Unconquered Sun (44 page)

- But thanks to the fact that you then did not get the page you married Prinze!

The fairy smiled and stroked the Kitten on the head why he zamurlykat enough, and the Puppy thought that always this gray bootlicker gets all caress:

- Precisely! And I thought of it. Everything in our world is natural and everything occurs exactly as has to occur. Praise to the Creator! - the Fairy told and devoutly put handles on the breast.

- And, above all, - again with a smile the Kitten added, - that our kid to a release will have no he in brides … - For it the Kitten received a kiss from the Fairy.

Heat, dryness, and more tnan that - fatigue from a formidable way made the business - all three exhausted finally.

The Fairy and Kitten should have laid down on mattresses as both fell asleep as the killed at once. The fairy on the usual self-confidence did not even put - as the Puppy - a magic force field noticed. Slava Sozdatelyu, though did not put out fire, and that is for comfort reasons, than safety.

It fairly disturbed a puppy, and therefore at him hunting to sleep absolutely was gone. As here you will fall asleep, you never know who can get out their this outer darkness! Even the Fairy did not find time to check a cave entirely, and at the same time sleeps as the baby!

The kitten laid down with it on one mattress this time - as it happened quite often when the Fairy was not married - and they slept now in an embrace.

"All good this gray bootlicker gets all the time!" - the Puppy with insult thought, turned away from sleeping. It became boring to look in darkness to it soon, and he too gradually began to be sleepy …

Suddenly some stir in darkness seemed to it. The puppy right there woke up and pricked up ears.

- Strange … I hear nothing and I do not feel, - the Puppy muttered under a nose. - Perhaps I after all dozed off and it dreamed me? - He once again smelled a wet moist nose air, but is not present - guessed nothing.

He looked back and saw that the magic blue flame slowly dies away.

"Oh-x-x! My madam did not even find time to program a spell on all night long … And what if fire goes out and everything will plunge into darkness?" - the Puppy anxiously thought.

While the Puppy sadly watched on slowly but surely the fading flame, in the depth of a cave something fell from a ceiling, some stone. The puppy even jumped up on the place, but the Kitten and the Fairy only nestled to each other even stronger - in a cave it became more cool - and again breathed heavily.

This time the Puppy was absolutely sure that it is not a dream any more. Though in darkness still nothing was visible, this time it like a dog the sensitive hearing caught hardly audible rustles. Some poskrebyvaniye, strokings on a stone … But to define as where makes such sounds in such total darkness, of course, it was impossible, and to climb there deep into caves it is unsafe.

At last, dawned on the Puppy. Having returned to an entrance to a cave, he took a snow handful, made a snowball. Having aimed at that part of a cave, from where, as it seemed to it, sounds reached, it threw a snowball there.

What surprise of the Puppy when the snowball … did not reach neither a wall, nor a floor was. The puppy noticed only that somewhere in darkness something moved and … the snowball disappeared! The Puppy did not wait for a falling sound. But in the depth of a cave something began to start moving, something promptly began to approach them …

And then the Puppy raised a howl on all cave and that was forces ran under protection of magic fire, and into place where it just stood from where from above some strange feelers fell. From howling the Puppy during a moment of an eye as warriors of "STING" on educational alarm, jumped from a stove bench and the Fairy and the Kitten. Loud cotton was distributed. It is the air-bed on which they just lay, burst from the fact that in it someone's black claws pierced.

- For a back, Animals, hide for my back! - heartrendingly the Fairy cried, in passing sending to a magic flame the mental order to flash as it is possible more brightly - the benefit after reception of "a pink concentrate" and during a dream her magic forces were restored!

Fire flashed as if in it poured out an oil bucket. Tongues of flame shot up almost under a cave ceiling. Heartrending squeal was distributed - and couple of tens feelers instantly burned down.

- Creator! Protect! - in horror the Fairy exclaimed, instinctively pressing to herself Animals, as if protecting them from terrible vision which is seen by her.

In the light of a flame the Fairy saw that all ceiling, a floor and walls swarm in hundreds of disgusting sklizky feelers with claws and damp suckers. They promptly creep to them from where from depth of a cave and if not fire … But the Fairy preferred not to think of it. It was necessary to undertake urgently something because, having recoiled from the flashed fire for some time, they were going to resume attack now.

- Animals, quickly, outside, I will detain them! Throw everything here, quickly! Life is more expensive than supplies and baggage! - and with these words, she struck the first blows in the attacking feelers.

Thin uvulas of a flame escaped from her fingers. It began to water with this flame the coming feelers. Feelers fluttered, blackened, were twisted in tubules and fell off, from disgusting squeal stuffed up ears, ran a jimjams. But to the place of the burned feelers all came new and new …

Animals already ran out outside - glory to the Creator, wind blew not storm though the blizzard all the same was decent. And the Fairy, step by step moving back, continued to water with streams of a liquid flame became enraged the feelers creeping to her from all directions. Fire flame helped with the center of a cave to those that feelers had to bypass it - on a ceiling, on walls - and therefore they could not rush on the Fairy directly. And to bypass - meant to lose movement speed that gave the chance to the Fairy effectively to shoot back.

But here, when the Fairy already almost reached an exit from a cave, action of the spell supporting magic fire began to run low, and that decreased at once almost twice. And then the most terrible began …

Couple of tens feelers suddenly "shot" from where from cave depth. Not constrained by more wall of fire, they, having described an arch in air, stuck into hands, shoulders and a neck of the Fairy. The fairy screamed from pain and fire stream from her hands stopped. Also other feelers quickened, having victoriously directed to the Fairy. And those that already stuck with an inhuman force pulled it in depth of a cave. Poison which was injected into a body of the Fairy by claws obscured her consciousness. In eyes all floated. In members of a body there was a treacherous weakness and the Fairy, without having kept standing, fell …

But here in a cave Animals flew. They rushed to the Fairy and became teeth and claws became enraged to tear damned feelers. Feelers snatched on them, but poison did not affect plush animals, and blood-thirsty wet suckers have a fit of coughing, having involved in themselves fibers of artificial wool.

This instant confusion of feelers was enough to seize the Fairy by hands and by legs and to pull out on snow at an entrance to a cave …

While the Puppy watched, the Kitten grabbed full handfuls of snow and began to pound them cheeks, a neck and a breast of the Fairy.

- Regain consciousness, the hostess, m-m-mya-u-u! Otherwise to all of us here the end will come, ochni-and-and-is!. What there, Puppy? Let's drag it far away, and that these feelers now for us will get!

- Yes, it seems, do not climb, and-av! It seems that they are afraid of cold.

But the Kitten did not believe in such cowardice of feelers, but also to bring round the Fairy there was nothing. All medicines remained in a cave.

- Puppy! Quickly, mya-at-at! I will not calm down until we clean up where far away from here!

Puppy with the Kitten somehow charged themselves with the become soft Fairy and incurred her on a narrow footpath, through a dense blizzard, further as it is possible further from this ominous place.

And feelers did not rush to them after. They really were afraid of cold. And it as the Puppy guessed then, rescued them from inevitable death. The owner of feelers because of the cold weather which came in mountains fell into hibernation in cave depths. Thanks to it he did not rush on them at once when they it is so precipitate, without investigation, crossed a threshold of its den. And then heat from fire warmed a cave, the ancient monster wakened and if not vigilance of the Puppy, the outcome of their campaign would be very and is very sad …

However position of friends remained desperate. They saved the life, but there were one highly in deserted wild mountains, in a terrible blizzard, in the dark, without supplies, without fire, on a narrow slippery footpath, with the wounded Fairy behind shoulders!

- Proklyatye, m-ya-ya-u-u! - in a fit of temper the Kitten exclaimed. - A puppy, you understand to what alteration we got!? We are with you in warm fur coats, and our Fairy - in one tunic, almost stark naked! It will freeze, without regaining consciousness, you understand it?

- A-av! And what to do? You at us the cleverest, you are the master of medicine! Prompt!

- Blockhead! Here and such feeble-minded head as yours, it is clear what to do! Quickly look for firewood some! I know spells on kindling of a fire. The hostess should be warmed immediately, otherwise we will lose her!

- A-av! Now, I in a trice! - and the Puppy disappeared in a pitch ice haze …

At this time the Kitten without restraint pounded hands and legs of the Fairy pads, trying to warm her. And then just laid down on it all over, embraced as it is possible more strong that his warm hair somehow protected it from cold. A kitten was late abused himself for the fact that sent the Puppy for useless searches - better it would remain here and helped to warm the shaggy skin the dying Fairy!

And the Fairy really died …

However, poison of a cave dev was not deadly. He acted rather as strong sleeping pill. In large numbers it could cause, of course, cardiac arrest or paralysis of nervous system, but the Fairy not so long stayed in monster paws. And therefore she just fell asleep.

The fact that it had no warm winter clothes was much worse. Before the Fairy was warmed thanks to a special spell - a thermal board, and therefore could walk even in a hard frost in a light short silk tunic and sandals. But now, when she sank into a deep sleep, there was nobody to create and support such difficult spell. The fairy was doomed …

3.

She died of cold. But where throw a look, around there was only a darkness and ice, snow and darkness. Neither mountains, nor the woods, one flat ice desert and flakes of snow falling from the invisible heaven dissolved in darkness.

She looked narrowly and saw that she costs on a big snow-covered ice floe which, appear, just about will come off the land and, carried away by a current, will carry away it to the high sea. Ahead - only darkness, only a blizzard, only thousands of cold snow-covered ice floes, icebergs, and infinite open spaces of the ledovity ocean. And in the sky - neither stars, nor the moon, nor the polar lights - only one pitch gloom. Moreover the cold penetrating to bones …

- Yes - and-and, - She thought sadly, - it is cold, as in a grave … As there is no wish there, but exactly there I now and will be incurred by my cold snow-covered small piece of ice - to the infinite black ocean …

Suddenly vaguely familiar voice reached It. She hardly came off hypnotically fascinating show on the horizon and looked back. There ashore in despair some small animal, it seems, a kitten ran, desperately waved pads and called her. For some reason this small animal seemed to It vaguely familiar …

- Madam, madam my Fairy! Do not sleep, only do not sleep! Go to me! Do not leave! Do not dare to leave!

He cried, from a hard frost of a tear right there turned into tiny small pieces of ice on gray fluffy cheeks. It ridiculously shook pads as the broken clockwork toy so it was a pity to look at it.

- Well you so fuss and cry, a small animal! - puzzly She answered. - I am only a small piece of ice, one of billions in this infinite cold ocean! I have to departure, as well as all others. Why it, you speak, I need to return? Than I am worse than other such small pieces of ice?

- Madam, I beg, return to me, here, do not dare to sleep! Wake up! Only
you
are able to do it! I beg you!!! - and the small animal fell on knees and stretched to It prayerfully the put pads. And then bitterly began to sob.

She felt sorry for a small animal again, but what It could do? Her legs tightly froze to an ice floe and It entirely consists of transparent ice. However, not absolutely. Having inspected itself, She with surprise noticed that in transparent as the tear of an ice body fights something pink, dense and warm.

"This my heart!" - about herself She with astonishment noted. - "It is strange that it not from ice … However, it for a while".

And really, heart was reduced more and more slowly. Its saturated pink color became gradually more pale and more pale.

She wanted to turn again facing the boundless black ocean especially as the small piece of ice on which It stood already almost absolutely separated from the continent. Still slightly, and the invisible undercurrent will pick up it and, having begun to whirl, will incur in a cold dark chasm together with other sisters small pieces of ice. In a chasm from which is not present any more and there cannot be a return …