Siberian Light Mages: Chupacabra died on the Oka River (Story two). 18+

They live, rarely communicating with anyone. It is understandable – it is scary here. Sometimes rumors circulated among the villagers about strange little animals – with a fox’s face and a dinosaur’s body. Like Pushkin’s lines from «Lukomorye»: «There, on unknown paths, are traces of unseen animals. There is a hut on chicken legs without windows, without doors.» Enerik, having barely heard the news, immediately understood – they were talking about werewolves.It soon became clear that stories do not come out of thin air. In the spring, while digging up the garden, he noticed a strange creature near the compost pit. He thought that the dog was digging up old seeds, but he threw a stone, and the creature ran away. It whined resentfully, jumping on its powerful hind legs. Its body was like that of a lizard, but covered in long, black fur. On its fingers were curved claws of such a size that they could rip open the belly of a cow or a horse. A forked tongue flashes between its sharp, long teeth.

The man looked fearlessly into the werewolf’s eyes and was amazed – HUMAN! Well, well. «Now a dozen of them will show up in the garden and ruin everything,» thought the Most Serene, throwing another stone at the creature. This time the creature squealed something, and although the words were unintelligible, several were outlined:

– R – r… rzaraplar – tissya za e – it! – And he jumped over the flimsy fence.

– There are so many evil spirits here…

After that, they hissed at Oleg – especially the old people. The dogs growled, the fortune tellers looked askance at Svetly with suspicion – but he endured and tolerated everything. He studied all the paranormal phenomena in the Oka River area. He was amazed at how everything was distorted. For days, weeks puzzled over what had happened in this village, which had become a refuge for thousands of its own – outcasts. Thought and thought, but could not decide.

– Fire ignites feelings, water quenches desires. When they meet, two elements become one. I still wonder who came up with this heresy. These are illusions. Such things can only be seen in our imagination. In real life – two opposites. – Enerik said quietly, smiling sadly. Now he looked very much like Legolas from the movie «The Lord of the Rings». There was no sparkle or joy in his eyes. He was remembering something that was gone forever. As if our boss had not had any fun that day. His eyes showed weariness – endless.

An archmage with a human soul… An immortal beauty – externally and internally. Tormented by mortal passions. The one who pushed you into the invisible World must have cried? He made such a guy Light! Taking away all the joys of human life, giving him eternal youth. Condemned him to an eternal existence in the world of evil people. That’s exactly what I thought, pouring myself a glass of beer. I wonder, who made it that way, right? And we were amazed when the Celt, sipping Czech beer, told a story that happened twenty centuries ago. It was strikingly different from the archived one. Why? Apparently, not everyone is interested in a real biography. And what if both were made up?

HISTORY OF ENERICA

«Despite the fact that I sometimes call myself a Viking, I am a Celt. I remember how our tribe celebrated the victory over the Roman invaders, I sat at the table at the feast, having fun just like a boy. I was at least eighteen years old then. I was hopelessly spoiled. A young rake, who loved to swing a sword, without stopping to have fun. I lived as a complete egoist, so I never paid attention to other people’s troubles and requests. And girls ran after me in crowds, hearing only insolent laughter in response to my declarations of love.

My mother is an ordinary Celtic girl, my father is a wandering minstrel. A beggar, at that. Ah! These two turned out to be made for each other! The father, having learned about his daughter’s love, locked the girl at home, but the beauty Elindra still met with her lover. Climbing out of the window when her parents were asleep. Then she would disappear for a whole day – they were very good together. The young man took my mother to the most picturesque places, gave in to her every desire. But their embraces were pure, innocent. Their kisses were pure and sweet, their words were sincere.

When my father was getting ready to get married, he turned to the druids. They said he would have a son, but with a terrible character, the boy was destined to become Great. The rest of the prediction was rather vague. No one could fully understand it. In the end, my mother became pregnant. My father got married, then I was born. The birth was very hard, the contractions lasted for two days. Elindra almost died, but she was saved.

At thirteen, I tried wine for the first time. I started to have fun, because I liked it. At fifteen, I lost my virginity to my first love, and off it went. At eighteen, I was seriously wounded in battle. Now I understand – this is the price for selfishness. Maybe it was the wound that determined what would happen next.

Soon, Elindra fell seriously ill and died. My father lived a little and hanged himself from grief. Only then, at nineteen and a half, did my brain finally begin to fall into place. After that, how my parents left for the other world forever. Left alone, I bitterly regretted what I had done before. Friends turned away, relatives too, and it was decided to live differently. It was time! I left the tribe for Byzantium, became a monk, renounced all earthly joys. I led such an existence for five months. Then I discovered the gift of foresight in myself, and began to develop it.

It was then that a certain Ekiestes came to our monastery, whom many people didn’t like right away. And he behaved strangely. But despite this, we became friends. After such an acquaintance, my eyes began to open and I began to look at the world in a completely different way. This guy from Byzantium put a lot of pressure on my psyche, condemning my negative actions. This went on for quite a long time. In the end, I couldn’t stand it and broke away. into the world of people, but I could no longer live among them. It seemed that I had calmed down – the harmful person was not around, but no! In order to avoid his persecution, I began to look with sincere kindness at the people, running away from the intrusive man. But this did not give anything. The more I communicated with him, the stranger and more absurd my dreams and visions became. Sometimes I looked at my shadow for a long time. It seemed to me – it absorbed me, falling into it. I raised my head – and instead of the blue sky I saw only black and white colors, scared out of my wits. Time in this strange space flowed very slowly. I saw the thoughts of those around me, and, making appropriate conclusions on this basis, changed for the better. I became so ashamed and hurt for the past!

So I became a Light Mage. And then an Archmage. Having entered an unknown World through the fault of the Dark One – a vampire. And as a reward I received a very long life, eternal youth. Before the initiation I used to think how I could so calmly endure the suffering of people, come out alive from the hottest battles, and only then it dawned on me – these are the abilities of a non-human helped out. Almost got into court with the churches. My life schedule hasn’t changed for centuries.»

The Svetlykh chief drank the last drops of beer, took a coin from the table and threw it up. Then he pressed it with his palm. And I thought about it. There are too many inconsistencies in the story. A pagan and a Christian at the same time?! Impossible! Or he’s lying to minors – the beer has gone to his head. I DON’T BELIEVE IT!

– Enerik, so you were made what you are by a vampire!? By persecution, and not by natural means!?

– Exactly. – Kelt nodded gloomily. – He drove me to the brink. Now listen. See the coin? I want to organize a small expedition to Oka, to rest there. There are many villages… – and then what I was afraid of came out of his mouth:

– We’ll go to village «X» at least!

– We heard about it once. A terrible place. In some of our groups they tell stories that send shivers down your spine. In winter, Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote an article – Chupacabra appeared, or died – they found a skeleton, a small one: all dog, but a fox’s head.

– I’ve seen such! A real werewolf!

– No, boss! After death, the body is immersed in the invisible World. And here is a skeleton. – Valyuk said, frowning.

– You are mistaken, Valera. Village «X», where we are going, is a zone where everything is different. Most likely, the article was written by the Dark, or the Light, tormented by curiosity. He made up things, distorted the facts. Most likely, the writer is a villager from «X». He went crazy from isolation, decided to hand over. I also have a godson living in this wilderness. The boy is probably not happy about this situation at all.

My face stretched out in amazement:

– HOW?! WHY?! To have a godfather, and the Most Serene One at that, is something you can only dream of! It’s rare that you get to have a guy looked after by…

– I don’t look after him! I haven’t seen him for twenty-six years! He delivered the baby, that’s all.

– I hope it was from the Light. – Andrey said. – What’s wrong with that?

– I don’t argue. But…

– What «but»?

– HE TURNED OUT TO BE A DARK MAGICIAN OF TERRIBLE POWER FROM BIRTH! I SAW THE ESSENCE RIGHT IN MY HANDS!

There was silence. Cool.

I LOOK AT THE WATCH: 17 – 20

THOUGHTS AND POEMS ARE SPINNING IN MY HEAD

«Rain brought or leaf fall this name, but I can’t turn away your gaze with my eyes.» It sounds like an incomprehensible Call. I didn’t like the first one. Despite the fact that it was full of romance. What kind of romance do we have now? Ugh! And the voice, oddly enough, is female. I wonder who exactly it was intended for? Me? Hardly… I wonder if the boss heard? He probably pressed his lips together strangely, as if he remembered something he couldn’t say.

Beautiful verses. They are sung by someone’s heart, which was broken after experiencing unhappy love… Love that is gone forever and will never happen again. A song about a heart that is aching, frozen for a very long time in an evil human world that has long forgot about many things. For example, I have this opinion: external beauty is always deceptive…

Even the Chameleon, who appeared out of nowhere, was the most real embodiment of all our virtues and shortcomings. So he rushed here and there until he brought down all the darkness on himself, despairing of going over either to the side of Good or to the side of Evil. Yes… The boy couldn’t take it anymore. He broke. And this strange genealogy… Maybe this is someone’s empty and stupid joke? A stupid mistake, not caring about oneself. A joke that Illyo threw at us, downloaded from a website on the Internet. Making us understand: we, non-humans, are too confused, have strayed far from the original plan of life. By putting pressure on the innocent Alexander, we almost committed a crime. We should have stayed out of this man’s life altogether the boy, take your time, wait until he makes up his mind… But they couldn’t stand it, they started catching the unfortunate teenager – instead of letting him go in peace. No – they were so scared – they couldn’t control themselves! Both Headquarters were made fools.

Alexander was strange by nature. Later, when I talked to his parents, I learned that this guy suffered from an inferiority complex, and hereditary predisposition played a fatal role. They say it’s true: you can’t crush genes with your finger!

Thus, the greatest discovery was made. An event that happens once in a hundred years: a Chameleon is born – very dangerous for others: magicians, werewolves, vampires, warlocks, witches… The best weapon against him is to touch nothing and leave him alone. Then he himself will decide what to choose – Light or Darkness. Even in the capital, this was not known before! What surprised me was something else: the creature cannot be turned, abilities do not show until a certain time, and then the real nightmare begins. The division into Light and Dark principles begins, and if at this stage something jams, you get an albino – Chameleon. Fortunately, everything happens very rarely. But it looks very beautiful.

For all of us, this was a kind of lesson. How late we realized this!

It’s raining outside, I’m sitting in the kitchen. Little droplets hit the glass, knock-knock. It’s nice, fresh, the freshness has flooded the entire park, the air is mixed with ozone and the scent of flowers… Nature, washed by the rain, seems to be happy. Despite the fact that yesterday there was heavy smoke hanging over Bratsk – smog from BRAZA. I look out the window and I remember my childhood – a distant childhood, when I saw the world completely differently and was happy: I ran along a sunlit path, caught butterflies, loving everyone in the world…

August twenty-eighth. Six in the morning. I don’t want to sleep. I read poetry, writing the text in my notebook

I look at the white ceiling and think. Different thoughts come into my head. I think about how to find a common language, a normal language with those around me – people, Mages. Some are physically lonely, and some are morally lonely. I am lonely in the second sense. The Light Headquarters of Bratsk received me rather coolly, and for a while everyone ignored me… except for the boss. He became my best friend and assistant, almost a brother. We talked for hours, touching on extremely serious topics. Sometimes, however, Enerik swore a lot.

And now he laughed at the fact that the entire team showed up for work at the beginning of the vacation. In a good way, we managed to drink beer right in his office! A rare occurrence! We drank, having learned about how our Celt became who he is now… But I still DID NOT BELIEVE this story. The details are TOO far-fetched. And he is unlikely to tell his real biography. That’s a fact. The first story has already happened, now there is a second one. What’s next?

Personally, beer sometimes helps me relax, forget about the bad, in a good way. Despite the fact that I am an Inquisitor. I don’t drink much, and I can only get drunk on rare occasions. Now I enjoy my rest – if I want, I wander around the city, even greeting the Dark Ones. They, by the way, too. What else… I am not married, I don’t have a lover. And I don’t want this: women are actually such creatures who are always demanding something from us, -constantly, giving nothing in return. I also can’t stand them for their overly chatty language, their antics. FOOLS! They consider us goats with big horns. Let them: I don’t care.

I got up, shaved, washed myself, and at breakfast I think: is it worth going or not. Probably, it is necessary, since the Inquisition is practically absent here. Enerik has a godson living in a village where there are only monsters… DARK! Another rare case. Such thoughts made him choke on his coffee. Twenty-six years have passed since our Celt left the village «X». At that time, as he says, the village was not on the map. Maybe someone found it and demolished it, just as they have been wanting to demolish the village of Chekanovsky for a long time?

Maybe. The Most Serene One just wants to make sure. He noticed back then: there is no church in the village – the first sign. People remained in «X» – those who were lucky. If this is really so, then they have learned to get along with other creatures. No other way. After all, the blond lived with a human woman at first, until he built a hut! I wonder if she is still alive?

I get up, wash the dishes, clean the room and open the closet.

I wonder what’s going on there at the moment? So… I have a jacket with a warm lining, I need to sew up my socks, I put all my underwear in the suitcase first, wrapped in a bag. I’m clearly not going to swim in the river – the water is already cold. All the summer clothes stay at home. Except clothes, I need to take something to read. Anne Rice, «The X-Files» – a widely published book series, very similar to the life of magicians and werewolves with vampires in Siberia. Maybe that’s why I like these books.

I am partially deprived of the Force – when I left Moscow, I «discharged»: so that here, in completely different conditions, it would not press on the soul and psyche. It still presses! The one that remains. It resembles the torment of a prisoner – his legs are shackled, his arms are twisted behind his back, there is a wall behind him, a window in front, from which light barely breaks through. The prisoner tries to free himself, he strains, writhes, He tries to get out, but these attempts bring him only pain and even greater suffering. He cries for help – but there is not a soul around, NO ONE HEARS ANYTHING. And if pitiful cries are heard – the guards will laugh and go to the end of the corridor.

When the exhausted, maimed, tortured boy is found and freed, he will not be able to take a step, he will fall at the feet of his saviors. They will give him water, food, and carry him out of the fortress in their arms. It will take a long time for the wounds on his soul and body to heal. The freed man will first shy away from the outside world, will be afraid of people. They will look at him like a cornered animal, poke him with their fingers. When all the negativity is erased from memory and health improves, life will become bright and happy.

Maybe it will take several years to heal…

JUST IF HE CAN STAY THROUGH IT!

And now I’m packing. Maybe it will be easier in «X»? And the hell, there are Dark Ones there! The hell, the boss has a godson!

It took me about forty minutes to get ready. Then I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and got out some lard.

«Hmm…» I think to myself out loud. «In vain… In vain you, Inquisitor, were drawn into work in Siberia – to study the behavior and nature of the creatures of these places! To catch vampires, to look into the swollen mugs of cops, bandits and oligarchs, to laugh at the impostors – punks. It may well be that these are not the same ones who are with you at Headquarters work. And creatures tired of life? Eh – no! You can safely cross out Enerik from this list! He is a very strong Mage! I love him like a brother, and respect him.»

He went to the mirror, picked up a glass of beer, clinked glasses with himself:

«Really, Max?»

And he answered himself:

«True. But you shouldn’t trust it too much. Remember, Maxim, the notes on the history of the city: all sorts of bastards built it! It was a zone! So many scum, outcasts of society and bandits came to the taiga from all over Russia that there was an impossibly large amount of Darkness. The first generation of builders from different cities are now having their day lives out. Their children repeat the fates of their parents, so sometimes you don’t understand the behavior of this or that person.»

It seems that I’m starting to go crazy little by little… I go to the tape recorder, turn it on, press the «play» button. I came across a very clever song on the cassette.

The same day

Five o’clock in the evening

An old car is driving through a forest somewhere near the sea outside the city

A Volga-type car is heading towards the forest – or rather, we are already in the forest. There are five of us: Beregond, myself, the driver – Enerik, Valyuk, Yegor – Psycho. We joke, we have fun. Unlike everyone else, the Archmage sits silently behind the wheel, watching the road. Every now and then he glances into the invisible World – are there any obstacles. So far so good. There is a lot of gasoline in the tank – it should be enough for about a hundred kilometers, we stocked up on it to the brim: more poured into canisters, having spent a lot of money. Then the Light Ones will have to do a little mischief at the gas stations: put a false memory on a person, get fuel for free. Not good.

The forest rushed past, merging into a multi-colored strip of scarlet, yellow, green, black flowers. Headphones stick out of their ears, from which great classics flow: Prokofiev («Montagues and Capulets»), Liszt («Dreams of Love», «The Elixir of Love»), Pallo («Morning») … Somehow incomprehensibly divine melodies suit the September landscapes and even the weather outside the window.

The car slowed down: we climbed a hill, from where the sea was clearly visible – blue, like a cornflower field. And in the distance on the opposite shore a mountain range was visible, then another one, dissolving into the horizon… In the water, several tiny islands overgrown with grass were visible. There were dead trees on them, which looked like sticks. A rare haze, the smell of mushrooms, colored leaves are already visible on the forest paths – still few in number, but still you can feel the atmosphere of some strange peace – peace that can only be found where there is no man at all. As if the Irkutsk region is a unique place where people do not live at all, but there are only birches, straight as an arrow, pines. Very tall – about twenty meters. I don’t recommend looking up for a long time: you can faint from dizziness.

Birches with yellow leaves are bent, bending their branches to the ground, and their cracked bark says something else: the trees are very old, so each leaf is beautiful in its own way. A mountain overgrown with forest, – which we are currently driving along, admiring the unearthly landscapes, descends to the sea, and, in my opinion, we need to slow down: otherwise we will fall down. From the cliff. To my left, the shore drops off, so the mountain resembles a pie from which a piece has been torn off the edge.

Small, thin, young trees and bushes resemble children and teenagers. And taller and thicker trees resemble men and women. Pines resemble young men, birches and aspens resemble girls with chestnut, golden hair, wreaths on their heads. They are in white, greenish dresses made of embroidered linen. They resemble women, in whose eyes wisdom appears. Beautiful, very… and the Light Force is all around. Silence. Dead. Above us and the forest is a clear, blue sky, reflected in the sea, on the surface of which there is not even a ripple! I can’t, I can’t tear my eyes away from this beauty!!!

But we still drive on, and the landscape changes.

A solid golden glow of millions of leaves flared before our eyes, and at high speed we literally instantly «crash», fly in and dissolve in the birch grove. Violating the innocence of this giant yellow sea. Quietly rustling. If you look from a crop duster plane, it might seem that waves are running across the surface of this ocean – the wind is stirring the beauty birches, so tender, so alive… I don’t understand how you can chop down such beauties for firewood! I don’t understand! It seemed like the sea had swallowed us, we drowned in it. Birds and animals live in it, and tons of boletus mushrooms grow on the bottom… Mushrooms here… You’re collecting! It’s probably time for people to open a real business on mushrooms in Siberia, all at once cleared up… I mean ecology. Only no one will ever collect anything – and that’s a pity.

A jolt brought me back from my dreams to reality: we stopped. We got out. Enerik shook his head, throwing off his beret – and his golden hair ran down his back in waves. Another gold was added to the landscape. The difference is this: soon the leaves will fall from the trees dead, turning into black soil over time, and the locks of His Serene Highness are alive. I always wanted to touch them with my hand. I don’t know if the boss guessed it or not. Just to touch them, nothing personal! Don’t think anything bad! NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD HAS SUCH CURLS. The Celt’s long eyelashes trembled. He was happy and grinned from ear to ear.

– Do you know why I love Siberia? For the beauty of nature! – He exclaimed. So, the rest doesn’t count. As if on wings, the Archmage ran to the old birch and hugged it, stroking the bark. We smiled.

– We need to sit here for an hour. We’ll have a bite to eat and decide where to go next.

– A…

– Don’t use the portal: you’ll end up in the wrong place anyway. There’s not enough magic to create it. You can only drive for two days, maybe less: at night I’ll be driving at full speed, like a madman. There are almost no people here, cars are completely unheard of on the roads covered with asphalt. Or we’ll be stuck in a car for three days: if we stop overnight. We’ll put a vehicle around the vehicle magic barrier: it can be dangerous in the forests these days: despite the fact that there are almost no people here – only rapists from prisons and all sorts of unafraid animals walk around. It’s very, very good that there are no girls in our company. And we won’t make a fire.