The Mysteries of the Shaman Stone. Ivan Rasskazov

visible with binoculars and the rifle scope, we lay down, watching all the approaches to it, and began to wait. The bait hung on a very long branch of a huge tree, tied on a rope about three meters from the ground. Everything was done so that the predator could not get to the bait even in a jump and would walk around it until found by a hunter's bullet. Herman, giving Nikita a carbine, taking a knife and a walkie-talkie, decided to go to the bait to see if there are bear tracks. Watching him through the binoculars, I suddenly saw some movement on the side in the taiga. Peering into the bush, I felt that someone was watching us. Telling Herman about it over the walkie-talkie, again I began to observe the place where it seemed to me that: someone is there! “Well, there’s heaps of bear tracks here,” Herman replied over the walkie-talkie “I am coming back, keep your eyes open.” As soon as he began to move in our direction, some kind of animal, which was not clearly visible yet, but, judging by the outlines, it was very large, began to hurdle across from the side. The hunter felt the danger as well and asked Nikita over the walkie-talkie: as soon as the beast attacks, shoot to kill. “Why didn’t he take the rifle with him?” I only had time to think and a jarring shot form a carbine and then another one rang out next to me. I turned my head toward the place where I just saw the movement and saw a huge, supposedly five-year bear lying on its side, which was knocked down by two shots shot by Nikita right in the jump. The predator missed just a couple of meters to reach Herman, who had already begun to work with a knife, getting the very valuable and healing bile from the bear. So, while dressing the carcass, Herman discovered in its stomach the wire on which he hung the fish he had caught before to sundry it. The bear slurped it the day before, while Herman was on a fishing trip, having wreaked havoc in the cabin. “If I had some doubts before as to whether it is this bandit that paid me a visit, now I have no doubts,” he said aloud. Judging by the tracks, there is one more bear circling around in this area, a smaller one, and we still have time: we can sit in ambush for a few hours. Having made some fifty shots with the bear killed by Nikita and having made ourselves comfortable in the old place, we began eating the thick slices of lard with pickled cucumbers, drink strong tea with herbs from a vacuum flask and discuss the sudden appearance of the killed bear. For my Moscow friend Nikita, it was the first-ever trophy, and it was a bear, of all things. It was clearly visible how his eyes shone and how his chest was being filled with happiness and the opportunity to brag about it to his fellow journalists in Moscow. As for my own trophy – the skin of an enormous wolf – it was already the second day that I flaunted it, extending it and fixing it with nails over my headboard in the cabin. Suddenly, the dogs, that remained silent until that moment, began growling. The wool on the scruff of the hounds stood on end, and literally a minute later a flock of wolves jumped out and occupied the area where the killed bear lay. They began to sniff the lying animal, and one of them, lighter in color, jumped right on it and began to sniff the air around it, standing on its hind legs, apparently fearing those who killed such a formidable predator. Us, that is. When the wolves appeared, I was seized by a strange feeling of some kind of unity with them, and only with a great effort of will, restraining my inner desire to rush towards them, I resisted this act. What is going on with me? – and, without expecting it, I hit the barrel of Nikita’s rifle that was about to shoot. “No, don’t shoot,” I said and stood up right, brushing off the needles that stuck to my clothes during the long time I spent on the ground, watching the wolves run away into the taiga. Forty minutes later, loaded with bear meat, we returned to our hut. This is how another day in my life passed, away from all the benefits of civilization.

      Chapter Four

      At night, in a dream, I again ran with the wolves, in front of everyone and with a female wolf on my side, which was supposed to be with me for the second year already. It was that very wolf that boldly jumped on the dead bear – now I knew: it was my she-wolf. The grey girlfriend was clinging to me from the side, playing with me, she wanted to have cubs with me, we were in the middle of spring and it was time to mate. So, playing with each other, the dominant couple of the pack moved away from the rest of the wolves, and we, playing and biting each other from excitement, started making love. Once again I woke up in a sweat from the thought of making love to a wolf! Maybe I was going crazy? I need to wake Herman up. Even more so, as I had marks left by branches on my hands and legs once again, and the bottom of my stomach was aching as if it had been corrupted. I only ever felt this way after spending a whole night voluptuously making love with a girl I really liked. “What the heck is that?” I swore and started shaking the shoulder of sleeping Herman. When we drank the second cup of freshly brewed tea, Herman at first only laughed at me. But when I showed my body, palms, and feet, he suddenly seemed thoughtful. Then he asked: “Did you put on the wolf skin on the first day?” I told him everything I remembered about that unfortunate story when I was washing myself in the bathhouse.

      Herman remained silent, imbued in thoughts. “I don’t know. May it is true, but there is a belief among the ancient Tofalar taiga hunters! If on the first day a naked hunter puts on the skin of a leader he just killed and bathes in the river with the skin on, he turns into a wolfman. And after that he will be the most sophisticated hunter, having acquired instincts unknown to man and, thanks to his new wolf essence, he will know the habits of all animals in the taiga.” Having told this story to me, Herman became silent and suggested that we check this assumption at night. The day passed unnoticed, full of chores and things to do. At night, after relaxing in the banya, we went to sleep. Herman and Nick, who was already aware of my dreams, tied one of my legs to the bed and took turns on a night vigil. It was already past midnight when Herman heard the barking of the dogs that were on the lash, as well as the howling of wolves not far away from the hut. Herman decided to unleash the dogs and let them inside the winter hut. When on the lash, the dogs are defenseless before wolves, and the latter would often use this opportunity to attack. While he was busy with the huskies, about five minutes passed and, upon returning to the hut, he could not believe what he just saw: there was no one on the trestle bed where Alexander slept, only a rope bitten through with sharp teeth. He took a carbine, woke Nikita, and together they went to search for Alexander. The dogs were leading them directly to the wolves and soon Nikita saw the entire pack. The wolves were running in a parallel course, the leader stood out at the front with his girlfriend, a fair-haired she-wolf, running next to him. Nikita threw up his gun and shot at the leader.

      “What the heck are you doing?” Herman shouted, seizing the gun from his hands.

      “Well, it was just as a warning, it was birdshot anyway,” Nick said.

      “Okay, let’s go back,” Herman replied and they set off on their way back to our hunting hut. Entering the hut and seeing Sasha with his shorts, just as before, on and sleeping on his bed, he touched him and, making sure that he was alive and well, suggested that he’d gone out to relieve himself while they entered in panic and chased the wolves. Only the rope, bitten off with razor-sharp teeth was haunting his mind.

      “Alright, we’ll figure it out it in the morning”, he thought and sank into a deep sleep.

      Chapter Five

      In the morning, when everyone gathered for tea at a table under a self-made shed, German asked Alexander how he slept. “Simply excellent, but there was this dream about wolves again, and some blood-sucking creative bit my back at night”. Saying this, Sasha turned his back on him. Choking from what they saw, Herman and Nikita exchanged glances. In several places on the back, a birdshot was visible right under the skin, apparently fired from a rifle by Nikita. They said nothing to Alexander, only processed the wounds on his back and quietly pulled out the pellets.

      Part II

      Sending Sasha to the river for water, Herman and Nikita began to confer, what should they do next.

      “This is some mysticism! I can’t believe in your fairytales, Herman, I do dabble myself, writing fiction stories. But to think of something like this happening in my life – Alexander is a wolfman! It’s just crazy!” – Nikita said.

      “What about brownies and all the other mystical stories in Moscow newspapers and on TV?” Herman objected.

      “Are you kidding me? It’s just PR crap for the sake of hype,” Nikita replied. “And here we have something that just doesn’t make sense! What shall we do, Herman? You’re a local, aren’t you?”

      “There