Chapter 1
A thick fog hovered over an unassuming cottage standing in the middle of a vast, wide field. It, in turn, was surrounded by the massive mountains that ringed it. The dark-haired beauty and her companion dismounted, and a beautiful picture appeared before their eyes: on the tops of the mighty mountains, these stone giants, there was snow white, like flour. However, despite the icy carpet covering the mountains, the field was full of blooming herbs like colorful lanterns, which were so tightly pressed together, as if trying to shelter themselves from the cold wind blowing from the mountain ring.
Sylvia was here for the first time and gazed with all her eyes at this marvelous beauty, wishing to keep it in her memory. Looking at her companion and her wide-open eyes, the court healer smiled softly: he had lived here for many years, and his heart was glad to return to this secluded place.
It was a cozy valley hidden from the eyes of others, with rich vegetation, bright green meadows, noisy azure-blue waterfalls, swift azure-blue waterfalls, swift clear rivers, an abundance of various springs, and exceptionally clean, always cool air, saturated with the tart smell of resin and pine needles. The valley was a splendid refuge for those who desired peace, and Evans Vallas was such a person – the only inhabitant of this place, but he had left it for a flattering position of court physician in the palace of King Kaldwind.
After admiring nature, the companions guided their horses to a small two-story house beside a babbling brook and surrounded by wild apple and pear trees. The juicy ripe fruit was so plentiful that the ground in front of the house was strewn with fallen and rotting fruit.
The house, built of dark stone, looked rather gloomy and unfriendly, but when Sylvia dismounted and went inside, a smile lit up her face: how many interesting things this house hid! How many different interesting magical devices and implements it contained! All this magical wealth reminded her of the happy times when, as a little girl, she had helped her father in his closed workshop, where he experimented with potions and stones.
