Guardian of the Treasure Talisman: Encounter with the Emperor of Shadows

© 2012 by Mandana Abghari. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/10/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2781-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2780-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-2782-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910972

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1 Arrio Makes Trouble

Chapter 2 Escape from Camp

Chapter 3 Bats Attack

Chapter 4 Hurricane and Eclipse

Chapter 5 Men with Secret Magic Power

Chapter 6 Fire Guardians

Chapter 7 Anahita vs. Stone Demon

Chapter 8 Arrio Sees Mystery of the Cave

Chapter 9 Yaska’s Ashes

Chapter 10 Esfandyar Is Nowhere

Chapter 11 Evil Shadow

Chapter 12 Inscription Talisman

Chapter 13 Shadows Capture the Peace Inscription

Chapter 14 Phoenix Finds the Sun City

Acknowledgments

Character Names—Cultural References

References

Endnotes

Dedicated to

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland

and

my dear husband,

Alireza Dehghani

Chapter 1

Arrio Makes Trouble

—Have a good time!

Farhad stands with his crutch, looking angrily at Arrio Barzan. Farhad—one of the top students of their class and a high point earner at the Scientific Olympiad school—had accidentally fallen down the stairs of the second-floor corridor and broken his right leg. Arrio Barzan—also one of the top students of their class but the second-place finisher behind Farhad at Scientific Olympiad—had been given the chance to join the Iran Intelligent High School seven-day camp on the north beach of the Caspian Sea. As the camp buses start their engines, Farhad sarcastically wishes Arrio a happy journey.

At the camp four days later, Arrio tells his roommate Manoosh what happened. Arrio is in the third grade at high school and seventeen years old. He is tall and slim, almost too skinny; these features make him stand out from other boys his age. He has big brown eyes that seem large in his pale face. He has smooth hazelnut hair that hangs down to his shoulders, which is contrary to the school directive. Among all the students at the camp, he is known as most honest and gentlest camp goer. No one remembers Arrio Barzan ever bothering anyone. He is a polite young boy, so quiet and affable, who attracts everyone’s trust.

Manoosh is one year younger than Arrio. He has a small figure and looks a little weird with his dark brown eyes, eyebrows, and hair. He has a keen interest in photography and is always taking pictures of everything with his latest model digital camera, which is always hanging around his neck. Arrio and Manoosh didn’t know each other before the camp. In fact, they were invited to the camp from two different grades, but now as roommates they spend all day together, whether during their daily excursions, classes, or meals.

This day, all hundred and fifty students, twenty teachers, coaches, and supervisors had left the camp early in the morning in six buses to visit the rocky beaches. In addition, the elders had selected ten seniors with large physiques and muscular statures to accompany them.

The bus drivers chose the long route deliberately so the children could watch the God-given beauties on the way. After about one hour and forty-five minutes of travelling, they stop at a nice refreshing beach. First and foremost, the seniors announce where the children are and aren’t allowed to go. Then the students carry backpacks full of delicious food, balls, badminton rockets, cameras, etc., off the buses. They joyfully stroll along the seashore, tumbling and running all around. No one dares swim; the water is too cold to endure. The last days of autumn are passing. Today coincides with December 20, and in less than forty-eight hours, winter would start.

After several games of volleyball and childish running, Arrio and Manoosh decide to stroll along the beach. They reach a big stone. They have been on their feet and out in the cold and fresh autumn weather since early morning, and having burned too much energy in their childish games, they are as hungry as lions. Both agree to have a good meal. They open their backpacks, put all of their tasty foods on a small rock, and start to eat. While eating, Arrio can’t stop staring at a cave entrance about fifty meters away; it is hiding behind a large stone and can hardly be seen.

Suddenly Arrio asks Manoosh:—Manoosh, what do you think of that cave?

—Which cave?

—Over there, behind that rock.

—I don’t know. I don’t like caves.

—Are you scared?

—Me? No. There is no reason to fear. I don’t like caves because there aren’t any interesting things at all.

—I beg to disagree. It is the other way around. Everything in a cave is interesting.

—What does it have except stones and rocks?

Arrio doesn’t response and looks thoughtfully at the cave. Then he hears a voice call his friend’s name.

—Manoosh…

A boy of Manoosh’s height and size is standing thirty feet in the distance, beckoning to Manoosh to come. Manoosh gets up from the rock to join him and takes his backpack.

Arrio sees Manoosh’s camera and asks:—Can I borrow this from you?

—Uh-huh. But be careful. Where are you heading? Inside the cave?

—Yeah. I’ll be there waiting for you.

—I don’t like caves at all, but I’ll come.

Manoosh runs to the boy who called him. Arrio gathers his things and moves directly toward the cave entrance. He figures they’re not supposed to visit the cave because the seniors seemed to have kept the children away from it. Arrio thinks there is no problem in taking a quick look at the entrance. He reaches the cave without the seniors noticing.

Arrio walks twenty meters into the cave, which is still illuminated by the sunlight outside, but farther in, it is shrouded in a strange darkness. Arrio’s eyes become accustomed to the dark, and after a few seconds he can make out the exotic forms of the rocks and cliffs. Profound silence rules the cave. The only sound he can hear belongs to a narrow stream moving along the cave’s stone floor.

Arrio finds the stream in a few seconds. He decides to follow the flow to see if it will lead him farther into the cave. It does. After fifty steps forward, he sees passageways that divide the cave into five corridors. The creek passes through one of them. Past that point, the cave gets darker and darker. Arrio is now getting farther and farther from the entrance. He looks back and sees a small light. He thinks the light could be the cave’s entrance. He goes into the corridor through which the little stream flows. At first he is very hesitant. He feels strange and nervous, but his curiosity overcomes his fears. Arrio walks into the corridor with the streambed. Then he hears an inaudible sound that frightens him slightly in the unknown environment. Arrio thinks he must be hearing a strange but soothing echo along the cave walls. He assumes the sound is caused by the water’s movement on the cave’s stone floor. He calms himself and goes forward with more courage.

—Arrio…

First, he is surprised to hear his own name. The voice echoes throughout the cave repeatedly, again and again. He then realizes that Manoosh is probably looking for him from the mouth of the cave.

—I am here, Manoosh. Come here. Hurry.

—It’s too dark here. I wish we had brought a flashlight.

Manoosh’s steps echo in the cave, and Arrio notices that, although Manoosh is far from him, the sound is very loud. He is surprised.

—Are you coming, Manoosh? Are you stuck?

—I should… hmm! I don’t know from which side I should come.

—Follow the river.

—Where is the river? You mean these two drops of water? Arrio, you’ll not find anything here. Come back.

—Don’t be scared. It is safe here. Come on, come on.

Manoosh descends in silence. Arrio laughs at Manoosh’s reaction.

—Are you bothered?

Arrio waits and listens, but Manoosh doesn’t respond.

—Manoosh?

Again there is silence.

Arrio continues:—Come here, Manoosh. It is beautiful here. We will just take some photos and get back soon. Agreed?

Arrio listens carefully and hears the sound of Manoosh’s steps. He smiles, brings the camera out of the backpack, presses his eye to the viewfinder, and looks at the cave dark walls more accurately.

He talks to Manoosh loudly:—You’re right. We should have brought the flashlight.

Arrio takes pictures of the cave without an exact angle. Each of the camera’s strong flashes light up the cave for a moment. He looks at the recorded image on the camera’s LCD screen and sees something strange. Three bright dots together indicate the shape of an unknown man. Arrio looks at the picture in surprise. He hears the sound of steps again, but this time it is not one person’s footsteps but several people’s footsteps.

—Manoosh, are you with someone? Manoosh, why don’t you answer?

Arrio takes more photos regardless of Manoosh’s silence. Another strange picture appears on the LCD screen. The sound of steps surrounds the space where Arrio is standing. As he takes pictures from various angles, his heart beats faster with every shot. Feeling a bit nervous, he continues to talk to Manoosh.

—If you’re testing me, you should know that I’m not scared at all. Just come here and see the strange paintings on corridor wall. They are magnificent.

The footsteps fade away. Arrio hastily listens to the sounds move farther away.

—Hey, don’t leave yet. Come here first and see these paintings. Oh no? Okay! At least wait for me. I’m coming.

He puts the camera into the backpack and gropes his way through the pure darkness toward the cave entrance. He goes back out through the corridor through which the stream passes. Upon reaching the cave entrance, he hears footsteps behind him. He turns around quickly and looks, but he can see nothing. He smiles at this illusion and continues his way through the cave entrance. His eyes had become accustomed to the darkness within the closed environment, so as soon as he leaves the cave, the strong reflection of sun’s rays off the water and sand affects his eyes so much that he needs to close and cover them for a moment. Arrio slowly opens one of his eyes and is shocked to see the bare beach. He realizes that everyone has gone.

—Oh where did they go? he suddenly thinks. Arrio runs to the parking lot as fast as he can and is very surprised to see everyone is on board the buses, waiting for him. They are ready to hit the road and go back to the camp. He is very ashamed of the situation and walks toward the bus door. However, a strong, muscular, and serious young man blocks his way. When Arrio looks up, he is face-to-face with Esfandyar, a senior student and a resident of the camp.

—Where were you?

—Me?

Manoosh pokes his head out the bus window, looks at Arrio, and calls out loudly:—Did you bring my camera?

—Yes.

Then Manoosh looks at Esfandyar and provides an alibi for Arrio’s action, explaining:—Arrio Barzan went back to the beach to get my camera. I left it there.

It’s clear that Esfandyar thinks Manoosh is lying. He looks at Manoosh and then at Arrio angrily. They both pull themselves together. The senior beckons Arrio with a nod, instructing him to get on the bus. Arrio climbs onto the bus in a hurry. All seats are occupied, and all the students stare at him accusingly for delaying the trip for a long time. Arrio suddenly wonders how long he had stayed in the cave.

He sees Manoosh seated next to a boy wearing eye glasses. The boy looks at Arrio strangely. Arrio spots one available seat three rows from where Manoosh is seated. Arrio thinks to demand that the boy swap seats but changes his mind when he notices that everyone is staring at him angrily. He sits in the available empty seat.

When the bus starts moving, Arrio calls Manoosh’s attention:—Manoosh.

Manoosh first looks cautiously at the nape of Esfandyar’s neck. The senior is sitting in the front row next to the driver. When he sees that the senior is busy with something, he responds to Arrio:—What?

—Why didn’t all of you wait for me? I told you specifically to wait for me.

—All of us? It was just me alone. And at that time I told you to come back. I went out of the cave. I called you several times before I had to board the bus because they had been calling our attention.

Arrio doesn’t believe Manoosh’s explanation. He wants to ask another question, but he feels a heavy gaze upon him. Suddenly he receives a direct look from Esfandyar. Esfandyar silences him with a nod, and Arrio understands. So he sits quietly and restlessly on the seat and doesn’t make another sound until they reach the camp.

This time it takes two hours to get back to the camp from the beach. After arriving at the camp, the students get off the bus noisily, yelling and racing to their rooms. The sky quickly becomes dark, which is appropriate to the autumn season. Arrio and his roommate are pissed off when they encounter a line at the bathrooms, so they just decide to go back to their room. Arrio wants to keep the camera for few more minutes to transfer the photos he took inside the cave before returning it to Manoosh. He goes to the IT room to save the files on a USB memory stick, but Esfandyar intercepts his plan in the middle of the corridor. As a senior, Esfandyar escorts him all the way back to his room and informs him that his IT work is over. Arrio is disappointed. As he glances at the big clock on the corridor wall, he thinks, Wow. Sunset is too soon!

When he gets to his room, he stands at the doorway and looks through the half-open door. Manoosh and their other roommate, Azarnoosh, are watching TV. Azarnoosh is the same age as Arrio. He has bright eyes like fire and bright hair like solar radiation. He is a witty, sociable guy, but the brightness of his eyes and hair scares the kids at camp, especially at night when the lights are off. Juniors from the second floor no longer go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because they are afraid of coming across six-foot-four Azarnoosh and his fiery eyes.

Arrio decides not to share the beautiful shots he took inside the caves with his roommates. He doesn’t know why; he just obeys his inner instinct. He turns from the door and moves toward the dining hall, but the hallway to the dining hall is silent. All the doors are closed, and the lights are off.

Arrio remembers that everyone went to the picnic, even the kitchen guys, so no one had been left at camp to cook for them. They’d had a fast food meal for dinner that the seniors had distributed to their respective rooms instead of eating in the dining hall. Arrio doesn’t have any other choice but to go to the bathroom, which is now empty. He goes into one of the toilet stalls, turns the camera on, and tries to open the file with the pictures he had taken in the cave. He goes through the images but frowns, wondering if he has the wrong file. On second thought, he is sure he has the same file as earlier.

Arrio’s face suddenly falls in fear and disappointment. The bright lights he had thought to be ancient paintings had actually been poor quality images of sturdy men who had apparently moved, showing up as blurry images. Arrio sees the shapes of four men and continues browsing the other pictures. He notices more of them.

Suddenly, he hears the bathroom door open slightly. He listens carefully as someone enters. Arrio keeps silent for a while, trying not to be noticed. He browses the pictures again. Suddenly he is shocked and loses control. The camera slips from his hands and falls into the toilet. He stands still for a minute, remembering what he saw in the last picture: a man screaming in front of the camera, recoiling as if he had been looking into the lens.

Arrio is dumbfounded until he calms himself. But he becomes worried when he realizes the camera has fallen into the toilet. He becomes nervous and upset. He knows Manoosh had to take out a loan to get that camera. He looks around to find something usable to get the camera out of the toilet, but he finds nothing. Left with no choice, he leaves the stall. But there are only a few lavatories in the bathroom and nothing useful to help him. He feels like dying and is reluctant to leave the bathroom. Finally he decides to go to the storage room at the end of the hallway.

The room is for storing gardening accessories. Fortunately, the door is always open because there is nothing valuable in it. Arrio goes to the storage room stealthy without turning on any lights. After groping around for something, he finally finds a gardening shovel. He separates the shovel handle from the metal head with a few strong beats against the floor and goes back to the bathroom without delay. But the door of the stall where he had dropped the camera is closed.

Arrio’s mouth is dry with anxiety; he turns the doorknob to the stall slowly and pushes it. It is locked. He knocks on the door uneasily. At first there is no sound, but after a few seconds the sound of splashing water flushes like a broken large dam onto Arrio’s head. A small boy comes out of the toilet, looking at Arrio angrily as he leaves the bathroom. Arrio promptly jumps into the stall and looks at the toilet hole. There is no trace of the camera. He runs to his room and takes a large flashlight from his closet. Manoosh and Azarnoosh are surprised to see him with a shovel handle in his hand. Arrio looks at Manoosh for a moment.

—Manoosh! Something has happened… the camera, your camera. But don’t worry. I’ll fix it.

In a flash, he leaves the room but immediately returns as if he has forgotten something. He stands desperately in the threshold of the door and quickly looks at window. Then he opens the window and climbs out quickly before Manoosh and Azarnoosh can say or do anything to stop him. Their room is on the third floor, so Arrio has to move to the edge of the building to access the top of the gym’s roof, which would help him completely to get out of the camp building and reach the ground.

Once on the ground, he rounds the building fast. Then hastily and without any noise, he goes toward the old deep well behind the building. Camp students have long avoided these premises; there are superstitions about a dark power and rumors that once someone comes onto these grounds, that person will not be able find his or her way out. This is now where Arrio is standing. In this moment, the superstitions and rumors are not Arrio’s concern but rather the camera Manoosh had loaned him. He doesn’t want to neglect his responsibilities. He needs to find a way to get it and fix it because he doesn’t want Manoosh and others to lose trust in him. Arrio is known to be a well-trusted fellow and a polite boy at camp.

Arrio has a childish notion that the old well is connected to the toilet hole. So he goes there without fear. The well is covered by a large, heavy slab of stone. Arrio pushes hard, and with all the adrenaline rushing in his bloodstream, he succeeds in moving the well cap.

He pushes the cap aside just enough for him bend into the well. Then, out of breath, he turns on the flashlight, bends into the well, and looks toward the bottom. He thinks the camera would have been brought here by the flushing water. He directs the light in all directions but sees nothing except blackness.

Suddenly he feels a relatively heavy blow on his left shoulder. He loses his balance and decides to set the flashlight aside so he can brace both of his hands on the edge of the well. Unfortunately, the flashlight falls into the well. The impact as it hits the wall and then the water scares Arrio. Still on, the flashlight shines against the wall of the well.

Arrio hears a boisterous laugh behind him. He pushes himself up from the edge of the well and sees Azarnoosh behind him laughing. Manoosh looks at Azarnoosh angrily.

Arrio, out of breath from his roommate’s sudden surprise, says:—Are you out of mind? I almost fell into the well!

Azarnoosh instantly stops laughing. He says:—You mean crazy, bro? I’m not, but you are. I was keeping an eye on you so you wouldn’t fall.

Manoosh condemns Azarnoosh’s behavior toward Arrio:—You really did a stupid thing. If he accidentally fell into the well because of your sudden surprise, there wouldn’t be an unbroken bone left in his body.

Azarnoosh speaks in disgruntled tone:—Anyway, what the hell are you doing here? If a senior notices and implicates us, we’ll all be destroyed.

Suddenly, they hear a voice behind them. Is it a senior?

Esfandyar’s bass voice rings out from somewhere behind them:—I don’t care about you, but I’m sure Mr. Farrvak will punish you and you never ever mock a senior again. Come on. Walk.

Esfandyar appears from somewhere in the darkness. The boys move toward him, heads hanging and hearts full of anxiety.

Esfandyar’s authoritative voice stops them:—Wait. First push back the well cap to its original position.

The boys push the cap over the well again, but a broken piece of the well cap prevents them from completely covering it. Because of the dark and their own carelessness, they don’t notice that the hole remains open a few inches. When they finish their work, they start walking without a word, escorted by the angry senior. They enter the building and go straight to the office of Mr. Arsan Farrvak, the camp director. The senior locks the boys in the office to goes to the camp director’s room to inform him.

Azarnoosh starts the first attack:—What the hell were you doing there beside the well?

Arrio answers righteously:—I wanted to retrieve Manoosh’s camera. You shouldn’t have followed me.

Azarnoosh replies:—It has nothing to do with you. Just remember, if Farrvak punishes me, I’ll take you down.

Manoosh, who is a quiet and calm young man known among his friends as a rock, looks at Azarnoosh severely. If looks could kill, this one would have.

—Can you shut your mouth?

If these three roommates had been in the other circumstances, they probably would have started fighting. But none of them are in the mood tonight and instead prefer to remain silent as they wait for Mr. Farrvak. They wait and wait in the deafening silence of the room. They all expect Mr. Farrvak to be there any minute, for his room is just a minute away from his office. Even if he were deeply asleep, ten minutes would have been long, but soon twenty minutes have passed, and the camp director is still not there to question them. But Manoosh has nothing further to say; they just need to wait because they are already detained.

Arrio hears unknown voices. He listens attentively and carefully as the voices become louder and louder. Suddenly, a there is loud knocking on the door.

—Is there anyone in this room?

The door is opened without waiting for a response. Mr. Farrvak appears confused and angry in the door’s threshold. Arsan Farrvak, who has directed the camp for sixteen years, has never encountered anything like this before. He is forty-five years old but looks older. He stands in the door frame. His smooth blond hair, which is turning white, covers the right side of his long forehead. His multi-shaded green eyes have a strange brightness; with a serious look, it seems they can penetrate to the depth of a person’s heart. The left corner of his mouth has a small strain that shows he used to smoke. A prominent chin lends a certain tenacity and admirable beauty to his face. He is about five foot eleven and is shorter than some of the boys in camp. Though his figure is small, it is shapely. He also has a deep, impressive voice that deeply influences a listener’s spirit. Friendly and quiet, his voice has a powerful appeal. He was born in the same city as the camp and grew up in the same neighborhood.

He rolls up his trousers and stands in the doorway, looking at the three guilty boys. With his charismatic voice, he tells them:—Go out fast. You’ve got a chance. Come on.

The deep voice of director influences the boys’ spirits. They go out quickly underneath his hand, which is leaning against the door frame. They see a strange scene in the hallway. Nighttime has fallen over the camp, and all the children have rolled up their trousers and removed their stuff plus a blanket and pillow from their rooms. They’re standing in doorways and wandering around. Seniors and teachers try to give them orders. They line the boys up and take them out the main door.

The three boys hear Farrvak’s smooth voice again:—Water is coming up from the bathrooms and has filled the space. Collect your things. Tonight we are going to sleep in building two.

Arrio, Azarnoosh, and Manoosh run toward their room without a word. About an inch