The Silvern Mountains

The room of universe

Valtor sat on a snow-covered hill and looked at the tunnel through which they had come out. His companions lay under a ledge and slept. At least he thought so. The magician should keep watch, since he had slept enough after exhausting himself. Lost in thought, he held the vial of lava up to the sun. Why had the woman confided in him? Why did she think he would give a thought to being good? In spite of the questioning, the old woman's words could not go away. He was sure that he had seen in her the goddess who had warned him. Was that why there was a reason for him to be good? Not necessarily. He could also evade it all and resume his plans to destroy the Winx.

He suddenly heard footsteps in the snow and just a few seconds later his sister was sitting next to him. She looked at the bottle in silence. Then a thought occurred to Valtor. If anyone could know anything about it, it would be her. The Grand Witch dealt with ancient beings such as dragons.

"What do you think?" The Dragon Flame Magician asked without hesitation.

"Strange," she replied, "It was all very strange before. I've read about the great dragon's golden spring before. Do you want to hear it?"

She waited for Valtor to nod, then began to say, "The Grand Witch Adelaide tried to find the golden spring several hundred years ago. She found it. The ancestral witch Belladona had followed her and a fight broke out between the witches. Adelaide was pushed into the lava and burned. Belladonna then noticed that she also could not touch the golden spring. Every container she tried to catch the lava melted. The ancestral witches then tried to get hold of the magic of the dragon flame."

"And at some point they created me," Valtor considered, "But why all of this?"

Celeste looked at the glittering snow: "The magic of the great dragon is strong, but it draws it from this very golden source. The ancestral witches are the servants of the so-called black dragon. They want to increase his power. Surely that should be good for something."

More for fun, Valtor asked, "Is that why I should be good? Should I stop them?"

"Good question," replied the Grand Witch, "but what does good mean? And what does evil mean? Who decides that? Everyone thinks I want to subjugate the magical dimension because I am evil and want to destroy everything. But that would be pretty stupid of me. Have you thought beyond your goals?"

"What do you mean?" Valtor asked in surprised. Celeste got up and turned to him and suddenly he thought to perceive an eerie aura in her that left no doubt about her title as Grand Witch. With a grin she replied, "If the magical dimension and everyone else belong to me, then I can shape it in my own image. Annoying superstar fairies? Gone! The ancestral witches? Gone! Power-hungry, avaricious people? Gone! Aside from the ancestral witches, these people are good guys, aren't they? Wouldn't the world be a better place without them?" Valtor considered: "You only listed the fairies because of me, didn't you?"

"Maybe", answered the witch with a shrug, "But you understand the principle?" The magician nodded.

When the sun was at its highest point, the two continued on their way. Celeste had decided to send Alynn in a different direction to confuse the soldiers if they could find a way out. She had given the witch an excuse to get her to agree immediately. Towards evening the siblings had reached the valley and were assuaged that it had become dark. So they were no longer easy prey. Their path only led straight ahead and the full moon shone their way.

They had only reached the mountain in the middle when the first light streaks appeared in the sky. Like a door for a giant, a portal was set into the cube-shaped mountain. There were old runes on it.

Celeste eyed it suspiciously: "That can't possibly be the hiding place."

"We have another secret here," replied Valtor and let a flame appear in his hand, "What does it say?"