Mistress of the Solstice by Anna Kashina Read Free Book Online Page B

wood,” Leshy said. “A
rotten tree stump. One of my
kikimoras—Oksana is her
name—she likes to carry a light when out in the swamp.
She’s guarding a tree with a hole in it. Talk to her.
Perchance, you could even learn her nickname. I don’t
recall it myself. Then, when you’re done, reach into
the hole if you dare, and you’ll find the Net. Or find
yourself without a hand.” He giggled again.
    Ivan ignored the last remark. No physical harm was supposed to come to
him as a result of winning Leshy’s game. The only thing
he had to worry about was keeping his sanity.
    If, of course, Leshy always followed the rules.
    He had so far, hadn’t he?
    “Oh, yes. One more thing. You probably need a
guide.” Leshy snapped his fingers and the tormented
shape of Nikola the Wise appeared again. The kikimora’s
wild eyes burned through Ivan.
    “Nikola will show you a safe path through the swamp.
I’m sure he’d love to.
Won’t you, dearie?”
    Nikola’s gurgling laugh choked in his throat under
Leshy’s heavy gaze.
    “Off you go!” Leshy commanded.
“Shoo!”
    He stepped behind the birch log into the shadow of the
fir growth. After a moment, it seemed as if there had never been
anything else there but bushes, sickly from the swamp water that
surrounded their exposed roots. None of them resembled beresklet at all.
    The only reminder of the Forest Man’s presence was the
withered brown shape of the little fir tree and the reddish splotch of
a squashed firefly on Ivan’s hand. He hastily rubbed it
off, and followed Nikola’s ghostly shape.
    At first it was easy to find a dry path. As they moved deeper into the
swamp, Nikola jumped from one patch of dry land rising out of the swamp
to another, and Ivan took care to copy his movements. Dark water
glistened all around, like eyes peering at them through the stiff swamp
grass. Nikola had no need to jump, except for Leshy’s
orders to show him the way. For once, Ivan appreciated the code of the
Immortals and the Forest Man’s care.
    The island appeared from the moonlit mist like a ghostly ship, the tall
aspen in its center rising like a mast out of the swamp moss. As
Nikola’s feet touched the island, he disappeared into
thin air with a last look at his lucky follower. Ivan did his best to
ignore the longing in Nikola’s tortured gaze. He could
do nothing about the other man’s fate.
    The blue-green swamp light floated toward him, so different from the
yellow and red shades of a real fire. It seemed very pale, barely
visible against the moonlight. Ivan realized now that it
didn’t really flicker. It only appeared flickering when
its bearer moved.
    The kikimora approached him, her ghostly shape taking on more substance
with each step.
    “Hello,” she said.
“I am Oksana. Did you come to play with
me?”
    A chill seized Ivan’s chest and held
him in a tight grip. Among all the horrors of the swamp, he had never
expected to see this . Gods . Gods, no. Dear,
dear gods, no. Not this.
    Please, not a child .
    She looked no more than five. Her eyes were so large in her pale face
that they took on a life of their own, shifting and glancing around as
if afraid of an ambush. There was nothing childish in their depths.
They held pain. So much pain—
    “Come,” she beckoned.
“I like company. I’m not scary,
really.”
    Ivan swallowed.
    “I came for the Net,” he heard
himself saying. “Leshy sent me.”
    She pursed her lips. “I thought you would at least
like to know my nickname. Everyone else does.”
    Her mouth stretched into a smile, but her eyes held the same torment,
the same madness he saw in Nikola’s. It was a thousand
times worse, seeing it in the eyes of a child.
    What kind of monster could have made a kikimora out of an innocent
little girl?
    “All right,” he
said, only vaguely aware of the hoarseness of his voice.
“What is your nickname?”
    “Aha!” She jumped
a few steps back. Her face twisted into a grimace that might have
passed for laughter