Lost and Found

“Where is everybody?”

Zduhach wandered on a lonely road, arriving at the familiar mill.

“This can’t be real. That thing burned down! Or didn’t it? Did they rebuild it already?”

He approached the house and peeked through a window to see if anybody was home. Shkrat helped the miller put the dough into an oven.

“No, this can’t be real. I must have had too much of that magical stew. Or maybe it’s not a good diet and I…”

His thoughts trailed off as he heard some voices from behind the house. He circled around it and the voices grew louder.

“You’re such a selfish jerk!” Milena shouted.

Zduhach immediately hid behind a supporting beam of the mill.

“Selfish?!” a silhouette of a man responded. A ceaseless spiral spun where his face should have been. “I’m trying to make the world better! I am anything but selfish!”

Debilmir? I know it’s him, somehow… but why does he have a spiral where his face should be? Is he stupid?

“You always acted like you have to help everybody! But I’ll tell you what! You’re not doing it because you care. You do it because you seek recognition!”

“Huuuh?! Young lady, you do not have any right to talk about my motivations! I do care!”

Oooh, this is juicy! They’re arguing!

“Pffft! As if! If you really cared about anybody but yourself, you wouldn’t want to risk your life in Prav!”

“What kind of logic is that?!”

“That shameless Levoslav. He’s always infecting you with his fake heroism!”

“You can call him fake, but not me! My virtues are pure!”

“If it was like that, you would stay here and marry me! Instead of doing some bohatier shit!”

“Oh my, Milena, watch your mouth, that’s not ladylike!”

“And now you’re lecturing me, $^(*@#)(? Get out… Get out and don’t come back until you learn how to use your brain!

What was that sound? It was as if she couldn’t pronounce Debilmir’s name!

“Fine! A world-class hero in the making is going on a life-threatening journey and his girlfriend’s farewell goes like this! Just great!”

“If you die, I’ll kill you! But even if you come back alive… oh boy! Just pray I don’t recognize you!”

And then, Dragomir gritted his teeth and left.

“Now that was intense…”

The sky flashed between day and night hundreds of times. But for Zduhach, it felt like an instant. Thousands of conversations played out, yet only two or three voices rose above the rest.

“Father, is this shirt yours?”

“No, I don’t recall owning that. Where’d you find it?”

“It was in my room but I don’t know how it got there.”

“Well, as I tend to say, you should always treasure what you have!”

“Nah, I’ll just throw it out.”

Zduhach’s world finally stopped.

Milena and Dragomir lay in the grass under the mill.

“Did I really say such horrible things to you while you were just trying to save the world?” Milena asked.

“Yeah… those words hurt. But they gave me the push I needed on my journey. Yet I never imagined that Levoslav would actually…”

“Shhh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “Let’s not talk about that traitor anymore.”

“He might be a traitor but… it’s thanks to him I met you all those years ago. That’s why I cannot bring myself to hate him.”

“Will I forget you again tomorrow?”

“Yeah… but I promise to come back. I know our love is stronger than this stupid curse!”

They embraced in a tight hug.

“Oh, before I forget…” Dragomir took out a pocket watch. “Here. It’s real gold. If you ever fall on hard times, just sell it.”

“What is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.” Milena studied it, bit it and wiped it against her skirt to make it shinier.

“It’s a pocket watch. I… eh… found it in Prav. I can’t tell you how exactly because that could put you into danger.”

“Then why did you bring it to me?”

“I just heard someone say this could save lives. I don’t know how but… I just took it out of spite.”

“What?” She giggled. “No way you’re my boyfriend! I’d never date someone this pathetic!”

As they shared a good laugh, the corners of Zduhach’s mouth twitched, too. He understood how precious something received from a loved one could be. The moment his mother gave him the leather quiver for his eighteenth birthday flashed before his eyes.

And just like that, he sat right next to Dragomir and a lynx in the forest.

***

Milena walked around a strange rock formation, still pressing a hand against her injured ear. The blood on her fingers had already dried.

She looked up, but the sky had no color.

She looked down, but the soil looked barren.

She looked to the left, but heard no singing birds.

She looked to the right, but the trees didn’t breathe.

“What a sad place…”

She walked forward. Her foot slipped on a rock. She hit the ground only inches from the edge of a cliff.

Her breath quickened. Her heart pounded in her ears. Then voices rose from below the cliff.

She leaned over and spotted something unusual.

A golden egg, as large as a young spruce tree, nearly four meters tall and two meters wide, surrounded by about a dozen people.

“What is that thing?” Milena squinted. “Oh my god!” She clapped a hand over her mouth.

That’s… that’s… Veles?

Milena stared at a young man. His golden eyes and blue hair gave his identity away.

“Now that was… cumbersome,” a man said, huffing.

However, his hands were… bare. He picked up something lying before the giant egg - his white gloves. He brought them to eye level and inspected them, then put them on.

Milena couldn’t stop herself from staring. She scanned the surrounding faces but didn’t recognize anybody else. Except for one.

A blond man gripping an axe stood among them. Though Milena saw him only from behind, she knew it had to be Perun.

She crawled farther from the edge, trying to stay out of sight.

“I don’t feel any different, do you?” Veles asked.

“I feel more empowered, I guess…” a woman stated.

“Oh just spare us, you can’t ‘feel’ anything, you’re a heartless bitch!” somebody else quipped.

“Well, that’s why I asked for this heart,” she replied.

“Silence!” a strong voice commanded. “We have company.”

Milena’s eyes widened. She sprang up and sprinted away from the cliff.

She felt like she saw her own death.

No, please don’t. Don’t come after me! Will they kill me? Or are they going to enslave me and sell me off to some faraway kingdom? What if this is the faraway kingdom?! Am I already dead?!

As she ran, she realized nobody was following her. She collapsed under a lifeless tree and exhaled as though she'd been holding her breath the entire time.

"How do I get back…?” she wondered. “I was probably led here by Leshy. Just as Dragomir warned me… The two of them must be worried sick… No… they’re probably annoyed by now. I’m so weak. I can’t do anything. I’m always a few steps behind them.”

Then Milena shook her head.

“No. That’s not it. They would never think of me this way!” She stood up and clenched her fist. “Zduhach is always taking care of me. And Dragomir is… supposedly… the love of my life. If anything, they’re happy that I’m with them. And I’m happy… to be with them, too.”

Milena suddenly stood right in front of Zduhach and Dragomir.

The lynx seemed to smile through its fangs.

“Milena!” Dragomir shot to his feet, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Milena closed her eyes for a second and then looked at the lynx. “You’re a kind man… or animal… or plant… or whatever,” she started. “People get lost in forest only to find the true version of themselves.”

“I guess,” Dragomir said. “You don’t only feed on people’s memories or desires. You also feed something to people, don’t you, Leshy?”

The lynx dashed away.

A little snail crawled from under a rock. “How I exist is none of your concern, humans. You were able to come back and that’s what counts.”

The trees around them suddenly began to shift, as though their roots were crawling beneath the earth. Branches cracked and snapped all around them.

After a short while, the trees formed three different paths.

“The first one leads back to Yav, the world of the living,” the snail started but was immediately stomped by a wild boar.

“The second one leads to Prav, the realm of gods,” the boar shouted while running away.

“The third leads to Nav, the world of the dead. But its gate opens only from the other side.” A mushroom grew a mouth.

And finally, the fox from their first encounter rubbed its head against Milena’s leg. “The choice is yours.”

Chapter 16: END