The magical smile

When Hunting a Ganel

I think I woke up when someone knocked on the door of our room. Still groggy, I tried to get up, but I stepped on Emu, stumbled over the bed, and fell to the floor. I got up from where I had fallen and opened the door. Menkir was standing there.

> “I came to let you know that we have to go hunting today because the Ganelos are causing trouble in the village of Tritus.”

Seeing that I was still not completely awake, he patted me on the shoulder and left.

If there is one person whose nature amazes me, it is Menkir. The men of Tritus village change women every day, choosing a different woman each time. But I have never seen Menkir with a woman—not even once.

Rubbing my eyes, I went back into our room and found Emu sitting on the edge of the bed, combing her green hair.

> “Who are you trying to impress with all this dressing up?” I asked, intending to start a joke.

> “Should I say you?”

She stood up, wrapped her arms around my neck, and began swaying with me.

> “What kind of dancing is this without any music?” I asked with a smile.

> “Where could we find music better than love?” she replied, wrapping my arms around her waist and gracefully spinning around.

> “You're right about that,” I said, trying to sway along with her.

> “But do you know how much I love you, my darling?” she asked.

> “Menkir called me. We're supposed to rescue the Ganelos.”

I said goodbye to her, left, and headed toward the palace's main gate.

As soon as I passed through the gate, I found Menkir waiting for me with two soldiers.

> “You certainly kept us waiting, Henok,” Menkir grumbled.

The two of us, along with the soldiers, began traveling in pairs toward the place where the Ganel was said to be.

We came across a sandy path that appeared to have once been the bed of a dried-up river. We followed the sandy path and continued on our way.

The path was filled with different kinds of stones. There were small green stones, blue stones, yellow stones, and red stones. For some reason, whenever I found them, I would get down from my horse, pick them out of the sand, hold them in my hand, and collect them.

Every now and then, the sandy path became damp, suggesting that a spring or flowing river was nearby.

On both sides of the sandy path stood dry, withered green trees. We traveled on, stepping over fallen, dried leaves, until we reached the base of a large fig tree.

At the foot of the tree was a pool of clear, pristine water. Its purity was almost enough to make one envious. From time to time, leaves from the fig tree fell and floated on the surface of the water. Even so, they did not spoil its cleanliness.

Menkir and one of the soldiers dismounted from their horses and stood looking toward the water. The other soldier remained on his horse and threw a rope toward the water.

But I couldn't see any movement near the lake.

> “There must be some way to force the Ganel out of wherever it's hiding,” Menkir said loudly.

> “What kind of way?” one of the soldiers asked.

> “I don't know. There must be some kind of spell or magical word,” Menkir replied irritably.

> “None of us knows any magical words or spells. And even if someone did, the Guardians of the Mysterious World have declared this month a month of magical fasting. So no one would willingly recite a magical spell for us,” the soldier said.

> “Is there no other way to summon Ganelos besides using a magical word?” Menkir asked.

> “It is believed that the smell of the leftover dፍድፍ—the thick residue remaining after drinking tella—has the power to summon Ganelos,” the soldier replied.

> “So you're telling me we're supposed to wander from one tella house to another looking for dፍድፍ?” Menkir said.

He mounted his horse. The soldier followed and mounted his horse as well.

I went over to the soldier who had thrown the rope toward the water and mounted my horse.

For some reason, I threw the stones I had collected along the way into the water. Instantly, I saw something moving beneath the surface. The creature suddenly pulled the soldier who had extended the rope into the water and dragged him beneath the surface.

> “Henok, run!”

Menkir shouted as he spurred his horse into a gallop toward the direction from which we had come. He disappeared from my sight.

Without even turning around to look back, I urged my horse forward and fled after them.