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-15-
"Owlyn, do you think you can lead us the way into the Wood?" Vasilisa asked the bird.
"I'm afraid the path is lost to me, too, my lady," Owlyn said sadly. "In the World Beyond, only Feathered Serpents and the fiery falcon, Raróg, have the power to travel fast and wide. And the warlocks, with their portals..." The white owl stopped and sighed.
"If we're fortunate, we migh
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The Midnight Sorceress -16-
In the long silence that followed Cassandra felt herself sinking like a stone with her captor. They went deeper and deeper as if the oasis was bottomless. Cassandra tried to wiggle her body against the tight grip, but as she struggled, she caught a glimpse of a long dark green eel-like tail flipping beside her. Cassandra's frantic heart thumped against her ribcage.She bucked and kicked her feet, but the monster's arms held her down like an octopus's. Then it twirled her body around. Cassandra finally came face to face with her captor. She saw through the clear water, a beautiful red-haired maiden wearing light, sh
The Midnight Sorceress -17-
The morning came, pale and clammy. Cassandra woke up and found a tree-root under her back, leaving a dent mark there, and that her neck felt as stiff as the tree-root itself.She woke Ruslan and they both ate some cheese and bread for a quick breakfast. Owlyn was nodding off after a whole night of watch. Then again, the daytime was not for our nocturnal friend. Cassandra decided to let the owl rest while she looked around for Vasilisa.
The Midnight Sorceress -18-
Never once did Cassandra think of her mother as anything but a perfectly ordinary woman. Of course, she only had vague memories of her. How her melodious voice sounded, how nice she smelled, and how warm she was to Cassandra when she was a child. Aunt Klementina told her that once when they were going to attend a wedding party, Cassandra's mother told her not to dance. Aunt Klementina hadn't been so fond of her mother for some reason and no doubt she went and danced her legs off. And she broke her hip that night.But that was
The Midnight Sorceress -19-
Ruslan frowned. He had tumbled out onto a rocky hillside and knew at once something was wrong. He wasn't near the hill with the willow tree where they rested anymore. In fact, he didn't even seem to be in the marshes at all for that matter. How did he get here? Where were the others?Ruslan turned around and around, calling out to Cassandra. The air tasted foul, and it made him cough. It still had a hint of the metallic sulfur that had nearly choked him. And the sky, now he noticed, looked the wrong color. It had the purplish tint you sometimes got before a storm, except no storm was approaching — there was n
The Midnight Sorceress -20
There was something about the grey creatures that sent Ruslan into a frenzy of revulsion. He fought like a demon himself. He punched and kicked furiously. The demons were nearly naked so he could see their repulsive, dark grey, hairless scrawny bodies, and their spindly limbs. When they touched him, his skin crawled.Individually, they were smaller than he was, but there were dozens of others who were human-size swarming across the rubble to help. He knew immediately that they were theDrekavac, the screamers, the mythical demons Owlyn had warned them about
The Midnight Sorceress -21-
Ruslan had the impression of an open trapdoor with stone steps leading down, but his mind was no longer working. He felt as if it had been pushed into a tight, dark corner of his skull and locked there like a small, furry animal in a cage. He could still see through his eyes, still hear through his ears, but everything was at a long distance as if he was looking through the wrong end of a telescope.Nothing was important anymore, not where he was going. His thoughts crawled through treacle and were blurred around the edges, slipping and sliding away from him every time he tried to use them. If he concentrated reall
The Midnight Sorceress -22-
When the falling momentum stopped, they landed on hard ground. Through the opalescent light of the moon and the absence of mist above, Cassandra could see it now. The thing that had dragged her down. It was shaped vaguely like a very tall man, and its long grey arms and legs were covered with matted hair and mud. A terrible stench arose from it. Its feet were clawed like a bird's, but the knobbly fingers which had locked with such strength on her ankle ended in long twisted nails. Then the moonlight shone on its face, and she screamed again, for ithadno face, only an open, gaping wound of a mouth, with pendulous wattles of skin hanging below.
The Midnight Sorceress -23-
"Leave the boy with me," said the sorcerer-king. The demons retreated from the hall and closed the bronze doors behind them. The other sorcerers kept watching by the walls. When the Czar walked towards him, Ruslan looked back nervously. For a long moment, the Czar stood looking down at him without saying a word. His eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. Ruslan tried not to stare back."You must be wondering why you're brought here, young lad." His words were courteous, his manner charming, but it was clear that he had no good int
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