that troop. When they reached the village, their father — once a King’s Guard — warned them not to go. Alden and his friend also tried to stop them. But they didn’t listen. When the troop went, they were attacked by the creatures. From 50,000 soldiers, only the commander and one assistant survived. When they fled back, a greedy council member told the king: “Both brothers are the King’s Guard’s sons.” The king, who believed their father had betrayed the kingdom in the past, became furious. He ordered: “Destroy marsu completely.” The army attacked. Alden, his brothers, father, and friend hid in an old bunker as the village was destroyed. The army then marched towards the mountain. A massive war began between creatures and soldiers. Eventually the commander told the king everything. The king marched himself with his entire army. A spy told the king that the creatures were once humans — and greedy for money. The king bribed their leader with gold and jewels and passed through safely. After days of searching, the army finally found the frozen waterfall and entered. There they faced the Great Snepton — the snake. Alden couldn’t sit still. He wanted to save the tomb and repay the snake who had saved him. So he left the bunker and climbed the huge mountain for two days. When he reached the tomb, he saw the snake nearly dead, soldiers attacking it. Before dying, the snake blessed Alden with powers that made him incredibly fast — powerful enough to kill thousands within seconds. Alden wiped out the entire army. Suddenly, a big spear struck the snake, killing it. Alden's powers vanished and he fell unconscious. The king approached him laughing, saying he would now take the ultimate treasure and rule the world. The king entered the tomb and found the “special thing” — a walnut. A giant walnut the size of an apple. Its pieces had magical powers: 1. First piece — immortality 2. Second — no wound could harm him 3. Third — any wish he made would come true 4. Fourth — the final thing a human achieves in life The king didn’t understand the fourth piece. He ate all the pieces. Immediately… he died. When soldiers examined him, they realized: The fourth piece represented Death — the final thing every human achieves. That was the curse. The snake was trying to warn Alden about this. Alden’s father then revealed: “I was the first human the snake spared. I kept this secret so no one would go near it. You have destroyed everything…” But in reality, Alden saved the world. If the snake had died and the king hadn’t eaten the fourth piece, he would have become immortal, invincible, and all-powerful — ruling the world forever. Earlier, Alden had killed a soldier who understood the Marsuwa language — so the king never understood the warning about the fourth piece. The king died because of that ignorance. The army retreated. And now the next king was none other than the former king’s nephew… After the war, Alden, his father Ravlor, and his friend Teren began rebuilding their village, Marsu. Slowly but surely, the village came back to life, stronger than before. Alden’s eldest brother, Darian, rose to become the general of the main army, while his middle brother, Selvar, became a respected member of the king’s council. The family, together with the villagers, took on the responsibility of protecting the Tomb of the Mountain and its secrets, ensuring that no one would misuse its power again. The village thrived under their care, and peace returned to the lands surrounding the mountain. Thus, Alden, his family, and his friends not only restored their home but also safeguarded a powerful secret for generations to come. And so, their story came to an end, with Marsu safe, the tomb guarded, and hope restored to the Kingdom of Ulmar.