C1 English Reading – Short Story & Vocabulary Quiz
In the shadowed lands where ancient forests grew dense, a truly vicious monster, known only as the Grotesque, resided. Its innate cruelty was legendary; its presence brought constant disruption to the kingdom’s peace. For generations, it had inflicted torture upon anyone who dared to pass through its dark domain, leaving behind only despair. Many brave knights succumbed to its lethal attacks, their every endeavor to eradicate it ending in failure.
Yet, hope reigned in the heart of Lady Isolde, a woman of noble birth and unwavering courage. Unlike the overwhelming fear that gripped most, Isolde felt a distinct call to alleviate her people’s suffering. This was her hereditary duty, a burden she accepted with grace. She knew the task would impose immense challenges, but her primary goal was to free her homeland from the monster’s grip.
She journeyed deep into the beast’s territory, a place even the bravest guerrilla fighters resisted doing battle in. Isolde carried no sword, only a single, glowing crystal. This relic held the collective compassion of her ancestors. When the Grotesque finally appeared, its eyes burning with hostility, Isolde did not flinch. She extended the crystal. Its light, filled with ancient kindness, cut through the gloom. The monster roared, prone to mindless rage, but the light seemed to inhibit its movements. It tried to resist doing her harm, and a strange sensation of peace began to induce a fundamental change within its gross form. The crystal’s power didn’t destroy; it softened. Slowly, the vicious creature began to decline, not in death, but in its capacity for evil. The land, once tormented, finally breathed again.