Tartarussia

The rain today sounded different than usual. It pelted the brick and stone exterior of the grand old place Karina had begun calling home a few weeks ago, irregular and far away and interspersed with crashes. Karina shrunk into the covers of her soft bed. These strange sounds had begun right as she moved out of her old home. Karina felt her heart begin to race as fear overtook her body. She concentrated on her bedroom; an oasis of warmth amidst the cold, chaotic night, with the fire burning steadily in its hearth and the soft yellow light from an oil lamp hanging by the side of her bed. She was safe here, she reminded herself.

Although she had only moved to the strange house away from the city a short time ago, her new room was just as lovely as her old one: All the white furniture and toys had been packed up alongside Karina and endured the long train ride to the new house, as well as the soft pink bedspread and the matching carpet. She wasn’t sure why she was here yet, but her father assured her it was safe, even though he had been gone during Karina’s move. Safe from what, Karina didn’t know. But she knew that she trusted her father, and that was all that mattered. She felt her breathing slow and the panic wash out of her body. She would be okay.

It would be only minutes until her father was going arrive. Her nursemaid had promised Karina that her father would come upstairs if she got ready for bed instead of waiting by the window for him, so that was what she had done. 

And sure enough, a few moments later Karina’s father appeared at the door. He was still dressed in his handsome dark green clothes, the ones he had worn the last time she saw him at her old home, but smudged gray and brown in a way Karina hadn’t seen before. But when he smiled, the room filled with a familiar warmth. 

“Papa!” Karina sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms to embrace him. 

“Karina, my dear! How are you?”, her father asked, and his voice felt like home to her. He reached out, his arms enveloping her and she clung to him, unwilling to let go of the comfort he offered. 

“I missed you so much!” Karina jumped as a deep rumble suddenly shook the earth. She began to quiver. “Papa, what was that? I’m scared!” Karina clung tightly to him.

“Don’t worry about it, love.” Her father ran his fingers through Karina’s golden locks before letting go and sitting down on her bed. “The sounds you hear are very special, because they are from the magical Kingdom of Tartarussia. That’s where I’ve also been for the past few weeks.”

Karina’s eyes widened with delight and curiosity as she momentarily forgot about her fear. “Magical? How?” 

“It is a land of magic home to creatures such as elves, dwarves, dragons, unicorns, mermaids and centaurs. The magic there can destroy a man if he uses too much, but small doses transform him. He can live there, among beasts and the supernatural, but not for too long.” He held up a warning finger. “That’s why I had to be very careful. But sometimes, in very special moments, you can hear the creatures of Tartarussia in the human world.”

Karina tried not to whimper as a particularly loud crash sounded from beyond her pink curtains. 

“Hear that?”, her father said, his voice reassuring and calming. “Those are the dwarves mining special magical crystals. They break down the earth and rocks and mountains to find them, so they can be ground to a powder that would give a simple human like you or me incredible strength.”

“Did you meet them? The dwarves?”, Karina asked. She giggled in delight at the thought of small men in pointed hats and long beards walking among the mountains and forests of Tartarussia and imagined them stomping their little feet and hacking into the earth, creating the crash she heard just now.

“No, I wasn’t there to meet with the dwarves. I was part of a group of humans who went to Tartarussia to meet the King.”, her father continued. “As we travelled, there were trees so large you could hardly see the sky above them, and we walked along paths dug into the ground. Beyond them was land no man had ever set foot on. But that morning, we did. The fog that covers the forest is so heavy we can barely see. But when it clears”, father sighed. “It is truly spectacular. Moving castles made of precious metals, with men in glorious uniform standing guard to defend their king, dragons and pegasi flying in the sky. And in the sea, there are mermaids and sirens so graceful you don’t see them until they break the surface, singing with their beautiful voices-“ her father paused as a distant wail, songlike and forlorn, sounded from beyond Karina’s bedroom. She clutched her blankets, remembering the noise from her old home. It was the same wail that had sounded when the nursemaid told her that she must pack all her belongings, because she was moving to a different home.

“There she is.” Her father said with a knowing smile. “Peisinoe, the siren who mourns the death of her lover at nights, sometimes singing so loudly and passionately that her cry reaches our ears in the human world.”

Karina sighed in relief. It was just a siren. She and her father listened to the song for a while longer. Karina imagined swimming among Peisinoe and her mermaid sisters, a long turquoise tail in place of her legs and her hair floating in the water.

“And the marketplaces are unlike anything we humans have ever seen.”, her father continued. “They sell everything you can imagine, charms to ward off the dark, curses to keep pests away at night, plants to help you sleep better and plants that keep you awake, even some spells that can help humans cope with Tartarussia’s magic, but those are very hard to come by…” 

Karina closed her eyes, hearing the yells and shouts and general bustle of the markets from beyond her bedroom. She wondered how it would feel to walk among the crowded streets in a new, shiny dress, buying herself charms to animate her dolls, or sweet, sugary candy that melted on her tongue but never disappeared. 

And the rain continued to pelt, now louder in an unrelenting wave, steady and controlled in small bursts. 

“The rain today is strange.” Karina looked up at her father, then her eyes widened in understanding. “It’s because of Tartarussia, isn’t it? The magic that reached the human world?”

“My smart girl. So clever already.” Karina grinned at her father. “The elves like to play their mischievous games. They are taller, faster and stronger than humans. They eat the sweet, magical cherries that grow in Tartarussia, then spit out the pits so quickly, they sound like this.”

Karina listened to the rapid-fire pelts and wondered how she would fare in a spitting contest against the beautiful, immortal elves. She had always thought she was rather good at it, but didn’t have much of a chance to practice because her nursemaid always scolded her.

“And this sound” her father paused as they listened to what Karina thought was rain, but now realized was duller and choppier. “These are the unicorns galloping in herds in the vasts fields of Tartarussia.” 

Karina wondered how it must feel like to ride on one of the majestic beasts, to cling to its mane as the wind tore at her clothes and hair. She hoped she could visit the beautiful land of Tartarussia one day. 

“Can you take me with you?”, Karina asked.

Her father shook his head. “Oh, no. Tartarussia’s magic is too dangerous for children. We grown-ups can barely handle what it does to us.”

“Has it changed you? It doesn’t seem like it.” Karina protested. Her father was the same as ever, though she noticed he looked a bit older, with more lines etched into his face, and gray hairs on his head.

Karina saw her father’s smile falter. “Oh, it has changed me”, he said, almost in a whisper. “It may not have changed me in ways visible to the eye quite yet, but it is my heart that has undergone the most overwhelming transformation.” 

Before Karina could ask what he meant by that, her father gave her a kiss on her forehead and stood up. “My work at Tartarussia is not yet finished. I must still meet their King, but it is difficult as his guards are very loyal an protective, and the magical creatures not always welcoming to strangers.” Karina felt a wave of sadness nearly overwhelm her at the thought of him leaving. Small crystals, pearl-like and iridescent formed at the corners of her father’s eyes. Karina imagined the dwarves mining those, then shaping them into small, perfectly round orbs. 

Karina stretched out her arms, and her father enveloped her in a tight hug. Karina inhaled his smell, smoky and earthy and just a hint of him. She never wanted to let go, but eventually, he did. 

“Can you tell the King of Tartarussia that I want to come visit? When I’m older?” Karina asked her father. “Oh, and can you bring me a present from the markets?” 

Her father smiled again, and Karina returned it. Rivers of liquid crystal, reflecting like glass, now ran down her father’s face. Were they tears? Karina was confused. Her father didn’t cry. This, Karina suddenly realized, was how the magic of Tartarussia had changed him. 

“Of course.”, he whispered, pressing another kiss on Karina’s cheek and letting his hand trail on her bed as he walked towards the door of her room, slow and deliberate. 

“Good night. I love you.”, her father said, then softly closed the door behind him with a click.

Karina grinned as she settled herself lower into her covers. She thought she could hear the sounds of Tartarussia closer than ever now. The crash and rumble as dwarves dug into the earth, in search for their magic crystals. Peisinoe’s wail, now joined by her sisters to create a symphony of beautiful anguish and pain. The shouts and hollers of the bustling marketplace. The pelt of cherry pits as elves playing their mischievous game. The unicorns galloping along fields filled with beautiful, magical flowers. Karina thought she could see a flashes of fire through her curtains and imagined a majestic dragon rising to the sky with a burst of flame coming from his mouth. 

Suddenly, a crash sounded from downstairs followed by rapid batter against a wall. Were those the dwarves, coming to ask Karina to join her father in Tartarussia? Was it the elves, who’d invite Karina to play their game amongst them? A unicorn, perhaps, who’d let Karina ride on its back and carry her to the magical world, where she could be with her father?

Karina sat up expectantly on her bed, heart fluttering in anticipation and a smile on her face.