Unconquered Sun

by Philipp Bogachev

  - Yes, my Perfection …

  - I am glad, very glad. You became such …

  - … what, my Perfection?

  - It … Attractive … I cannot just come off you, I want to be constant with you, every moment … Always …

  - To me too, my Perfection … To me too …

  Invincible Sun … It is difficult to believe, but even It could not describe what now It mattered for it! It seemed, Prinze feels her presence everywhere, It as if lodged in his heart. He went and constantly saw before himself Her face - the Face of the ancient pagan solar goddess. Round, as a solar disk, the person face, empty eye-sockets with the fountains of the blinding light streaming from there and a shock of a golden straight hair, as falls of the sunshine falling on shoulders … He saw it everywhere and was ready to repeat constantly as a prayer: "Oh, my Perfection, You opened for me eternal Pleasure!" Any word of its Perfection became for it the law, any desire - the order which demands strict execution.

  But the proximity to the Invincible Sun was felt not only at the level of memoirs, thoughts and feelings. It was something imperceptible, something deeply personal, mystical. It reminded marriage, more precisely, marriage proximity, only much more deeply, stronger, more sharply. When Prinze came to their favourite Emerald hall and saw it on a throne, it could not but tremble all over with delight and feeling of strong excitement in all body. He never had such feeling to the Fairy. Actually, feelings to the Fairy in general somewhere left. He did not remember either melancholy for it, or an inclination any more. The fairy became the ghost as a week ago the dreamed dream. And its Perfection - was always near, it is momentary exciting ardent, fiery, insatiable desire to see it, to touch It, to be near It.

  When Prinze looked at It - on its majestic bearing, on her long golden clothes, on her ideally roundish person and the hair sparkling pure gold he had feeling of inexpressible delight. Tears gathered in his eyes as at the person looking with the naked eye at a solar disk, heart is speeded up fought, in a breast intolerable, but unusually pleasant heat lit up. He wanted to catch each her word, its gesture, her look and to look, look, look, infinitely admiring its Perfection.

  But there was still something. The prince ceased to need food and rest. He ceased to sleep. Every night he went to their Secret Malachite Room in deep vaults to remain alone with the adored Perfection. Here they sat down the friend opposite to the friend and Prinze gave the hands to her hands.

  Of course, the ghost had no hands though Prinze through cuts of a mask saw them. Fine thin about the long, painted with a golden varnish, nails golden handles covered with gold rings with diamonds with gold bracelets on wrists. But when Prinze's hands touched "hands" of the Invincible Sun, he felt something unimaginable: his body was penetrated by some energy, energy of invincible force which caused it unearthly, some ultraboundary and forbidden pleasure from which, seemed, the reason began to melt. He felt these nights that they become something uniform with the Invincible Sun and that this union, only bearing a faint resemblance matrimonial, infinitely surpasses it in depth of experiences. At these moments he did not see anything - either the room, or a table. His consciousness departed to some mysterious place filled with light where it plunged into embraces of infinite, such tangible, such elastic, such gentle and soft sunlight which penetrates all its being, causing not uttered and incomprehensible pleasure …

  - What this, my Perfection? What happens to me?

  - You enter the Stream, my dear …

  - And unless I any more not in the Stream?

  - Silly, - gold hand bells rang out gently and playfully, - the Stream is infinite, and entry into It is also infinite … We become with you a single whole, but we did not merge yet …

  - Means, we are a husband and the wife?

  Again ring of hand bells …

  - You still should understand and comprehend a lot of things, the road. But if you want, think so, but know that actually - it is higher, infinitely above … Soon, you will understand all soon … Trust in me …

  And it took his hands in the again and Prinze departed to the country of not uttered pleasures again, forgetting about everything on light.

  And next morning after these sessions, it was full of strength also energy - it was ready to serve the Invincible Sun up to the end. He felt that its communication with It becomes deeper and deeper. The invincible Sun from now on lives in is mute, and it - in It. And from this thought, and from these feelings all its being was poured by delight. And when the sun sat down, invincibly attracted it to the Malachite room again. He understood that he cannot do without it any more. He became the slave to its Perfection and those forbidden pleasures which It opened for him. And thoughts and memories of the Fairy turned pale more and more each time and went further and further to subconsciousness depths.

  And still Prinze at the request of its Perfection undertook all cares on preparation of the necessary amount of solar juice. He went down in vaults and directed work of slaves to the Invincible Sun. Golems and dwarfs obeyed one movement of his thought. Once he looked in eyes or at a nose bridge of the slave, and he right there received from it a mental signal and at full speed executed it.

  Also Prinze was engaged in inspection of armed forces of army of the Invincible Sun. Fighting golems regularly staged drills under its management, and big gold dragons made educational departures on the vicinity. Dwarfs filled them through oral openings with solar juice and dragons vomited the flame burning even a stone. The prince made several trial departures on vicinities and burned several tens colonies of wild ogr. Brought it pleasure when these clumsy toothy creatures turned into the flaring torches, running out from the caves which are set on fire by dragons, and fell from breaks down. The prince liked to represent enemies of its Perfection who will be expected by just the same fate on their place. This thought lightened it mood. Dragons operated the golems soldiers sitting astride. And the dragon was not necessary to Prinze - it flew itself, without assistance. And it operated the soldiers also by means of thought.

  The prince wanted to make and more serious departure, but its Perfection did not allow to do it yet:

  - Yet not time, darling, yet not time … It is impossible to give itself before term … You still will have an opportunity to show the love to Me … I promise …

  And Prinze's heart was filled with impetuous delight. Yes, he will surely show the love to its Perfection, at any cost!

  - My Perfection, yesterday my intelligence agents marked group of "STING" on the northern suburb of the Rocky Mountains. In my opinion, they spied on us. I very much wanted to battle against them, but You forbade me.

  - Yes, the road, they spy here everywhere. War approaches.

  - Why fairies so do not love you? You are so kind, so fine, so perfect … I do not understand! What should be the ungrateful villain to raise a hand against You?! Oh, if only they dare to make it, I during a moment of an eye will cut it, I swear to You!

  - Yes, the road for this reason they also hate me - out of envy. They envy my Perfection …

  And still its Perfection let Prinze into the secrets.

  - Whether you, my dear Prinze know how that world in which you live is arranged?

  - I do not understand your question. I can count distance to the next star or grains of sand of wons on that path …

  - It not, not! Look better here!

  The prince looked in a malachite stone on a table and it was lit by green light from within and in this light Prinze saw …

  The prince saw a green hemisphere. On its top - a congestion of clouds on which there were castles in the air of fairies magnificent gardens, and pink clouds as lambs on a pasture are laid out, accumulated on the top, is even higher than dwellings of fairies. There big small groups fairies flew that to take and to bring something back

  "Real bees who collect nectar from flowers and carry it then in a beehive", - Prinze thought.

  - Yes, the road, they really remind bees. Only greedy and envious!

  - Why
? Fairies do nobody the evil!

  - Look …

  The prince saw how fairies bring pink weight to the houses, do of it foods, and then with great pleasure eat them. And, oh, miracle! Wave of a hand of its Perfection - and Prinze sees a body of the fairy transparent. He sees how pink weight gets into a stomach of the fairy and her body is filled with some soft pink light from within. Hardly outlined wrinkles are smoothed, hardly darkened person becomes pink and ruddy as at the baby, and the black sticks of bacteria which got in an organism right there disappear, muscles and the head are filled with new forces.

  - You see, darling, in what a secret of power of fairies?

  - Yes, my Perfection. Now I understand why my wife forced me every day is this pink weight and itself ate it every day. But what here it?

  - Look here.

  Prinze's look stretched to other part of the sphere - elevated. He saw a cemetery at the human city. There is an open coffin, in it the dead man, his face not movably, though on skin at it - any wrinkle, any gray-haired his head hair lies. Around - the sobbing relatives. The priest pronounces words of a consolation. The adult woman with a beautiful face fell on knees and kisses the hands of the dead put on a breast who looks to such healthy, such young people - just as live! The young man, is not enough what different from the woman, same young, with pink skin and without uniform wrinkle, drags the woman from a coffin and two bearded men lower a coffin in a grave on ropes, after that having begun to abandon efficiently the earth shovels.

  - Why you show me this, my Perfection?

  - And unless you did not understand, the road? Fairies enjoy eternal life, eating pink clouds, and mortal people who it is not worse, or perhaps and in many respects it is EVEN BETTER than fairies, are forced to die - you do not find in it anything strange?

  - Perhaps. But why so occurs? Why fairies cannot give them pollen and cotton wool from pink clouds and to stop it? They gave me!

  In Prinze's ears gold hand bells melodiously began to sound.

  - You were necessary to them for reproduction of their sort in order that your fairy was not bored to death in the millennia sitting in one place as the attached sentry dog. And these unfortunate - to them are necessary in order that to operate them. If people are immortal and powerful how fairies who will suffer then their power over himself?

  - But this dead man looks good in spite of the fact that he has already adult son and his wife too …

  - It is not surprising, my solntseoky spouse. Vegetables and fruit which grow at self-sowing are specially modified to slow down process of aging at people. Now they live till hundred years, and during an era which fairies call Dark centuries, they hardly lived up to fifty. People have few wrinkles and gray hairs. They have no diseases, except mechanical injuries. But that is more bitter them to die - in the prime of life, having died away for couple of days.

  - And unless was earlier differently?

  - Was. The person was prepared for death by a long illness and an old age. Now he dies suddenly of perfect exhaustion of an organism which to the last is artificially stimulated to spend all the forces for maintenance of "a good form".

  - Shockingly! - Prinze exclaimed. - So let's blow up somewhat quicker our solar bomb and we will present to this world infinite happiness! Let people annihilate and will become eternally gold and eternally blissful!

  - Yet not time … not time, my solntseoky spouse … Yet not time …

  Its Perfection became for Prinze everything, but whether Prinze for It became that? The prince wanted to believe that it so. But he could not read her mind. Thoughts of dwarfs, thoughts of animals, even he read mechanical teams in the heads of golems freely. There was enough one look to understand who what thinks. And it could not get into thoughts of the Invincible Sun, is equal as in its intimate plans.

  3.

  Once Prinze felt an appeal of the Invincible Sun to come to their favourite Malachite Room. Through Mask cuts he distinctly saw how the Invincible Sun peers at the hologram on a surface of the Malachite table projected by the malachite sphere burning from within with bright green fire.

  - Darling, I to you have an important issue, - She told, without looking at Prinze.

  - Yes, my Perfection?

  - Came it is time to test himself in the real fight, you do not find? To test all your fighting opportunities! - and She stridently looked directly at it - the streams of solar fire escaping from her empty eye-sockets would burn his brain in one moment, be not it Changed, be not on Mask his face.

  - What? We begin war against fairies for release of the human race?

  Stridently the metal hand bell in his head rang out.

  - Not-e-e-et, still early, but fight all the same will be serious. To you not ogr with a cave dev to drive it. Go here!

  The prince approached closely a table. On specularly polished surface of a table the map of the Oversea country was displayed still unfamiliar to it. In the center the Gold Tower was visible size about a little finger. Around - the Rocky Mountains, and an external yellow circle around mountains - the Desert of Desires.

  - Look, darling, we here, in the center, and v-au-au-au-ot here - she pointed by a thin finger to the southeast coast of the Oversea country where, it is quite far from the continent, the group of five big islands - Islands of a Cyclops was located.

  - Islands of a Cyclops? Interestingly, and what they made to my Perfection, they is quite far from us.

  - They refused to render me tribute and fried to themselves for lunch of my ambassadors-dwarfs. A tribute, by the way, for us with you essentially important - gold. These islands are exclusively rich with it. In particular, by my calculations, nearly a quarter of world reserves of gold is stored in mountains of Islands of a Cyclops. Dwarfs try to adjust trade with a Cyclops long ago to have to them access, but usually it comes to an end with the fact that they become first course on their meal, - and the Invincible Sun burst out laughing again.

  - I will make everything as you order, my Perfection, but as to me to arrive if fairies interfere - they constantly watch us!

  - They will not interfere. A Cyclops rejected the convention on decrease in the use of meat and, in addition, reasonably suspects them of a cannibalism so fairies will only tell us thanks if we bring order there where they cannot stick the long nose. Another matter - Sea Confederation …

  - And what is with it?

  - A Cyclops is favourite toys of mermaids. They in every possible way sponsor them and periodically feed up hated to them categories of the small fry - any fishermen, kitoboyam, hunters of oysters and pearls. And therefore they will not allow anybody's intervention in affairs of Islands. If it was not so, fairies would revenge a Cyclops long ago for their malicious myasoyadeniye and a cannibalism, but as it is the territory of Sea Confederation, then even "STING" has there no right to be put without threat to provoke big war. Therefore I also say to you that operation will be rather serious that you could prove to be in all beauty. If the Sea Queen Laura with all the webby zelenovolosy troops interferes …

  - Be sure, my Perfection, I will deal shortly with all your enemies whoever they were! - passionlessly and firmly Prinze told, rejoicing that at last can prove business the fiery love to its Perfection.

  - Remarkably! And I will watch fight from here, but I will not prompt - do not hope! I want that it was only your fight, your victory, your triumph! You understood me? - and again singed Prinze's soul eyes searchlights. The wave of burning pleasure pierced all body of Prinze. He did not keep and … took her by hand. Fiery pleasure nearly forced it to sit down on a chair as legs weakened at once, but the Invincible Sun was discharged.

  - Now not time … To you to fly - at half of the night … - It languidly whispered. - You have to be on the place by the dawn - mermaids leave on a bottom to sleep at this time, a Cyclops eats much for the night and night sleeps deeply so your blow will be sudden. Also remember! - you destroy only the first two islands - do not touch the others! I think, after death of the first two, they will becom
e more compliant.

  The prince a measured printing step went to Angara. At its emergence the gold wall silently drove off aside, and the fighting golems standing already dense system at the same time as a sign of a greeting upraised the right hands. Z-001, in a helmet with a scarlet plume, wrapped up in a scarlet raincoat failed. Loudly printing a step, approached Prinze and saluted:

  - Your Highness, a squadron "And" to a departure it is ready. "Dragons" are filled, "bugs" are loaded into belly compartments and also filled, the landing waits for team.

  - I thank you, the captain. And now I order all to take positions. Readiness No. 1.

  - Is, readiness No. 1!

  The captain of Z-001 saluted and gave the order to take places.

  Soldiers run rushed to "dragons". One rose by "backs" on ladders, others took places in their gold "belly".

  Did not manage to count Prinze and to ten as all soldiers were on the places. Bellies of fifty "dragons" of a squadron "And" and from nostrils hooted and back part of gold mechanical monsters clubs of caustic fire and a smoke escaped.

  The prince with the captain of Z-001 took places on flagman, largest "dragon" to head expedition. When Prinze sat down on a back chair in deepening in a back of "dragon", Z-001 already pulled on itself the starting lever. Having let out a cloud of a black fetid smoke, the dragon began to fly up slowly vertically up, yet did not reach a ceiling. The ceiling hatch silently opened, and the dragon flew in horizontal mine and, having switched to the tail engine, promptly as the arrow which is let out from onions, departed forward. Behind it other dragons of a squadron already flew. Having left the mountain, in open air space they were on the run reconstructed in a fighting order in the form of a huge isosceles triangle. The leader headed at first for the South, and then - for the southeast.

  This night was moonless and starless - simply created for a night sortie. Clouds closed almost all firmament, in addition fog dimmed a white haze the earth and mountains. But golems in flight were guided only by the sensors. The radio waves sent by them were reflected from firm surfaces, and therefore they unmistakably defined a way.