The magical smile

Wubamer

Since there was no one else in the palace, Wubamer and I began growing closer. Whenever she cooked, I stayed beside her. When she cleaned the palace, I was by her side. I was never apart from her. As we became accustomed to each other, I gradually began to develop feelings for her.

At first, I hadn't developed romantic feelings for her—until I saw that magical smile on her face again.

I saw the same smile on Wubamer that I had seen on Oxy and on the palace servant. I wondered, confused, Do all women's smiles look the same? But I had never seen that particular smile on Emu.

One day, I wanted to take a shower, so I headed toward the bathroom. Wubamer had apparently entered before me, and I heard her singing as she bathed.

Without saying a word, I turned around to leave. But then I heard her call my name from behind me.

Confused, I turned around and stopped.

“Soap got into my eyes. Could you hand me the towel?” she asked.

I turned my face away again, pushed the door open slightly, and reached my hand out to give her the towel.

But Wubamer didn't take it.

Confused, I turned around—and found that the door was now completely open, with Wubamer standing there naked.

Immediately, she took the towel from my hand and wrapped it around her waist.

I looked up at her.

She was smiling.

Water was dripping down her face and resting on her lips, giving her an extraordinary beauty. As I looked at her, I found her extremely attractive.

But I didn't want to repeat the mistake I had made while I was in the palace.

I smiled and was about to leave her when she grabbed my hand and stopped me.

“I understand that you want me, but I can't do this,” I told her.

“Why? Is it because you don't want to upset Emu?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“By the way, Kose's flute is with Emu,” she said.

“What?! How do you know that? Who are you?” I asked her.

She placed a finger against my lips.

“Shhhhh,” she whispered.

Then she kissed the finger she had placed on my lips, partly kissing my lips as well.

As she took my hand and placed it on her bare waist, I forgot where I was.

******************************************

The Love of a Zar

Wubamer told me about herself.

Wait—wait. It wasn't actually Wubamer who was speaking to me. It was the spirit inside her.

She told me that she was a zar named Betty, and that because she loved me deeply, she had been approaching me by inhabiting other people's bodies. She explained that she had also possessed Oxy and the palace servant, and that the magical smile I loved so much belonged to her as well.

Suddenly, everything that had been confusing me became clear. The reason my feelings for Oxy had suddenly disappeared, and the reason I had seen that magical smile on the palace servant, was Betty.

“Oxy was the king's wife, so it seemed difficult for me to approach you through her. So, as an alternative, I possessed the palace servant,” she said.

“Then why didn't you possess Emu out of all these people?” I asked her.

“She is my rival. My intention was to take you away from her. Besides, she wasn't yours in the first place,” she replied.

“How?” I asked.

“Emu is in love with someone other than you,” she told me.

“What?! With whom?” I asked in astonishment. Yet I didn't feel angry at all, because the feelings I had for Emu were slowly dying inside me.

“She had fallen in love with the first demon that emerged from the lake. She was the one who gave him Kose's flute. When the demons were deceived and thrown into the lake, he was the only one who survived through Emu's intervention,” she explained.

“And the demons want to take revenge on Tanzan for the betrayal he committed against them,” she added.

“What? The demons are going to return to the earth? That's impossible!” I said loudly.

“What is wrong with you? As for me, as long as you're alive and as long as we can be together in love while I borrow human bodies like this, I don't care about anything else,” she said.

“That must never happen. I won't allow it to happen,” I said.

“And what are you going to do?” she asked me.

“I will stop Emu and the others,” I said passionately.

“How are you going to stop them?” she asked, confused by my determination.

“I will turn myself over to Tanzan's soldiers,” I said.

“Will I have to come with you?” she asked.

“You have a responsibility to return Wubamer to her family,” I told her.

******************************************

The Palace of Tritos

As soon as I reached the palace gates, the guards were startled when they saw me.

“I have come to warn the king in advance because there is an attack being planned against our people and the palace,” I told them.

No one listened to me. They threatened me with the spears they were holding and forced me to kneel. They tied my hands and brought me before the king.

“So, how are you, hero?” he said. “Did you really think you could seduce the king’s wife and escape?”

With hatred clearly written across his face, he spat in my face. Then he kicked me hard in the shoulder, sending me sprawling to the ground.

“Take him to the cell and keep him there until he is brought to trial,” he ordered the guards.

As soon as they put me in the prison and closed the door, Menkir came running to see me.

“How are you, my friend?” he asked, approaching the iron bars of the prison. Since he had been running, he was breathing heavily.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come and see me,” I said, standing a little distance away from the door.

“I didn’t expect the guards to catch you either,” he replied.

“To tell you the truth, the guards didn’t catch me. I came back here of my own free will,” I answered.

“Why did you come back?” he asked.

“Our very existence is in danger. It was Emu who escaped with Kose’s flute. Her intention is to summon the army of the demons,” I explained.

“So you were arrested because you came to bring us this information? You came to save us?” he asked.

Then he turned away from me and left.

******************************************

The Lawyer

“Let’s see who is bold enough to stand as this traitor’s lawyer!” Tanzan declared to the crowd gathered below him as he stood on the balcony.

“I will defend him,” Menkir said, stepping forward.

“Then let’s see how you intend to defend him!” Tanzan replied.

“First, let me hear what he has been accused of,” Menkir said, preparing to act as my lawyer.

“First, he fled after concealing information that could put our very existence in danger.

Second, no one knows where he took Emu and where he has hidden her,” Tanzan explained, outlining the charges against me. As I had expected, he did not mention that we had been caught together with his wife.

“Very well. According to the information I have, the accused returned to the palace in order to reveal the location of the flute,” Menkir said.

“Can you provide evidence?” Tanzan asked him.

“My evidence is the accused himself. Ask him where Kose’s flute is,” Menkir replied.

“Can you tell us where Kose’s flute is?” Tanzan asked me.

“Emu is the one who disappeared with Kose’s flute—” I began, but Tanzan interrupted me.

“I thought you said she had thrown it away,” he said.

“I did say that, but she lied to me. She lied to all of us. She has built a palace in the forest and is planning to summon the army of demons,” I explained, emphasizing how dangerous the situation was.

“Are you telling the truth?” Tanzan asked me.

“Yes. I am telling the truth,” I replied.

“If what you have said is true, you will show us the direction of the palace. And, taking into consideration what you have done for this kingdom, we have decided to change the death sentence we intended to impose on you to life imprisonment,” Tanzan announced.

Still standing on the balcony, he threw a sealed document down to the soldiers, who caught it.

“This cannot possibly be right. Henok was accused of hiding the flute. We have now established that he did not hide the flute,” Menkir protested.

“The king’s order must be obeyed,” Tanzan said, before entering the palace.

The gathered crowd began to disperse. The soldiers came toward me, seized me, and began taking me back to prison.

On the way, I encountered Oksi. I was surprised to see where she had come from. I had not seen her during the trial.

I don't know where she found the courage, but as she looked at the soldiers, she said, “Can I speak to him alone for a moment?”

The soldiers looked at one another in confusion. After a moment, they left me with her.

What could she want to tell me? Maybe she has come to kiss me again? The thought made me smile involuntarily.

Could it be that Betty has possessed her again?

“I heard Tanzan secretly ordering the soldiers to kill you tonight. I came to warn you to be careful,” she said.

As she spoke, I thought of something I could do to determine whether the person talking to me was really Betty or Oksi.

“I thought you had come to kiss me again,” I told her.

She suddenly froze. Immediately, a surprised smile appeared on her face—but her smile was not Betty’s.

In a quiet voice, she simply said, “Ciao!”

Then she turned around and walked back the way she had come.

*********************************""""""""***

Nightfall

I did not feel any sense of anxiety or uneasiness until night came. Somehow, though I didn't know how, I was certain that I would not die. As soon as I entered the room where I was being held, I found a corner and lay down without any fear.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly woke up without knowing what had awakened me. I could hear footsteps approaching the door of the prison. My killers are coming.

I was able to tell that there were two people by the sound of their footsteps. Confused about what I should do, I moved closer to the door.

Gradually, the rain began to fall. Then the sky suddenly flashed with lightning. In that brief flash, I saw two soldiers fighting. When lightning flashed again, I saw one of them choking the other and slashing his throat with a dagger.

After that, everything went dark, and I could no longer see anything. The rain had also begun pouring down heavily.

Suddenly, lightning flashed again as someone opened the door of the prison where I was being held. In the flash, a soldier, drenched and soaked by the rain, entered through the open door.

“Quick! Escape, Henok!” the soldier said as he opened the door for me.

“Did Menkir send you?” I asked, wanting to know the identity of the person who was helping me at that moment.

When the lightning flashed again, I recognized that magical smile on the soldier’s face.

I smiled and quickly ran out of the prison.

The soldier followed me out.

************"""""**************************

The Tireless Creature

We traveled throughout the entire night, and just before dawn, we reached a forest.

“So, where are we going now?” I asked, staring at the soldier.

“I have no idea! From now on, an order will be issued for you to be killed on sight. You will have to live as a fugitive for the rest of your life,” he replied.

“What?! After being sentenced to life imprisonment, I could have lived in the place I loved,” I said. Leaving the village of Tritos was like a death sentence to me.

“If you had stayed there, you would have been dead by now. And anything is better than dying,” the soldier said.

“Fine. So now I suppose we’re going to die of hunger here in this forest,” I said hopelessly.

“Why don’t we go to Emu’s palace? There will be plenty of food there,” the soldier suggested.

I glared at him angrily, but he smiled.

That magical smile! The smile that made me forget everything.

When I saw his smile, I became mesmerized by the soldier’s beauty and stood there in a daze. Was the soldier actually handsome? Or was it the power of his smile that made me feel this way?

“Come on. Let’s go to the palace now,” he said.

When the soldier started walking, I followed him.

When we reached the palace, Emu was nowhere to be seen. However, the lions began roaring angrily as soon as they saw us. Even the grass surrounding the palace began moving as though it were preparing to attack us.

The soldier flipped twice through the air. While still airborne, he slashed the grass repeatedly with the sword in his hand, rendering it harmless.

Then he headed toward the lions.

He threw the sword he was holding and, with incredible speed, drove it into one of the lions’ throats. In the same instant, he lunged at the second lion, grabbed its jaws with his bare hands, and tore them apart.

I had never encountered such a strong and fast creature in my life.

As I stood there, astonished by his strength and speed, he gestured for me to come toward the door.

As I walked toward him, he ripped open the locked door.

Inside was the monkey.

The moment she saw the soldier, she attacked him.

The monkey was no ordinary creature. She leaped from one wall to another, keeping him on the defensive. Eventually, the soldier jumped and slammed her against one of the walls, killing her.

I followed him into the palace dining room.

The room was filled with different kinds of food.

We began serving ourselves, opening the metal cooking pots one after another. They were filled with various dishes—some spicy, some mild.

After eating and drinking as much as we could, the soldier left the room in search of something to drink.

While waiting for him, I began picking up bananas and eating them. Although I found many different kinds of fruit in the room, I wasn't interested in eating anything except bananas.

When the soldier took too long to return, I left the room.

As I walked out, I heard a sound coming from the bathroom. Assuming that the soldier was taking a bath, I went into the room Emu had once given me and lay down on the bed.

But how could the soldier possibly be so strong and fast?

It must certainly be Betty’s spirit.

I had heard stories that people possessed by zar spirits could display supernatural speed. It was also said that they seemed naturally incapable of feeling fatigue.

As I was thinking about this, the soldier must have finished bathing, because he came in and lay down beside me.

He wasn't wearing any clothes.

I slowly glanced downward at him.

His bare legs were reddish, with very fine hair growing here and there. The water had soaked his hair, making it lie flat against his body.

“When I look at you, Hენოკ, I can't put into words how beautiful you are to me,” the soldier said.

My heart began pounding with fear.

“I have never loved a man the way I love you. Even now, if the body I am possessing weren't a man's body, I would be happy just to kiss you. Loving you is something I can never get enough of,” he said. “But what will happen to us in the future? Are you going to keep changing into different women's bodies just so you can meet me?” I asked the soldier.

“To tell you the truth, I've been thinking about that too. Unless I become selfish and take another person's soul away forever, it will be difficult for me to continue being with you this way.

“Of course, because I love you so much, I wouldn't mind making any sacrifice to be with you. But I don't think you would be happy with that.”

The soldier turned toward me and looked at me.

I kept averting my eyes so I wouldn't look at his naked body.

“So, what have you decided?” I asked.

“I've decided to leave you. But before I do, I will teach you how to become a creature that never gets tired and can move as swiftly as the zars.”

************"*****************************

Emu

The first time I saw a ganel was on the day I played Kose’s flute. When the first ganel emerged from the water, I ran away and entered the forest. But it followed me and caught up with me.

It was incredibly beautiful. Its hair was black, but whenever the sunlight reflected off it, parts of it appeared green.

When it reached me, I was startled and fell to the ground in the forest. It came over to where I had fallen and kissed me on the lips. I would have been happy to stay there forever, kissing him like that.

But he snatched Kose’s flute from my hand.

From that day onward, we began meeting repeatedly. He even built me a palace in the forest. Most of the time, we would meet by the river around evening because he loved going there to get some fresh air.

Whenever I met him, my heart would beat with joy. I felt as though, if he asked me to pull out my own soul and give it to him, I would willingly say yes.

Meeting him became an addiction for me. If I saw him tonight, I would spend the entire next day longing until I could see him again.

The red hair covering his body fascinated me. The hair on his arms and legs was a brilliant, shimmering red. I always loved kneeling beneath his knees and stroking the hair on his legs.

******************""*"""*******************

The animon plant

All day long, Beti, while inhabiting the soldier’s body, trained me in various skills. After only three days of training, I had unexpectedly become fast and agile. I was able to fight quickly and could also disappear from an area with great speed.

“What is the soldier’s name, though?” I asked him.

“His name is Mekuanent,” he replied.

Suddenly, while we were talking about this, we heard a sound coming from the direction of the door. I quietly looked through the window of one of the rooms and saw Tanza, along with his soldiers, surrounding the palace.

“Emu! We know that you are inside the palace. Will you come out and surrender peacefully, or shall we use force?” Tanza shouted.

“Do you think we can face all these soldiers and defeat them?” the soldier asked me.

“Let’s give it a try!” I replied. I was eager to show Tanza what I was capable of.

We leapt out through the palace windows and began cutting down every soldier we encountered. Not a single soldier was able to stand bravely before us and fight.

Tanza noticed this and shot fire from his eyes at me. If I had not quickly leapt into the air and hidden behind a tree, I would have been turned to ash.

Meanwhile, Emu and Ganel arrived. When they reached the palace, they found the surrounding area had become a battlefield. Ganel immediately transformed into an anemon plant and began chasing and devouring every soldier he encountered.

Mekuanent came to the tree behind which I had sheltered myself from Tanza’s fire and said, “I entered Emu’s body for a few minutes. While reading her mind, I discovered where Ganel had hidden Kose’s flute. The flute is hidden in the same place where you first encountered Emu.”

Together with Mekuanent, I went to Ganel’s Lake. When we reached the lake, we found a white tree that looked as though it had been struck by lightning. It had no leaves, and its branches had dried up. Whenever one of its branches broke, ash came out of it.

Mekuanent climbed the tree. When he reached the top, he looked down at me and said, “Hand me a thin piece of wood with a forked end.”

I went to a tree I found beside the lake, broke off one of its branches, and threw it to Mekuanent. He inserted the branch into an opening in the white tree and struggled with it for a while. Eventually, he pulled out Kose’s flute and threw it down to me while he was still up in the tree.

“Now the flute is in your hands. You can summon and command the entire Ganel army. If you wish, you can wipe Tanza and his entire army from the face of the earth,” he said, then jumped down from the tree.

“The one thing I want is to destroy this flute and erase it from the face of the earth,” I said, preparing to break it.

“Don’t do that. Even if you don’t need the flute today, you may need it tomorrow. If not, you can hide it somewhere no one will ever find it. I’ll show you where,” he said. He then gestured for me to follow him and entered the forest.

I followed him into the forest.

He led me to a huge tree. A clear spring flowed beneath it. He went behind the tree, dug a hole in the ground, and covered the area with leaves. Then he took the flute from my hand, wrapped it in leaves, covered it with soil, and finally brought grass and planted it over the spot.

“You may not need to summon the entire Ganel army. Since you possess a special, hidden part of the mind, all you need to do is picture in your mind the image of the Ganel you want to summon and then play the flute,” he said.

Then he stared directly at me and asked, “What have you thought about Tanza?”

“Nothing,” I replied.

He gave that magical smile and said, “Oh, Henok, you are so innocent. Don’t think Tanza will let you go that easily. The only solution for Tanza is to bring Almiris back from the world of the dead. Almiris will never forget the creature that brings him back from the world of the dead. Besides, if Almiris returns from the world of the dead, a plague will come with him. That plague will strip the three brothers of all their extraordinary powers.” He spoke as though he had already figured out a solution.

“And how can Almiris be brought back to the land of the living?” I asked.

“In ancient times, in a country called Ethiopia, a terrifying anemon began devouring the people of the land. The people became extremely distressed by this beast, so they consulted the king and began seeking the advice of priests.

“The priests declared that what was happening was the wrath of the gods. They said the wrath had come because the king’s wife had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the gods.

“They said the plague would end only if the king’s virgin daughter were given to the beast.

“When the queen and king heard this, they were deeply saddened. Nevertheless, the king eventually agreed with the priests’ proposal.

“But the queen refused to accept such a solution. While desperately searching for another answer, she heard about the Guardians of the Secret World, who were said to be capable of accomplishing things that ordinary people could not.

“She asked the Guardians of the Secret World for help. Because they loved Ethiopia and its people, they quickly came to their aid.

“Before the beautiful Princess Saba could be devoured by the beast, they arrived and killed it with their swords.

“When the beast died, its blood spilled onto the princess’s heel, and her heel was transformed into a donkey’s foot. Although the princess remained extremely beautiful, she began to limp whenever she walked, and everyone who saw her began to pity her.

“Later, when the princess inherited her family’s throne and became queen, she traveled to Israel to visit King Solomon. As soon as her foot touched the land of Israel, the donkey’s foot that had been attached to her heel fell off.

“Bring that donkey’s foot and burn it in front of Tatey, who is the bridge connecting the world of the dead and the world of the living. When the smoke enters Tatey’s nose, the zars and the offspring of zars will once again begin appearing between the dead and the living, just as they did before.

“Almiris entered the world of the dead after leaving behind the amulet that Tamria had given him near Tatey. Therefore, Menkir must take the amulet with him into the world of the dead and give it to Almiris.

“But before any of this can happen, Queen Saba must first be brought back to life. For that, you must find a creature capable of resurrecting the dead.”

And that was how he explained to me how Almiris could be brought back to the land of the living.

*********""""""********"""******************

Mekuanent

After traveling with Beti for some time, when we reached Tritos Palace, she kissed me on the lips, said goodbye, and left the soldier’s body.

As Beti’s spirit left the soldier, the soldier opened his eyes. He looked around as though he had just awakened from sleep.

“What happened to me?” he asked me in confusion.

“You were acting as though you were going insane, so you weren’t aware of yourself. Now you have recovered and returned to your senses,” I said with a smile.

“What is your name?” he asked. His confusion was gradually fading.

“My name is Henok,” I said, extending my hand toward him.

“My name is Mekuanent,” he said, taking my outstretched hand and shaking it.

“I have no doubt that we are going to become great friends,” I said, waving the hand he was holding.

“Henok!? Are you alive?” Oxi exclaimed as she came toward where Mekuanent and I were standing.

“Thank God, I’m alive.”

As soon as I said this, Oxi came over and threw her arms around me.

“I thought you were dead,” she said with a smile.

But it wasn’t that magical smile.

“I’m not someone who dies that easily,” I said, holding her cheeks and playfully pinching them with my fingers.

“Tanza and his men are wandering from forest to forest looking for you. And here you are, you’ve come all the way to the palace to meet them!” she said, laughing.

“Rather, which one of you can tell me where I can find Menkir?” I asked Oxi and Mekuanent.

“When I was coming here, I thought I saw him in the garden,” Oxi said.

I quickly walked around to the back of the palace. I found Menkir standing in the garden, completely absorbed in thought.

“Isn’t the whole country looking for you? What are you doing here?” Menkir asked as soon as he saw me.

“I have discovered the secret of how Almiris can be brought back to the world of the living,” I told him.

“Come on, tell me. I’m listening,” he said, his face showing his eagerness to hear what I had to say.

I told him everything Beti had told me, without leaving out a single detail.