«Tell us who you are and where you come from. We don’t see you in the world of the dead or the world of the alive,» he asked cautiously.
«My name is Deva. And you are right, I’m not in any of these worlds. I was sent by the Creators to reconcile the inhabitants of the Earth and stop the senseless bloodshed,» she replied bluntly. «May I ask you a question?»
«Ask away. What are you interested in?» the leader became emboldened, finally seeing firsthand the one they had all been waiting for so long.
«How many of you restless souls live here?»
The leader did not answer her immediately. He plunged into painful memories of the last battle for him.
«So many that I’ve already lost count,» he replied bitterly. For year after year their ranks had filled up.
«I’m sorry,» Deva whispered. «Is there anything I can do for you?» she asked, reverently addressing all the shadows, not just the leader.
The Shadows begin to whisper again. They didn’t know how they could be helped to gain liberation and find peace. It seemed to them that they were forever chained to this place and there was no salvation for their deeds.
«Time will tell,» the leader replied dryly, retreating back into the woods, joining the others. He did not believe that after all they had done during their lifetime, someone would be lenient and grant them forgiveness.
As he left, he cast a doubtful glance over his shoulder:
«You can try to save them, but, as we can see, they have not changed over the past centuries. People are doomed, though, just like us.»
«I will try. I will definitely try to help! The Creators see everything and always give a chance even to those who have long been lost in their path,» she told enthusiastically and selflessly.
The Shadows disappeared into the forest, grinning at her ridiculous plans, but mentally wishing that everything would work out for her.
The oppressive silence fell again. Deva raised her head, gazing at the night sky, as if looking for support there or waiting for a clue. But the only answer was silence and the occasional wink of the stars. The first creatures she met in this world were the Navi, and a short conversation with them did not bode well. Her enthusiasm and zeal melted and dissolved, like the Shadows disappearing into the forest.
Soon she heard a dull noise. It rolled across the earth, covering her like a huge wave. It slowly crept up, filling the entire space with itself, and threatened to cover Deva with a giant shaft, burying both her body and all her aspiration under it. The sound of approaching hooves grew louder. It was inescapable, as if fate itself had gone hunting.
Despite the possible threat, Deva was not afraid. All she felt now was sincere curiosity and a great desire to do everything in her power to establish peace and prosperity in these lands. She was glad that people were moving towards her, but worried that the clans might arrive at the same time, and then she would become a new reason to fight. These thoughts made her uneasy. A chill ran over her skin, making her shiver, Deva felt her breath catch, vague images swam in front her eyes, and the stars rattled as if someone had hit the dome of the sky, wanting to get rid of them. A bit more and she would have fainted from all the thoughts that raced through her head, exciting her with the enormity of the conclusions.
«The Earth Clan,» said a raspy voice behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Diva quickly returned to the reality of what was happening. She turned slowly in the direction of the voice, but to her great surprise, she found no one.
Only giant trees and scattered fir-trees stood black against the sky. They looked at her speechlessly and shook their crowns in unison, as if they agreed with her perplexity.
Deva froze in anticipation. She didn’t understand what was going on or who this voice could belong to, which brought her out of her heavy thoughts.
Meanwhile someone spoke again.
«Look down,» the voice said hoarsely and irritably, as if Deva had already offended him.
Slowly lowering her eyes and stopping at the level of a human waist, the maiden screamed in surprise:
«Oh, who are you?» She covered her mouth with both hands so as not to say anything superfluous and not to frighten the creature unknown to her.
His normal-sized head was covered with disheveled thick hair. A well-proportioned body sat on stubby legs. A small rounded tummy bulged out from under a long shirt, belted in the place where it marked the waist. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbows and arms were covered with thick hair. The wide palms resembled saucers. Knee-length trousers covered even more hairy legs, and bare shaggy feet were twice as long as her own. Despite his small height, he bravely stood right in front of her.
«My name is Echo2 and I live here,» he said proudly and possessively. «I see everything, hear everything and keep order in the forests.»
«Do you often have to bring order?» Deva asked without a trace of irony.
«Right now, for example. It’s such a mess and I’m the only one to deal with everything,» Echo muttered with displeasure.
«Please forgive me for disturbing you. I’ve never met creatures like you,» the maiden sincerely confessed in an apologetic tone.
«Creatures? Well, tell me too! I am, one might say, the Lord of the forests, and you called me a faceless creature,» Echo said resentfully. He furrowed his shaggy eyebrows and slightly protruded his lower lip, showing his displeasure with what he had heard.
«Forgive me, please! I didn’t mean to offend you. I was waiting for someone from the human clans to appear, but you emerged so suddenly that I was confused. However, you are just in time, for what I thank you very much!» Deva spoke quickly, realizing that the conversation had started on the wrong note.
Despite the apologies she had made, she tried hard not to smile, being touched by Echo’s appearance.
«I don’t know, I don’t know,» he shook his head doubtfully. «Who are you and where did you come from?»
«My name is Deva and I come from the Creators’ world,» she introduced herself, slightly bowing her head in reverence to a creature half her height.
«The Creators themselves sent you to us!» he opened his mouth and widened his eyes in surprise.
«That’s true. They entrusted me with a very important task,» the maiden switched to a mysterious, intriguing whisper, trying to interest Echo.
«Of course, I would be happy to ask you more details, but I have to go.» Echo backed away when he heard the sound of hooves, which was already very close.
«Wait a minute. Maybe you can tell me about the clan that’s coming?» she pleaded, taking a step forward. From the sudden movement, her robe began to shimmer with silver, blinding Echo. «I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. My garment, it’s…»
«Magical. Like the world itself, where you came from,» he finished the sentence, removing his like a saucer-hand from his eyes. After a little hesitation, he nevertheless decided to ask a question: «Did you do something wrong, angered the Creators that they decided to send you here?»
«I was not sent away at all, but sent to help.»
«To help? I’m very curious,» Echo drawled and turned his head towards the noise coming closer. «They are riding so fast, clearly they are in a hurry for help.»
«Is