Chicken Leg

The first road led to a familiar life, albeit one filled with hardships. Death and tragedy were a natural part of it.

The second road led to imminent danger, which no human dared to challenge in the past five years. Yet a great reward was waiting at the end of the struggle for those who succeeded.

The third road was the final destination for all who had lived. Reaching it alive was believed to be impossible. But the voices calling from beyond that boundary, promising the chance to find what one had lost, were too strong to ignore.

Prav was finally within their reach.

And yet…

“From here on out, the journey just gets tougher.” Dragomir led the way towards Prav.

“I’m returning to Yav,” said Milena. “I’m not ready to become a bohatier after all.”

“My mother is waiting there!” Zduhach pointed at Nav’s road. “I have to see her again!”

“Huh?” Dragomir stopped in his tracks. “What are you two doing?”

The forest laughed.

“I’m simply a daughter of a miller. How am I supposed to be of any help?”

Dragomir stood in silence.

“Gods, spirits, magical items, golden eggs… My head is spinning!” Milena pressed her forehead.

“What golden eggs?” Dragomir tilted his head.

“Are they edible?” Zduhach’s eyes sparked.

“I… had a vision. There was this giant golden egg and… the gods gathered around it. It felt like a ritual. I recognized Veles and Perun.”

Dragomir’s eyes widened. “How many were there? Where was it? What else did you see?” He stepped closer with every question.

“I’m not sure… I was so scared... Maybe eight? Twelve? I saw Veles trying on his gloves…”

“Hmmm…” Dragomir lowered his gaze and pondered.

“There was also this woman who said something about asking for a heart.”

“I don’t recall any giant golden egg. A woman asking for a heart… Seeing Veles without his gloves isn’t that unusual, but if he was actually ‘trying them on’…” Dragomir frowned. “What does it all mean?”

“You see, it’s much bigger than me. It’s much bigger than us.” Milena glanced at the boys. “But I’m sure you two can handle yourselves, while I-“

“That’s it!” Dragomir suddenly approached Milena and held her hand. “Milena, you’re amazing! Thanks to your information, we may be closer to defeating them! I bet we just have to find that Golden Egg!”

“W-what?” She blushed. “How do you know that?”

“I don’t!” Dragomir’s eyes lit up like a child’s. “But Levoslav said he was searching for some source of power! This is finally our clue!”

“See, Milena? You’re not worthless!” Zduhach grinned.

“I never said I was worthless!” She pulled away her hand, staring at Zduhach ominously. Her face softened. “But me, avenging my father or Shkrat? Facing Perun?”

Dragomir’s eyes darted between the road to Yav and the road to Prav, his voice calm again. “I understand why you would want to go back. It’s dangerous. But Yav has changed. And I didn’t realize it while I was holed up.” He turned back to Milena. “I feel like I can protect you more when you are close to me. But I can’t make that decision for you. You must decide on your own.”

Milena closed her eyes for a moment. Then she took out her pocket watch. “I still don’t think I’m strong enough. But… I hope I can be of help. Along with this thing.”

“What are you saying?” Zduhach smirked. “Of course you’re strong enough! You remind me of my mother! And she was very strong! Remember how you held your own against Poludnica?”

“But that’s just because I had experience…”

“That experience is something that makes you stronger. And more experience awaits you. Be it in Yav… or Prav.” Dragomir held out his hand as the final test, waiting for Milena to either take it or turn away.

“I have one condition.” She crossed her arms, refusing to take the hand. “The next time my life is in danger, you’ll let me take care of myself.”

“What?” Dragomir raised his brows.

“Without any interference, you got it?!” She pointed a warning finger at him.

Dragomir flinched. “Understood…” He sighed as Milena finally took his hand.

“Deal!”

Zduhach then turned around to face the road to Nav. “Alright, all’s well that ends well, so see you!”

“What? Zduhach, you can’t leave us like this!” Milena yelled at him.

“Let him be, Leshy said it’s impossible to get to Nav.” Dragomir waved his hand dismissively.

“But then…” Milena wondered. “Why would he present the third option?”

THUD!

Zduhach hit his head against a barrier. “Ouch!” He then inspected it with his hands as if searching for a hole in a pane of glass. He tried to kick it, expecting resistance, but his leg passed straight through. When he tried to force the rest of his body through, he got stuck.

“I’m stuck,” he said.

“This guy…” Milena rolled her eyes and walked up to him. She took his hand and pulled him out of the barrier.

“Hehe, thanks! If it wasn’t for you, I’d be stuck there.” He giggled. “Well, so much for seeing my mom. Let’s head to the realm of gods!”

He stood up as if nothing happened. Zduhach and Milena then led the way to Prav.

Dragomir watched the scene, his jaw hanging open.

“You did it because of him, didn’t you, Leshy? Humans may not enter Nav without dying. But he…”

Leshy watched them closely from a tree branch in the form of an owl. Then he flew away.

But beneath the flapping of the owl’s wings, another sound gradually grew louder. The screams of the monstrous children. A few even came from beyond the barrier to Nav.

“Oh no…!” Dragomir’s face turned pale. “Run!”

He sprinted after the two, not looking back. The little creatures jumped like frogs, landing on their baby feet, shrieking uncontrollably.

“Not again!” Milena dashed, but Zduhach scooped her into his arms. “What are you doing? I said I’d take care of myself!”

“This one doesn’t count!” He squeezed her tighter and picked up his pace.

Dragomir ran after them, but the creature behind him unleashed a screech attack. However, the sound bounced off the surface of the Little Table and hit the creature itself, sending it to the ground. Its peers slowed down and looked at it. But then they sped up as they jumped higher and further.

“Hey, can’t you use that magical watch? It can save lives, I heard!” Zduhach held her close.

“I don’t know how to activate it!” She clung to him. “And how do you know about it?”

“I saw your memories! The spiral guy said it!”

“What?”

“Debilmir!”

The road was straight and they knew they couldn’t turn right or left, or they would get lost.

“Just a little bit longer, I can almost see it!” Dragomir shouted.

“See what?” Zduhach looked around.

After a while, something in the distance grew bigger and bigger.

The creatures behind them suddenly halted, their faces terrified. Without another sound, they returned to the forest.

After a few more breaths, the three of them could finally rest.

Zduhach put Milena down, his eyes widening. “Woah…”

Milena looked up.

An old wooden hut stood in the middle of a bare clearing, with the trees keeping their distance.

“What’s… that?” Milena wondered.

The hut looked almost normal. Except that it stood on a single massive chicken leg. The leg’s pinkish skin was leathery, its three claws pitch-black. The entire hut swayed slightly.

High above them, the hut door creaked open. An old woman stepped out onto a narrow wooden porch. Her hair was completely silver, her nose impossibly long with a wart at the end of it. She held a little cauldron and leaned heavily on one skeletal leg.

“Welcome back, Dragomir.” She smiled.

“Baba Yaga.” Dragomir looked up at her. “You’re as ugly as I remember.”

“You little flatterer!” Baba Yaga giggled like a teenager, an ironic contrast to her old visage. “You know how to please a woman.”

“There’s nothing about you to compliment.” Dragomir set the Little Table in front of him. “What will it be today? A roasted rabbit like the last time?”

“Oh, what a wonderful artifact you have!” She set the cauldron down on the wooden porch.“ But you see, my tastes have… changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your old friend visited me. And I made a trade.”

Dragomir frowned. “What did you get?”

Baba Yaga smiled. “It was something so tasty that no meat could ever compare to it…”

“Is it pork?” Zduhach asked.

“Oh, no, my half-god friend.” She peered down at the three of them from the porch high above.

“Half-god?” Milena gazed at him.

“I don’t know. That grandma must be senile.” Zduhach shrugged.

“It’s young meat…” She tapped her skeletal leg against the cauldron with a faint clink. “The flesh of a newborn human. Bring it to me. And I’ll let you enter Prav.”

Chapter 17: END