"Echo Chamber Legend 1 - The Adventure of the Magic Tune"

Author: (English) Catherine Roberts / Country: United Kingdom
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: This is a world in another dimension. Here, legendary half-human creatures still live alongside their human neighbors. Here, storms, bays, and even the earth itself can be controlled by magical melodies. The harmony and balance of this world are in the hands of those who master the power of melodies. It is a place vastly different from our own, yet the people there share the same laughter and sorrow as we do. Far from the Purple Prairie and the Midnight Mountains, nestled in the embrace of the crystal-blue Western Sea lies the mysterious Echo Island, where dwell the singers who hold the magical power to maintain the balance between good and evil. The singers can hear the whispers of the half-human creatures with magic and communicate over vast distances with just their minds. They live in the enchanted Echo Island, using otherworldly melodies to preserve peace in the world. But a terrible demon seeks to destroy their Echo Island and all the good people in the world. Now, only two young singers can defeat the dark forces: the kind Rialle, whose voice is as sweet as the sunshine of spring; and the rebellious Kherron, whose long-standing desire for freedom might just lead him into the enemy's trap. Far from home, Rialle and Kherron must face all challenges alone, ensnared in a sinister and dangerous web, fighting against the dark forces that seek to destroy the entire world. On the day the gears of fate began to turn, the singer Graia, accompanied by Rialle's class, descended the long Five Thousand Steps, all the way to the western beach. The children followed happily behind her, jumping with excitement. A ship from the interior had been crushed by the rocky shores during the recent storm, giving the graduates the rare opportunity to leave Echo Hall and search the beach for the wreckage. For the children, this was an absolute treat, the air filled with cheerful spirits and the laughter song—interwoven with the melody of Kaya—resounding above the gathering place. Graia chose a stone as the podium for her lesson, and soon everyone gathered around it. Dressed in the formal attire of a singer, Graia's gray silk robe fluttered in the wind, her intricately braided blue hair gently draped over her shoulders, its soft ends easing the strong sea breeze. She asked everyone to be quiet and led them in singing the sacred hymn of Echo Hall. The graduates—perhaps only most of them—began to sing with more enthusiasm than usual. Rialle felt uncomfortable, her head throbbing faintly, which bothered her greatly. Even the magic melody of Kaya seemed to lose its power. Frenn and Chissar, the two boys who always did silly things to get her attention, made faces and hummed a less sacred dormitory tune between breaths. At the back of the crowd, Kherron, as usual, kept his mouth shut tightly, his eyes fixed on Rialle's back as if he wanted to burn a hole through it with his gaze. The least popular boy in the class, he didn’t sing at all. "For the sweet sleep in the dream of lavender," Graia sang. "The sunset makes you sleep deeply," Frenn murmured softly, his blue eyes full of mischief. Some people smiled foolishly and joined the chorus, slightly off-key, which made Rialle long to squeeze out of the crowd of white-clad people and find a place where she could breathe freely. Her toes had been stepped on several times since the morning, and it was always the clumsy Gilli who "succeeded" in stepping on her hair when descending the steps. These were just minor inconveniences. When people got excited, they tended to ignore you. Frenn always teased her, saying she should cut her long hair short to avoid tripping over it. Although they often complained that she needed twice as much dye as a regular singer to turn her hair blue, Rialle would never let scissors near her hair, even just a little. Her blue, wavy curls perfectly concealed her ordinary gray eyes and the faint freckles on her face. "For the bright laughter of gold," Graia continued to sing. "Kaya makes you laugh," Chissar joined in. "For the tears flowing in the emerald stream," Graia sang. "The tear stone makes you cry," it was Frenn's turn. Rialle tiptoed, making sure her teacher wasn’t looking, and quietly slid her hand under her long hair, covering her ears. Yet, even so, the latter part of the hymn still gently trickled through her fingers, seeping into her ears. She really couldn’t understand why people always raised their voices at the end of the song. P9-10