Collection of mysticism. + author’s biography including essays about books

We stood pressed against the door in the hope that the door would open. And so our expectations were met, the door opened, and we found ourselves in another room, it was like a guest room. Clean and barely light, the black sun that shone through the windows created the lighting. This light was catching up with an icy fear. Natalia and I were standing with our backs pressed against each other and holding hands.

– What a love! I shuddered at the sound of that vile voice. It is the worst thing I have ever heard in my life. – The prey came by itself! I did not have to wait long. And I didn’t have to work! Your skulls will be a gorgeous attribute for my palace in the Halls. First, you will serve me. With these words, he snapped two fingers, and we found ourselves in the ice palace, the very one in which the ball was held. Natasha curiously began to examine the walls of the palace. It seemed to me that she was not even scared. I was afraid to let go of her hand, it seemed to me that as soon as I let go of it, I would immediately lose it.

The palace was just as icy. Like that day. It was empty, and this emptiness was terrifying. I remembered myself looking at this ball through a crowd of ghosts, and then I was not as scared as I am now. Now I was standing in the center of the hall, as the main character. – Well, at least someone would show up. I said in a barely audible voice. I was afraid to even breathe. I began to understand what my friend was going through at that moment. My beloved was silent; her eyes were dull and sad. I did not know how to help her.

– Lets run away from here. I did not expect to hear this from her.

– How?

– I do not know how. But our stay here is pointless. If we do not find him, then accordingly we may not return.

– It makes sense. What are the options for escape?

– First let us go to the exit, and then we will see.

We headed for the exit, and nothing prevented us. We went down the steps. We headed in the direction I remembered.

– That is weird. I remember for sure that our grandmother said that Mara Marena spends the summer in her halls, and in winter comes into her own and rules where she wants. Why is there no one here?

– I am interested in another question. I have a suspicion that now is not the time and perhaps there is no ice bridge to cross to the other side. If there is not one. We will stay here until either winter or forever. These words horrified my interlocutor. She was weaker than her brother was. Or her brother was so in love with this goddess that he was ready for anything. While I was thinking about this topic, we actually reached the place where the bridge should have been, but it was not there. White silence surrounded us. And we realized that we were trapped.

– What now? I said faintly.

– Let’s go back to the palace. Let us wait for further developments. Someone, but has to show up, or I will call them myself. I liked her determination, and I was proud of my companion.

Мы вернулись во дворец, но там уже было все не так, когда мы покинули его. Был накрыт обед, а ее брат подавал на стол. Я не мог разглядеть чем питаются боги, посуда была слишком старомодная, но это было что-то необычное. Само то, что он здесь, решило все наши проблемы. Наташа оживилась и хотела пройти в зал. Я остановил ее, еле удержав.

– It is crazy to go to them during lunch. Let us wait.

– What? They will then disappear.

– Do you think they do not know we are here? We still have everything ahead of us. This will be known when we get out of here.

– «You’re right. With bitterness in her voice, she said. Let us watch. Vladimir did not leave the table, and served with such joy that his sister was not clever. —I did not know he was really so obsessed with this kingdom. He wrote to me in messages that he was bewitched by this goddess, but not enough to settle here and serve her. I didn’t lafe his words seriously.

– Yes, I did not expect it either. He took your grandmother’s place.

– Maybe we came here for nothing. I do not think I can get him out of here.

– Let’s at least just talk, and he should help us get out. Natasha silently agreed.

We were waiting for the end of dinner, but as soon as it was over, they disappeared, along with the table and all the contents.

– How is this possible? We waited in vain. As soon as we said that, we found ourselves in another room. It was a guest room where everything was ready for the arrival of guests. Sofa, piano, table and drinks. Only we were not the guests, we were made into servants, and we had to serve and clean up the glasses we had drunk. For the slightest mistake, we could be severely punished, we had every chance not to return back, or we could simply serve as an ice decoration of this castle. We came to take revenge, but it turned out that we were the object of revenge. Our only hope was her brother.

Mara Marena herself was not in the spirit, and she was terribly angry about little things. Perhaps it was due to the time of year. Koshchei had all the powers. He was in charge of everything; Mara was not interested in that. Her beauty remained unchanged. She was still beautiful, and a little sad. Koschei was having fun in full; he mocked uninvited guests, and guests who were once captured. It seemed to him that there were not enough of us, and he invited two more ghosts for fun. As soon as they arrived, they immediately started playing the piano. Natasha tried to catch her brother’s eye, but he made it clear that she would not do it again. I was reassured by this gesture, and I was waiting for action from him.

We stood aside with a tray in our hands, not daring to put it on the next table. – I am tired. Not daring to say that I was too, I did not know how to help Natalia. I made a decisive gesture, and putting down my tray, I took her tray in my hands.

– What a decisive gesture. That’s what love means. With these words, my beloved turned into an ice statue. I did not have time to come to my senses as all this happened. Koschei said all this in such an icy and nasty tone, goosebumps ran through me, and I did not know how to save her. I approached her with a tray and tried to examine her face. She was covered in ice, but I could feel her breathing, see the life in her eyes.

Let her go. Take me; send her home, I will stay here instead of her.

– A good offer. I like it. Let us see what you mean to her. With these words, I found myself in her place with a tray in my hands. Natasha took on the same image as if nothing had happened. She came up to me with her eyes full of horror. I was wondering if she had heard the last words or not. Now I myself was covered with ice, I was terribly cold, the ice burned my skin and it seemed to me that I could not hear anything, but no, I clearly heard every word.

– Let him go. I came here for my brother; he has nothing to do here.

– That is right. But, he will stay here. If you do not need him, let him serve me. You should not have come here.

These words hurt me so much that I could not stand it and started crying. Tears instantly melted the ice that covered me, and I found myself upstairs in my apartment. I didn’t have time to understand how all this happened, why was I here alone? I leaned back on the sofa and began to remember everything that happened again, closing my eyes. I instantly fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later with renewed vigor. I remembered all the details that were connected with this incomprehensible story; I remembered how my friend’s tears more than once helped him out in the kingdom of darkness. Now that I had a weapon, I decided at all costs to return my beloved here to the world of the living.

We stayed in the Navi world for exactly a day. It was exactly six hours until midnight and I had time to clean up and get to my destination. My car stayed there at the city cemetery, I took a shower, drank coffee and a sandwich, called a taxi and left.

I walked so fast that I went far from the right grave. Noticing this, I began to return and did not notice how I plunged into the fog. This fog filled me with wild horror, the thought flashed through my head that I might suffer the same fate as my friend. His last agony began just like that, with the fog in the cemetery. I remember all the details that he managed to tell us. I slowed down and stopped, I did not see any point in going any further, as the fog was not dissipating. There was still time before midnight and I decided to wait. I was shaking all over with fear, although I knew that I still had everything ahead of me.

The thoughts in my head would not let me rest. How is my Natasha? And where is she now? How and where will I look for her? I was getting more and more scared. In addition, I decided to go towards the exit. The fog was not that thick, and by all indications, it was just a weather condition. To make sure of this, I decided to go out on the driveway and see what was happening there. The fog was everywhere, I felt calm. I quickly ran to the grave that connected us with the other world and found myself at the cliff on the other side of which the ice palace was clearly visible. Seeing this, I sat down in unconsciousness. Well, how so? What should I do? I squatted down and tears choked me, knowing that they would only make my situation worse. I realized that I could not get there like this; it was to wait until winter. I did not have that much time, and I was desperate.

– Yes, it is not easy for you. Looking back, I saw a flying package. I was so happy to think that my problem was solved. That this package will solve all my problems. – Help me.

– What?

– Help me get there.

– You want me to solve your problems, so that I would have problems later.

– Sorry, but no. I know your problem. It is not solvable. Almost not solvable. But I can’t help you.

– And who can?

– If only the gods themselves decide to do it. Then they will take you to their place, or give you a hint how to get there. I will not be able to take my head off later if I help you. Although I do not have it anyway. The ghost smiled maliciously and flew away.

I was alone again. My hopes were not fulfilled, and I did not know what to do. Friend, help me out, I thought to myself. I sighed heavily and walked to the edge of the cliff. I looked down and thought what could be there if I was already underground. My foot accidentally slipped and I fell into the abyss. I fell with such fear, and with the same fear, I found myself in the palace. I wanted to take Natasha away from here as soon as possible and run away with her and her children to warmer climes, as Viktor and Sergey did. I already knew what to do, as soon as I found her, I would shed tears and we would end up with her in my apartment. I will tell her everything, about my feelings, about my intentions, that that apartment is not mine and I love her. While I was thinking about it, the winter palace became summer, and I found myself in the thicket of the forest. This was not part of my plans, and I was a little confused. – Ah, these traps, I thought and began to look around. These wilds annoyed me, I did not really want to walk through them, but I got up and went ahead, there was not even a path here, and everything else was accompanied by fog. Having studied Mara as a weather condition, I realized that the fog is she, and she accompanies me. I wanted to know why.

– Will you find out soon? I heard an unpleasant female voice, just as unpleasant as her husband’s did. A shiver ran through my body, and I waited for my fate. I also, like Natalia, did not want to die like this, where no one would know where I was and what was wrong with me. Remembering the fate of my friend, I well-remembered that my friend was guided by feelings and an insane interest in this world. But unlike me, he wanted to stay here, and I didn’t. I did not want to stay here, and I did not have such fanaticism for these Slavic gods I did not believe in their existence until I encountered them in person. I was standing there thinking about it, and she appeared in front of me. It was a beautiful woman in a black guise. One face was visible. Her black eyes looked at me questioningly. —Why did you come here?

– To save his woman. I answered without hesitation. She grinned, and said nothing in response.

– You will have to work hard. Maybe you will get it. These words instilled fear in me, and I did not freely agree, looking at her, I had to agree with her in order to get my own. She looked at me from high up and disappeared, as suddenly as she appeared. I was left alone among these thickets, and waited for my fate.

The fog disappeared. There were not clear outlines of trees around me. It seemed to me that this forest was painted. I began to look around and fell into a green tunnel, I immediately recognized him, and this tunnel was all covered with moss. I was groping in the hope of getting out of it as soon as possible, finally it ended, I went out and two steps away from me was the entrance to the ice tunnel, I realized that I needed to enter it and I entered. He ice tunnel turned out to be slippery, I fell twice, and when the descent began, I sat down and drove like an ice slide. This adventure ended and when I went outside I looked at the black sun, it shone so dimly that I wanted to howl looking at it. I was standing on an icy plain, all alone, however, as always. The only thing I was thinking about right now was she, how she was there. This plain reminded me of a desert, only icy. I had no choice but to wait for the next appearance of the goddess of these halls. I did not feel cold, although I was dressed in summer. My jeans got wet when I went down the icy descent, and created an unpleasant feeling.

The blizzard rose suddenly, and she appeared in front of me again, this time in a white guise with bright blue eyes. She was so beautiful that I forgot about everything and almost touched her. But at the right moment, I remembered the most important mistake of my friend, and abruptly lowered my hand. At that moment, I was able to understand what he experienced at that moment; I am practically experiencing what he experienced.

– Are you ready? Come with me. I took a step towards her. She disappeared into thin air and turned into a blizzard. She immediately picked me up, and I flew with her. At that moment, I realized what I would have to go through, the same as my late friend. We were in the palace. I saw Natasha. She was wearing a black long dress and a black scarf on her head. She looked at me with sad tear-stained eyes and did not say a word. I wanted to go to her, but I could not. An invisible force threw me away, and I heard an evil laugh.

– It is not that simple!

I got to my feet and saw Natasha walking towards the exit of the palace, followed by the souls of the deceased. She became a servant for the ghosts.

– Do you want to save her?

– I want to.

– You were stronger than your late friend was. Go after them. I followed the ghosts and Natasha, hoping to cross paths with her and say a word. No matter how hard I tried to approach her, I could not do anything.

– She is not allowed to talk to you. The spirit whispered softly. If this gets out, she will stay here forever. I shuddered. The spirit flew away from me with lightning speed, and no longer flew up. I accepted what was happening and waited for the right moment. I just needed to get close to her in order to leave these limits and never come back here. Occasionally, she would turn around to look at me. But she didn’t look into my eyes anymore, and her looks were so fleeting, and her eyes were full of sadness. I wanted to hug her so much that I could barely restrain myself.

We have finally arrived. – Where are we? I whispered softly.

– This is the infield of the palace. This is a place for insignificant people like us. We live here.

– And what should we do?

– You are nothing. In addition, your friend will help us clean up the territory for the winter. Everything should be clean here. This garden is especially beautiful in winter. It is always snowing here. These are ice palaces. In the garden, there was not significant garbage, brushwood from a burnt fire, some sawdust, branches from a Christmas tree. Perhaps it was garbage from some holiday, or a ritual not long ago, but I also understood that all this was removed at the click of two fingers, and now it was actually a service, or, more simply, humiliation for such uninvited guests like us.

I sighed heavily, and wanted to join the cleaning, but one of the ghosts stopped me, saying that she would separate us, and we would not see each other again. I sighed even harder. What should I do? I thought. There must be some way out. Yes, it was much easier last time.

– Last time, you were not so in love. I looked around, I recognized that ghost by his eyes when I fell into the abyss. – Love works wonders.

– Tell me, what should I do?

– I would like to, but I cannot. The punishment is too severe. The spirit circled over me and disappeared.

– It looks like everyone here is mocking me. I got angry and knocked over a decrepit wooden table on which there were wooden dishes. One of the cups flew off, a small part of the remaining contents poured out on Natasha, and she suddenly disappeared. I was dumbfounded, and my legs gave way. She disappeared, of course. Suddenly someone took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I realized it was she. Warmth ran through my body, and I instantly found peace.

– Go ahead. She said softly. I began to leave unnoticeably. With joy, I listened to her in everything, forgetting about the consequences, and the little things that needed to be thought through. My unexpected joy failed me. We have come to the precipice where we have all gotten into so much trouble. In addition, I completely forgot that the effect of this drink ends quickly, and Natasha became visible. I was confused, took her hand.

– I will not let you go.

– I am not leaving without my brother. He can be saved.

– How?

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