– OK. I will continue my story after breakfast.
– I will be sorry to part with you. He said with bitterness in his voice. I do not even know what you are going to do next. However, you had better not come back here anymore. My friend’s words scared me. I could not imagine what he meant. However, he said them seriously enough. After breakfast, I continued my story.
CHAPTER 2
The gods greeted each other and took their places. The hall was empty, it was very dark and there was a deathly silence. This silence did not bode well. The hall was huge, and it seemed to me that it would be heard even if a snowflake fell. That is what happened. First, a fire lit up on the suspended chandelier, which was swinging, and then a whirlwind of snowflakes began. Again, there was a deathly silence. The fire went out. Only the outlines of the gods were visible.
The same old woman appeared, her appearance was still terrible. My friends were surprised to see her.
– Is it really your grandmother?
– Yes. I replied dryly.
The old woman began to build a fire. She brought dry brushwood, and tried to set it on fire, but she could not do anything. The brushwood was too cold and saturated with moisture. This process took time, and everyone silently waited for the result. The fire began to flare up and went out. Mara was amused by this, and she sat silently and smiled, I could see a grin in her eyes. The fire went out before it had time to ignite. The old woman bent down to light it again. Bat, she was thrown away by an invisible force, and with such force that she hit the ice wall, but immediately stood up briskly and looked in the direction of the gods. No one moved, everyone was looking at the extinguished fire. Mara laughed, it amused her. The flame broke out, of course. In addition, it flared up like a pioneer bonfire. The appearance of this flame was not natural, more like an artificial one. While the flame was burning, I wanted to get to my grandmother, but my friends stopped me.
– It’s not time yet. Wait.
– She’s right here, she can hear me.
– «She’s not the only one who’ll hear you. I listened to my friend and stayed where I was.
Then the souls flew away and took seats for the guests. Devils teamed up with trolls. The chandelier made of ice began to sway, the flame of the fire burned evenly. Nothing-foreshadowed trouble. Gradually, one by one, the dead who were standing next to us began to disappear. It was not known where they had gone. The cold hall turned into a taiga, it was the summer time of the year. The thickets parted by themselves, forming a flat clearing. The fire continued to burn, all the evil spirits began to come out of the thickets, ghouls, goblins, demons, there were so many of them that I could not see them and even find out which of them, who. They all climbed out of the darkness, came up and bowed to Mara. This ritual did not last long. When all this was over, and they disappeared, dark gods began to come out into the clearing, who had a direct connection with the dark world and expressed their respect to Mara. Mara received them kindly, and they went back to the depths of the taiga. The flames of the bonfire subsided. It illuminated the holiday. Then the taiga parted, forming an abyss, and the whole picture collapsed, and the hall took on its former appearance, and the same lighting, the chandelier continued to sway. Then one of the dead men appeared and removed the remains of the fire, after which he disappeared along with the remains.
It was the turn of the invited guests, they lined up in pairs, devils and trolls did not part. They flew up to the gods and gave them the skulls they came with. It was more of a gift for Koshchei. He decorated his home and even furniture with them. After these events, it was the turn of her favorite guests. She accepted them generously. The pile of skulls disappeared, at the snap of two fingers of their owner. The servants brought tables and chairs for dead souls to sit at them, only in human form. They took the form of sitting down at the table, and did it by seniority. First the male elders sat down, then the female ones. Only then, in the order of dying, the bodies and souls mixed up and sat down as they had to. The sight of these bodies spoke for itself. It looks like they died a long time ago, and are already used to being in the dark. They did not pretend to be anything more, they liked their existence. Their eyes shone with a transparent light, and the shell around their eyes betrayed the absence of life. Their bony fingers were like skeletal bones, their hair was lifeless, and they were not breathing. They were just sitting at the table.
The guests took their seats and sat waiting for something. We continued to watch. An old woman appeared, she appeared out of thin air and splashes of frozen water scattered in different directions. In her hands, she held the pot from which I managed to drink the magic drink. The servants carried wooden cups, one dead man carried a tray with dishes, and another poured this drink and distributed them to the guests. There were several of them, and they did their job quickly. One of them made a mistake and was immediately deleted. The scattered like flakes of snow, and in his place was another. Then all the servants quickly disappeared.
– How are you going to save her if she appears and disappears? It can turn into flakes of snow at any moment.
– Yes, you are right. I do not know myself anymore. Can I approach Mara herself?
– «What are you going to tell her?»
– Let him take me, and let the grandmother go.
– You are stupid! Why. You still have your whole life ahead of you; you are only twenty-five.
– I know. Bat, it is also my fault that she is suffering.
– I do not think so. It is her fault that you are here being alive. She told you fairy tales. Our argument was interrupted by a third.
– Quiet. Do not collect troubles. We are already in hell. Her husband will also make skulls out of us. Let us wait. Maybe the grandmother actually knows something. We must wait for the moment.
– «You’re right.
The guests were sitting peacefully at the tables; the hosts of the holiday were talking about something among themselves, or even not talking, but exchanging glances. The house cleaner collected the empty dishes from the guests and disappeared. Trolls came out into the hall and began their single dance. They were dancing something beautiful, trying to please the guests, something like a ballet. In my opinion, this ball was nothing special. I had more idea how to do my job faster and get away from here. I looked away and thought for a second, closing my eyes. As soon as I did that, I heard a sharp sound. It was like a creak. I looked into the hall. Guests, devils and tables, everything was cleaned. The guests took their seats as before. Devils and trolls were sitting in their places. The tables disappeared.
Mara Marena was standing in the middle of the hall. She stood tall and began to change her appearance. Her hair looked like the sun, it was golden, a light beautiful dress complemented the image of spring. Having taken the form of summer, the color of her hair remained the same golden, and she was even more beautiful. In autumn, she looked like a decrepit old woman in old clothes and a hump on her back, and with the arrival of winter, she turned into a young beautiful woman. Her beauty was fatal. I could not get enough of her. Her hair was decorated with a crown with precious stones; her gaze was stern and proud. She was a great goddess.
The festive hall changed its beauty with her. It all started in spring, despite the time of year there has never been light here. The light was a bonfire on which people burned an effigy of spring. At that moment, Mara wrinkled her face and clenched her hands into fists. This picture ended abruptly.
Then summer came. The picture changed its screensavers the way I had seen it before when I came here and saw the abandoned dwellings of the gods. It was dark enough here for the summer season, and the black sun served as the light. Spring and summer left quickly enough, but autumn was delayed. It was a damp and cold picture. There was a dark and gloomy street in the hall.