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The time for submitting the essay has come. While correcting a few words and errors here and there, Varvara Bellring gives up.V. Bellring "How I Spent My Summer"
The June sun, like a steadily blazing bonfire, burned ever stronger, drying out the grass, flowers, and thickets of kaoris that the gardeners desperately watered. The local seagulls were too lazy to leave the cool seawater, even for the usual bread crumbs from the kind-hearted residents of Alma. For someone like me, a cold-loving person from Refitea, the weather and surroundings were increasingly reminiscent of the white sun of the desert.
Several caravans arrived at the small oasis in the middle of the vast scorched land: some by sea, some by land. The caravans brought not traders from distant lands, no. They were gifts as a sign of friendship, and with them — several travelers wrapped in light white robes. Back then, they were just exotic, unfamiliar foreigners to me, much like I myself was when I first arrived in this desert. Now, I know them by name, and it would not be shameful to list them.
There is Claudia Smaragd, but she is more often compared to electric stone, amber, because the princess from a distant country hides the power of lightning in her legs. Another is Shea, a Sangvinar huntress: throwing an axe at a desert crocodile, she pierces the animal clean through. Neomarica Valse, from the tribe of blue-haired strongmen: should she encounter a crocodile, she does not waste time on it, kicking the reptile a whole verst away. Ladia Moe from Aeolia: she is afraid of crocodiles, but I doubt they would touch her, as she has a maxed-out taming skill, which is quite natural given her build.
There is Oleg Ugrev, my fellow countryman; we met at the well, and I asked him for water, but he did more than I asked, also watering my camels. Bao Hien Tong, who has been almost everywhere in his lifetime searching for besto placo, but he is still far from finishing his journey, because the best place is always found within the seeker himself. Alidum Sirabe — the smallest of all the fire giants I have ever heard of, which allowed him to live in the oasis on equal footing with everyone else; somewhat unsociable, but not an outcast; he loves to eat the eyes of local monsters (but he is right, it is a good dessert, I have tried it). Aorich Traba and Dinorsis Balyoni — one from our world, the other his reflection from the Looking Glass, though I do not know which is which; they came to the oasis together to better understand each other and end the centuries-old enmity between the two worlds. And also Fortis Vir — a knight of the sorrowful countenance; he came to the oasis seeking allies for a campaign against the infidels.
The travelers were divided into a male half and a female half, and each group welcomed them as was proper, with bread and wine, some in a cool tent, others under the shade of palm trees. We shared our stories with each other and spent a pleasant time in leisure, when suddenly the moon blocked our view of the sun and an impenetrable darkness fell. The alarm bell rang on the palace square, and we, in anxious anticipation, hurried to the sound of the warning.
"A good comparison, since the bell for class is always stressful, of course."
Not far from our settlement stood an old, half-ruined tower, and in that same tower was the tomb of an ancient desert king. One of the guards noticed that the tower's mechanisms began to move as soon as the sun was hidden, or perhaps they were even the cause of the eclipse? In any case, we, the local residents, together with the visiting travelers, needed to check what was happening.
On the first floor of the tower, a mummy awaited us — apparently not the king himself, but some lesser noble. The soulless body moved almost as if alive, and had already aimed for a sword hanging nearby, to bring retribution and death to the living in the name of its master. We arrived just in time before the dead thing could arm itself, and began to strike it blow after blow. The warriors of my own clan particularly distinguished themselves, turning the creation of dark magic into a pile of dust and bandages. Although no one was ultimately injured, the incident left a great impression on us, and after conferring with each other, it was decided to permanently seal the passage to the upper floors of the tower: until we knew more and were better prepared for a possible encounter with new enemies. Stepping outside, we found the sun shining brightly again, as if the night in the middle of the day had never happened.
I mentioned my clan earlier, and now I would like to tell you more about them, though without touching on when and under what circumstances we were united by a common fate. It would also be impossible to remain silent about them, given how much time we spent together during the summer months.
Their names, in order of receiving certificates for membership in the oasis: Gideon Velfazif, who loves nothing more than shooting explosive rounds from his mechanical wrist, aside from tinkering with its screws; for this reason, he is a noisy guy, though he speaks quietly; it seems he could have blown up the mummy from the tower all by himself. Leila Squill, a hereditary saberist, but she constantly tries her hand at something new, be it drawing figures in the sand or singing military marches. Futaba Starlit, still bearing her maiden name at the time, kills the clan's enemies quietly, unlike Gideon, but no less effectively — in fact, more so. Nirianna Melvance, who took over almost all the trade in the oasis, but gives interest-free loans to friends. Vaylis Foxtail, a nimble guy — the kind they say "our little rascal is everywhere at once" — but towards the end of summer, he started skipping out a lot for some reason; perhaps he cares more about his friends than anyone in the oasis, being the first to rush into battle against jackals. And the already mentioned traveler, Fortis Vir, who joined the clan later than everyone else.
As such a group, we together underwent numerous difficult trials assigned to us by the Sultan. For the most part, they all involved grueling physical labor under the scorching desert sun: for example, in one of them, we had to swim through a burning sea of quicksand, earning points for our clan, and along with them — burns on our bodies, an unpleasant earthy taste in our mouths, and watering eyes. In another, we had to run through a shallow muddy river, barely moving our sinking legs, while also trying to avoid encounters with biting small fish and dangerous bloodthirsty crocodiles. A third trial supposed that we would throw heavy cannonballs to the top of a palm tree, but this trial turned out to be so difficult even by the standards of the others that it was mercifully canceled in the end. However, even in the case of the river run, my clan excused me from it due to my inability, thereby giving me a precious hour of rest in the desert.
Overall, rest proved to be better and more fruitful than the aforementioned trials. Whether it was reading books in the shade of a tent during the midday heat, sparring with weapons, or going to the fair, the desert dweller invariably became not only a little happier from it, but also stronger and healthier.
I do not wish to describe the fair itself in detail, although, of course, it is a truly wonderful place where you can buy and acquire many different goods, have a snack, or have fun. But I will tell you about one trip indirectly related to it. One day, not far from the fair, we noticed some structure barely visible through the sand dunes. Then, while some of the oasis inhabitants were busy with gladiator shootouts against lions, bears, giant spiders, and wild dogs, and others were taking mud baths (all these activities, of course, are worthy in themselves), we, four brave girls, decided to go on a reconnaissance mission. It was me, Leila, Ladia, and Claudia. Approaching the strange building, we realized that a labyrinth had been standing unnoticed by anyone in the desert all this time. After a brief hesitation, our reconnaissance corps entered.
The first thing that greeted us inside were bas-reliefs of ancient queens from a kingdom unknown to us. The queens gazed at us with a stern, devouring look, as if they wanted to make us kiss their boots as if they wanted to warn those entering of the dangers awaiting them inside the labyrinth. We were not of a timid dozen, so we did not stop.
Deep in the labyrinth, we were met by some strange coven of ghosts; they danced, shouted, sang songs, but their enthusiasm made it clear that the spirits had been trapped inside the labyrinth for thousands of years and were thoroughly bored with it all. Seeing us, the ghosts lunged at the new, unfamiliar faces, intending to join us to their celebration and finally bring some variety to it, but we showed cruelty and did not give in: we had an important reconnaissance mission and did not have hundreds of years to spare for songs and dances.
Entering the next room, we found that the floor had become rotten, but we realized this too late, having already fallen deep down somewhere as a whole group. Below, we were met by a minotaur with a butcher's knife; he seemed to have been waiting for us, immediately shouting with great enthusiasm, "FRESH MEAT!!!" Since we did not know whether an ancient curse would fall upon us if we killed the minotaur, we had to dodge his attacks and quickly search for an exit and keys. Leila took the keys from the monster's belt while I distracted his attention, and in the end, with difficulty, we got out.
We found nothing else remarkable in that labyrinth... At least, that's what we thought until we got outside, where, as if nothing had happened, the very same minotaur was waiting for us. It seems he had taken a short route to the same spot and now lunged at us again with the same cries about fresh meat... We successfully ran away from him again, but it was a bit scary.
In the end, we decided not to report the results of our reconnaissance to anyone, because it was all just too strange; you have to see such things with your own eyes, otherwise no one would believe us. But that day was definitely a success.
The summer continued on. The well-known event occurred when the Sultan found himself a Sultana, and the guests, including myself, nearly got into a fight at their wedding... I won't go into detail about that; from my point of view, it was a perfectly noble act to defend the bride's honor, but I am glad that my compatriot, Yanira Vasilek, a new inhabitant of our oasis, ultimately resolved the problem with her authority and words, and the bride also showed herself well.
And then, Stella Horst, Yukka Telltale, and Jin Silva, who had gone to distant lands, returned to the oasis. I, of course, had not even hoped to see them again, thinking they had found shelter in other lands, or had perished along the way in the desert; fortunately, the trio returned to us, all safe and sound, albeit considerably tired from their travels. Since the Sultan had given us a new task at that time, namely to find enemy scouts in the oasis, I teamed up with Yukka and Stella to carry out this mission.
During our search, we found no suspicious people, but in a local teahouse we discovered a vessel in which sat a tiny and very lively mermaid. That mermaid was, perhaps, similar to Yukka in her cheerfulness and some features; we spent quite a lot of time chatting with her and asking questions. As it turned out, the mermaid was the adopted daughter of one of the local women; she had apparently been rescued at sea from a predatory fish, and since then the little girl had lived in the oasis, where it was safe: she was carried across land in the vessel so she could rest, look at people and the wonders of the terrestrial world, and also eat human food.
Finally, the last days of summer arrived, and with them, a long-awaited event in the desert: the Festival of Talents, where students fought against each other, trying to earn loud applause from the audience and high marks from the organizer of the whole event, Yanira Vasilek. My first opponent — Nage Asaliant, an experienced acrobat, performs a trick juggling eight knives simultaneously. It seems the audience likes it, but unfortunately, Nage drops one of the knives during the performance, for which his score is reduced... I, on the other hand, show a simply deadly technique with a scythe, cutting three sheaves of wheat and a watermelon in one blow; I am awarded the victory and proceed to the second round. No worries, Nage, you were a good opponent; see you at the next competition.
My second opponent — Ixora Abutilion, seemingly a red-haired girl, but actually a high-tech automaton made entirely of iron; there is no other explanation for why even the largest and toothiest desert crocodile cannot bite through her skin. Unfortunately, it seems that this, combined with the especially scorching sun that day, hindered her: Ixora, suffering from the heat, could not perfectly perform the trick of lifting a heavy barbell. I, on the other hand, successfully cut four sheaves of wheat and two watermelons with one swing of my scythe and advance to the next round. Thank you for being my opponent, Ixora.
My third opponent — Nirianna Melvance, whom I have already written about as a member of my clan. Nira tosses ten coins into the air one by one, shoots them with a pistol, and hits them, leaving holes in the coins. I cut five sheaves of wheat and three watermelons with my scythe. At one point, I thought Nira and I would have a draw, but we raise the stakes: Nira shoots at twelve coins at once, and I increase the number of sheaves to six. I managed it, but Nira has one coin that returns to the ground without a bullet hole. Victory is mine.
My fourth opponent — my green-haired comrade Leila Squill. Leila takes a boomerang and with a precise throw successfully cuts the top off a coconut twenty meters away, then gracefully catches the returning weapon — this leaves a good impression on everyone. I, however, lack just a little strength to cut seven sheaves of wheat and four watermelons, so, unfortunately, my performance ends here... Alas and alack. It is doubly frustrating that Leila was then defeated by Gideon with an act of quickly disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling a pistol, performing the described actions in seven seconds. And yet, despite the slightly unpleasant feeling at the end, overall it was a wonderful competition and a useful experience.
The white sun of the desert has begun to blaze a little less in these last days. Lying in the shade of the palm trees, I, a guest from a distant snowy land, dream of the rainy season coming soon and bringing me the long-awaited relief. And along with it — I write these lines.
It was a good summer.
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