by Gloria Mur
- "Margo," he said, "you look positively stunning! Even the soot on your face suits you.” And he walked closer to Margo, brushing her cheeks, wiping away the dirt.
Margo's eyes flashed in triumph. Nastia froze. A frightening thought flickered in her mind. What if I run up to Andrei, wrap him in the belt, disappear and fly away back to Shambhala- just me and him... Leave Margo here... A chill ran down Nastia's spine, despite the heat. And suddenly, before her eyes appeared the sorrowful face of Yala. Her eyes were shining with pain and love.
- "My girl! My poor daughter!” Whispered her familiar voice. Nastia shook, awoke from the fantasy, and wiped her eyes clean.
- "Margo!" Called out Nastia.
- "Margo! Andrei! Wake up! This is a delusion!” Shouted Nastia, touching her friend.
- "Get away!" Shrieked Margo, "go away, can't you see you're getting in the way? You're the third wheel!"
- "Andrei!" Shouted Nastia in despair, "Andrei! Wake up!
- "Can't you buzz off for a half hour, little girl?" He replied. Nastia forced herself to remember that it was just a trick- sorcery was making them behave this way. The black dust that they breathed in was a guard placed there by the dark forces. Obviously, it brings out the darkest feelings in a person's soul.
She breathed in and pronounced:
- "I love you both. I love you no matter what you do."
Margo and Andrei shivered from these words. And came to.
- "Get the belt, Nastia," said Andrei, "it's time to go back."
Just then they heard a boom.
- "Come on, what's taking so long," rushed Margo. Nastia took out the belt, getting ready to encircle her friends, but just then an unseen force picked it up and threw it aside. The friends froze, not knowing from where to expect an attack. Everything around fell silent. The ring of fire went out, the wind stopped and an eerie quiet set in. A second later, just where the friends were standing, darkness collapsed in on them. It was as if the sun had been turned off, and a black cloak had been thrown over the sky. They huddled together. Nastia kneeled and tried to feel for the pearl belt.
- "The Stone!" Realized Andrei, taking the Chintamani from the box. Its blue light illuminated the desert.
- "It's over there!" Exclaimed Nastia in joy when she saw the belt lying not far away.
Just then a fire ignited in the black sky. A huge fiery archer appeared from out of nowhere. His body, armor, bow and face, hidden behind a visor were all made of fire, as if the figure of an ancient knight had been set ablaze. He took the bow off his back. With a whistle, the arrow melted the sand. The peoples' skin turned red from the unbearable heat.
- "Hurry up, Nastia! I'll hold him off!" Shouted Andrei, throwing himself directly at the fiery monster. - "Hey, you! Firebrand!"
The guard raised his bow. The second arrow hit next to Andrei.
Nastia jumped for the belt.
- "I've got it!" She cried.
Andrei and Margo bolted toward her.
The archer fired one more arrow. It hit Andrei. He fell to the sand to put his clothes out. Nastia and Margo ran up to him, helping him deal with the fire. The archer let out a booming laugh, watching the story unfolding below while loading another arrow.
Andrei jumped up, Nastia put the belt into position. All three of them stood back to back so the belt would fit around them all. Just then the archer fired. A flaming whirlwind hurtled at Nastia's face. She didn't even have time to be afraid before she noticed that she was burning alive.
- "No!!!" Came a scream, "no!" And Nastia saw Margo jump in front of the arrow. The arrow stuck into Margo's head, causing a fiery rain.
Chapter 36. The Return
Nastia opened her eyes. Her head was splitting, and her mouth was filled with sand. She sat up, spitting out sand and saw water. It looked like a river bank. Trying to figure out what happened, she stood up. In the darkness, she didn't realize where she was at first. It looked like the Katun. “Where'd the desert go? Where's Margo? Margo had used herself as a shield!”
- “Nastia! Nastia! Help!"
She turned and saw Margo lying helplessly next to her, spread eagle on the ground. Her blond hair was matted and filled with sand. Her pale face and almost white lips were whispering something. Next to them lay Andrei's wet, broken camera. Andrei himself, leaning over Margo called Nastia again. She approached on unsteady legs, unable to believe her eyes.
- “Margo!:” Nastia fell to her knees next to her friend. "Margo!"
- "She's unconscious," said Andrei. "Help me drag her farther from the water."
- “What happened? Where are we?” Asked Nastya.
- "We flipped. Margo's poorly fastened helmet broke on a rock..." Nastia noticed just then that Margo's matted curls were thick with blood. "Help me, take her legs." Nastia stood up with difficulty, trying not to look at the blood while raising Margo's legs. As if dreaming, she whispered:
- "Flipped? ...Altai... So, nothing happened?"
- "What?” Inquired Andrei, raising his eyebrows.
It was then that Nastia understood that the fantastic trip to Shambhala and Lemuria hadn't happened! This thought made her feel empty inside. The crash must have knocked something loose in her head... She had imagined all of it... Their raft had overturned... Margo was smashed up...
- “Where are the others?”
- “I don't know, Nastia. I woke up and saw you two. We should get some bandages on Margo and go for help," he answered.
- "Yeah," called back Nastia in an echo, trying to settle up with her conscience. The flaming archer, the Gobi desert, transportation through time... It had to have been nothing more than a hallucination..."
Andrei took off his vest, ripped his shirt into rags, and bandaged Margo's head. She was breathing heavily. Nastia could barely keep herself from screaming in despair.
- “Margo! Rita! Can you hear me?"
- "I'll go for help," said Andrei. "Hold tight. Are you sure you're ok?" He looked into her eyes. Nastia's heart thumped loudly. She got mad at herself. Her friend was wounded, what was she thinking!
- "Go, Andrei! Try and come back as fast as you can.”
He went up along the bank.
- “Margo!” Nastia was lying on the grass next to her friend. "Don't leave me! Can you hear me?
- "I hear you," replied Margo, trying to sit up and smiled when she saw someone, "The happy people are coming!"
Nastia looked back. Boris and Marina came out of the bushes. Marina was a bit limp, and Boris, with a cut above his eyebrow, was dragging the raft.
- "How are you?" Asked Boris. "Are you hurt?
- I've got a little hole in my head," answered Margo, "but other than that, I'm fine."
- "You look unwell," said Boris, not responding to the joke. "Where are the men?"
- "Andrei went for help. Are you ok?" Replied Nastia.
- “Marina cut her foot. And Samir? The pilgrim?"
Smiled Margo mysteriously.
- For some reason we can't find them.
- "And why might that be?" Frowned Boris, what , did you see them drown? What are you smiling for?
- "I hit my head," answered Margo, “and now I smile all the time."
- "Margo, please, shh!" You need to rest," implored Nastia, forcibly setting her friend down on the ground.
After a half hour on the shore, a camp had sprung up. To their delight, the things they'd tied on the the raft had held on, and were barely wet. Margo was carried into a tent and given intensive care. She woke up. Andrei did not return. It had become clear that there would be no help until morning. Nastia lay next to her friend, drifting off into a dream.
Margo woke up from a strange sensation. She felt as if someone was watching her. But there was no one but her and Nastia in the tent. Her friend was sleeping peacefully at her side. But the feeling that someone else was there grew all the stronger. The mysterious force made Margo sit up, overcome with pain. She crawled out from the tent. The morning twilight scattered. The sun had
n't yet come out, but its rays were waking up birds. The Katun swirled with wet fog. Margo suddenly caught herself thinking that this would be her home from now on. "What the heck?" She said to herself. My home is far from here...
She went barefoot onto the grass, getting goosebumps in the cold. Something drew Margo to the river. Her head was hurting bad, spots and circles danced in her eyes, her temples throbbed. She slowly walked up to the river.
Margo stared into the morning river fog. She had had already guessed what she was seeing. A masculine figure in the lotus pose was hovering above the Katun. She couldn't make out his face.
- “Samir?”
- "Come here," called a voice and she recognized the Teacher, Kut Kumi.
- "I can't fly," answered Margo, noticing that the fog seemed to take away her pain.
- "Yes you can."
Margo for some reason took the bandage from her head, threw it on the riverside willows, and went into the icy water. Obeying a strange feeling, she went deeper and deeper. The water burned her body, the flow stopped her resisting, picking up her legs, but she stubbornly went forward. And when she couldn't go any further, too cold to speak, she stumbled on something. Margo felt for the ledge, raised herself up... The steps under the water were not made of stone. The river itself formed its waves into a translucent stairway, helping the uninvited guest get up to the top. Margo laughed. She was overtaken by a strange, happy feeling of freedom. She pulled the Teacher's arm. He smiled in response.
- "Did Shambhala win?”
- “With your help," answered the Teacher.
- "Did I die then?" Chuckled Margo, walking on the water.
He raised his eyebrows.
- "Die?"
- "I'm walking on water."
- "People are truly surprising creatures!" Smiled the Teacher. - "They're always confusing birth and death. Let's go, you have much to learn," he said, inviting her to follow him with a wave of his hand. She walked forward and suddenly noticed that there was a small translucent door above the water.
- "People will search for me.”
- “They will.”
- “And..." Margo shivered, "will they find me?"
- “No.”
- "I didn't even get to say goodbye..."
- "Write a letter."
- "A letter? But I don't have a paper or pen."
- "Write it in your mind. I will send it," answered the Teacher.
- "Then you know better than me what to write," smiled Margo, surprised at how light her soul felt.
- "She will receive it immediately, but it's time for us to go," he said, leading her to the door, "let's go."
Nastia opened her eyes. It was bright and very quiet in the tent. She couldn't hear Margo's breathing. Nastia slowly turned her head to the right. Her friend was gone. She jumped up sharply, and somehow dealt with the zipper on her sleeping bag. Nastia didn't notice the proper white envelope flying away. She jumped out in one sock with disheveled hair.
- “Margo! Margo!”
- “What happened?" Asked Boris in a sleepy voice from the neighboring tent. "What happened to her?" His sleepy head stuck out of the door.
- "She's gone! Boris! She's gone!” Nastia ran along the bank, searching with wild eyes. "Where'd she go? She couldn't have gone anywhere... Her tennis shoes are here!" Her anxiety continued to grow.
- "Calm down, let's go, we'll look for her.”
- “I'll go with you," came Marina from the tent. The circles under her eyes gave her away- she had spent the night without sleep.
They spread out along the bank, looking for the missing girl.
- "Look!” Exclaimed Marina, pointing at a piece of white fabric, hanging on the riverside willows.
- "Her bandages!"
Nastia was the first to run to the edge of the water, and grabbed the bloodied bandage from the tree.
- "This is the bandage from her head! Margo! Margo! Respond!"
- "Calm down, Nastia," said Boris, lowering his head.
He pointed to the wet footprints on the sand, which had yet to be completely washed away by the river. The prints from her bare feet clearly led into the waves. Nastia looked at them in horror, backed away, and grabbed her head.
- “No! Margo! Margo!” She cried, staring with mad eyes at the muddy waters of the Katun as if trying to see her friend one last time.
- “Nastia!”
Marina walked closer and hugged her around the shoulders.
- "Let's go. The river will have taken her far from here... She didn't know what she was doing, Nastia... She had severe head trauma...”
- “No! She knew what she was doing! She took the bandage off her head! She didn't want to die looking ugly! It's my fault!”
- “No, Nastia. It's no one's fault. Let's go.”
Boris took her by the arm, patted her head and gently pushed her toward the camp.
Afterward, they sat for a long time by the extinguished fire. The sun was already at it's zenith when the sound of a motor came from the sky.
- "A flüg!" Shuddered Nastia.
- "A flüg?!" Cried Marina in fear, jumping up.
- "Flügs howl- that's rattling," answered Boris, looking up into the sky.
They weren't even able to figure out that here in the Altai there were no flügs. They had to quickly calculate a space for the rescue helicopter to land. Andrei sprung out of the cabin, and with him were two people dressed as first responders.
- "Are you all alive?" Andrei asked Boris instead of greeting him.
- "Not all," answered Boris. "Margo.”
- “Andrei!” Shouted Nastia. “She drowned.”
The first responders lit some cigarettes and went back to the helicopter.
Nastia fell onto the sand and began to sob. Marina and Boris went over to comfort her. The wind ran along the grass, glanced into the open tent and took a white envelope from inside. It lifted the letter up easily and set it down next to the crying girl. Boris grabbed the envelope.
"Look over there! A letter!"
Nastia raised her head.
- “That's Margo's handwriting.”
"My dear, sweet Nastia! I am leaving. I am leaving so I'll never stand in your way again. Now I know the true power of love..."
Nastia, dumbstruck, raised her eyes.
- "What? What?” Everyone asked with anticipation.
She kept reading.
"... If I had stayed with you, we would have endlessly repeated what happened in Lemuria. I no longer want to be governed by my passions. I know now what love is. That which transcends time and death. I wish you happiness. I'm leaving forever. By the way, 'forever,' what a dumb word! I'm sure we'll see each other again. We have eternity ahead of us...."
Nastia set down the letter and stared into the distance. Her tears dried up. Her eyes grew dark. Boris and Andrei exchanged glances.
- “Nastia!” Called Marina, "What's over there?"
Nastia looked at her, at a loss.
- “We were sisters. It all really happened... Lemuria, Shambhala...”
Andrei walked over to Nastia and pressed her to his heart so strong that she stopped breathing. Marina and Boris also embraced.
- “Andrei! She left because of us.”
- “Do you remember Guria in Lemuria...” Margo said... “there is no death.”
He nodded.
They loaded their things into the helicopter. It took off. Andrei, not breaking his glance, stared at his beloved. The Nastia that he met on the first day of the trip was gone now. And in her place was a new one. With eyes full of confidence. She had a royal air about every turn of her head. Now, no one would dare say that Nastia was plain or ugly. Andrei hugged his Queen.
The noise of the motors was too loud for the passengers to talk. But they didn't need to. They were overflowing with too many feelings. When the helicopter had gone higher, Nastia looked out the window. She wanted to look one last time at the place where she'd last seen her friend.
- "Look!"
She exclaimed. Everyone threw themselves to the window.
- "What? Shouted the first responder. "Who?”
- “There!" Said Nastia, pointing to a white cliff.
- "There's a cloud... Never mind."
Nastia looked at Andrei. He nodded in silence. He had also been able to make out the high tower through the thick clouds. And he also saw there, on the peak, hair fluttering, smiling, and squinting into the sky with her mermaid eyes, the girl who had left bare footprints on the wet sand. Footprints that went to the mysterious Olmolungring.
Down below the tower, the eternally young Katun carried its mountain waters over any obstacle in its path. It flowed there a thousand years ago, and it will be there forever- strong, deep, and ambivalent to the fates of all those who touch its banks. And when people learn how to understand the language of rivers, it will tell them about this forgotten episode from its life. Its thunderous waters carry the legend of the young sorceress who learned the power of love, and gave her life for it. And some day, the Katun will reveal the path to the mysterious city to all. The same one where the young Queen Yuma, lost to the centuries found her happiness. The last Queen of Lemuria.
