by Max Candee
The bird flew back to my finger.
“Thank you so much, birdie,” I said, and very daringly stroked the soft top of her head. She chirruped. “I’d never have found this on my own.”
She made a pleased sound and fluttered her wings as though about to take off.
“Oh,” I said, “if you happen to meet the Great Trapper, could you tell him you saw me? Let him know I’m all right, and I know where Lauraleigh is, and I’m taking care of things.”
It seemed a long message for a bird, but I figured she’d be able to get the gist across. She must have thought so too because she gave me a burble of agreement before flying off.
“Thank you again!” I called after her. “I hope your chick grows up safe and strong!”
The bird let out one last chirp and vanished among the trees. The forest became utterly silent. I let out a long breath and lay down in the grass. It had been a long time since I’d felt so at peace with the world. I could take a moment before trying to find Vodyanoy.
The marsh stretched a long way. There were lots of long grasses poking out of the mud, puddles covered with green scum and moss, and bits of ground that looked solid but which I wouldn’t trust for a moment. There were broken tree trunks leaning over the water as if they were trying to look at themselves in a mirror, and dragonflies skimming over the top, dipping in and out between the water lilies. A lovely butterfly landed on my shoulder. I smiled; it was a beautiful place. No wonder Vodyanoy chose to live here. Or was it so beautiful because he lived here?
I decided that the best way to find him would just be to call him. If that didn’t work, I could always try something else.
“Vodyanoy? Are you there?”
My voice seemed to echo, and there was a rustle over the marsh water.
Then without any warning, the water parted. A strange creature with a tangled beard full of shells and water flowers and long grubby hair streaming with reeds rose up out of it. He looked like some middle-aged hippie whose skin just happened to be a muddy green.
“Who chooses to disturb me?” he demanded in a loud, deep voice. Before I could say a word, he raised a hand, and the waters rose in a huge wave behind him that came crashing down on me. As I sputtered and choked, he leaped out of the water and grabbed me by the hair, dragging me back with him as he plunged headfirst into the marsh.
I was so shocked I couldn’t even think. I couldn’t scream because I was deep in thick, soupy waters, and my magic didn’t seem to be helping me. My panicked mind wasn’t able to control it, and Vodyanoy’s marsh appeared to have some magic power of its own that blocked mine from working. One of Vodyanoy’s hands remained tangled in my hair and the other reached for my throat. No doubt about it, I thought, I’m going to drown here. Vodyanoy was too strong for me to fight.
I was starting to lose consciousness. There were small dots of color swimming in my eyes. This was hopeless. I had barely even started on my mission and I’d already failed.
Lauraleigh, Dad … I’m sorry, I thought.
And then Baba Yaga’s face floated into my mind, wearing that nasty expression I disliked so much. I could tell what she was thinking even before she spoke the word.
“Weak!” she spat.
Hardly even thinking, I grabbed Vodyanoy’s arm and sank my teeth into it. He yelled in pain and let go, and I kicked my way to the surface, rolling onto solid ground as he came after me. But before he could form another wave, I flung my arm out toward him and a wall of flames erupted from my fingertips. He fell back howling as drops of water evaporated in front of him, but my flames were between him and the marsh. He crouched on the ground like some strange frog, looking at me suspiciously. I could tell he was trying to work out a new way to attack me.
I let the wall of fire die down but kept flickers of it sparking.
“I am Anna Sophia,” I said, magic making my voice powerful and echoing. “Child to the Iron Queen, daughter of Sereda and Koschey the Deathless, Keeper of the Kingdom of the Dead, who sends me to speak with you, Vodyanoy, that you should help me.”
I don’t even know how I knew to say that, how I knew I should phrase it that way, but it worked. Vodyanoy fell back and suddenly became ingratiating, a hint of fear in his eyes.
“The Iron Queen? Koschey?” he said. “Oh dear, I am sorry… Certainly, I never meant to offend…”
He was clearly worried.
“Yes,” I said. To take the high ground and show some manners, I added, “It’s lovely to meet you, Vodyanoy.”
“And you, and you,” he muttered. “Um, I’m sorry, no wish to be a bother, but do you think you could put out the flames?”
I looked at him uncertainly.
“Please?” he said.
I let the flames die. With a great gasp, he dove back toward the marsh and plunged his feet in.
“Aah, that’s better,” he said. “Thank you. I have to be in contact with the water, you see. If I dry off completely … well…” He looked at me sharply. “You realize that my telling you this is a secret, yes? And proof that I trust you?”
I smiled but did not lower my hand.
He looked me over.
“Anna Sophia,” he said. “Yes, yes, of course. I’m so sorry, I should have known. You look so much like your mother at that age… Ah, it’s sad that she’s gone. But such is life when your mother’s the Iron Queen.” Worry suddenly erupted in his eyes again. “She’s not around, is she?”
“No,” I said. “I’m here on my own. On a mission for her, but on my own. It was my father who sent me to you, not her.”
“Your father. He really is Koschey? I’d heard he had a daughter, but I couldn’t really believe it… He’s always been such a gloomy fellow; I couldn’t really see him getting anywhere with a woman, especially not a lovely girl like your mother… But there you are. And here you are. How is he?”
“In need of assistance,” I answered.
He nodded eagerly. “Of course. Anything, anything! Always glad to do a favor for the Keeper…”
“Well, you could start by not drowning me,” I said a bit waspishly.
Vodyanoy raised his eyebrows.
“It was an honest mistake,” he said. “Your father might have told you to be careful if you come to my marsh. I don’t like visitors. They mess the place up. Those dreadful metal cans humans drink out of, all the trash they leave behind… Much simpler not to give them a chance to ruin the place than to fix things afterward. After all, I’m not a janitor. Why should it be my job to clean up after them?”
“You sound like my grandmother,” I said. It’s not that I disagreed about people leaving junk in the forest, but drowning them seemed a bit much. Especially when he’d just tried to drown me even though I hadn’t intended to do anything to his marsh. He could at least have checked first.
Vodyanoy looked unsure whether being compared to Baba Yaga was a compliment.
“I had heard … I hope this isn’t speaking out of turn … but there’s been this rumor going around the forest that … well, that Koschey had been captured by your grandmother.”
“Yes, that’s true,” I said.
“Ah, well. I see. And you say you’re on a mission for her?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Hmm. If I may ask … if it’s not too impertinent… This mission … is something you’re undertaking, um, of your own free will?”
“What?” I said, confused. Then I understood. Vodyanoy wasn’t sure whose side I was on and was afraid of getting caught in the middle.
“I chose to do it,” I said, “but only so I can save the life of a friend of mine. She was captured by Baba Yaga’s Horsemen.”
“Oh, the poor thing!” Vodyanoy exclaimed. “She’ll be for the oven, then!” He shuddered. “Nasty things, ovens. All that fire.”
“Unless I complete this mission, yes she will. I might even be able to free Koschey as well.”
Now Vodyanoy definitely looked interested. “Really?” he said.
“Yes. Tha
t’s why my father sent me to you for help.”
“Well, that’s very flattering,” said the water spirit. “Of course, I’m glad to assist you in any way I can. After all…” he lowered his voice and spoke out of the corner of his mouth, “confidentially, I consider myself one of his best friends.”
“He mentioned that,” I lied. I had to keep from laughing at how Vodyanoy preened like he was intensely flattered.
“Hmm, yes, well…” he said. “So, what can I, um, do for you?”
“My father thought my mother might have told you something that could help me.”
“Your mother? Sereda? Oh, I’ve not seen her in years. Well, obviously I haven’t. But you know what I mean. And I can’t recall her telling me anything I was supposed to say to her child.”
“Koschey said you were her friend.”
“Yes,” he said quietly, “I was. When she was a child, younger than you, she liked to play here. I taught her to swim, you know. She liked the water lilies…” He drifted off. “It’s a shame that she is dead,” he said. “I miss her.”
“You know why she died, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. It’s a well-known story in the forest. Everyone’s been just a little bit more scared of your grandmother ever since, just a little more horrified. She finds it harder to get help from the forest folk now. She has to threaten more. Not that she didn’t always use threats…”
“Have you known her long?” I asked. I realized I was curious about what others thought and knew about Baba Yaga. Maybe that would give me some idea of how to trick her if I needed to.
“Oh, yes,” said Vodyanoy. “I have been here a long time. Why, I saw her arrive.”
“How long ago was that?” I asked. I couldn’t even imagine.
“Look around you,” he said.
I did. Nothing but forest as far as I could see. New shoots peeping through the grass, giant old trees towering above us, and dead ones still standing, with young ones starting to grow out of their roots.
“Before there were trees, there was water,” Vodyanoy said, “and I was there. I have watched the forest grow.”
I could hardly catch my breath, realizing just how old he had to be. And my grandmother and all those other magical beings that I had once thought were just fairy tales.
Suddenly I felt very small and very young.
“What do you need, child?” Vodyanoy asked, his voice kind. There was nothing silly about him now.
I swallowed and looked him right in the green eye. “I need the heart of Koschey the Deathless,” I said.
There was utter silence. Vodyanoy’s face grew closed.
“My grandmother told me how it’s hidden. I just need to find the island where my mother hid it.”
“And what will you do with it?” Vodyanoy’s voice was expressionless.
“It’s the price of my friend’s life,” I said.
“So you’ll give it to the Iron Queen?”
“If I must. Yes.”
“And what does she say will happen then?”
“She’ll let my friend live. And I’ve made her promise to discuss freeing my father.”
His eyes widened. “Anna Sophia,” he said in a severe tone. “Koschey’s daughter, Sereda’s child… You cannot do this.”
“She said she’d be able to use the heart to fix the world. Make people respect existence again. Just like you want them to stop dumping garbage by your marsh.”
He snorted. “Is that what she said? And you believed her?”
“I don’t know. But I talked to my father, and he said you might be able to help. My mother might have told you something useful when she was hiding his heart. Or you might have some idea of how to trick Baba Yaga.”
“Trick the Iron Queen? I don’t think I’m that clever, Anna Sophia. You don’t get to my age by trying to trick that sort of witch.”
I could feel myself getting angry with him and with Koschey for sending me here. Of what use was this?
“But let’s think,” Vodyanoy went on. “If Koschey sent you to me, there must be a good reason.”
“Do you know where his heart is?”
“No,” he said. “But I do know this, and I must tell you: You must not, absolutely must not, let Baba Yaga get Koschey’s heart.”
“I don’t want to,” I admitted. “But if it’s the only way to save Lauraleigh, then I will.”
“No,” he said, and his voice was firm. “No matter how much you care about her, your friend’s life is not worth what will happen if the Iron Queen gets the heart of the Keeper of the Kingdom of the Dead. I don’t know what lies she told you, Anna Sophia, but if she gets his heart, Baba Yaga will not free your father. She will not have to. She will eat his heart, child, and she will absorb all his powers. She will gain sovereignty over the Kingdom of the Dead, and she will rule it just as she now rules the bridge between the living and the dead. She will take control of all of existence, Anna Sophia. She will become more powerful than any being has ever been before, and she will do with the world whatever she wants.
“And that must not happen. No matter how much you love your friend, you cannot give Baba Yaga Koschey’s heart.”
Chapter 20
Dear Diary,
I hate my grandmother. I hate her more than I’ve ever hated anyone or anything in the world. She lies and she cheats and she’s cruel and she makes everything she touches dirty. She’s evil, and the worst thing is that now I know she chose to be evil. It’s her fault my mother’s dead, and now she’s trying to make me be like her. And she’s trying to trick me into helping her rule all the existence.
I’m not going to let her do that. I’m not going to turn all the children in the world over to her for her to feed on.
And if that means I have to kill her, I will.
* * *
I spent a long time staring helplessly at Vodyanoy.
“Then what should I do?” I said in a pathetic little voice. “There must be some catch, right? Some way of … well, doing something? Please, Vodyanoy, help me!”
“Let’s think, let’s think,” he said. “Your father sent you to me; therefore, your father believes I can help.”
“He didn’t sound sure,” I admitted. “His thoughts are getting muddled.”
“That’s not important,” said Vodyanoy. “My thoughts get muddled too sometimes, but the basic message always gets through. Koschey may not have known how I can help, but clearly he knows that I can. I’m not going to suggest I know better than him … even if I’m not sure myself how I can assist.”
“This is hopeless,” I muttered.
“No, no it isn’t yet,” said Vodyanoy, “we just aren’t thinking clearly. Let’s see; let’s go through this in order. What exactly are you to do? Not what Koschey said; what your grandmother said.”
“Well,” I told him, “I’m to find Koschey’s heart in the egg where it’s hidden.”
“Hmm, all right. And you take the egg to Baba Yaga?”
“No,” I said. “I have to check that it is his heart first.”
“All right, all right, I see. That will be dangerous, though. You can’t touch another person’s heart, you know. You’ll die.”
“She gave me a box to put it in.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Now how will you know that it’s Koschey’s heart?”
“She says I just will, because I’m his daughter.”
“Hmm, true enough. But that means…” Suddenly he looked at me sharply.
“What is it?”
“Just a thought, a very brief thought,” he said. “I’m on the verge of working something out, but I’m not sure what. Keep talking. Any details you have, any questions.”
“What I don’t get is if you die by touching someone’s heart, how will Baba Yaga use Koschey’s?”
“Well, you have to remember she’s a very powerful witch and she’ll be using it to acquire all his strength. She must have a plan for that. But it is very dangerous even for a witch to touch a hea
rt. Why, even if Koschey wanted to take his back, it would be dangerous. Certainly, it’s very painful to put your heart back where it’s supposed to be. Almost as painful as taking it out in the first place. It might even kill you. In fact…”
Suddenly his jaw dropped and his face lit up as if he’d just realized something.
“Oh,” he said. “Oh! But that would mean…” He stared at me. “That means…”
And suddenly he plunged directly into the water.
“Vodyanoy!” I cried. “Come back!”
I couldn’t see any trace of him. Not even a ripple in the water to mark where he’d been. I looked around, feeling helpless. What was going on?
Suddenly his head popped out of the water, newly draped with weeds.
“Just a moment!” he said. “I’ll be back in a jiffy!” And he vanished under the water again.
Now I was utterly confused. What on earth was this weird spirit up to?
After what seemed much longer than a jiffy to me, Vodyanoy jumped out and sat on the bank again, his feet back in the water.
“Aah, that’s better,” he said, sounding most relieved. “Sorry, dear, but the longer I’m out of the water, the less well I think, and I want to be certain that my mind is absolutely clear for this.” He smiled. “Now, let’s think this through.”
I nodded eagerly.
“You’ll hand this box over to your grandmother, and inside it, she thinks, will be Koschey’s heart. That’s right, isn’t it? That’s what you’re to do?” He seemed intensely hopeful that my answer would be yes.
“That’s what she said,” I answered.
A big grin spread over his face. “But do you see what that means? That means she’s trusting you not only to identify Koschey’s heart but to take it to her. She fully expects that when you hand her that box and she opens it, what’s inside will be the heart of Koschey the Deathless.”
“So?” I didn’t see where he was going.
“Well, don’t you understand? Anything could be in that box. Anything at all.” He grabbed a water lily from the surface of the marsh without breaking off its stem. “Look,” he said, “you could put this in the box, and until she opens it, Baba Yaga will think it’s Koschey’s heart.”
