Dralon and The Adventure in the Contrary World (English version)

Dralon

"Why can't I ever shut my big mooouuuuthhhh?!" shouted Odilda, clinging to the handle of the wagon like a koala clings to a tree. "This time I won't survive. I feel it in my bones!" she predicted, viewing the trees whizzing by left and right at a frightening speed. "We are doomed!" She cringed in the narrow space of the vehicle, closing her eyes to avoid watching her miserable end.

"No, we're not!" Peter said, calming her down. "Look!"

Just then, the screeching of brakes announced the end of their journey. The enchanted vehicles slowed down, stopping in front of a massive mountain. The steep mountainside was covered with doors and stairways. Around the curved top, partly hidden by clouds, strange stone houses seemed to hang dangerously.

"The city of Dralon," said Peter, almost whispering. "And now, how do we get up there?" wondered Michael.

"That's right! We don't have the authorization!" said Peter.

"We'll find a way!" replied Odilda. "I bet my fake leg that brilliant guy down there is the one Trogol mentioned," said the professor who, having regained her courage, had started to walk from the wagon to a nearby kiosk. "Wake up, sleepyhead!" she yelled at a large man who, his head thrown back, was snoring at full volume.

"Um... um... yes... Elf Berthold at your service! For the restrooms, sixteenth door up to the left! Sign here," he replied, with a sleepy Irish accent.

"And I thought all elves were handsome!" Michael commented, looking at the stout, cross-eyed elf with a red mane of hair sticking out of a tight hat. "Obviously, I was wrong," he said, making sure the elf couldn't hear him. "He looks like a fat version of Robin Hood."

"I think he's cute!" said Kate, standing on her tiptoes to look beyond the counter.

"Good morning! I am Professor Odilda Costalbine," the woman announced, placing her business card under the elf's long nose, "and these are my assistants. We urgently need to speak to Mr..." she stopped briefly to find the paper with the name Trogol had given. "... Mr. Egot Dubbets. If you could announce us right away, I'd be very grateful. We're in a big hurry, you know," she said, smiling, while tapping her nails on her watch.

The elf read the business card with scant interest, and then poured with extreme calm a steaming liquid into the mug in front of him, eyeing the visitors with suspicion.

"To what branch of magic do you belong?" he asked, before sipping his drink.

"What branch, you said?" asked the professor, riffling through her mind's files in search for the right answer.

"Yes! Which one?" repeated the elf.

"This gentleman wants to know what the heck of a branch we belong to," Odilda told the children, as she pointed to a sign, next to a list of wanted criminals. The list read, "Better a stinky goblin in the cauldron, than a mortal at Dralon's gate." "Why don't we tell him?"

"Sure, why not?" said Peter, gaining a few more seconds.

"We... will not... because it'd be an insult to his brilliant mind!" exclaimed Michael. "Look at him! Actually, maybe not..." he recanted, disgusted, as the elf dug his little finger into his long ears and wiped his catch on his coat. "I was saying... ah, yes... such a man could figure it out with his eyes closed."

"I think the test is too hard for an elf," contradicted Odilda.

"Hey, wait a minute!" replied the large man, annoyed. "I'm not a common elf. I can recognize a potter elf just by the sound of his steps. Do you know that?"

"Really? Well, if it's so... then tell me, what family of magicians do we belong to?" Peter challenged him.

"Let me see!" said the elf leaning out of the kiosk's window to watch them carefully. He pulled the palm of Odilda's hand toward him and studied it thoroughly. He moved his index finger on Peter's hand and licked it. He pulled up Michael's upper lip to count his teeth. Finally, he rummaged through Kate's hair, pulling out a silver strand that had been tangled around some of her locks. Then he smiled, triumphantly. "It's obvious! You are spinners of Marlet's magic root!"