Most of the mushers were still hovering in the air, trying to pick up lone rok'hee who had not yet had time to join the rest, but quickly abandoned this futile activity, preferring to treat dogheads with new bombs. The savages routinely scattered, snarling with steel rain from bridges and branches. Everyone froze in anticipation that the enemy was about to make a new attempt to attack from a swoop, but the last bomb drivers spent on what else could be burned, and drove their pets away - to lick their wounds.Behind them they left columns of black smoke and an explosion of screams, where hatred mixed with jubilation.The defenders, wasting no time, set off to help the defenders of the Heart-House, but already at the foot of the main roar, everyone stopped dead in their tracks to look at the wounded bosorka, which was the only one to get out of the battle. She had about half a dozen arrows sticking out of her chest, and the horseman beat her with a whip and drove spurs into her bleeding

By the time he dug up the grave, it was well after midnight.His hands were trembling, and his back ached from the unbearable load. But he still had to drag everyone into the pit and cover the dead with earth ...Cres groped for a stump in the darkness and tried to sit up, no longer expecting to get up, let alone continue the overwork, which, nevertheless, he undertook to do in order to do at least something. But he was brazenly pulled out of his thoughts by a sharp gust of wind - the forest spoke, grumbled and moved. It seemed to Kres that even the earth was in motion. Many different rustles, chuckles and whispers reached his ears. He was surprised, but many of them walked from under his feet.- ... so ... so ... so, - the earth rattled, pulsated. Cres stood up and listened, inwardly growing cold and shrinking into a trembling ball from indistinguishable sounds. “…yaso…yaso…yaso…meat…meat…”He squeezed out some kind of doomed, plaintive groan, as if he were a lamb, on the trail of wh

- Hey, crrrala!Vikta opened her eyes and saw a dozen freaks in front of her. The nightmare continued.She screamed, her talent ignited by itself, ready to burn and break and…- No! No, stop! the freaks shouted, raising their paws up.Still a little bit and two or three freaks would definitely be safely removed from the clearing in the form of a screeching heap of ash. Oh, if her hand trembled...“Why didn’t you just say you were abel?! squealed one of the freaks in a thin, displeased voice. - It's not good! At first you pretend to be a stupid sheep and pleasantly bleed, and then you kill our comrades for nothing, for nothing. That's not how things are done!Vikta trembled all over at the thought that she had simply fallen asleep in this accursed forest. And they crowded around and could do with her everything that was necessary in their ugly, small heads. And nitsiri would simply sleep through her own death.Don't care... don't care at all, was her thought before she fell into a drea

She felt the heat already on the approach, when the lake was still hidden by snow-covered trees. The freaks met her at the moment when the water surface shone among the trunks.“Is this a lake, krrralya?”“Yes,” Vikta nodded, carefully peering into the clouds of steam rising above the lake. She never could have thought that the mountains could hide such a wonderful whim of nature - a hot lake hidden by snow. At first glance - the very embodiment of tranquility. Until you look on the other side of the canvas.Here she is again. And she will have to go down those steps again and do what seemed to her vile and impossible.All for you, my brother.- Well, let's go! - said the freak and threatened with a long claw. “Just don’t bother and don’t even think about running away."I'm fast," was all Nitsiri could stammer. Something, but she was definitely not going to linger there. Or rather, I hoped so.“The meat is juicy, isn’t it?” Young and juicy, huh?Vita didn't answer. After all, she didn

Just before the last push, it suddenly seemed to her that something was blocking the light from outside. She turned around, already expecting the worst. But no, the inflamed imagination again decided to play with her - the stars and the moon continued to flood the mountains with their pale radiance, and there was not a soul around.With the last effort, she still managed to pull the corpse to the surface - her relief knew no bounds, she even almost rushed to kiss the pale, pointed face with sunken cheeks. Instead, the nitsiri scurried to the door and slammed shut the entrance to that damned cave. Her ears could hear the echo repeating and repeating the same word, but her mind was far away.The door closed and the screaming stopped.Finally, Vikta could completely surrender to her fatigue - she leaned against the door and slid down, hitting her ass painfully. She hadn't been this tired in a long time. Or rather, never.I didn't want to go anywhere. She wanted to just sit, grow her whol