'The Legend of the Arani' (standard:fantasy, 1749 words)
Author: misty grey	Added: Mar 23 2009	Views/Reads: 3171/2023	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
When Peter goes for a walk in the forest he's in for a big surprise!

‘ The Legend of the Arani.' 

Perspiration trickled through Peter's firey red hair. He had walked long
enough. It was time to head back to camp. Something was wrong, he 
should have been back by now, he felt lost. He started to panic. ‘Joe! 
Susan! Where are you?' Peter cried frantically, but there was no reply. 


‘Joe, can you hear me!' Peter yelled once more. But his voice seemed to
disappear down into the valley ahead. There was no sign of the walking 
trail that he was on earlier. Joe and Susan were no where to be found. 

Back at the camp site Joe and Susan were eating lunch. ‘Joe, asked
Susan, I wonder where Peter is? He should have been back from his walk 
by now.' Joe looked up at Susan's freckled face with concern, as he 
sipped his Milo. ‘Yes, you're right, he should be back by now,' he 
replied. ‘We better start looking for him.' 

Peter's long weary legs were becoming tired. He sat under a tree and
hugged his knees close to his chest. Peter put his head down, as a 
feeling of utter despair consumed him. 

Peter woke up suddenly from a strange noise, his blue eyes opened wide.
Peter was surrounded by this strange fluorescent, blue coloured mist. 
And there was a strange mellow, humming sound as well, which seemed to 
hypnotise 
him.....................................................................
 


Peter rose up and followed the mist, which seemed to be leading him
further into the forest. Peter followed the mist towards a river. 

At the river, the mist seemed to be swirling in the middle. Peter sat on
the riverbank and watched in awe, as the water in the river started to 
churn, and swirl around really fast. The water had now turned bright 
pink and the mist was hovering above it. 

Peter, in a hypnotized state, walked towards the churning pink water, he
entered. His body was spinning around fast, as the whirlpool quickly 
took him under. He felt dizzy and lost consciousness.  When he woke up, 
he couldn't believe what he saw. He was in some sort of underwater 
world. 

Peter looked around, there were strange buildings made out of a mud like
substance, which stood four or six stories high. The buildings were 
surrounded by tall, green, underwater plants. 

Peter looked down at his feet; they were webbed, like ducks feet, and so
were his hands! He realised then that he was swimming above a path made 
out of golden shells. Peter thought he must be dreaming! 

Suddenly, Peter was surrounded by these sea creatures. The creatures
looked like giant ‘dragon-like' frogs. Their bodies were shaped like a 
dragon and their heads shaped like a frog. They were the size of a 
human man; their skin leathery, green and gold in colour. Their teeth 
were razor sharp and pointy. They have dorsel-like fins on either side 
of their head. The arms and legs are frog-like with three webbed claws 
on the end. Their wings are webbed too. 

Peter froze, as one of the creatures spoke. ‘Hello, my name is Zultor,
please don't be afraid. We wish you no harm.' ‘Where am I?' croaked 
Peter nervously. ‘You are in the city of “Eridanus”, and we are the 
“Arani,” Gods of the River World. We have brought you here because we 
need your help.' ‘Help, but why me?' asked Peter curiously. ‘Please, 
follow me, and I will explain.' 

The other “Arani” quickly swam away as Zultor led Peter along the golden
path. 

‘Peter, we have summoned you here because my daughter “Vela” is in
trouble. You see, the legend of the “Arani” is that every 50 years a 
female “Arani” is born into this world. ‘So, what's so strange about 
that?' asked Peter curiously. 



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