Part 2. - Chapter VII. The Midlands

Entering the portal, Costa felt a familiar suffocation, the Golden glow tightly surrounded him, and dragged him into the unknown, he emerged into the clearing and fell again, as before. For some reason, moving to another world completely disoriented him, so he lost his balance and fell. Constantine turned around and saw how calmly and smoothly grandmother Pava entered her world, and his grandfather stumbled as if on air, oohing, but kept on his feet. Costa got to his feet and the three of them looked around to see where they were.

Behind them was a hill with giant trees, and right in front of them was a strange field that rustled unpleasantly. Grandfather Vadim and Costa couldn't take their eyes off him. The three of them stood at the edge of the field, on the lush green grass that ended abruptly in gray dust. If you look from the side, it seemed that the field with a huge bald spot, gray. Constantine bent down to scoop up the gray, rustling mass, but Pava exclaimed sharply, "No!" and caught the boy's hand.

"Costa, you can't touch the Seraphim's ashes. You'll die! You'll rot in a second!"

"What is it, grandma Pava?"

Pavlina sighed heavily and told them:

"When the last Great battle with the Dark Queen broke out, the Seraphim stood up for us. We all fought fiercely and were confident of victory, because Seraphim cannot be killed with our weapons, and magic is almost not afraid of them. Seraphim cannot be pierced or burned or frozen... They are almost invulnerable in our world. Because their blood, their flesh, their death brings terrible destruction to the planet. They are toxic to our world. Seraphim's blood can burn any living thing alive like acid. But there is an exception to any rule. The only way to kill a Seraph is with the sword of Rage, which was forged by the nefilim in ancient times. The sword was kept in the Sky city of the Seraphim, in Calestis Nefol - so the name of the city sounds in their language. But one evil nefilim turned into a Seraphim in an unknown way and secretly stole the sword. No one knew that he was evil, even the Princess was married to him, but during the Last battle he openly opposed us and even tried to kill his wife. It was only during the Last battle that we learned that he was a traitor. Therefore, no one could prevent the tragedy. He killed the Seraphim right there on the field, and he returned to his true form. Look nefilim. Seraphim's blood spilled over the edge of the field, and his body fell into the center. Seraphim dying burned the earth to the ground. This is not the field of Constantine, this is the ashes of the Seraphim. It is so heavy that the wind cannot lift it. It's still hot and poisonous, you can't touch it, you'll rot right away. Therefore, nothing grows here, birds do not fly, and animals do not run. This is his grave... This is the grave of Ibrael..."

"Who's grave?" - Costa asked.

"The Grave Of Ibrael." This was the name of the Seraphim who died. He was killed by someone we thought was more than just a friend. He was part of the tan Gaar family. This betrayal has hurt a lot of people. It changed the fate of all our kingdoms. And I'm afraid his evil influence isn't over yet," - grandma Pava said sadly.

"Is he still alive?"

"Oh, Yes." - Baba Pava said. –"He's still alive. And he's still our worst enemy."

Grandma Pava bent down and plucked one of the yellow flowers that grew on the edge of the field of ashes. She raised her hands to the sky, then looked at the ashes, dropped the flower, and said:

"We're sorry, Israel."

The flower barely touched the rustling ash immediately, right before my eyes, decayed, and turned into dust, mixing with the gray ash. And Pavlina turned to her companions and said:

"That hill over there hides the Ravine river, which dried up years ago. You, Costa, last time you used it to get to the secret hole of the Underground."

Costa turned and stared at the amazing hill. It was covered with emerald grass and bright blue flowers. But at the very top of the big hill there were huge trees that looked like pines. The trunk of the giant consisted of twisted, thinner trunks, each of which grew from a strange wooden bulb. Sometimes a thick branch with blue-green needles extended from the twisted trunk. If you looked closely, you could see that the needles did not grow quite on the branches. The branches were the tops of twisted trunks. The top of one of the trunks seemed to break out of the General bundle and grow sideways overgrown with thick needles. In height, the giant was 8 meters, and the circumference of the trunk at the bottom was at least 3 meters in diameter.

"What are these trees?" - Costa asked in surprise.

"This is an elsen tree, one of the magic trees of the Midlands,- said grandma Pava. Of Elsen is home to elsen-people. Come closer. They are now closed off from the outside world because of the Dark Queen. Usually on the first day of the month of blue flowers, they dance and sing beautiful songs that heal wounds on the earth, plants, animals and birds. They very rarely make friends with people. Once upon a time, I was friends with them. I don't know if they'll remember me. Will they want to be friends with me again?"

"Well, let's go and find out," - impatiently replied grandfather Vadim, who was already tired of looking around and standing. He wanted adventure.

Grandma Pava agreed, and they walked slowly up the hill. Next to the trees, they looked like small ants, and their needles were gigantic! Pava went to the last tree, put her hand on one of the thin trunks, closed her eyes, and said:

"Good morning, my friends! Ienh-loves strawberries, Fenh-wants currants, Hinh-asked for raspberries, and Byul – wanted to eat blueberries."

With these words, grandma Pava pulled out a small blue backpack from the pocket of her winter sheepskin coat. The doll's small backpack suddenly began to grow in size, and in a minute it looked more like a huge tourist backpack filled with all sorts of things. Pavlina took out of her bag three mugs from the children's service, pink with blue flowers on the edge. Each Cup contained a berry: currants, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Pava set the gifts by the tree's bulbs and took a step back. At first, nothing happened for 5 minutes, but suddenly Costa noticed with surprise that a gap appeared between the tree trunks and someone was peeking at them. Soon he noticed that the people were already peering out from behind the trunk, watching the newcomers curiously. They were small men with good-natured faces. Snub noses, green eyes, long lashes, small lips in a bow. On their heads were mushroom caps of various colors and shapes. Suddenly a small man in a hat made of raw wool jumped up and squeaked loudly, rushing in the direction of Pava . Pavlina held out her hand, on which the man jumped with ease. She put her hand to her face, and the little man hugged her, and even wept, but then he came to his senses and rushed to the gifts. He ran up to the currant and began to eat the berries with gusto. The people immediately stopped being shy, and also went to the treats. Pavlina took out a bag and laid out strawberries and blueberries in handfuls. Where she got the berry in winter was anyone's guess. But Constantine thought that for Pavlina, in General, it is not a problem to grow a berry, since she can grow bags.

Then there was another happy squeak from above and something small flew at Pavlina, knocking her off her feet. Grandma Pava rolled on the grass and laughed.

- Byul! I'm glad to see you, too, dear, but enough of this tickling!

When bul noticed the gifts, she, like fen, rushed to the treat. Fenh was already sitting with a round belly, and his face was the color of currants, because it was completely dirty.

"Where are Hinh and Ienh?" - Grandma Pava asked.

The little men squeaked something sad. Fenh, hiccupping, began to beep long and thoroughly. Pavlina listened to him and tears rolled down her cheeks. Later, she translated to the curious Constantine that Ienh and Henh were killed for the sake of evil magic. They were caught by the Dark Queen, and with the help of the elsen-people, created a temporary loop and tied all the underground to Avernas. No one can leave the city of Shadows, and no one can enter without becoming a slave to the spell, of course, this does not apply to aliens from another world. This is a very strong evil magic, it can work forever, because it was created at the cost of the lives of elsen-people. Ienh and Henh are now dead.

Grandma Pava suggested that they rest under the Elsen while she went and chat with her friends. Grandfather Vadim, of course, was eager to fight, but without Grandma Pava they will not go far. So they both stayed under the giant tree. It was quite warm in the Middle Kingdom, and they were very hot in their winter clothes. Therefore, the grandfather and grandson undressed, and carefully rolled up the ski suit and sweatshirt, next to put warm boots Costa and valenki grandfather Vadim. They didn't know what to do with it yet, but the clothes would be a dead weight on the way, so it made sense to leave them here.

Then Costa noticed that not all the people had left with Grandma Pava. With them was a cute little man in a fly agaric hat. He looked at the newcomers with interest, and when he saw grandfather Vadim's boots, the little man's eyes lit up and his mouth opened. It was obvious that he liked the boots very much. He walked around them, felt them, licked them, rubbed his cheek. He looked at grandfather Vadim and Costa, and something beeped. Costa smiled guiltily and shook his head to indicate that he didn't understand. The little man understood his sign, he suddenly darted into a gap between the trunks, and in a few seconds he came back. In the palms elsen-man was carrying a handful of Golden powder. He divided the pile into two hands. With one hand, he blew Costa right in the face, with the other, he blew in the face of grandfather Vadim, which made him cough. At first, Costa and his grandfather did not feel the change, but they were surprised to find that they understood the little man's words. He spoke in a thin, ringing voice.

"Hello, friends of Pau-Chen. My name is Yole. And you?"

"Grandfather Vadim is my name," - said grandfather.

"Constantine," - the boy introduced himself by his full name, remembering the confusion of Royal names and their length.

"Aha, so one will be Vau-Chen and the other Kou-Chen," - the little man exclaimed.

"Why do you call us that?" - asked Costa.

"Because you're human. All people are Chen. Your names are very long and too long to pronounce and hard to remember. Therefore, we take the first two letters of your name and supply the word Chen, which means person."

Costa nodded that he understood.

"You undressed, didn't you?" Do you need these wonderful things? And shoes, right? Do you need it? Can we trade? Yole said.

Grandfather Vadim agreed, and why not? The way they are not close, there is no winter here, why drag jerseys and suits? Valenki with fur coats are also inconvenient Luggage.

"Me, what? I agree," - said the grandfather – "So the problem with our grandson-we remain barefooted. My sheepskin coat and Costa's clothes you take away so. What about shoes?"

"I'll change your shoes. Right now I will make you magic shoes that will never tire your foot, never turn over, and never slip into the abyss, and in a moment it will go anywhere, just to set the direction for them. He will always serve you faithfully. Want to?"

"And then-well! That's just it!" - exclaimed the delighted grandfather. - "Get your shoes."

Soon, several little men brought out shoes for Costa and his grandfather. They were leather shoes without a single seam, made of the finest black leather. The sole was flat, without a heel. Vadim dressed and did not feel their weight. They fit right in, just the right size! Grandfather Vadim felt that the fatigue was leaving his legs, and he was ready to walk a couple of kilometers at least now. The same cevirici went and Constantine.

"Pava needs it, too!"- my grandfather exclaimed.

"She does," Yole said. – We gave it to her last time. I can feel them. They're in the bag where she got the food. Isn't there anything else delicious?

"Perhaps there is, my curious friend," - replied Pava, who had returned, - "But it is too early to ask. Fly to Avernas and call the tan Gaar to the border. But call so that no one can hear it. And there will be a treat for you, little Yole.

He didn't have to ask Yole twice; he was ready to fly to the moon for a treat. And Fen with envy hissed at him in the Wake of "Here's the youth went, the native tree for a treat will sell."

While Yole was flying on an errand, the fairy folk were covering the clearing, in the truest sense of the word. From other trees, too, elsen people came, but they wore hats made of various nutshells, and from the third tree they wore hats made of a flower. So Costa understand that they are different clans elsen people. They were more like plump fairies or miniature dwarfs, but more comely. None of them had moustaches or beards, and it was very difficult to determine their age, because their faces were not wrinkled. But grandma Pava suggested how to notice the difference between the generations. The young growth of elsen people had bright pink cheeks that lost color by the age of 30. And in 60 years, the little men turned yellow hands and feet, they became smaller. Thus, Yole is no more than 30 years old, he has a bright blush on his cheeks, and Fen is already over 60, because he was shorter than Yole and his hands were the color of old parchment.

Costa also noticed that the inhabitants of other trees not only wear different hats, but their names are not similar. For example, people with nut hats all names end in-is: Tsolis, Kais, Neis, Gois, and so on. In this case, the names could be used simultaneously by both boys and girls. Here went a girl named Nois in a peanut hat, and there climbed a tree naughty baby Alice. The elsen people gave names for beauty, they distinguished each other on the level of intuitive magic, and they did not need names for promises, because they could communicate with each other mentally. Names they adopted from people and each clan gave the name its own characteristics. The name is just a game to them. Clan elsen people from the far elsen-tree decided to more accurately replicate human names. Therefore, they had invented names exclusively for boys and exclusively for girls. Elsen people in flower hats use the ending "–sa" for female names (Phasa, Nyusa, Tosa, etc.), and for male "– po" (Mupo, Chupo, Topo, etc.).

For the first time in many, many years, the three clans came together, and even allowed people to roam in their Cherished clearing. Usually, on the first day Of the month of Blue Flowers, the best food was displayed, magic musical plants played a tune, and fairy folk danced. Everyone was happy, calm and fun. But such celebrations have not been arranged for 20-30 years.

Now the Cherished clearing was alive with elsen people scurrying to and fro, putting out dishes that grandma Pava increased to huge sizes, so that people had something to eat. Costa helped them carry out a huge bright red tablecloth with gold fringe and gold embroidery. The tablecloth covered the whole of the Cherished clearing. Then elsen men's began to walk in formation and to carry on their heads the finished dish. Grandma Pava only had time to tell about the delicious treats Costa and his grandfather. And what was not there: borscht with meat beetles, beetroot soup from the tops, acorn broth, tomato soup with blue pepper, roast caterpillar Arkus, roll of cuckoo eggs, cheese soup with mushrooms, goulash from the carnivorous flower rum-rum, vegetable cabbage rolls in oak leaves, cheese sandwiches, hot sandwiches with meat sticks, vinaigrette with Moros, bread envelopes with fried tomatoes, sugar buns with flower nectar and cheesecake with sledinka-souffle. And this is not counting desserts: whipped whites with currant, sponge cake with Pysanka, melon jam with oak leaves, waffle tubes with raspberries, chocolate cake with sledinkaberries made from flax flour, strawberry-milk jelly, cupcakes with bird's milk, gingerbread with buckwheat honey, chamomile souffle and sweets made of sweet mushroom "rafinadik". Even a variety of drinks prepared by the magic people, and each of the drinks was unique: currant beer with sledinka (traditional, festive drink Avernas), bell wine, lime jelly, refinadik compote with currant, lemonade with saffron, blueberry mors, Fizz with lemon ice and honey honey sbiten with birch juice. There were so many dishes that it was simply impossible to try everything. It was noticeable that grandma Pava knew all these dishes, but grandfather Vadim looked at the viands with caution, especially after the words "meat beetle", "caterpillar" and "carnivorous flower".

Then Yole returned with the message that tan Gaar had told them to call him Artgadern now, and that He would come to the border at sunset. And then Yole rushed to sweep everything off the table, as if he had not eaten for 3 days. As a result, grandfather Vadim still tried out a couple of dishes and forever became a fan of vinaigrette with Moros, melon jam with oak leaves and blueberry Morse. But the grandson tried to try everything, because almost did not remember, but bright taste sledinka. However, he also liked the lemonade with saffron and another drink, which did not look very appetizing, but it tasted amazing. However, as soon as he managed to finish the glass of drink came running flower elsen-men and took the decanter with a scandal. From their squeaking, Costa realized that a forbidden potion had been placed on the festive table, the one that only Costa had tasted. The little men tried to pretend that nothing terrible had happened, but Yole whispered in Costa's said that he drank a magic drink that will allow him to understand the language of animals and birds for a short time, and therefore he should retire to the grove and listen to what the local birds are gossiping about. This information may help travelers in the future. Costa agreed and went unnoticed to the Sacred grove, where he lay down under a spreading oak tree and waited.

Soon the sound of birds was heard in the oak tree:

"Arrived! Arrived! Look, the messenger crows have arrived! Get ready! Get ready! The latest news messengers brought!"

Costa could not believe his ears, the birds were speaking a human language! Costa closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, and listened. From the chatter of birds, he realized that in the Middle lands, crows fly messengers and carry news to all the birds of the Kingdom. Costa heard a branch creak under the weight of two ravens.

"What's the news? What's the news?" - the birds began to sing.

"And such! Princess Nea has reappeared in the Midlands, and the Dark witch doesn't know that her warriors have just lost her, " - said the first Raven.

"Oh, really! Oh, really!" - the birds were chattering.

"Aha! And the Princess does not know that she is in great danger here! Her mother had hidden the truth about her father from her. And so the Princess does not know that her father is a Black Emissary who serves the Dark Queen. But even this cruel sorcerer from the nifilim family, who killed the beautiful Ibrael, does not know that he became a father 14 years ago. He still wants to kill his wife to fulfill the dark prophecy," - said the second Raven.

"What is the prophecy? What is the prophecy?"

"We don't know, because we can't go to the land of the nefilim. Nephilim of old are fierce enemies of any bird, especially crows. Crows and Nephilim feuding for centuries. Carefully nefilim keep his prophecies a Dark seer by the name of Daga. That's why we don't know what the prophecy says. But it may be that the boy who is now lying under our tree will one day recognize him. This is as true as the fact that he understands our language and now hears every word we say, " - the first Raven replied.

Costa, taken aback, opened one eye and saw the black beak of a huge Raven right in front of him. The boy immediately opened both eyes and smiled all 32 teeth, trying to show his inoffensiveness and friendliness.

"Is it true? Is it true?" - the birds began to sing.

"True,"- Costa said. - "I'm sorry if you were secretive and I overheard you."

"No secret," - said the second Raven, and let Costa sit down. – "We shared the news. That's why you need to share the news so that we can help you."

"Yes, Yes! Share your news! Share your news!" - cried the jackdaw and cuckoo.

"Well, Princess Nea is really here. She returned for her grandfather, whom she misses very much, but missed the portal, because she was so far away that we had to follow her into this world to save her."

"Us? And who is "us"?" – asked the curious first Raven.

"Me, my grandfather Vadim and grandmother Pava."

"Pava? You mean, Princess Pavva?" - asked the second Raven.

"Yes, she escaped from the Midlands almost 30 years ago," - Costa confirmed. – "She is the Princess Pavva."

"Oh, what will it be?" - the first Raven asked. – "She can't go back to your world, can she?"

"No, he can't," - Costa said. - "But grandmother Pava wanted to come back. Moreover, my grandfather and I will not be able to save Nea in time without the help of Pavlina."

"The prophecy is coming!" - the second Raven croaked.

"The prophecy is coming!" - the first Raven croaked.

"The prophecy is coming! The prophecy is coming!" - the other birds began to sing.

"Then listen, stranger. To save the Princess Nea go to Whiteaqua. You know where?" - the first Raven asked.

"No..." - said the boy.

- "Whiteaqua is where two rivers mix and create white water. Dangerous, burning... Two rivers, the two Altyrka," - explained the second Raven. - "Remember?"

"Remember, " - said Costa.

"One more thing," - the first Raven said softly. – "You will need help later, and only Tirren can provide it, but Tirren needs help. Ask tani Pavva to summon the Guardian. It will save the magic city and then you can go home."

"I remember, thank you. What about the prophecy? You croaked.... Hmm... The one you were talking about?

The second Raven turned its head to one side, the birds flew away in embarrassment, the first Raven looked into the boy's eyes and said:

"Your prophecy is coming true. Be strong, " said tak, and both crows soared into the sky, and a minute later Costa realized that the bird's chatter had become a normal chirp again, and the potion's effect had passed. Costa's heart was not good, it was uneasy.

"Costa, where are you?" - grandfather Vadim called his grandson.

"I'm coming, grandfather," Constantine said, and hurried back.

"Where were you?" grandfather asked.

"I slept under a tree. I ate too much and fell asleep.

"All right, but I have a headache from their squeaking, music, and dancing. Well, not a gram of strength left. And it's already sunset and stomping to the Gaar necessary."

Pava, Vadim and Costa stepped up to the invisible border of Avernas, Yole flew ahead and blew magic dust. The border suddenly took shape. The gold pieces seemed to hit a wall and stopped in the air. Vadim slowly approached the border and looked seriously ahead, next to him stood Pava, with shining eyes, and after all, she was happy to return home. Constantine approached the border with a quiet step, he was not afraid to become a slave to spells, because he was already there, and they do not affect him. Costa looked at the transparent-gold wall, and on the other side already appeared Gaar. A tall, strong, gray-haired old man frowned at the newcomers.

"What are you doing here?" - angrily he stood up three times, and when he saw Vadim, he was even more angry than before. – "Who called you here? My granddaughter must have been dragged here? Now the whole village will be coming here?"

"Wow, what a welcome, Gaar!" – hemmed grandfather Vadim. – "You've done a lot of work yourself, and now I'm going to take care of everything with my grandson.Although it's all your granddaughter's fault."

"What's wrong with Nea?" - Gaar asked.

"Tan Gaar," - said Princess Pavva. – "You didn't talk to your granddaughter last time. And when she returned, she recognized your watch and remembered your handwriting... she started crying. She couldn't forgive herself for not recognizing the Middle Kingdom and finding you. Since then, she had been obsessed with coming back here and had not listened to anyone's objections."

"What about Casa? Couldn't you hold her?"

"She couldn't," - Pava said. – "Your granddaughter is already a teenager. It is difficult for her to explain all the dangers of her position. She can't sit idly by, she wants her grandfather to be there."

Gaar's shoulders slumped.

"Don't be sad, tan Gaar," - Pava said gently. - "Vadim, Costa and I will get her out of trouble. But this time, before you return to the human world, you must talk to your granddaughter."

"But she can't come here! And I can't leave here..."

"You can, but not for long," - Pava said. – "Elsen people will help us temporarily to deceive the magic of Queen. You will have 20 minutes to talk. I left the mineral with the transition rune at Yole, and as soon as the decoy works, you will travel to Tirren and talk to Nea. The witch won't smell you in Tirren, and then you'll come back as if nothing ever happened!"

"You woke elsen folk? - surprised Gaar. - Amazing! Let them be careful. Don't give them a chance to use them in the dark Queen's evil rituals."

"They'll take care of themselves. To me they will provide a friendly service and again will hide in the safety of their elisen-tree."

Pava briefly described the events in Genghis and the Trial of Mithras, and explained the presence of grandfather Vadim and Costa. Artgadern calmed down and thanked them for their help, because they don't have to do this. After a long conversation, and short goodbyes, the three men set off in their walking boots toward Tirren. Meanwhile, the granddaughter of Gaar, who now bore the nickname Artgadern, walked all day along the rocky slope, from time to time, hiding in the bushes. She was wildly tired, but she was afraid to stop, for the sun was already setting, and Nea sat down weakly under a spreading briar Bush. She looked at the sunset and felt a strange sadness.