Accursed Rain. Lately I heard two guys from Gum Gooloo discussing all kind of strange rumours about the Falling Hills. I listened to them, and transformed some of their remarks into a short story. Accursed Rain by Trevon Andarosel. "Come on, let's go", Avel said, pointing at the dark grey clouds,"The weather is going to change. When we're quick, we could make it to Timordoch before the rain begins. I don't like getting wet." "Neither do I, but Timordoch is at least another 3 miles, and the clouds are moving very fast", Timmon answered. Avel was a strong, not very tall guy with blond hair and a self-confident expression on his face. Timmon, on the contrary, was a little taller and skinnier, had short brown hair and always looked a little afraid, like the sky could fall down on his head every moment. They had been friends for a very long time, and had lately made a short expedition to the sea. Now they were going back to Gum Gooloo. They had got up early this morning, and had been walking through the hills all day. Now it was in the afternoon, and they had just taken a little rest, before they continued to Timordoch. This was their destination for today. Timordoch was just one of the few small villages in the hills, but everything was better than spending the night outside on the hills. They had two small tents, but they didn't provide much shelter against storm and rain. So they got up and continued their way over the bare hills as fast as they could, trying to reach the town before the rain would start. Not much later, the light breeze became stronger and stronger, until the storm swept pardonless over the naked highlands. "Let's take the west side of that hill. The wind's coming from the east, so the hill will give us some protection. These miles will going to be tough. Do you see how black these clouds are? It's going to be darker than night. And did you notice how fast this storm built up?", Avel remarked. When they reached the lee side of the hill, they had a few minutes relief. But then the wind turned towards the west, so they were full exposed again. They moved on against the storm to the next row of hills, only to notice that the wind was east again. "Strange, this wind", Timmon thought. In the mean time, the black clouds were quickly coming nearer, while the wind was howling around the hills. "Avel, did you hear that?", Timmon stammered, "I....I think I heard voices in the wind, saying 'Die...die...die'" "Don't be stupid", Avel replied, trying to shout down the storm, "it's only the wind blowing around the hills. We're not going to die, we're only going to get wet!". Avel gave him a deadly look, and Timmon didn't dare to say more. But he was really scared and a few minutes later he tried again to draw Avel's attention to the strange voices he heard in the wind. "The voices are getting stronger", Timmon shouted, "and it's not only 'die' anymore, they also say 'thief'. I told you not to go into that castle a few miles back, and I told you not to take that cup." "Stop whining, and stop with that superstitious nonsense", Avel replied. The storm abated a little, and it started to rain, first slowly. "You see? It's just a normal rainstorm." He had hardly finished his words, when the rain got stronger, and the wind regained its strength. Within a few seconds, both men were soaked. "Sh....Sh....Shapes, overthere!", Timmon stammered. "Shut up, you stupid fool, it's only rain" "No, no, they're ghosts, and they're coming closer. See that wolf right in front of you?" "Ha, you think this a wolf, or a ghost?" Avel laughs, "look, I put my hand right into his mouth....Ouch!", he screamed, "it's hail!". His hand was covered with blood, and the places where the hail had hit his hand, just looked like tooth prints. That castle Timmon was talking about they had reached a few miles back. It was built of black stone, and its tower watched out over the desolate surroundings. It looked as it had been abandoned a long time ago: the portcullis had rusted away, the moat was dry and most of the wall had collapsed. Only the tower stood there, alone and unaffected. As Avel and Timmon entered the former courtyard, they suddenly felt a cold wind, and they had to shiver. The sun, which was still shining brightly then, seemed to loose its power and was no longer warm. "Wow, this place is real creepy, let's get out of here", Timmon said. "No, no, I would like to explore a little, although the only thing that seems worth exploring is the tower." So they carefully approached the tower, while looking around uneasy. Even Avel was affected by the strange atmosphere around this castle. Its heavy wooden door was closed, but not locked. "Strange", Timmon thought, "everything is rotten and collapsed and gone, but this door, and in fact, the whole tower is still there". Pushed by Avel, the door easily opened without any sound, and.... they saw nothing. Inside there was utmost darkness. Avel took his lamp out of his backpack, and lit it. "Look at this!", he said, moving a few steps back. In the lamplight they saw two guards, wearing their full uniform, including armour, gloves and helmet. Although their dress was a little old-fashioned, they looked like normal guards, except for the skulls where their head should be. With a closer investigation, they saw that the armour was pretty rusty. Regarding the state of the skulls and the armor, the guards must have been dead for a long time. "Let's go inside, I would like to know more about this. Maybe there are even treasures inside!" "No, please don't go inside. I don't hink we should interfere with this. I'm staying here", Timmon replied. "I didn't know you were such a wuss. I am going in, but I won't be away very long" Avel promised. He went through the door, and at the moment he passed the guards, they seemed to turn. "No, I must have imagined that, they can't have moved, they're dead!", he thought. He moved on through another door. Now he found himself inside a beautiful room. The walls were covered with tapestries. In the middle of the room, there was an enormous ornamented wooden table, in which all kinds of figures were carved. There were lizards, snakes and birds, but also strange monsters. One looked like a giant with four legs and four arms, and another seemed to be a enormous rat. The table was prepared for dinner, with beautiful ceramic plates and golden cups. Around the table several well-dressed skeletons were seated, which all wore rings and other jewelry. "This tower can make me rich!", he thought. Then he remembered Timmon. He took one of the cups as evidence, and he returned. Outside he told Timmon what he had found, and showed him the cup. "You fool!", Timmon shouted, "put that back immediately. Can't you see that this is not a normal castle? This must be the castle of duke Gelhemaroth. I have heard strange things about this castle. Some say armies of ghosts are passing by at one day in the year. Others said they've seen lights on the highest part of the tower, looking out over the hills like evil eyes searching for victims, although the tower has been deserted for several centuries. And no one who entered this tower has ever returned." "Well, than it is too late already, and in that case I shouldn't go in twice, don't you think? Anyhow, but I'll keep this", he said , pointing to the cup. "Ha, they didn't notice you, you think? Didn't you see those guards turn?" Timmon murmered. Since he couldn't change Avel's mind, he followed him out of the castle with fear in his heart. He tried to reassure himself: "we're still alive, aren't we?". It didn't help. All that happened a couple of hours ago. Now they stood in the pouring rain in the desolate hills. "Over there", Avel pointed towards a small hole in the ground. "That could give us some shelter". But as they staggered towards the hole the wind got stronger and stronger until they couldn't move forward anymore. The 'shapes' in the rain moved between them and the small hole, and seemed to drive them back with the wind. They tried again from several directions, moving around the hole, and always with the same result. After some attempts, they were exhausted. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck a few yards in front of them, followed by an enormous thunderbolt. After some time, the thunder seemed to be reflected by the hill. They looked at it, and they saw the whole side of the hill coming down in a giant earthslide. Timmon could jump away just in time, but Avel wasn't quick enough, or maybe he was blown back by the wind. A last scream was heard from Avel, then Timmon was alone with the voices of the wind and the rain. A few hours later, a wet and shaking man sat in the local pub of Timordoch, telling his strange story. The people at the pub first started laughing and said: "Good story, boy, do you know some more.", and to the bartender:"Aron, bring him some whiskey, that'll losen his tongue a little more." But Timmon kept telling that his friend was still out there, in the storm and the rain. After a while, some of the people at the pub thought that there might be some truth in it, so as soon as the rainstorm was over, a rescue team went out searching for Avel. They found the site of the landslide, and they found Avel, suffocated under a thick layer of mud. The golden cup, however, was gone, and never found thereafter.