Аннотация: Книга издана тиражом 5000 экземпляров, издательство "Первый класс". В книге - англоязычная и русская версии текста.
Legends of the Northern Hills
(afrightful fairytale for brave adults)
Among the Northern Hills adorned with steps of wild animals and exotic birds, among the play of light and stringy darkness of the night, among the torturous fjords of the endless north far away from people lived ancient Beasts of even more ancient land Alber - rather small country of The Northern Hills made up of a few settlements and a half ruined castle. Nobody have lived there for many years.
The Royal dynasty fell into a deep sleep because of a spell cast by the Beasts. Invaders wanted to rule. And the Royal dynasty ruined their plans. The old King fell asleep, his children fell asleep, all servants and residents fell asleep,just like it happens with kingdom curses: as Sleeping Beauty and other fairytale creatures. There was only one difference that it was no rescue from the Beasts" anger and magic. Kisses did not wake maidens, love did not remove evil spells, and sharp axes of great heroes couldn"t cut a thorn bush. Indeed no one was eager to be a hero. It is quite unsafe - enter a war with the Beasts.
No one who lived in the country knew how to awake the sleeping dynasty. And eventually people even enjoyed living without the King because self-government relaxes and makes the life unruled and free. Kingdom residents packed up their traps and went to the West away from the Northern Hills in order to escape the Beasts force. Since then, the Northern Hills stood empty and only rare wanderers or adventure seekers dreaming about the royal treasury were an exception.There is no need to tell that the Beasts didn"tlet anybody approach the castle walls and all treasures of the country belonged only to them. The King and his children were doomed to sleep forever in the halls of the lonely castle.
The Beasts remained out of view of people"s eyes, they didn"twant to meet with the civilized world, and eventually people forgot about them as well as about the King with his children. However, they remained in people"s hearts as an ancient mysterious legend. People no longer knew for sure whether these creatures consisted of flesh and blood or tissued from the finest materials and interweaved with the air. Spirit or body, knowledge or ignorance - what was their nature, and whether they remained at all since the conquest of the castle or simply died out, like rare species of animals? But even those who found themselves in these places by chance tried not to visit the marshes in the very middle of the hills. Nobody walk or hunt there. Just in case. You would wander into the depths of the hills - and you would remain there asfood forthe Beasts. Superstitious fears lived and pervaded the fabric of the running centuries.
People did not understand clearly, what exactly it was necessary to fear, but they sowed fear in their souls as the first and unbreakable truth of all times.
1. MagicBeasts
In the midst of the ancient hill far away from the bank of the torturousfjord, there was a golden-green meadow and the sun was shining over it. In the middle of the meadow there was an old easel, cans of paints and a pack of brushes.
Lyaugrcolored the sunset in all shades of purple. He painted the sky with a long brush. Inspiration had left him long ago. But how can you give clouds a color in another way? If not with a brush soaked with oil paint. And the clouds - they are exactly his duty. The weather - too. And also - to control other beasts, so that they keep the rules and don"tmeddle with people. People forgot them and it was for the better. Although it was he, the oldest beast, who knew for sure that new times were coming ... It was possible not to notice the wind of change and fool yourself as long as you like, but the subtle smell of something in the future was already in the air and nothing could dispel it.
Slipperyspit dropped down on the grass from Lyaugr"s hung down upper lip and the grass died on the spot. The Beast used to draw. Here, there nobody could see his works. There was no need to work hard and he could shamelessly create copies instead of originals. Other Beasts sometimesteased him, having nothing to do, and turned over the easel with paints.
"You"re so ugly, Lyaugr! It"s sickening to watch how this stuff is flowing from your mouth!" Nisa winced and jumped aside on the nearby hill, angrily wagging a scaly tail. She looked like a lizard-like creature with webbed feet. Only a special expression of her inflamed had something of a distant human origin.
Red sun of The NorthernAlber slowly slid down towards the horizon leaving behind crimson melted paths. It was as though the sun flew down the clear walls of the evening sky together with Lyaugr"s paints mixing, at times, to fantastic shades.
"The rain of sunlight gives a weapon, gives us energy to protect. I hate these nomads. They think they are lords," Nisa hissed. "H-A-T-E! Yesterday I saw hunters wandering near the castle again. What are they looking for? The King turned into a dry mummy a long time ago."
Lyaugr laughed and glanced sideways at his ugly friend. Then there was even a kind of sardonic smile upon the scaled mouth lines of a giant Mingor.
"They"re scared of us, the fear is alive!"Mingor wheezed baring his yellow teeth covered with disgusting plaque. Being a giant, he always sank into the moving Meadow because of his weight. That"s why Mingor had to shift from one paw to the other trying to find a hard surface and sprinkling down clots of green slime from the Meadow"s jaws.
The Meadow was also a Beast, but heused to disguise as the Earth's surface. In fact, he did it quite bad.He constantly moved and panted belching clouds of acrid smoke. The Meadow was ashamed that other giants walked on his body, and sometimes, in anger he tried to throw them off himself, but no luck.
"It"s time to show the tribes who is the Lord in this part of the world," Nisa said archly. She egged the others on starting a war again and again, ignoring the fact that people were almost gone. There was a lot of anger in her heart and not enough brain substance in her head. The others new it and made an allowance for it.
"Can"t you just calm down?"Lyaugr grinned, dipping a brush in the paint-pot. He knew that calmness is a guarantee of the Beasts existence in this world as in the others.
"This world is ours..." the witch said angrily through her teeth and lost her monstrous look for a moment. "Since Alber's empire broke up into tribes, there was no rest. The nomads are prowling the earth like moles."
Mud jelly under witch"s feet squelched yummilyand pulled into his mouth another dead rat.
"A glutton!"Nisa breathedloosing her paw, which had sunk into the Meadow. "Swallow Lyaugr, he is really nasty!"
"Yeah, I thought of eating Lyaugr once," Mingor agreed."But it is impossible to approach him for a mile. Smells worse than the skunk Bachitto from the nearby barrow."
"Eat," Lyaugr said maliciously. "But where will you find a new Master?"the Beast elevated his only eyebrow and raised the brush. Mingor laughed - his face expression seemed particularly fool. However, they all understood that they were nothing without Lyaugr. Nobody was clever enough for keeping peace in these Northern lands.
"I've been thinking," Nisa narrowed her eyesand lowered her hoarse voice. "We can"t starve them out.They"ll defeat us in an open fight despite of Lyaugr"s magic. There"retoo many of them. They"ve spears and sharp arrows. We"ll deceive the nomads, we"ll force them to get out of our lands."
"What"re you talking about?" Lyaugr showed his teeth letting a colorful soap bubble escape from his mouth, which smashed with a crack. "You all know my opinion that it isn"t the brightest idea to reveal yourselves to people. We must keep ourselves secret. Individuals believe in us, but that"smore than enough."
"Deceive them," Nisa answered, wiping Lyaugr"spoisonous saliva from her paw. The limb immediately grew purple and itched. Nisa frowned with annoyance. "I propose to kill all the nomads without revealing ourselves."
"It"s only you have plans to build, sister," the giant Mingor said. "Three teeth and a scrap of tow behind your neck. Before you begin deceiving, they"ll run away and even throw away their spears! Just to get away from you! And don"t look at me like it hadn"t happened before..."
"And I"ll pretend to be somebody else, and I"ll get them around the Meadow, they"ll lose their scent, and then the Meadow will eat them," Nisa hugged her enormous and immediately fell into the grass, wrapping the fragile twigs of the prickly sedge around herself.
Lyaugr and Mingor were watching in confusion as their ugly companion was disappearing in the growing herbal cocoon. The Meadow under their paws was squelching yummily and was waiting, when the Beast missed and dived straight to his mouth. But Nisa wasn"t as sluggish as ugly. She knew that the sledge causes indigestion so she threw several stems directly into the slobbering lips of the Meadow just in case. The Meadow began to shake, spewing the swallowed contents. The ground trembled underneath his feet. Mingor slipped and fell on his back (an unsteady wave floated through the Meadow) and cursed loudly. But all went well - no one was eaten in this internal mess.
Meanwhile, Nisa had rolled in the mud and looked like something formless and really unpleasant. The Master and the Giant had lost the tufty maiden at all, when there was her scream from the inside of the mad ball:
"Rip the cocoon" she screamed from the inside of the tissue
Mingor straightened his sharp claws and cut the sedge wall at one blow. Then, together with Lyaugr, they recoiled and gasped. Even the meadow stopped champing and waited expectantly. A girl emerged from the open cocoon, thin, dark-skinned,and black-haired. She was naked from hair to toes.
"Bring the skin, Mingor,"Nisa croaked. The voice let her down, spoiling the general impression and contrasting with her appearance.
"Big time," the giant opened his mouth, sonorously scratched his bold almost glossy head. "But you"d better keep quiet, sister. Otherwise, the nomads"llfind out."
"But how, then, will I lure them into the Meadow?" Nisa scrambled to her feet and her thick hair was strewn with resin strands over her swarthy shoulders.
"It's enough to lure one of them. A young son of one of the chiefs. Then the rest will come and they"llmeet their end. Here, where our forces are multiple, the Meadow will devour them all, and no one will even understand whathas happened,"Mingor laughed, throwing the red fox skin into the clutches of the maiden.
"Behind the three hills on the edge of the meadow," Lyaugr said thoughtfully "there is an old road overgrown with thick bushes ... Who of the mortals will step on it, will not turn back. There is no way back on this road! If you can"tget over it, sister, lure the cub to our land and, you see, it is done. Then, the road itself will lead him to the Meadow - into the magical lands of the kingdom. And there will be no salvation for him. And for the rest who will come next."
Nisa narrowed her eyes and nodded. The evil plan gave her strength.
"Give me a voice," the witch patiently held out her hands to Lyaugr.
"No, sister, it"s enough to spend magic," the Beast grinned. "And it"s quite funfor me and Mingor to watch you."
Nisa grinned angrily and roared, and then calmed down. If you don"t keep calm enough, they won"t allow to do evil at all.It is better to be content with this. At all timesa beautiful body has solved problems better than any agreements. Nisa determined to go to the nearest village, which was only in one day from here.
She"ddefinitely find there a shelter with hot water and a young chief, who was necessary for her plan.
2. Baas- eyes of the forest
The wind was roaring among the grove and was spreading the weeping branches of the trees on different sides of the world. As if in time with the wind, ribbons of black braids of the chief"s daughter Tenar were rising into the gray-blue sunset sky. A white national dress with red and blue stripes, a black belt and wide sleeves covered the snow-white body of the maiden, and a bandage on her head with hanging bells came down to her cheekbones, shading her oblong dark eyes. Tenar was a favorite of the village. Her kindness and mercy were treated as a healing power. A sixteen-year-old girl was invited to homes where children were ill and where people lost hope. Despite her youth, the soft wisdom of the girl knew no bounds. Tenar was a source of light for the entire settlement, partly replacing the sun.
Tenar hugged the trees, drawing in their healing and protective properties. She knew that while the mountain ash grabbed a disease from a weak body, the birch gave strength, and aspen could pick up troubles. The cold waters of the fjord also gave her strength and protection. Knowledge went to the girl from the memory of her family, who visited her in dreams. Wrapped in the skin of the lynx, Tenar was walking in the grove and didn"t notice that two glowing eyes were staring intently through the tall grass. Hiding in the grass, the wolf was waiting for the man to come closer to be an easy prey. Thenthe predator quietly andslowly came to meet the chief's daughter.
Tenar cried soundlessly - the beast was too close to run away and to huge to protect herself. She shut her eyes, covered them with icy palms, and didn"t see how another white wolf jumped out of the thicket and clung to the gray killer.
"Baas!" the girl breathed painfully. "You have come, Baas!"
The Gray was bigger by half, but Baas was cleverer and cut the enemy's throat with the sharp blade of white fangs.
The Gray fell on his side, his legs twitched and he wheezed. Tenar carefully took two steps forward - the red blood dripped from the offender"s neck, streaming on the hard hair like a satin ribbon - like in braids falling on shoulders and chest.
At that moment, a group of hunters headed by a chief"s son appeared in the grove.
"Tenar, are you all right?" Ten ran to his sister in dismay, grabbing her by trembling wrists.
"Baas came and protected me," she breathed. "He fought like a hero of legends! If he were not a wolf, I would call him a brave warrior!"
There was no trace of the White wolf. Only a stirring in the tall grass showed the direction in which he"dleft. Baas defended the chief's twins from their birth. When their mother died in childbirth, a wolf came and settled near the village, coming to the aid of children. The wolf was especially protective of the girl, replacing her mother"s care.
"Well," Ten and other young hunters lifted the Gray wolf"s body to carry it to the village. "Now we have meat and skin."
Tenar dropped her gaze. Her heart ached with a strange pain.
The village was crowded that evening. Common excitement, in addition to the meeting of the village darling with the wolf, said also that a wandering singer had come, and the whole night people would listen to his stories.
On the night of the sacred Samayn, bonfires were burned, bread was baked, and geese were smoked.The nomads, who wanted to have a warm and something edible, often came on such nights.
Ten and Tenar sat closer to the fire, wrapped in skins to warm themselves. The nights of October in the west lands of Alber were cold and gloomy.
Young people, like the rest of the villagers, were listening to the tales of thetraveling singer Guyar, who had wandered into their distant lands. The father, the old chief, was looking attentively at his children, washing down the unhurried stories with a mug of hot mushroom beverage made by women of the settlement. The drink imprinted in his head with vivid hallucinations and everything else fell into the background. His son was sixteen. The guy had grown up in the last few years, had got stronger. A real warrior deserving the tribe. The old man was proud of Ten and didn"t hide it. Soon the term of the old chief would come to the end, and then his son would take his destiny- a leader of the tribe. At the time when there was no king, the tribes must take care of their own welfare, so it was important for the chief to be strong and worthy. It only remainedto choose a right wife for Ten to become a man - by tradition, every warrior of the village had a woman.
The father was looking at his daughter Tenar condescendingly. Everyone in the tribe knew that the girl was lively and intelligent. Tenar was prophesiedto be a witch thanks to her kind sympathetic soul. However, the chief himself didn"trush things. He saw the girl as a future mother and someone's affectionate wife, not a lonely witch, whowas forbidden to know a man.
"Tell us about the greatest nations, musician," Ten askedGuyar impatiently. "About those who make history and create the world."
"What makes you think that the world was created by people?" the singer smiled slyly and glanced sideways at the chief's son. "Although you are strong in body, but you are young and inexperienced in spirit."
"Those who have sharper spears decide peoples" fate," Ten said irritably."Is this not the truth?"
Most of all he didn"tlike catchy questions. It"s better to speak openly and directly, as his father always taught him. Tenar punched her brother with a branch, broken off the bush, and hissed reprovingly. She liked stories of the wanderers, who rarely appeared in the village, as much as Ten. That"s why she eagerly tried to catch each word,turninig before her eyes into colorful images. Moreover, the sacred Samhain, the world of spirits escaped to freedom, thin border of the worlds, a picture woven by magic wrapped around Tenar with a sweet veil.
"Look around, Ten," Guyar said suddenly. "What do you see?"
"Forest and plains, huts and buildings, the road leading to the mountains and meadows," he obediently fulfilled the old man's request, looked around and told what he could see. Ten was straightforward and simple, naive and sweet. A warrior, but a boy.
Guyar took a branch of larch from his inner pocket and handed it to Tenar.
"Touch it, girl," the musician said, and Tenar immediately held out her thin hand. There were green and slightly greasy traces on her fingers.
"What is it?" she was frightened.
"Paint, ordinary paint,"Guyar smiled mysteriously. "Everything that surrounds us isn"t created by people. It is a creation of the most talented artist in the history of the universe. He"s been painting since the world came into being. Trees, mountains and rivers, and everything you see every day is a creation of his unique brush. People have almost forgotten the great master."
Ten and Tenar looked puzzled at thetraveling singer. Their father grinned, finished his pipe, and went to his hut. Singer Guyar appeared in their settlement at the right time. Once the younger generation of the tribe should learn the basics knowledge about the structure of the world. The wanderer"lltell them better- there"ll be no reason to doubt. Kindred trust the wisdom of the wandering musicians.
"Who is he?" Ten jumped up in shock. "Tell me, who is this painter?! I must meet him and thank him!"
"Slow down, brother," Tenar said with an embarrassed smile. "Let's listen to the singer."
"Don"t rush," Guyar sighed. "The great artist created the world, but not people. And the fact that people from century to century use his creation, does not please the creator, because in his essence he"s a beast. Over the last millennium,he"s become angry. He"s been drawing without former inspiration for a long time..."
Dumbfounded Ten sat down at the fire again, trying to put up with the new truth that he had just learned. What he uses every day, what he sees and feels, is not his merit! It is a merit of an unknown creator,and besides, he is offended with people. How was that? He had no idea how complicated was the world around him.
Tenar smiled again, managed to read her brother"s thoughts.
"The world is imperfect," the singer said with a condescending smile, spread his hands and stroke up a song.
Then all night longGuyarwas singingabout howthe dark red sunset gives place to a blue-black veil of sky, how the waters of the blue fjordflow from shore to shore, hiding beneath their depths a mysterious bottom. He was singing about the lights and lands awarded the light. The children were listening to his songs and growing up right in front of his eyes. The travelling musician had been singing until the fires went out and the villagebecame quiet. By this time, Tenar was sleeping peacefully, pressing her warm cheek to the warm fur of a lynx.
Pale Ten was sitting without movingnear the site of fire. His world had turned over and he could hardly breathe.
"What is the name of that artist?" he asked at dawn.
"Lyaugr," the singer answered, wrapping up in a cloak and getting ready for the journey.
"I"llremember his name,"Ten got up flatly and went to the village.
"But I assure you, the young chief, it"s better for you not to seek a beast," the singer shouted at last. "Because a beast will always find a way to out-trick a person, especially asnaive warrior as you."
Ten walked grimly towards the house, angrily throwing his spear at the entrance. The wandering singer didn"t dare to teach the chief"s son what to do. In the future, he wouldcertainly meet with the beast and would make the beast give him all his knowledge and wisdom, and if the Beast refused, then he wouldgo down with the young chief"s spear. After all, Ten had strong hands and the spear obeyed them.
"Not you saved Tenar, but Baas - the eyes of the forest,"the country boys teased the guy. "How did the young let it happen...?"
3. Dark waters of the North
On the day when a new girl appeared in the village, Tenar was helping to give birth to a young woman. The child hadn"t appeared for a long time and Tenar was putting her hands to the mother's maternity belly, giving the baby strength to get out. Tenar could barely stand on her feet, the heat of the house and the taste of blood on her lips made her sick and sent visions. In these visions, the evil was approaching the village - dark, ancient and certainly true. Together with the dark waters of the ice fjord. From this evil she caught her breath even more than when during the meeting with the wolf ...
On that day, the young Ten lost his peace. He was one of the first who saw a naked girl with an amazing dark skin, covered only by a skin of the beast. Such shade of skin was not peculiar to the kingdom of Albert; it became obvious that the traveler had walked some distance. No one in the village, as expected, had no idea where she had come from. She was found asleep on the outskirts of the plain, when the men of the tribe went hunting. Moreover a tiny and dark, wrapped in a fox skin girl wasdumb. No matter how hard the local witches tried to ask her, she didn"t say a word and only turned away shyly. However, she dared to scratch a few Celtic runeswith a wand on the sand. Having read some of them a reader of the village determined that the girl called Nisa.
The name seemed charming to Ten, as the stranger herself, and he had already forgotten about the dreams of meeting the painter and understanding his knowledge, and even about introduction the creator to the sharp tip of the spear thrown in the house. Now the only thing Ten wanted was the guest's body, again and again, without stopping.
People let the girl stay in the village and called her Nisa, although some residents left her a nickname - "loud silence". Nisa didn"t do anything. Her hands were not adapted to work on the ground. Nisa didn"t know how to cook and wash. Women laughed, where was this absolutely useless guest from. She spent whole afternoons sitting on the shore of the fjord andplaiting flowers and algae into her resinous hair. Sometimes she looked up at the sky, as if she was studying the changing colors of the clouds.
Nisa looked intently and fixedly at Tenar, studying her movements and habits. The way Tenar collected herbs aroused particular interest in the witch.
Day after day, Ten followed the girl on her heels and couldn"t look away. However, he was afraid to come closer;his strong legs were tight with fear and on the contrary drove him away from the so-desired gift. But one night, Nisa appeared near the fire, where hunters were resting, and beckoned Ten up to her.
"Stay! Where are you going?"half-asleep Tenar said, starting. "Don"t go, brother, it"s not for good! I feel - not for good!"
Ten picked up his spear and followed Nisa, ignoring his sister's words.
"Ten, don"t you believe my instinct?" Tenar clutched at her brother's sleeve convulsively and pulled his back. "Has my instinct ever let us down?" she looked intently at his face with dark frightened eyes. A fire was crackling behind them, recalling that it was the only source of heat in the settlement.
"Leave me alone," Ten drew his hand back. "You are stupid yet and you can"t understand. Nisa is like a nymph from the fjord! Like an exotic fish from the sea, washing the distant lands, like a silent wind from the plains, irrigated by the feeble rustle of leaves! She must belong only to me!"
"That is it, Ten!"Tenar exclaimed and a multitude of braids spilled on her shoulders and back against a light gust of wind. "She is not a man! Anything, but not one of us! Nisa is a stranger! She will lead all of us to death!"
At that moment,Tenpushed his sister away so sharp thatTenar lost her balance and fell to the ground, hitting her elbow painfully.
The next morning Ten appeared in the village in high spirits. He broughtNisa, fawned on his hand, into his father"s home and introduced her as his bride.
"Do you really want to take this stranger as a wife?" his father asked lighting his pipe as usual. The old chief no longer had the same authority, and only a pipe could give weight to his words and solidity to himself.
"Of course, I want!" Ten held the fragile girl even more tightly. "Last night I became a man next to her. Nisa without resistance gave herself to one who will soon take the place of the chief! It was unforgettable, father! I have not experienced anything like this before! I want to take this humble, quiet woman!"
"Well, in that case," the old chief shrugged. "We"ll prepare for the wedding. And after the ceremony, Ten, you will be at the head of the people. I am already old and I want peace," he said briefly.
The son had become a man, he could pass him the village and the chief's spear.
Without waiting for the wedding ceremony, Ten insisted that one of the empty hutsshould be given to him and Nisa. He couldn"tcontrol his desires and wanted to enjoy the bride"s body in full. The old women whispered disapprovingly in the corners, the warriors and hunters looked with interest at the future wife of the young chief.
Tenar walked darker than a dark strip of forest on the outskirts of the hills and stayed away from her people. She kept trying to talk her brother out so hastymarriage - but this only ended with the fact that Ten stopped to pay attention to her and even to communicate with her. The father, feeling tired and approaching death, did not see an excuse to postpone the wedding. His son had chosen a woman -well, so be it. Moreover, it didn"tmatter that she was dumb, if only she would give him strong sons.
The wedding rocked the countryside around the village with fun and songs. For Nisa it was woven a red dress and a beautiful headdress- the bride of the chief had to look perfect. Hermute lips were coloredwith scarlet paint and her already black eyebrows were stressed with coal. Embroidered with gold thread boots and wolf skin of a gray wolf, who attacked Tenar in the woods, decorated the bride. The hunters brought her a bow and arrow, and the women of the village gave her a dark green necklace of gemstones.
Tenar wore a blue dress with white embroidery and a habitual lynx skin. She tried not to think about the bad again. Neither the father nor the brother trusted her visions and her instincts. She was sad that, despite her gift, her own family didn"t take her seriously.
At the height of the wedding, the cold north wind blew from the side of the fjord. Tenar caught in the sound of this wind something strange and sad. It called, it changed the color of the clouds and Tenar, who perceived the world so sensitively, couldn"t help responding. Ten and Nisa were dancing to the sound of music, the hunters were getting drunk, and the women of the village were laughingat original games. Tenar turned to them all and went to the shores of the fjord, where the sad whisper of the wind called her. There, in the tall grass, on the uneven banks, it was almost silent - the sounds of the wedding were heard from afar, fading into the sounds of nature and wind.
The dark blue clear and icy water washed Tenar's feet, it was cold and sad, and the trees rocked the crowns in unison with the movement of water. Then came someone who Tenar didn"t expect at all. Right now, in the distance, among the coastal groves, there was standing Baas, the White wolf and he was looking at her. Scarlet blood was pouring down the white paw with a thin stream - the wolf was wounded in battle. For whom was this fight? Tenar didn"tknow. Did Baas save himself or his friend from fierce evil or simply fell into someone's trap? Tenar leaned forward to bandage her defender"s paw, but the wolf took a step back.
"It doesn"t matter at all, it"s just a wound," Baas said in the voice of the north wind.
"Wounds will be healed," the waters of the fjord echoed.
"Tenar, you must protect your people, trouble is coming," the tall trees whispered, and the girl's heart ached in anticipation.
Baas was silent, but at the same time he was speaking - with the voices of the surrounding world, and only she, Tenar, could hear his plea.
Tenar fell to her knees, and the water soaked the hem of her linen dress. Tears flowed down her cheekbones, the girl knew that changes were coming, and only she alone could do something to save her people. Baas disappeared from view, the noise of a merry wedding was coming from far away.
What can she do alone? Baas asked her for help. But what is the power of a young girl, among the cruelties of the enchanted North?
4. People and Beasts
At night, after the wedding, everything sank into silence: the village and the forest, and even the distant mountains beyond the borders of plains and forests - the places of gods and true lords of the kingdom of Albert. Tenar couldn"tfall asleep, got up and left the house to see how the night fire burnt down slowly. Can the wise Baas come again and teach her something that he hadn"texplained? But it was deserted and quiet - no people, no wolf-advisers. Drunken hunters were sleeping - even those who should stand on duty this night to protect the tribe. If the chief knew, he would be angry ... But the chief was tired, his mind was somewhere above dreams, in the hopes that nowat last he could retire.
Looking at the faded though still hot coals,Tenar saw that a slight shadow moved from her brother's hut and slipped in the direction of an old road that no one had used for a long time. The road was overgrown with high barbed grass. In addition, even a path that could still be seen in the middle of the road was famous for the most poisonous snakes in the area.
A few moments later, Tenar saw the figure of his brother, who followed the shadow. Immediately the girl grabbed the bow, threw a quiver with arrows across her back and making no sound, as hunters taught her, ran after him.
Nisa was walking along the ruined road to the North, to its depths. Tenar tried to keep in sight Ten, who was pursuing his wife. Therefore, they walked for several hours, until the little figure of Nisa in the red wedding dress completely disappeared from view. Then Ten broke into a run, struggling through the thorn bush. He shouted, called his wife by name, but no one responded to his call. Tenar could scarce keep up with her brother- after all, he ran fast, not without reason he was one of the greatest warriors. Then suddenly Ten also was out of sight. Tenar stopped in confusion and began to gaze into the darkness. Somewhere in the distance a night bird was rustling, alerting the rest of the birds about the night forest guests. The girl did not move until she felt a hand tighten around her neck.
"Tenar? What are you doing here?!" through the motley twilight of the forest she saw furious and at the same time tear-filled eyes of her brother.
"I wanted to help," she whispered, clearing her throat. "If, of course, you might need help..."
"Have you followed me? Rotten stuff!"Ten swore, pressing his sister's back against the bark of the ancient oak.
"Calm down, brother," Tenar frowned. "This girl clouded your mind. If she is clean, where has she gone in the middle of the night right after the wedding?"
Tensteppedback. However, they continued on their way together.They walked for some time in silence, breaking the bush branches in front of them.
"A truly forgotten road,"Tenar finally couldn"t bear and spoke first. "I wonder why the tribes abandoned it..."
"There's an old belief," Ten said dryly "that this road has no way back. And those who took this path, didn"t return."
From the words of her brother, Tenar flinched. Did her visions warn about this, did the White wolf say about this evil?
"Then we"ll turn back," she asked, frightened. "It"sprobably a trap!"
"Maybe you"re right," Ten agreed grimly. "But before I go back, I have to make sure. Only a coward in my place will turn back."
Tenar sighed. This time, Ten was talking sense.
At that moment, a slim figure of Nisa appeared behind the trees. The girl was standing under the woven arch of night larches and was smiling to Ten.
Tenar involuntarily took a step back at the sight of her. Her blood ran cold.
"What has happened, Nisa? Why did you leave home?" Ten stretched out his hand to his wife.
In reply, Nisa howled and burst out laughing or crying in a hoarse voice, and the sound flashed through the forest in a loud echo. The distant mountains and plains were behind. The dense and clinging grass was tangling Nisa"s slender legs and her body was changing with each passing second, covering with terrible greenish scales.
"Ten, it"s a beast... She lured you to a road that doesn"t have a way back," exclaimed Tenar, with colorless face. "Time to go, brother!"
Without thinking twice, they rushed back, scampering through the thick trees. Now the branches tangled, blocking the way back. Then Ten pulled a hunting knife, cutting the plexus and dragging his frightened sister after him. Ten understood better than anyone, that he and Tenar must come back. Without them, there is no tribe, way, no future. If they die, everything will die. The ground under their feetwhirled, forming deep pits. Tenar rapidly fell in with the sand and wood trash. Ten grabbed her hand, pulling it out onto a hard surface. Her dark blue dress of a winter night color was torn, clinging to trees and branches. Then the ground under his feet suddenly became viscous. A fat mess of gray resembled wet earth, but as Ten knew, it was a paint mingled with water.
"Lyaugr," Ten whispered. "He"s somewhere near. Guyar, the travelling singer told us about him, remember, Tenar?"
The sister grasped his hand tightly, walking close behind him. The forest thinned and colorful meadows were already visible in the distance. Aclear primitive dawn was breaking above the meadows. Tenar realized that they were completely lost. Far away, the giant Mingor rose like an ancient pagan bell tower. The beast furiously stamped his paw and at that moment, a wave ran through the ground. The dry ground of the road cracked under their eyes forming deep clefts. Jumping over the gaps Ten and Tenar were approaching Beasts" meadows. Realizing that the very enchanted land was rushing them towards death. Tenar"sbraids were mussed and her bow and arrows were lost in the woods. The chief"s spear given by the father on the day of the wedding was still gripped in Ten"s free hand.
In a few jumps, the ugly Nisa overtook the refugees and rushed to Ten. But she missed and hit the girl. Ten drew his knife and in the last moment cut off Nisa's right paw. However, he was late. Breathing heavily on the moving grass there was his sister, wounded by the sharp poisoned claws of the witch.
Nisa howled with pain, curled up, and rolled away across the Meadow. Licking his lipsthe Meadowswallowed her blood, flowing from a severed paw.
Bending over his sister, Tencaught sight of a third figure in the distance. The Beast was like an overgrown tree, whose branches resembled human limbs. In one of hispaws,Ten noticed a thin but very long brush. Lyaugr dipped it into the scarlet paint, lifted up and held it in the air, drawing a flame. The grass immediately caught fire, forming a fire ring.
"What do you want from us, Lyaugr?" Ten cried, and at that moment, the Beast froze, smiling maliciously.
"These lands, like everything that surrounds you, don"t belong to you,"Lyaugr said calmly.
"But only people make a land living!"the young chief replied. "You created all the most beautiful things in the world, so why don"t you want to share with others?"
Lyaugr laughed once, hollow.
"And I like you, guy," the beast said. "You are young, but you don"t know yet what it means to lose. However, since you"re here, it means that you"re pretty stupid! And you don"trespect life."
"Then teach me!" Ten asked. "If you can do it yourself!"
"I'm good at it. And I"ll teach you," Lyaugr laughed. "Every stupid thing has its price, young Ten. I will leave you your life and acuteness of your feelings. Inreturn, I will take something valuable," the beast waved his hand and a thin shape of Tenar became covered with a dark shroud. The girl stopped breathing. The fire ring went out. Ten looked at Lyaugr desperately and frightened.
"Are you really going to let him go?" Nisa wheezed fiercely,clutching the severed stump, from which a muddy liquid, like blood, was flowing. "We"ve planned to kill them all!"
"I"m letting him go," Lyaugr answered and began to whistle a tune. "It"s up to me."
"But why?!" Nisa didn"t give up.
"I want to see what will come of it," the Beast said with a twisted smile. "He will return to his people and will sowa fear in their hearts, much bigger than before."
"You should always have fun, Lyaugr, pah,"Mingor sighed in disappointment and disappeared from sight, waving his huge paw.
The meadows of the beast quieted... Ten sobbed bending over Tenar"s body and cursed the day when he doubted her words and didn"t listen to his inner voice. Onlynowherealizedthebitternessofloss.
In the morning, when people didn"t find Ten and Tenar in their homes, the settlement got shaken up. The hunters,who had overslept the night-watch,grabbed their arms and rushed to the woods. The traces leading to an abandoned roadwere found very quickly. The grey-haired father lost his speech and could only point his finger in the direction of the forgotten road.
When the warriors and hunters came to the rescue, Tenar was no longer in the meadows. Ten, dropping his head, was carrying his sister's linen dress covered with a dark veil. Lyaugr took her body as a payment for the life of the young chief.
"Remember forever, whose land is this, chief .." the last words of Lyaugr were in his head.
He will remember, he definitely will remember and will never come to these places again.
5. The Queen of the renewed lands
6.
On the very edge of the Northern Hills of the once-powerful kingdom of Albert,there"s an abandoned meadow. The meadow has grown with grass so much that it has almost disappeared from view and half turned into a quaking bog. Lyaugr, who has grown older in the last centuries, is still in charge on the hill. The Beast writes pictures, but he can no longer create masterpieces without inspiration. On the edge of the hills lives the giant-idler Mingor - occasionally when there"s nothing to do, he creates earthquakes. Nisa, the most ugly and nasty of all the Beasts, has disappeared and since then no one has met her. A few years ago she lost her right paw, and now her jumps were not as fast as before. Ashamed of her inferiority, she left the Beasts and went deep into the forests.
It is rumored that Ten, the young chief of the tribe, buried Nisa"s missing paw deep in the earth, so that the earth itself kept the memory of what had happened and turned history into a legend.
***
"This fool has made for you a grave on the edge of the hill," Lyaugr sat down by the steps of the dilapidated castle.
"No wonder," the grown-up Tenar smiled. "The chief thinks I"m dead. Will you show me where is it? I want to take a look."
"Yes," the master croaked tiredly. "I wanted to show it before, but I was afraid to hurt your soul. Field flowers have already grown on the burial site. I have often tried to paint your grave, leaving a black wasteland in its place. But strangely, none of the shades can paint over the color of lost life and youth. Whowouldhavethought..."
The color of youth proved to be much more stable than any of Beast"s paints. Lyaugr, constantly cursing under his breath, dipped his brush in emerald green paint and passed it along Tenar"s unreal grave - the paint rolled down and flew like pollen on the grass. Lyaugr dipped his brush in a snow-white sunset over the mountains - and again Tenar"s color of youth showed through the thickness of his drawing.
Now Lyaugr told Tenar indignantly and in detail about this case when his talented brush was powerless. Most of all the Beast complained that the grave wasn"t real and it didn"t allow to paint itself.
"Forget it,"Tenar laughed."I"m alive and I"m not afraidto see my own grave. But I appreciate your concern."
"And I appreciate your wisdom, Tenar,"Lyaugr laughed. "I"m glad you decided to stay."
"You know why ..." Tenar whispered with bowed head.
"I know," Lyaugr nodded. "You want me to awaken the king and his family."
"I've looked at them a lot for the past three years," Tenar said softly in excuse, knowing that the master was against her visits to the castle, even though he doesn"t say a word. "And I came to the conclusion that they aren"t a threat to you. The king is old, his children are young and naive. Why not awaken them? The whole universe is on you alone, and this is not an easy burden. The royal dynasty could take a part of it."
"We'll see," the Beast muttered.
"People and beasts can live in peace," Tenar said convincingly. "Before meeting you, I-myself couldn"t believe it. But now - I know for sure! Perhaps, after all these centuries of reflection and emptiness, will you believe me?"
A big tear dripped from Lyaygr"s eyes, and, turning away, he sobbed. Tenar touched his heart over and over again. She was the only creature in the whole world who could reach through the rough hide of the Beast to his not so dark soul.
"Take it,"the beast handed the girl a brush. "I'm not going to wake them. But you can try it yourself. Honestly speaking it is beyonda mortal"s power. However, I give you a chance, I do not want to upset you and say: no. After all, it is important for you to awaken this unlucky family! Of course, you should realize that the brush is absolutely mine. It will not work," Lyaugr glanced at Tenar.
"Thank you," the girl said, accepting the artifact. She has never run so quickly through the Meadow toward the castle. The Meadow scratched his body puzzled in astonishment, not understanding why Lyaugr gave his brush, but didn"t interfere. This master can"t be understood, he"s crazy like a Fox. Gave it away - and all right.So it was necessary and there was a sense. Andall the Beasts became used to the girl for 3 years.
Tenar focused on the life power within herself, the one that she received from Mother Nature since childhood, from forests, mountains, hills and ice fjords. Before her eyes was the sight of wolf"s eyes, who spoke with her with the voices of nature. Brush in the girl's hand was glowing faintly.
The old king was first who opened his eyes. Then his children.
"We are alive," one of the princes whispered quietly.
"And you will revive the kingdom,"the girl said.
The young son of the king took Tenar by the hand and kissed her palm with dry lips.
Lyaugr spat irritatedly under his paws, threw away the paint and never again appeared near the castle where the royal dynastystill lives and where gardens are full of flowers. Only occasionally, from the very heart of the hills, he looked through the eyes of a purple sunset at the young Queen of Albert - Tenar and sighed, smiling. Of course, it was possible to use magic and put the kings to sleep again, but not her, not her, no. Tenar has awakened new colors and new inspiration in Lyaugr"s soul. Thanks to her only - he could draw as previously talented - with new shades and a new brush. Lyaugr entrusted the old brush to the merciful and kind hands of the Queen of the restored lands.