The Dreaming Land I: The Challenge (The Zemnian Series Book 5)

by E. P. Clark

  “What had happened to the dog?”

  “Oh! It’s the strangest thing, you know. We thought it must have been wolves, although we’d never been much troubled by wolves…well, no one normally is, I suppose, they say it’s because Darya Krasnoslavovna made a deal with them, back in her day…is that true, do you suppose?”

  “It’s true.”

  “Well, isn’t that just the most amazing thing! I wonder how…they say she had great gifts, Darya Krasnoslavovna, and had been chosen by the gods to be born and always had their ear…but that was all a long time ago…so anyway, we found the little dog’s body, and we knew something terrible must have happened, because that little dog was so devoted to the oldest girl, little Manya, he never left her side, he must have died trying to defend her…and we thought it must have been wolves, but it was so strange, there was no blood…the little dog hadn’t been bitten, it looked like he had had his head stove in, and nothing had been eating him, and we couldn’t find any other blood, or any sign of the children’s bodies, it was the strangest thing…we went into the forest and searched and searched, but we never found anything…we killed all the wolves we could find, of course, but since then they’ve just been coming closer and closer…they haven’t killed anyone yet, but the children see them all the time now when they’re out grazing the animals, even though we never used to see them from one month to the next, and at night…at night they come padding through the village now…” She trailed off, her eyes wide in her suddenly frightened face.

  “I see,” I said. “Do you happen to remember whose caravan had just come through, when the children disappeared?”

  “As it happens, I do, noblewoman. Aleftina Vasilisovna had just come through. We asked her about it, when she came back through in the fall, in case she’d seen something, but she hadn’t. And we told her about the wolves, and she said she’d been having problems with them too, they’d taken to stalking her caravan, and it seemed like the more they killed, the more as came, but we haven’t…none of us have figured out a way to drive them off. You’d think they’d take fright and leave us alone, or that they’d run out of young ones after a while, the numbers that have been killed, but they just keep coming and coming…we were that scared, coming through here, and I’ll say that we were right glad to see you when you showed up. We got Ryzhenka—our dog, you know—to help, and she’s been a comfort, but there’s only one of her. Still, they didn’t bother us on our journey today, not really, but they showed themselves a few times, and we were sure they’d be prowling around the cabin tonight, but now that you’re here…I just hope they don’t bother the horses tonight. Ryzhenka will tell us if they come close, but still…”

  “They’d have a job coming through the fence,” I said. “And by that time, I’m sure Ryzhenka and the horses would have let us know, and some of us will be sleeping up in the hayloft and can go to the horses right way, if need be, and anyway I doubt with eleven of us we’ve much to fear from them.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, noblewoman…I’m not so worried about tonight, not any more, but I wish I knew what to do about them back home.”

  “Have you tried prayers?” I asked. “Have you tried asking for forgiveness for the ones you’ve killed?”

  “Why would we do that, noblewoman?” she asked, startled.

  “Darya Krasnoslavovna made a pact,” I reminded her. “You broke it. Perhaps if you went into the woods and made sacrifices and took an oath not to harm any more wolves, they would leave you alone.”

  “You think so, noblewoman?” she asked doubtfully.

  I shrugged. “It’s what I would do. And it might work better than what you’ve been doing.”

  “We had to, noblewoman, we had to! After what they did to our children…”

  “Darya Krasnoslavovna made a pact, and you broke it. Besides, you said it didn’t look like it was wolves, anyway.”

  “But what else could it have been, noblewoman, what else could it have been?” she demanded, growing more and more agitated and defensive.

  “Humans?” I suggested. “People have been stealing children all along the trade routes, it seems.”

  “Oh no, noblewoman, no no no—who would do a thing like that? And we know all the traders who come through, like I told you. It must have been wolves, only now they won’t leave us alone, the bloodthirsty beasts, I suppose they’ve gotten a taste for human flesh and now they keep coming back for it, hoping to get some more…”

  “Has anyone been killed?” I asked.

  “Not since those two poor children, noblewoman, not since them…”

  “I think if they wanted to kill more of you, they would have,” I told her. “I think they’re trying to warn you, as peaceably as they can, but you’re not listening. Go into the woods and make prayers and sacrifices, and beg their forgiveness for what you have done.”

  “Well, true enough, I suppose it’s worth a try, noblewoman,” she said, although with doubt still written across her face.

  “Do you always take this road when you travel to Srednerechye?” I asked, changing the subject before I could say more of what I thought about the village’s actions.

  “And what other road would we take, noblewoman?”

  “They say there’s another road, a bit North of this one, that also runs through the woods”

  “Oh, that.” She made a face. “Yes, so they say, and our folk do come across it from time to time when they’re out in the woods, noblewoman, but no one will travel on it.”

  “Why not?” I asked curiously.

  “They say it’s cursed, noblewoman,” she said with perfect seriousness.

  “Cursed! Why would they say it’s cursed? Who says it’s cursed?”

  “The traders, noblewoman, the traders.”

  “What, all of them?”

  “All of them, noblewoman, all of them. They’ve all warned us a dozen times not to travel on it, they say bad things happen to those who travel on it, it’s for…it’s not for us, noblewoman, and no one should set foot on it. Maybe that’s…maybe that’s what happened to those poor children, noblewoman. Manya, the oldest, she was an adventurous one, you see, and she’d heard of the road—it’s only a few versts away from our village, over at our end of the woods, you see—and she wanted to go see it. Everyone warned her not to, again and again we warned her, but you know how children are…perhaps that’s where she went…the little dog was found in the pasture nearest the road, you know, so…so perhaps it wasn’t wolves at all, perhaps it was…spirits or something. Leshiye, maybe.”

  “I’ve never heard of leshiye stealing children,” I said.

  “Who knows what they do, noblewoman,” she said with a shudder.

  “Are there many of them in the woods, then?”

  “I’ve never seen any myself, noblewoman, but the woods do have them, and that’s a fact. The road is proof enough that something is out there, something uncanny. I wouldn’t put it past them to do it…”

  “It was most likely humans that took the children, not wolves or wood-spirits,” I said, but this provoked such a violent denial that I was forced to change the subject in order to keep the peace. I turned the talk to our sleeping arrangements instead, provoking almost equally violent astonishment when I declared I would be one of the ones sleeping in the hayloft, but I insisted on it, saying that after everything I’d heard about the wolves, I wanted to be on hand in case they did try to come in. It was therefore agreed that Ivan and Amiran would share a bed with Alyosha; Alzhbetka and Yitka would share another with Ksyusha; and Kseniya, Aksinya Olgovna, and I, as the most experienced horse handlers and fighters amongst us, would sleep in the hayloft.

  “And,” I told them once we were alone in the hayloft, “let’s keep watch.”

  “Do you really think there’s a threat, Valeriya Dariyevna?” asked Aksinya Olgovna.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t like what I heard from Marusya at all. The wolves concern me a bit, but this talk of the cursed ro
ad…if what she’s saying is true, then all the caravans that come through this way know about the road, even if they’re not using it. And of course we did just discover Aleftina Vasilisovna’s secret compound, where she keeps her children when she stops here…all of this bothers me, so let’s just keep a watch tonight, shall we?”

  “Right enough, Valeriya Dariyevna,” said Aksinya Olgovna, and it was decided that she would take first watch, Kseniya would take second watch, and I would take third watch. I promised them that they would be able to catch up on their sleep when we came to a village or a waystation, and then, rolling myself up in a light blanket to protect myself from the prickling of the hay, I went to sleep.

  ***

  Mama! Mama! Mirochka’s voice sounded, not cheerful and slightly smug, as it had before when she came to me in my sleep, but worried, almost frantic. Where have you been? You came to me in the middle of the day, you sounded so upset! And you showed me…and you shouted at me—it was clear that this still rankled—and then you disappeared for hours and hours, and I couldn’t find you!

  Did you pass on my message to the Tsarina?

  I tried, but I didn’t really understand it! What happened, mama, what happened?

  We found a place where illegal caravans are staying. They have their own stopping-place and their own road. If I show it to you on a map in my mind, can you find it?

  Show me, mama!

  I tried to picture a map as clearly as I could, and focus on the area where I believed the hidden compound to be, and after a moment Mirochka said, I see it, mama, I see it—I’ll show it to the Tsarina when she wakes up tomorrow.

  Thank you, my heart. How is she?

  She’s very tired, mama—is she sick? Why is she sick?

  Just an indisposition that she’s always been prone to, my dove.

  Is it catching?

  No, it’s not that kind of indisposition. It runs in her line.

  Does it run in our line, mama?

  No, my dove, it doesn’t. You have nothing to worry about. And don’t worry too much about the Tsarina, or tell her that you’re worrying about her: it will only make her feel worse. Just try to help her out as much as possible, and do what she asks you.

  I do, mama, I do! My brothers and I are trying to be very good and helpful!

  Good for you, my sunshine. I knew I could count on you.

  Are you still in the cabin? she asked anxiously, returning to an issue that was obviously dwelling on her mind. The hidden one? What if someone comes back?

  We left, I assured her. We’re back on the main road, staying in one of the travelers’ cabins there. I’m sleeping in the hayloft, I added, knowing that it would please her.

  In the hayloft! I love sleeping in the hayloft! Do you think my brothers and I could sleep in the hayloft some night?

  Well…I don’t know what the Tsarina would think about that…

  I’ll ask her, she said with determination, and I judged it best not to argue against the matter. Like as not Sera would deny the request, and Mirochka would probably accept her decision with better grace than I would have at that age. Or Sera might surprise us all and allow it, which would be good for everyone concerned.

  Should you be sleeping now, mama?

  Yes, my dove. We’ve set a watch, and I need to rise early to take the last shift.

  Why did you set a watch, mama? Are you worried about the traders?

  It just seemed prudent, I answered evasively, but that must have satisfied Mirochka, for suddenly everything inside my head went black and that was the last thing I remembered.

  ***

  I was awakened in the rapidly lightening hayloft by Kseniya gently shaking my shoulder. She reported in a whisper that everything had been calm all night, before wrapping herself in her bedroll and disappearing into the hay. Grabbing my sword and bow and taking my blanket with me to ward off the nighttime chill, I pulled myself to the edge of the hayloft and looked out the big doors that were open for the summer onto the paddock. Everything was, as Kseniya said, absolutely quiet. The horses were asleep, their heads hanging down and their ears relaxed, and even Ryzhenka was dozing by the gate. Light was coming in through the treetops and the birds were starting to sing, but it would still be another three hours until true morning, I judged.

  I went and sat on the edge of the loft floor, dangling my feet over the edge and trying to guess what these unfamiliar forest birds were by their song as I, for lack of anything better to do, strung my bow and then idly started sharpening my sword. Some kind of little warblers, I thought; they were flitting around in the tree branches just beyond the edge of my vision and I couldn’t make out their colors in the summer-night twilight. The sound of my whetstone made a soothing counterpart to their song. A couple of birds came flying over my head out of the loft and went off into the trees, presumably in search of breakfast. They were making such a racket now I wondered how Kseniya and Aksinya Olgovna could sleep, or how I had slept through it myself. An owl suddenly passed in front of me, returning to her nest before the night got any brighter. I looked up at the clear space above me and watched as the sunrise faded out of the sky…the birds went silent.

  I jumped to my feet, noting as I did so that Ryzhenka had also risen and was taking in the air in great sniffs, her head raised high. The horses began to stir, their heads coming up and their ears flicking.

  Ryzhenka began making her way over to the other edge of the compound, to the far side from the road. The horses were also all pointing their ears in that direction. I peered as best I could into the woods. After a moment, I thought I could hear heavy footsteps moving our way.

  Probably an elk, I thought, and watched in the direction of the footsteps with interest. We did not have elk on the steppe, and I had rarely had the chance to see them.

  Ryzhenka took up a position by the stockade fence and began to growl, her hackles up. I wondered if that was her normal reaction to elk. It seemed odd, but they were very large; perhaps she saw them as a threat…the horses were shifting and stamping their feet nervously. I rose up on my toes, the better to see whatever was drawing near. Ryzhenka uttered a sharp warning bark, and stood up on her hind paws, resting her front paws on the fence and issuing a low, continuous growl, all the hair along her back standing on end.

  Maybe it’s a bear. I looked this way and that, trying to make out the shape of the bear through the trees. We also did not have bears on the steppe, and I had seen even fewer of them than I had elk. I knew that woodsdwellers feared bears above all else, even more than wolves, but I thought we were safe enough behind the stockade fence. Bears were said to be good climbers, but I thought it unlikely anything other than a bird would be able to make it over the fence, which was higher than my head and made of solid tree trunks, each sharpened to a point at the top and planted so close together a mouse couldn’t have slipped through. Although they said that the big brown bears were taller than a grown man when they stood on their hind paws—but I still thought even one of the big brown bears would find it very difficult to get over the fence, and like as not he would run from us if he saw us.

  Expecting a bear, I was looking too high and only caught the first figure to slip into view from between the trees out of the corner of my eye. Two more quickly joined it, and I realized they were wolves. Ryzhenka was now barking and growling frantically and throwing herself against the fence. I thought that would have driven the wolves off, but they continued to approach, walking steadily towards the compound and joined by more and more of their pack, till there were—I counted hastily—ten of them.

  “What is it? What is it?” Aksinya Olgovna and Kseniya had both shaken themselves out of the hay and come to join me at the edge of the loft.

  “Wolves, look.” I pointed at the oncoming pack.

  “By all the gods!” Aksinya Olgovna swore, while Kseniya seemed to be choking back a shriek of fear.

  “I don’t think we have much to worry about,” I said. “They’ll have a job coming through the fe
nce, and there are eleven of us, after all.” Buckling on my swordbelt just in case, I went over to the far end of the hayloft opening, which put me standing right above the top of the fence, only a couple of feet away. One of the wolves stood up on his hind paws against the fence and stared straight at me, his head barely more than an arm’s length from my feet.

  “Get back, get back!” hissed Aksinya Olgovna, while Kseniya whimpered a little in fear. “He might jump!”

  Ryzhenka had come running over to where the wolf was standing and was throwing herself against the fence in a frenzy. The wolf, though, ignored her and kept his eyes fixed on me, and I found myself staring back at him, unable to tear my gaze away.