The Island of Golden Zandolie. Лилия Кадет

      Chapter 1

      The hard landing. The quest has begun

      A small passenger plane flew over the island of stunning beauty. The steep slopes of the emerald mountains with sparkling rivers and waterfalls amazed the eye. Some of the mountain peaks were piercing through the clouds. The endless play of sunlight and the shadow of the clouds seemed to divide the mountains into the teeth of a giant dragon.

      But the beauty of nature, most likely, fully delighted only those who flew here for the first time. For many others, the Island was just a wild place, where it is difficult to land, where uncomfortable bays and inaccessible mountains, where it is difficult to build houses and grow crops…

      A feeling of unreality and anxiety gradually seized all the passengers of the plane, which was flying too low, almost maneuvering between the mountains and tilting its wings.

      The plane has already flown several times like this, swinging its wings, between the mountains and soared into the sun-blinding sky, circled over the sea and again returned to the Island. It was as if the crew were repeating an encore over and over again an air ride between these magical mountains and forests.

      Denis, an angular, tall brown-haired man with a funny ponytail of sparse hair combed back, also began to worry. During long flights, he reviewed old films on a computer - and now the next in line was "Jurassic World". And when he looked out the window, he saw exactly the same mountains as in the film. The only thing missing was the flying dinosaurs.

      “Something is wrong,” he thought. “We've been circling like this for about fifteen minutes. And too low for the mountains. Where is the airport!? It seems like it's high time for us to land!”

      Denis totally forgot about his movie and was glued to airplane’s porthole, continuously fixing his glasses. You can see he was extremely excited. Then he finally remembered that he was flying with his childhood sweetheart and best friend Olga. And he watched to her direction. She was peacefully sleeping, totally exhausted after long series of flights.

      Olga was blond petit young woman in yearly twenties, totally rapped in a blanket. All of a sudden little plane violently swinged and dropped, and Olga woke up. Denis showed to the porthole with strange enthusiasm.

      “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he shouted. “Olga, this is an amazing island in any sense! A unique microclimate with rare species of flora and fauna, a very interesting history and culture, so many mysterious legends and myths…”

      Olga has long been in complete exhaustion, reclining in her chair in a small and stuffy airplane, looking around with unseeing eyes. This journey was too long and exciting. She and Denis no longer remembered, how many transfers from plane to plane they made and when they last ate or slept in the normal way…

      Olga was already tired of worrying and just lay next to the always over-enthusiastic Denis in a semi-faint state. They flew to work on a contract on the other side of the world. And now they almost arrived at last, but could not land in any way… When will this ever end!?

      A voice from the aircraft's speaker clarified the situation.

      “Ladies and gentlemen! This is your captain speaking! Please accept our apologies for the delay in landing! We've been trying to do it for a quarter of an hour! But my pilot can’t learn to land on a short runway in the mountains!! When he finally learns, we will land right away!! Thank you for your patience!!!”

      After this announcement there was a spectacular pause, then the small cabin of the plane exploded with shouts, weeping and prayers with singing. All the passengers were a very motley crowd of different races and religions, which added a dose of local flavor to this cacophony.

      Yes, the Island promised an indescribable adventure, in advance, even before landing on it!

      Suddenly the plane went low between the mountains again, leaning to the side without swaying, and somehow almost fell sideways at the beginning of the runway that suddenly appeared. The brakes screeched disgustingly, the smell of burnt rubber hung in the air, and the plane froze right in the middle of a short strip, which effectively went into the sparkling sea. Apparently, the novice pilot was so afraid to land his plane on the water that he stopped in the center of the already short runway.

      After standing for half a minute, the plane timidly started off again and quietly and peacefully taxied to the airport building, or rather a low slate canopy - a little more than a bus stop. Under the shed were several coast guards, cargo carts with suitcases, and a multicolored crowd of passengers.

      Denis was already twisting his head with delight, gleaming glasses in the bright sun. He was ready to accept any challenge of this new place of work and life - at last he stepped onto this legendary Island. The quest has begun!

      Olga, in a rumpled summer suit, with a shapeless hat and huge sunglasses, obediently followed Denis, not looking around, thinking only about good shower and sleep. Denis took care of the of passport control and customs for both of them.

      While they were waiting in the queue at the immigration department, Denis learned that their plane had landed very oddly. Usually planes here land from the side of the sea strictly from the beginning of the takeoff run and then very quickly, but gradually slow down to the end of this very short strip. It's really hard to land here on this strange island. And there are no night landings – it is too dangerous because of the mountains and winds. Their young pilot did the absolute impossible – he landed the plane from the opposite end of the runway, from the mountains! How did they really survive!

      Olga was not listening to the conversations of the crowd. She was so tired that she was already almost in a zombie state. And the local English was too specific for her understanding, already clouded by a long journey.

      Finally, Denis and Olga came out onto a busy street on the other side of the airport. Here people and cars tried to squeeze through their destination in strange zigzags, not yielding to each other…

      Denis was the first to notice a huge black guy with a wide smile, sparkling with sweat and cordiality. He shouted to them in English.

      “Hey!!! Russians!!! It's me – Lindsay! I am here to pick you up! Where is your luggage? Here is my car! Yes! Here is my “white old lady”! Come in! Let’s go! We were waiting so long!”

      Olga was finally started feeling some relief, getting into a car, cool from the air conditioner, with heavily tinted windows. But, all in vain! She barely had time to smile languidly in response to Denis's happy smile. Lindsay, beaming with exuberant hospitality, started the car and pulled away at third speed, skidding slightly in place with old tires.

      Dexterously maneuvering through the crowd of people and cars, Lindsay jumped out onto a narrow and winding mountain road and raced, almost without slowing down at frequent turns.

      The narrow road was built without any fancy – on one side a mountain wall, on the other an abyss without any fence. Sometimes there were small bridges over mountain gutters, sometimes rare posts or fences, where the turns were dead sharp.

      Olga simply closed her eyes in horror and did not open them all the way.

      And Denis stuck to the window, not noticing, that he was convulsively grabbing Olga's hand with one hand and the handle above the window with the other.

      The roller coaster was child's play comparing to the island's roads and Lindsay's carefree driving!

      After an hour and a half of desperate swinging in the car, they finally arrived at their destination – a picturesque chateau in a mountain valley. Electronic gates slid away soundlessly, wheels rustling on the fine gravel.

      Finally, the car came to a standstill in the shadow of a covered garage. A side door opened inside the garage, and a strong red-haired guy jumped