The elder told us that twenty of them or even more had died on the way, while trying to get to the spring of life. Regardless, we were lucky to have met him; he told the prince that the spring of life was to be found somewhere between the two mountain peaks that towered over us, and that no living creature had the strength to reach it. Three of the elder’s companions had died; the mountains had murdered them. I’m not sure if the seven or eight survivors turned back after they left Davos here, as I do not know for certain what else happened to the queen, but I guess all of them would be old or dead by now. Then again, maybe not. In that world, there was no history. People lacked a sense of time as we know it. Their collective memory was greatly disorganized...

• Fairia – o lume îndepărtată / Fairia – A Land Faraway

• Radu Pavel Gheo