NIGHT - I. Rin (best large ereader txt) 📗

 

Suddenly, the girl saw a twinkle flitting among the trees.

 

“Swein, there is something in the trees!” said Lica quietly.

 

“We’d rather not know what it is,” the Prince answered.

 

“But it’s coming!”

 

And indeed, at first the faint light was getting brighter. Soon they heard the crackle of breaking branches, as if someone forced the way through the bushes.

 

“Angelica, hurry up!” Swein called her and spurred his horse.

 

“But my horse is already at the limit!” cried the girl.

 

She tugged at the reins, but suddenly, in front of her, on the road, as if out of nowhere, there was a terrible old woman  with a candle in her hand. She was so terrible, that Lica nearly took her breath.

 

“Swein!” only was the girl able to shout.

 

The Prince immediately turned his horse back. But the old woman did not wait for his approaching.

 

“Well, baby, do not you want to visit Grandma - Top crust?” she snapped with a terrible voice.

 

She held out her hands to Lica, and they began to stretch further and further. Suddenly the skin began to peel from them, exposing her cold and white bones.

 

“Grandma-Crust...” flashed in Angelica’s head.

 

“Of course, I should have guessed!” she smiled with relief. “Swein, everything is all right! She is the nightmare from my childhood!”

She courageously raised her sword, and when the old wom-an’s hand was nearly touching her, she slashed at it with all the fluff. The old woman howled and fell to pieces in the air.

 

“Who was it?” asked the Prince riding up.

 

“When I was little, the hunchbacked old woman lived near us. She was terribly angry. And if some kid pestering her, she grabbed him by the ear and pulled to her, saying: ‘Do not you want to visit Grandma - Top crust?’ All the children were terrified her. And I even started dreaming about her at night, it was my nightmare. However, I completely forgot about it and remembered just now.”

 

“You were lucky that it was your own nightmare, and not someone else’s. Otherwise, your sword would have been simply powerless. Let’s go!”

 

The horsemen galloped forward.

 

“Swein, and have you ever had nightmares?”

 

“Of course, I have. I am also a human being!”

 

“Sometimes I am not sure about that,” Lica whispered. However, the Prince heard everything perfectly and smiled.

 

But because of the dark the girl did not notice anything. They passed other two turns, and then heard someone’s heart-rending screams and strange clanking noises in the wood.

 

“Swein, there’s someone screaming! We must turn back to help!”

 

“Remember, Angelica, a man, who became a nightmare hos-tage, must cope himself and nobody can help him.”

 

“But...”

 

“No!”

 

And the Prince did not tarry for a moment.

 

“We are nearly at the end of the forest!” he said.

 

But then Angelica saw how, among the dark silhouettes of the trees, the green lights lit up. Her horse snorted and shied. The Prince’s horse also began to laugh and tried to break away somewhere.

 

“Damn!” Swein cursed. “I have not reckoned in one thing - the animals seem to have nightmares too!”

 

No sooner had he said that, here and there more and more green lights began to appear and they heard a wail.

 

“Wolves!” Lica guessed.

 

“They are! Who else?” the Prince called cursing and trying to straighten his horse. “Of course! Wolves are Horses’ Nightmare!” Angelica’s horse began to dance and balled from side to side.

 

“Keep the reins tight! And try to hit the animal with a whip. Pain is sobering!” said Swein.

 

The girl did so...

 

Suddenly her horse jerked forward so quickly that Lica barely stay in the saddle. The Goblin King’s horse raced following her. But the wolves seem to have decided not to lose their prey. They were running out of the trees and shrubs pursuing our heroes. The larg-est and most ferocious predator had almost caught up with Swein’s horse. It bent down to the ground and jumped. However, the Prince cut him with his sharp sword in the air. Other wolves were struck dumb a bit, seeing what had happened to their leader.

 

At last, the forest began to thin, and soon she and the Prince came to the wide valley. The wolves did not pursue them anymore.

 

“The horses need a rest,” said Swein.

 

“And so do we,” Angelica smiled.

 

Our heroes drove away from the forest and dismounted. The Prince took out the amphora to check if it was ok?

 

“It’s amazing that at such a breakneck ride, it was not bro-ken!” he said.

 

After that, the Goblin’s King sat on the grass and mused:

 

“Angelica, something is happening to the Kingdom of Night.  I have never been wrong with the enchanted paths.”

 

“Do not worry, it may happen to anyone!” Lica tried to calm him down.

 

“No, there’s something wrong! I know those paths very well, and they never changed. But now...”

 

“Maybe it’s because we released the evil out of the sorcerer’s cave while searching for the Book of Destiny?”

 

“I also began to think more and more about it.”

 

Swein plucked a blade of grass and began to chew it think-ing. Angelica admired him. She also sat down and looked up at the starry sky.

 

“Do you like the stars?” the Prince asked her.

 

“Yes, I do, very much! The stars, the Moon and the Night.”

“Me too...”

 

They rested for half an hour and then the Goblin’s King rose, led horses and said:

 

“It’s time to go!”

 

And they went further. Shortly ahead they saw Sleepy Lake. “Look Swein, the lake has become much wider!” Angelica exclaimed. “You were right! Something is changing in the Kingdom of Night.”

 

They came closer. The Prince dismounted and waited for Lica.

 

“We have to leave the horses on this shore,” he said.

 

“Let’s take only swords, potion and the amphora. The fields are almost immediately after the Lake, so we do not need horses.”

 

Swein took the horses to the nearest tree and tied them. Then he pulled the amphora from the bag, checked the vial of potion in his coat pocket and went towards the lake looking for a boat. Soon he found it in the reeds.

 

“Angelica, come here!” he cried. “The boat is here.”

 

The girl took the sword and ran to the water. Her com-panion sat down at the oars, and Lica quickly climbed inside. The Prince held out his hand and said:

 

“Cut, my dear Angelica, otherwise I will fall asleep some-where in the middle of the Lake.”

 

Lica gently cut the Prince’s hand with the blade of the sword.

 

Immediately the crimson blood appeared of the wound.

 

“Now your turn!” she said, and held out the sword to Swein.

 

And he, without flinching, struck Lica’s hand.

 

“You do not have to oar, do you!” he grinned. “So it’s better to make a wound here!”

 

They pushed off from the shore and went to the opposite side of the Lake. The Prince was rowing pretty fast but they still couldn’t see the other side.

 

“Someone must have pulled our legs and made this Lake endless!” said the girl.

 

Swein said nothing. He rowed very hard and soon they saw a distant shore.

 

“At last!” Angelica gasped.

 

They landed on the gentle slope of a small hill. The Prince tied the boat to the bush that grew near here, took the amphora and waited for Lica to climb out. Then they went to the Ghosts’ Fields.

 

“Now we should carry the amphora away from the fields, then come back and stay somewhere near the Lake. Neither vampires nor werewolves will be at risk to come here, so we will be relatively safe here,” said Swein.

 

Angelica nodded, showing her approving with the Prince. Ahead there was a broad valley covered with thick lush grass. Only occasionally - here and there – they could see trees.

 

“Put the amphora next to one of the trees!” Swein offered. “So that you will have at least a mark!”

 

“I agree!”

 

The Prince went to a high spreading tree and placed the amphora under it. And to make the tree with sign, he broke down a thick low branch.

 

“Now, you certainly cannot go wrong!” he said with sat-isfaction.

 

After that, Lica and Swein came back to the Lake and stayed at the safe distance.

 

“Here!” said the girl. “Here, I will rest - here the grass is high and soft. And you will watch over me.”

 

She took out the green bottle, opened it and drank the potion.

 

After that, she lay down on the grass and began to wait.

 

“Angelica, try to do everything!” Swein said. “In three hours, I’ll return you to your body.”

 

But Lica had not heard him very well yet...

 

Everything began to swim before her eyes. She relaxed and flew off somewhere. It lasted for a long time. Suddenly she realized that she could see herself from above. She saw her lying on the grass and Swein carefully covering her with his cloak. Then he bent low over the girl and kissed her on her lips.

 

“Oh, what a smart aleck you are!” cried Angelica in the hearts. “You have taken the advantage of my helplessness!”

 

And she threw herself at the Prince with her fists. But... flew through him. She tried again. And again it did not work.

 

“All right! Leave showdown on then!” the girl began to think more quietly. “Business - above all!”

 

She turned and flew to the fields of Ghosts. Angelica was flying and enjoyed the flight. No, it was not like that time when she was an owl. That time she had to flap her wings, and it was quite tir-ing. Now the flight did not cause any effort. Lica was just hovering...

In the Fields

 

 

At first she did not see anyone, but then suddenly began to distinguish translucent whitish figures looked like small clouds. Someone was waving above the grass and some were swimming over her, like a fog.

 

“Maybe they are the souls!” Angelica said to herself. “But how do I talk to them? How do I know where the soul of Prince Edward is?”

 

She flew closer to one of the clouds and accidentally touched it. Immediately, pictures appeared in front of her eyes, as if she was watching a film...

 

She saw a young boy who went fishing at the lake on the boat quite far from the shore and threw the bait. Suddenly his float hopped, and the boy jumped up in delight, trying to hook in the fish. But he did it very carelessly and stepped on the edge of his small boat. The boy lost balance and fell into the water; the boat turned over and hit him on the head...

 

Lica shook her head, took a deep breath and flew on. For some reason she did not want to ask that boy’s soul anything. She was hovering over the grass and soon saw a group of semi-transpar-ent clouds. The girl immediately turned towards them and this time intentionally touched one of them.

 

And again she saw something like film...

 

She saw two guys and two girls talking about holiday togeth-er. They were in someone’s house having a lot of fun ... Suddenly, a fire broke out. The flame instantly covered the wooden hut. They were in a panic, trying to get out of the house, but accidentally the roof fell...

 

Angelica pulled her hand back. Then she gathered her will in a fist and said:

 

“I am looking for the Prince Night’s - Prince Edward’s soul. Do you know anything about it?”

 

“No,” the souls shook their heads. “Here, everyone is for