In a small tree grove, David slumped in the dark among the tree branches. The needles that pricked his body pulled him out from the depths of his dreams. When he opened his eyes, there were sweet-smelling branches woven over his face. Sunlight was filtering in through the gaps. He looked at her, not knowing where she was. Most of the branches fell as he stood up in surprise, but some casually hung from his shoulders or even his head, making it look like a tree. The memories came back quickly. Abigial had lost him in the fog. Out of breath, he frantically emerged among the piles of tree branches. Holding his breath, he looked around carefully. Nothing moved. The morning was cold and still. He took a deep, calming breath. The small evergreen woods that surrounded him were the first refuge he had found last night. It was sparse enough to offer little protection from the eyes that followed him when he stood up. He ripped branches off him head and shoulders, pushing the rest of her thorny
The man opened one eye and stared at David's hiding place. “You and your friend can sit down and have a snack.” David hesitated, then stood up slowly, clutching his knife tightly. “Are you going to invite him in, or are you planning to eat the whole rabbit yourself?” said the manDavid raised his voice. "Ewin! No problem!" He stretched out his hand and added in a more normal tone: “My name is David and my friend's is Ewin.” He paused before the man said his name. “My name is Akjan. I come from the North, from beyond Mount Elbrus.” Ewin cautiously emerged on his horse.He tied the mare's reins to one of the smaller branches of the oak, and David introduced her to Akjan. “It is surprising to see one of the Abzka people this far south,” Ewin said. " Mine. It's amazing to see some of the Kutsk people in it this far north,” he said, looking at David as he said this. “And encountering a false witch,” the man was still quite kind. David's eyes were constantly on the rabbit in the fire. When
Yelis was shaken and opened his eyes. A dark, pale light faded slightly. He didn't move anything except his eyes, barely breathing. A coarse woolen blanket covered him up to his shoulders, and his head was in his arms. He could feel the smooth wooden planks under his hands. The deck gnashed like the teeth of a monster that wanted to eat him. He took a long breath. The wind was blowing strong, inflating the sails of the raft like a balloon. The raft was moving silently through the dark waters. “There is no rock to be afraid of, there are many shallow areas where the raft can land,” said the captain. However, they did not approach the shore for days, neither during the day nor at night. Sometimes the wind blew from the opposite direction. They traveled for two days, bouncing with every jolt of the raft. At the end of the second day, the impact of the attack on the ruined city and forest began to wane. The captain spoke to them about the dangers of stepping on land in the dark and of run
The next day, Captain, Psefit and Erendiz were chatting among themselves. Erendiz was telling Psefit about the mischief he did in Karagöl. The captain looked at him slyly. "You're already thinking of home, young man, and are you new to the world? What will you find when you get home?" Erendiz was startled. How long had it been since he thought about his house and Karagöl? What about his mother? Days passed. It felt like months to Erendiz. "I will go home one day, I don't know when I can do it. But I will return home. Then I'll find my mother there, we'll forget that all this even existed” Psefit “Isn't this all for going home? Real and” Erendiz, with a visible effort, moved away from looking up the river after the disappearing rocks. “What? Ah. Yes, of course. We'll go home. Of course. To the real home…” As Erendiz turned to go, Psefit heard him mutter softly.During the four days of their journey down the river, Erendiz found himself sitting on the blunt end atop the mast, his legs wr
Abigial's horse walked calmly under the weak sun. Uras and Mextumsila were riding right in front of him. He had had little real conversation with her since the next morning, when he found Mextumsila and Uras on the banks of his river. Of course it was talked about, but as far as Abigila saw, it was nothing major. She did not trust Mextumsila and wanted to find David and Yelis, certain that they were alive. Otherwise, Mextumsila wouldn't still be looking for them. She had to keep good relations with Mextumsila unless she had to. The cursed woman said nothing to her! Finding them hadn't even opened his mouth to her people."As I told you," Mextumsila replied, not bothering to turn to look at her, "I would have known if we had gotten closer to them." Abigial had repeatedly asked her if there was a sign. Mextumsila also felt Abigial's gaze on her back. "Will you really know when you get close to them?"“I can know”“What if Yelis is already dead”“I know you are not dead, Girl, Erendiz a
When Akjan finished his story, Ewin's horse suddenly neighed in fear and began to jerk to free his reins. David stood up slightly as shapes appeared around them in the darkening forest. The horse reared and twisted, screaming.“Silence the horse,” Akjan said. "They didn't come for him, they won't hurt him, they won't hurt you either." Ewin held up his wand, Akjan said, "It won't be necessary." As if the humans were not there, the horses walked towards the fire and lay down among the humans. In the darkness among the trees, the light of the fire reflected from the eyes of more wolves on all sides. As Ewin raised his wand, Akjan said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, they're friends," Ewin said that the four wolves were looking at him. He lowered his staff. He slowly sat down. David followed suit. The horse had stopped yelling and rearing. Instead, he stood trembling and fidgeting to keep all the wolves in sight, occasionally kicking to show the wolves. The wolves waited comfortably,
According to an ancient legend, Tonka, the holy magician of the Kutsk people, one of the Ice peoples, has been ostracized by her people with her strange movements and spells since she became a magician. One day, he presents a Vora to Igan, one of the two warriors of the Qazaktar people, who came to visit the people of Kutsk. After that day, Igan's life changes. Igan suspects that Tonka is casting a spell on him and decides to kill Tonka to get rid of it. He ends himself while trying to kill Tonka. Tonka, who wants to save Igan, casts a forbidden spell and cannot turn it back. Changing the balance of nature, Tonka will cause the disaster of all the Ice people. Min and Tin, who were sent to earth to punish Tonka, fail to do so and are condemned to live on earth. After that day, Tonka was never seen again. The remnants of the ice people are condemned to a cursed life.As time passed, these ancient stories were spread by word of mouth by the Ice peoples who still live. This day becomes kn
The air here was always freezing to the bone; but today was colder than usual. Although the people of Kutsk resisted, this weather was more than they could bear. They had known for a long time that strange things were happening. But in their tents, they could do nothing but wrap themselves in their furs. After a while, the earth began to shake. A dazzling blue beam of light appeared in the sky. Beams of blue light were seeping through the doors of the Kutsk people's tents and gleaming the speck of ice suspended in the air, as if it had blinded them. How long the light shone no one knew. The whole world seemed frozen as the light descended into the sky. A second, a minute, or a century.Time passed and the light disappeared in the same way as it suddenly appeared in the sky.Tonka swirled around her tent, surrounded by the skulls of all kinds of creatures. The aging walls of the tent were soiled with black spots in places. Limbs of dead bodies hung from the ceiling: a human finger, a