Dolores Esteban

Red Rose 　 　 Samantha turned her head and looked at me. "I have never confessed this to you. I cherish your company. I always feel happy when you are around," she said with a smile. A blush graced her face and she looked away briefly before turning her eyes back to me. I took her hand gently. A moment or two passed before we moved on. We walked arm in arm amidst the flowers. We moved down the path in the park, nodding politely at the people we passed. A girl walked hand in hand with her boy

A Siberian cold front swept over Europe. It was bitterly cold for two weeks and still pretty cold this week. I'm so waiting for spring.

Ogol sat silently for a while, looking into nowhere. He was pondering. Finally, he took the orb out of his pocket. But instead of activating it, he looked at it for a considerable amount of time. He turned the orb in his hands. An idea had occurred to him. Ogol sensed the energy field that the guardians of the castle had built up. The energy radiated from the castle in all directions. "The castle is the centre," Ogol said, turning the orb in his hand. "It radiates from the centre in all directi

"What are we supposed to do now?" Magath asked. "We can’t just wait until this whole world is upside down, can we?" Qildor and Magath stood, feeling at a loss. The wizard watched them silently. "Yes," Qildor agreed. "What do the brethren have in mind? We can’t find the castle. And we can’t just wander around. It doesn’t make sense, does it?" "What would you do?" Neldor asked, looking between the two men. "What is your first impulse?" "Find the man and finish him," Qildor said grimly. "And th

Silence hung over the Castle of Saelethiel. The guardians sat quietly. Yet, like on an unheard command, the brethren stood and then changed seats. The threads of the web changed their position, subtly yet fast. The brethren sat down again. They sat in deep meditation. Silence hung over the Castle of Saelethiel. Yet the energy field and the outside reality had changed. 　 ~~**~~ Magath was the first to notice it when he rose in the morning. Dawn was just breaking and the sun had not yet risen.

Qildor left the camp at dawn and went all the way back down. He moved fast and after only three hours he had reached the bottom of the mountain. He looked around, yet he did not see any changes. The beginning of the path looked exactly like he remembered it. Qildor climbed the path again, carefully scouting and watching out for the man’s traces. Neldor had grown angry when he had discovered that Qildor was gone. He wanted to leave the camp also, but Magath stopped the wizard from doing so. Inst

Ogol was sitting in the shelter of a rock. Night had meanwhile fallen. He was pondering. The guardians of the castle had put up an additional ward and they had not concealed it. His first impulse had been to intrude into the castle. But he meanwhile had refrained from this plan. The guardians were many and they were powerful and they had access to the ancient magic. Ogol would not stand a chance. He would not be able to enter the castle. However, he did not intend to give up. And so he pondered

I'm not transgendered. However, I actually took a test to find out if I was. The test result labeled me androgynous, brain 50% male, 50% female, and this quite fits how I feel about myself. Gender, in my eyes, is a state of mind. I can switch from one to the other. This happened uncontrolled in previous years and it confused me a great deal. However, I never really suffered from it and I never felt the desire to change my body. I would not want to live a male life, although I don't lead the typical female life and I don't feel the desire to. My basic gender is female, my secondary is male. Someone not familiar with it, most likely thinks I'm weird or whatever. But, in all honesty, I do not care. I don't feel wrong. I feel whole and complete. I express my other side in writing. It does suffice for me. I can imagine, however, that somebody feels trapped in the wrong body and ultimately chooses to have surgery. The term 'transgendered', in my eyes, just states this fact. People with gender issues should not be looked down upon and their identity should not be narrowed down to one single word that, after all, is meaningless.

Magath and Qildor calmed down. They went back and joined the wizard. The three of them moved on. Afternoon had already come. The sun had been out all day, but now it was low and the air grew chilly. "Where is the cave where we spent the night last time?" Qildor asked out of a sudden, turning to Neldor. "Shouldn’t we have reached it meanwhile? I thought we could stay there for the night." Neldor stopped abruptly and turned to Qildor. His look was alarmed. "We should have reached it meanwhile?

Neldor, Qildor, and Magath soon reached the point where the path got steep. They dismounted. Neldor handed the reins of his horse to Magath and without a word turned away and walked a short distance up the path. He stopped and looked at the mountains. Qildor and Magath stood and watched the wizard from the distance. "What is it with him?" Magath asked. "I find he has changed a lot since we have left the wood. Something is radiating from him. It is disturbing me." "I don’t know," Qildor replied

Ogol saw the Western Mountains on the horizon. The mountain ridge stretched far from north to south. The mountains were high and the highest peaks were covered with snow. The sky was blue and the sun shed a warm light. Yet the mountain ridge looked cold and menacing. And the vast and dry plain was not inviting for a ride at all. Ogol’s eyes wandered along the mountain ridge. The palace was hidden somewhere in the mountains. Ogol had read about it twenty years ago when he had sneaked about in th

A few days passed. Ogol and his men had crossed the vast northern wood and had reached open land. Ogol stood, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his lips compressed and his eyes narrowed. His companions had ridden ahead and were scouting the area. Ogol stood and looked west. A steppe-like area stretched in front of him, a wide plain as far as the eye could see. The ground was hard and had dried from the sun. Only weeds grew in this part of the country. Ogol saw the Western Mountains on th

Elethiel (A Fairy Tale) by Dolores Esteban 　 　 It was a day in summer when I went out for a walk in the morning. I crossed the fields until I reached a wood. I moved on, yet stopped short at the sounds of crying. The sounds were close. They seemed to come from the ground. I looked down in bewilderment. And there I spotted it. A small creature was sitting on a dandelion. The creature was crying. I startled at the sight of the tiny being. I had never seen such a creature before. I had stoppe

Elethiel, the tiny fairy, has left the fairy world in order to explore the human world. Elethiel got lost. Gabriel helps the fairy find its way back home.

The three of them left the following morning. They bid Gwyn farewell. The worried woman gave Magath an amulet that she had inherited from her mother. Gwyn told Magath the amulet would protect him from any evil and only in case of emergency should he open it. The amulet was fixed to a cord and Magath put it around his neck in order to please the old woman. Gwyn had had another vivid dream. She had dreamed of the amulet and a voice had told her to hand it to Magath. The old woman believed in lege

Thank you, Lugh.

Valerie Woodward 　 It was a Saturday afternoon. I was sitting in my apartment, eating an ice cream and reading the newspaper. I gazed at the name in shock when I turned the page and saw the obituary. Valerie Woodward. Valerie Woodward had died? I read the death notice again. No doubt. The date of birth was correct. I remembered the date because I had invited her for dinner on her twenty-third birthday. That was twenty years ago. But I remembered the day in all detail. Valerie had accepted my

Magath and Qildor gazed at Neldor. The wizard joined the two men. He skipped any introductory words and came straight to the point. "The palace without entrance guards a powerful magical tool. Only those who are summoned are able to see it. It must not fall in the wrong hands," he said. Magath and Qildor gazed at him. Neldor looked between them grumpily. "I really don’t know why fate summons an old man. So be it. We must find the man," he said. Qildor cleared his throat. "Err, Master Neldor

Dran stood on his field, shielding his eyes from the sun. He looked up the hill and gazed at the edge of the wood. The uneasy feeling had returned. Dran felt cold despite the warm spring sun. He felt an urge to retreat to his house. Yet, almost automatically, Dran started to walk up the hill. He fixed his eyes at the edge of the wood. Dran entered the forest and moved on slowly. He reached the place where Magath had found him last winter. Dran did not remember what had happened to him. They had

Hi, David. Glad to see you back. Thanks for reading my story and leaving a review.

Neldor looked at the piece of paper in his hand. He had read Qildor’s message twice. The wizard looked at the paper and then he read the message once more. Neldor looked into the room. He looked at the shelves that were filled with leather-bound books. Was the man kidding him? No. Neldor doubted the man had sent him a message in order to just fool him around. The old wizard placed the paper on the table that was covered with old parchments and manuscripts. Neldor usually spent his time with re

Qildor rode to Tanmil in the evening to meet up with Magath. He had just entered the house when they heard a knock at the door. Magath opened it. Gwyn stood outside with a basket of eggs in her hands. "Oh, I did not want to intrude," she said when she spotted Qildor. "You don’t intrude, Mistress Gwyn," Qildor said, hurrying to the door in order to greet her. Magath asked Gwyn in. The woman placed the basket on the table cautiously. "I would have brought more eggs if I had known know you were

Dusk had come. Magath was sitting on the wooden bench in Gwyn’s house. He had offered part of the maize to his neighbour. The old woman had invited him for dinner in return. Magath had gladly accepted. He sat silently, watching the woman. Gwyn covered the table. She placed mugs, a jug of water, corn bread and plates with scrambled eggs on the table. Then she sat down in a chair. She took a wooden fork, yet did not eat. She looked at Magath instead. Magath held a wooden spoon in his hand and gaze

Just a few lines and I'm feeling worried and want to know if things work out fine for Dylan. Very well done.

Aglanthol 3 The Castle of Saelethiel (The Law Cannot Be Shaken) by Dolores Esteban 　 　 　 Prologue 　 No man can avoid his destiny. This law is written in the book of time. The Castle of Saelethiel lies high up in the Western Mountains. It was founded in the mists of time. The castle guards secrets that are far beyond a man’s understanding. The guardians of the castle watch out and enforce the law. The law is timeless and it cannot be shaken. But only those who are ready are summoned to