14. The Fairy Bahar Girl and the Canis Major
Starting November 2023, The Korea Daily is excited to publish the fantasy novel series “Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years” on our website. This new captivating series follows a trio of young adventurers on their quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Inca. In an exciting development, Netflix is currently adapting the novel’s storyline into a film.
The ‘Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years’ is the latest novel authored by Jeeyoon Ha, who created the “Pangaea series.” Ha’s debut novel, “The Pangaea: Finding Xibalba,” was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2022 as part of their initiative to support the global export of fantasy literature.
Readers can eagerly anticipate the online publication of two installments each month, with new chapters appearing bi-weekly, offering a regular escape into this magical realm. *Mark Oh translated the Korean novel into English.
“She’s a fairy…”
Suri was so distracted by the girl’s elf-like appearance that he couldn’t hear anything else. The girl had skin so pale it was almost transparent, long white hair, and delicate pink pupils.
Then there was a loud thumping sound, and the underground shook violently. There was also a crackling thunder sound in the distance.
“We haven’t seen sunlight for a long time, so our pupils have faded or disappeared, and most of us have lost our hair. Instead, our ears have evolved. We can hear sounds from very far away and transmit sounds to distant places. Of course, we convert it into echoes. We send out echoes through the fairy’s chimney.”
The girl’s words immediately turned into echoes and seemed to fly away.
“The fairy’s chimney is an ancient artifact shop, right?”
Suri felt like he had been hit on the head.
“That shop is just one of many fairy chimneys.”
Bahar’s tone was blunt.
“The only reason you haven’t been killed is because of that sword. The one who possesses the Helix is the one we’ve been waiting for. The old man of the fairy’s chimney wouldn’t have given that sword to just anyone. You also must have had the Dead Disk to enter this underground city…”
Bahar spoke in a trusting tone.
“This place was a city?”
Sabi was shocked.
“You have to pass through one gate here. You have to find the door that can get you out of here yourself. Only by finding it can you go to the location of the prophecy… where the lightning arrives every 72 years.”
Bahar recited it as if he were reciting a scripture.
“This place where we live is not a simple city. It’s like a very old civilization. All civilizations move…”
Bahar handed Suri a device.
“It’s a Tempes. I’ve set it to show only one trigger. In your time, one trigger on the Tempes is about 40 minutes. You have to find the door within that time. If I may advise, the clues to find the door are already with you.”
Bahar pointed the way.
“Ah! What is this… why is this happening?”
Suri was taken aback by the “Winged Traveler” he had hidden inside his chest.
“What’s wrong?”
Maru grabbed Suri.
“The book is moving on its own…huh? Uh-uh-uh… some sound came into my head again.”
Suri shook his head wildly.
“I surrender.”
Maru shook his head hopelessly.
“There’s not much time left.”
Suri looked at the Tempes.
Already 10 minutes had passed. Suddenly, the Helix Suri was holding was attracted to the Rubion. Suri was dragged along. Suri looked like a magnet stuck to the wall.
“…What are you doing? Are you having a conversation with the wall? Stop joking around. I’m really angry now. If we don’t find the door now, we have to go back home… after all that hard work… why am I like this?”
Maru slumped down. His face was drenched in sweat, he couldn’t breathe properly and was wheezing. It was agoraphobia. He was even having a panic attack, he gasped for air as if he was suffocating.
Suri, with his ear against the wall, broke out in cold sweat. He could hear the sound of the Rubion, but he couldn’t yet understand its meaning. He looked at the Tempes. There was only about 20 minutes left.
“Uh…uh-uh…”
Suri pressed hard on the “Winged Traveler” that seemed to burst out of his chest, but it was no use. He wrestled with the “Winged Traveler” and pulled it out. But then, an old map he had folded inside the book stuck to his face. Suri unfolded the old map.
All the stars inside the map were alive and twinkling, and even the numbers below them were making a fuss as if they were protesting to be recognized. Suri remembered the symbol of Malta hidden under those numbers.
“We said it, didn’t we? They wouldn’t have made these complex numbers just to hide the symbol of Malta. These numbers had a different meaning…we’re travelling on this map right now.”
As soon as Suri said, the Rubion knocked him off his feet. Suri fell to the floor and rambled like a madman, still staring at the numbers.
“357.06.83333.45.3 361.08. .91.141.73..666.16.66.42.7 .58.146.017…these numbers are the address of the door…but the door is on the floor. The wall is telling me.”
Suri stood up and shouted as if declaring.
In that moment, the undeciphered hieroglyphics embedded in the Rubion began to pop out, emitting light. Suri’s pupils vanished from his face in an instant, and he tapped the hieroglyphics rapidly with his hand. Then, the hieroglyphics began to convert into numbers. Numerous numbers popped up and disappeared repeatedly. Eventually, the numbers laid out like a carpet on the floor, finding their own order and lining up.
357.06.83333.45.3 361.08. .91.141.73..666.16.66.42.7 .58.146.017.
“The floor is going to open… get ready.”
Suri shouted.
Then, the rivets installed at each corner of the Rubion spontaneously exploded, and the Rubion red metal began to peel off. As the red snake-like metal peeled off, a silver metal wall appeared. The secret silver metal wall split, revealing the outside.
And then the Canis Major came into view.
The reason the underground city was shaking was because it was moving. The reason they heard thunder was because they were passing through a thunder vortex. Now, the numbers on the floor rose into the air and the door in the floor began to open. Suri looked at the Tempest. The remaining time was zero.
“The lightning that comes every 72 years will arrive soon.”
Bahar approached again.
Tears streamed from his pupil-less eyes.
“If we leave here, can we go to the place where the lightning appears, the location of the prophecy?”
Suri’s heart was burning with impatience.
“We’ll send the news through the echo.”
Bahar finally smiled.
Suri, Sabi, and Maru fell down through the door in the floor. As Suri fell, he wasn’t scared at all. Down below… he could see ‘the place’.
*Doppler effect: A phenomenon that occurs when one or more of the source of a sound (wave) and the observer of that wave are in motion, and the frequency of the sound appears higher as the source approaches the observer and lower as the observer moves away. An example is an ambulance siren sounding higher as it approaches the observer and lower as it moves away.
*Panning: In sound, a method of shifting a signal from side to side in stereo. In movies, this refers to the technique of shaking the camera from side to side to follow a subject.
[To be continued…]
