Boris climbed the stairs and looked around. With a gimlet eye he noticed an amazingly shaped shell on a carved little table next to a mirror. His eyes lit up. He triumphantly came up to it, a smile playing on his face. As his fingers lightly touched the shell, his face suddenly fell and his smile faded. But just as quickly it returned, even brighter, and his eyes narrowed cunningly. He shouted:

“Marina! I have spotted a wonderful seashell – up here. How about giving it to me as a gift?”

Hearing these words, Poryvayev grew pale, sprang up to his feet, waved his hands as if trying to prevent her from answering. However, the young girl as if not noticing his odd behavior, said loudly:

“Take it! My pleasure!”

Grisha dashed upstairs. He ran up to the little table where the spindle-shaped shell was lying. He looked at it and muttered:

“Is that it? That exact thing?”

Boris viewed an answer redundant. Grisha took a combat position, put his hands in front of him and started muttering something. Zimin raised his hands above his head as if stretching. He was waiting for a severe magical blow ready to deflect it. However, Poryvayev hesitated and stood still. The demon wanted to attack first, but gave it another thought. They both froze like flies in amber. Kid slowly entered the room.

“I am the warden of this house,” he said calmly. “The house does not want you to feud in it. You are welcome to do so outside. However, inside you suppress your ambitions and live in peace.”

“Then have him give me this thing,” Grisha whispered loudly.

“I will give it to you only if my room is across the hall from Marina’s.” Poryvayev looked pleadingly at Kid.

“Good,” a mysterious force let them go. The warden left the room. Grisha snatched the shell:

“You’re a dope,” he said abruptly to Zimin and raised the shell over his head as if it were a trophy.

“So are you,” Zimin shot back.

Poryvayev suddenly went limp and he slumped to the floor like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Grinning, Zimin looked down at the body then turned away and began to examine the spines of the books.

***

When the angel, his eyes crazy with happiness, returned to the heavenly kingdom, his big brothers immediately paid attention to the demon’s odd behavior. Then they confirmed that that shell was indeed the artifact, something like a cell phone. However, Marina had already used the Spindle of Fate tuning it to her frequency. For this reason, the shell itself was nothing more than a bonny thing, nice looking but, nevertheless, useless. As for the angel, he had to go back right away to find a solution to that problem. Joking, his good-natured big brothers bade him farewell and saw him off back to our world.

***

Poryvayev sat down, palpated his head, found a large bruise at the back, and winced. He didn’t catch up Zimin before he reached the door.

“I thought you would be absent longer,” the demon said and laughed. “I used to think that the Angel’s ire was a metaphor. Now I can see that it exists. Live and learn. Sorry for the platitude.”

“Don’t tempt me; a lot of bans have been dropped,” his voice was resolute and confident. “I am on an important mission.”

“Oh, yeah! Now you understand that the ring doesn’t work, the shell is useless. Take the bull by the horns, to be more exact, take care of Marina,” Boris was whispering, “the Spindle can be operated through her. I will gain her trust. She will become my tool without knowing it.”

“I will not allow you to do it,” the angel replied to him.

“How will you be able to stop me?” the demon broke into a smile. “Will you kill me or what? Perhaps, you will take care of the girl yourself. She is pretty good from the human point of view”.

“Stop it,” Grisha growled. “You know that angels are chaste.”

“Who’s forcing you to sleep with her?” the devil said with a leer. “Just a little fooling around and the girl with the Spindle is yours. To the greater glory of your boss, right?”

“I’ll say it once more: do not tempt me,” Grisha said, stamping his foot for emphasis.

“OK, as you wish, I am gone,” Zimin turned round and walked up to the door. “Time to act. If you don’t want to take part in this merry competition, just step aside and observe. Enjoy watching virtuosos of seduction at work.” He touched the door handle to open it.

The angel tried to stop him:

“Don’t do that!”

“Look and see how to do it!” Boris triumphantly declared opening the double door wide. “Sorry, I made you wait,” he graciously addressed Marina upon returning to the living room.

“Grisha, by any chance is that the shell that I gave to Borya?” Marina was curiously studying the angel’s reddened face.

He had no sooner opened his mouth than the demon interjected:

“My dear, it is indeed. Grisha managed to wheedle it out of me. He told me he collects shells as mementos of his wonderful vacations. I simply couldn’t refuse him. He was so eloquent.” And he glanced scornfully at the angel.

“Uh, yes. That seems about right,” Grisha murmured. And screwing up his courage, Grisha turned to Marina and said:

“Marina, I want to give you a gift. Take this ring, hope you will like it.”

Out of his pocket he pulled a ring with a skull on it; two large rubies were glowing in the eye sockets.

“It is so gothic!” Marina exclaimed and put the ring on her finger. “It matches my dress perfectly, doesn’t it?”

“You are beautiful!” The boys assured her all together.

“I found this attire in my aunt’s closet. Kid said that I look like Isolda a lot.”

“I have a gift for you as well. And it comes straight from the heart,” Zimin said. “Please take this pendant. It will tell you when your guardian angel is close by”.

Demon came up to Marina and in a showy and dramatic fashion, draped a chain with a heart-shaped pendant with little wings around her neck. The pendant glowed warmly.

“Dinner is served!” Kid appeared out of nowhere. “Help yourselves.”

The friends had no sooner enjoyed the dessert than something hummed boomingly downstairs. Kid was gone like the wind. The boys hurled after him, having only time to tell Marina:

“Stay here! Don’t leave!”

However, the girl did not follow this advice. In a couple of minutes, she was going downstairs to the basement. There she saw a rather curious scene.

Boris was shaking his finger at a petite, slim young girl with luxurious black hair and a rather revealing outfit. She was holding her hands up in front of her, as if trying to deflect his words. Her eyes were green and full of a fear that gave way to a complete absence of expression.

“You’d better help me!” Boris exclaimed.

Grisha and Zimin started waving their fingers as if in an attempt to weave the visitor into an invisible cocoon. She was growing more and more frozen. Seeing Marina, the visitor, with a final, desperate effort, cried out:

“Madam Isolda! Help me!!”

And she went almost completely limp. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kid appeared:

“Everything’s all right. No reason to worry,” he gestured and freed the captive off the invisible manacles. Failing to keep balance, the stranger fell down in the middle of a five-pointed star drawn on the floor.

Marina dashed forward to help the night guest on her feet. She felt that the latter needed assistance.

“You know my aunt, so we have to assume that this isn’t the first time you’ve been in this house. But how did you get in? And why are you here?”

“Through the window,” Boris joked. Then he immediately dropped his voice and added, threateningly. “You decided to clean out the house while the mistress was gone. Is that it, you thief?”

“She is neither a burglar nor a thief,” Kid said. “Be respectful. In front of you is Praya, the Priestess of the Circle of Light, the burgomaster of the City of Zueraf from Damramir!”

“Priestess?” Grigoriy’s eyebrows went up.

“Dam-ra-mir?” Marina slowly repeated the strange word in a low voice.

“Burgomaster?” Boris snorted disdainfully; nothing could surprise him.

The priestess was bombarded with questions from all sides. She shook her head, as if trying to finally wake up from a deep sleep and said:

“I can see that, I will have to tell you a bit about myself and why I am here.”

On the way upstairs Marina noticed that their visitor was evading shadows and dark corners. In the living room Marina settled down in an armchair, Grisha sat down on a little sofa, Boris remained standing next to a table, while Kid snuggled by the fireplace and kept adding logs into the fire. Sothern nights are extremely chilly.

Praya walked up to the fireplace:

“May I have a seat here? I feel somehow more comfortable when the fire is near. What shall I start with? I don’t know how to describe my world for you. One day I found a book titled Seven Underground Kings in the library. There was an illustration there depicting a huge cave with a city inside that was lit up with a ball of light. It is very similar; the difference is that our world has no walls. Where the light ends, Darkness and Chaos begin. The world is lit up with not one but a few Lights. I am one of the Priestesses of this Sacred Flame. Madame Isolda taught occultism and potions classes. Lo and behold, one by one, girls of our class started disappearing. We were in despair and decided to seek your aunt’s help…”

Marina, who up until that moment had been calmly listening to the story, stood up and asked crossly:

“Can somebody here explain to me what is going on? How did this young girl get here? What were you doing to her when I got here? How can we understand her if she’s from a different world? Besides Russian, I speak English, but I can understand her without a problem. What is this, a practical joke? If it is, it has failed. Well, which one of you is going to talk?” She looked at each of the young men in turn.

“Perhaps, you?” she jabbed her finger at Praya who drew back reflexively and almost fell into the fireplace. “No, you have said enough.”

“Maybe, you?” she looked at Boris. He shrugged his shoulders and sipped his cocktail. “Nothing to say, huh?”

“Could, you, Grisha, possibly quell my worries?”

“I think it’d be better if I did it,” Kid stood up. He took a deep breath and started talking. “I shouldn’t do it, but I have no choice. Your aunt Isolda is a witch. So is your mother. The only difference is that the first one is dark while the second one is light. An incredible future was foretold for you. Hence, you father decided to protect you against magic of any order. However, there is no escaping your fate. So, here you you are.”

“My mom? What are you talking about? My aunt is a witch? It’s nothing but words, you have no proof, she is not here. Where is your evidence?” Marina’s voice rose to a shriek.

“I am a vampire and werewolf, a half-blood, a wild hybrid. I’ll give you proof, just don’t be scared.” What used to be Kid fell down on the floor. What rose up in its place was a creature with a vicious maw filled with razor-sharp teeth that seemed to be ready to break out and devour the visitors. A gigantic dog wearing a leather collar with glittering studs all of a sudden sat up on its hind legs. Looking into Marina’s eyes, the dog asked her:

“Is that enough? Are you convinced now?”

It was Marina’s turn now to sit down in shock. Grisha took her hand and patted it. She murmured:

“I think I’ve had too much to drink. A talking dog, just imagine that.” Her eyes closed, her body sank limply into the soft embrace of the pillows.

“What vigor!” Boris whispered admiringly. “Three people could not make her sleep! Unbelievable!”

“As a matter of fact, I had a hand in this, too,” the priestess declared.

“What a mess!” Grisha was as nonplussed as his friends were.

“Things will look better in the morning. It’s time to go to bed. Let me show you to your rooms.” Kid was trying to make everybody understand that the party was over.

Marina heard nothing. She was sound asleep.

***

Marina was dreaming. First, the talking dog offered her a cocktail, and then it pushed her off the pier into the sea. Marina turned in a mermaid and swam down into the depths. There, in front of her the spindle-shaped shell appeared, giving off an iridescent glow.

“Hello, Marina! I am the Spindle of Fate.” A sense of serenity enveloped her and she began to listen intently. “The Supreme Being created me to guide the lives of all people. When he left me, he lost control over me. And those in Hell made good use of the opportunity. They limited my influence on people, allegedly in order to ensure their free will. The angels want to give control over people back to God. I believe that everything should be left as it is now. I have decided to go over to mortals. Kid didn’t lie: you were prophesied to become the second after the Creator. However, this will happen only if you agree to accept me. I have chosen you on purpose. There is the ideal balance of forces in you.”

“Why? Tell me, I don’t understand,” Marina wanted to find out more.

““A long time ago, an electrician, a total stranger, was passing by the ward in the maternity hospital where your mother was waiting to give birth to you. Stopping next to your father, the electrician told him:

“Your daughter will hold the fate of the whole world in her hands. She will become the second after God. People’s lives will depend on her.”

“The prophecy,” Marina mused, as if she had witnessed the scene as a bystander and not as a participant.

“Yes. Your father was scared. He knew that your mother was a Light sorceress. He decided to save you from Fate. He forbade your mother to see you. He told you that she died giving birth, but she is alive. Your father unknowingly made the prophecy real. If you became a sorceress I would not have come to you.”

“Wait, I don’t understand. Are you a male or female?”

“I am not an object; I am Power. Power cannot have gender. You may call me as you wish. With my aid you will be able to understand people, know everything about the past, foresee the future a bit, and change the present. You have already become susceptible to magic. You have felt the heart of this house, you have witnessed the battle of illusions between your companions, you have learned to understand the languages of others. However, beware, try not to meddle with people’s fates too often. It is very difficult for a human. As time passes it will become easier, and then you will occupy your position.”

“How shall I call you?”

“Vas!”

“Vas… If I call for you, will you come?”

“I am always with you. You don’t have to call for me. I am part of you. For now, go. Wake up!”

***

“Good morning. It’s time to get up!”

“May I linger for a bit longer?” Boris was murmuring when suddenly his sleepiness vanished, as if by magic. He propped himself up on one elbow and angrily asked Grisha: “How did you get in here?”

“I came through the wall,” the young man answered nonchalantly continuing his attentive examination of the dragon tattooed on Boris’ right shoulder.

“Don’t you dare try to sic him on me,” Grisha said pointing at the dragon with his finger, “or I’ll torch him. By the way, you haven’t ever thought of turning your face to the Light, have you?”

Zimin wasn’t taken aback by this abrupt change of topic. He whined:

“I’m not even fully awake yet. I am not ready for edifying talks!”

“You must always be ready for edifying talks since life could end suddenly and unexpectedly.”

“What the hell are you doing here anyway?” Zimin gave him a sullen look.

“Do you know where Marina is?” Grisha asked vacantly.

“In her room. No, wait. She is out of town. She, she is not in this dimension. My pendant… I can’t feel it,” he sounded worried.

“So, the chica is not that simple. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” Grisha grinned.

“You hypocrite. The little ring has its own secret as well. Wait. Marina is here, let’s go.” Borya leapt off the bed, clapped his hands and was suddenly dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, though instead of a neck chain, he now wore a bracelet. He headed resolutely for the door pushing Grisha aside.

“I have made a decision to go to Damramir,” Marina informed the young men authoritatively.

“Good for you. I will help you pack and get the portal ready.” Kid was acting like a first class butler, receiving the information phlegmatically.

“Marina, tell me,” the angel hesitated, “where have you been?”

“What a strange question, Grisha!” Marina frowned and then smiled. “I was asleep.”

“Yes, girls do sleep sometimes,” Zimin said slowly; the sarcasm was clearly evident in his words. “I would have had enough sleep too had it not been for someone who shall remain nameless.”

“I was sleeping,” Marina went on failing to notice the demon’s remark, “and dreamt that I could help Praya.”

“That’s wonderful but I doubt that she is anxious to get your help,” the little vampire said. He was about to leave but turned around at the door. “Last night she tried to go back to her world through the portal. I didn’t let her go and persuaded her to sleep on it. She must really be afraid of something since she, as exhausted as she was, was determined to make a leap through the portal.”

“Yes, I am frightened,” Praya said appearing in the doorway. “I am afraid of these thousands of cold eyes looking at me from all directions of your strange world. The hungry eyes of Chaos.”

“You are probably, referring to the stars,” Borya guessed and immediately started to put on airs, “My dear, there is no reason to be afraid. Just look: our world is beautiful. Go out on the balcony to enjoy this beautiful view. Of course, the view cannot compare to your beauty!”

He offered his arm to the priestess and led her out onto the balcony. The breeze and morning freshness gave Praya goose bumps; sunrays caused her freckles. She shivered slightly and sneezed:

“Boris, you keep forgetting that I am not barbarian. I have been here before. You don’t have to try to impress me by acting the part of a gallant gentleman. Your manners are impeccable. I am already spoken for and I will be faithful to my chosen one. Yes, we live a lonely life in solitude. Dwellers of other dimensions are very rare visitors. We are not cave-dwellers. We live by our own rules. However, now we need help but not teasing or light flirting.”

“Oh-ho!” That was the only thing the demon could have out.

“What a rebuff! This is our style,” Poryvayev was fascinated and thought to himself: “It’s not going to stop him, though; it’ll just encourage him.”

Marina thought indignantly:

“Why is he trying so hard? Why, just yesterday he was practically pledging his undying love for me, and now… He is acting rather strangely. In fact, everything about this whole situation is rather weird. Aloud she said as calmly as possible: “Borya, I seem to recall that in Praya’s world, there is no sun. She might get sunburned.”

“Oh, no! I will save you, lovely priestess! Let’s go, I will concoct a sunscreen cream. I know a wonderful ancient recipe,” he led Praya into the house. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you.”

When Poryvayev and Marina were alone, she looked at the young man, her eyes narrowed, and slyly asked:

“Tell me, Grisha… this ring you gave me yesterday… Where did you get it? Did you buy it at a flea market?”

Poryvayev responded angrily:

“At a flea market? This is not some little trinket. It can tip you off about the presence of evil nearby. The skull’s eye sockets will start glowing.”

“Why are they glowing now? Is there a demon somewhere around? No! That scares me!” Marina started shivering.

“No, hold on… It must be the little vampire, you know, the guardian.”

“Look, the pendant is glowing as well. Borya said that it reacts this way in the presence of heavenly beings. Could there be an angel around? How interesting!!!” Her fear had suddenly been replaced by curiosity.

“Hm, maybe that’s your guardian angel? Or maybe that’s Praya. After all, she is human and there is a particle of God in her.” Grisha had no desire whatsoever to confess.

“She is gone, but the glow remains, and it’s even brighter,” Marina persisted.

“Well,” Grisha said resolutely, “sooner or later you must be told the truth. I am an angel.”

“You?! You can’t be. I don’t believe you.” Marina didn’t expect this.

“Look into my eyes,” the young man said quietly.

Marina did as she was told and saw Potyvayev’s eyes change color, his whole body was filled with a light from within, his hair grew longer and started fluttering as if in a breeze. Two enormous snow white wings unfurled from his shoulders. Grisha’s entire frame was glowing with an ethereal light; he radiated a divine grace. The pendant was throbbing with a pristine light.

“It is not fair!” The demon shouted from the doorway. “You took advantage of my absence to…”

“To do what?” Marina asked. Grisha was quickly transformed back into an ordinary young man. He eyed Zimin with a certain curiosity and ran his fingers through his hair.

“To gain attention, Marina, your attention. By now you have, of course, realized that we are not ordinary people. We are messengers. We both have been dispatched to help you. We will be accompanying you wherever you go.”

“It is so bizarre, but mostly pleasant. Thank you, guys.” Marina was touched.

“Our pleasure,” the demon bowed ceremonially.

“You can count on us,” the angel echoed.

Kid appeared in the doorway and announced that everything was ready for departure. Zimin and Poryvayev went down to the basement. Marina was about to follow them but the guardian stopped her:

“I know where you are going and I hope you will find this gift useful,” the guardian said, offering Marina a golden cigarette lighter.

“But I don’t smoke!” she exclaimed.

“It will help you in the most unexpected moment. Take it,” Marina relented and took the proffered lighter.

A few minutes later, the young girl joined Zimin and Poryvayev waiting for her in the center of the pentagram. She stood between them facing the priestess.

“You are in the army now, oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now*”, Boris sang jokingly, “Darling, this is your first interworld trip, isn’t it? Here, you’d better take my hand.”

“Is it necessary?” Praya was nervous and tense and didn’t know what to do with her hands.

“A vacation in a foreign land*, let’s all join hands, friends,” Poryvayev chanted playing along with Zimin. The girls had no choice but to obey.

“Step back! The doors are closing! Train leaving for Damramir!” Kid chimed in, just as playfully as the travelers.

Marina wasn’t at all nervous; she realized that her friends were trying to shift her attention away from the upcoming transition. She was grateful and, playing along, said:

“Let’s go. The sergeant calls “Stand up and fight!“*”

***

She wanted to examine everything very carefully. What will the transition between the worlds be like? However, when the world beyond the circle blurred, speechless delight overwhelmed her, made her clench her hands, and groan. Her knees buckled and she would have fallen, but her admirers caught her and kept her standing. The weakness Marina felt lasted just a minute and then she pulled herself together and calmed down.

They looked around and found themselves surrounded by small houses that, thanks to the bamboo poles used to construct them, looked as if they were made of matchsticks. Looming over this cheerless landscape was an openwork tower belching flames into a sky roiled by black clouds.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «Литрес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на Литрес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

<1 2 3 >

На страницу:

Перейти

2 из 3