Екатерина Нугманова – Games of the Gods (страница 3)

I sat down where the elderly man indicated. I began searching through the bag that was attached to Ingaverin's belt. I found it, placed it in my mouth, and swallowed it.

"What is your name?"-the wizard asked, sitting at the table and smoking.

"Whatever you want to call it,"– I replied.

"Brown eyes,"– suggested the owner of the house.

"That will do,"-I agreed.

"Where were you heading?"– The sorcerer continued the questioning.

"To Veliky Novgorod," – I answered.

"There is nothing great about Novgorod. It is a place of ruins and poverty, with numerous churches. Its greatness lies in the past. Are you ready to eat?" the old man inquired.

"Yes,"– I replied.

That's how our friendship with the sorcerer began. I stayed with him for a while. I wrote a message to my husband that I was alive and well, and I was stuck in the village, it is unclear for how long. The next day, the first thing I did was contact the car evacuation agency, but it took me a while to reach an agreement with them. After long conversations, the agency and I agreed that they would arrive in three days, picking me up and evacuating my car at the same time. After settling all the issues related to money and calling my husband back, I started cleaning the wizard's house. Thus, having decided to thank the host for the hospitable reception. There was a lot of work. The house was dirty, the linen hadn't been washed, the floors hadn't been washed, and the carpets hadn't been knocked out. Of course, there was nothing to wash things with, but I was lucky, I found an upholstery cleaner in the car. I washed and cleaned everything with it. However, my husband will have to buy this expensive product again. My grandfather wasn't at home while I was doing the housework. He went into the forest. Saying at the same time that we will have something to eat for dinner. By lunchtime, I fucked up, no, not in the literal sense of the word. The wizard's house was shiny and fragrant, and now my energy was everywhere. After cleaning, I smeared my hands with cream and passed out. I woke up in the evening. From what was sizzling on the stove.

"Are you awake?" -Sit down to eat, you've earned it. – the old man told me.

We ate. For dinner there were mushrooms, potatoes with onions and garlic. In short, it will go hungry.

Suddenly, the old man started coughing. The sorcerer spat out blood. It hit me right away.

"You're dying." – I said affirmatively.

He looked at me so angrily. I was even scared. But the old man pulled himself together and restrained himself.

– Not yet. But soon. The sorcerer replied coldly.

We continued the conversation. The old man asked more about me than he told about himself. I told him that I had been married for a long time and that I had a child. That I miss my son and really want to go home. She said that in 3 days a tow truck would come for me and my car.

– In three days you will not leave me. – The old man told me.

I didn't really like this phrase, so I decided to have a discussion with the owner of my temporary accommodation.

"Listen, I have a husband and a young child. They will be lost in this world without me if I leave. Please, let me go,"– I asked, feeling sorry for myself.

He replied, "No, only in a week. Then you can come back."

Surprisingly, he was right. Three days later, the company that I had hired to help me get out of Malye Gavniuki village called and said that, due to technical issues, they would only be able to arrange transportation for me in six days.

I tried to reach my husband, but it was difficult. When I finally got through, I told him about the delay. After making sure everything was okay with him and our son, I ended the call.

So I stayed with the sorcerer for six days. My life with him was quite tolerable. The only problem was flooding the bathhouse and washing with household soap. I was afraid of going bald, but then I thought of asking the owner for chamomile and nettle. By making a decoction and rinsing my hair with it, I saved it.

"How do you even live here alone?" I asked the old man. "Aren't you bored and lonely?" I continued. "You don't have TV, a mobile or landline, and of course, the Internet."

He answered me ominously, "I don't need a phone. There's no one to call and no one who calls me. Everyone who talked to me and loved me is in their grave, waiting for me to return".

We spent six days talking. I cleaned and cooked. The peasant came twice with food for the old man and me on a gazelle. It was noteworthy that the sorcerer never paid. I asked about it. The owner of the house answered: "He owes me a lot". I saved his son from death. I performed a miracle. He returned from war alive without a scratch.

The wizard did not have access to the internet or television. However, he did have a large bookcase, dating back to the Soviet era. Among the books, there were also works on the subject of a man making a pact with the devil. Within a week, I had read "The Tribulation of Satan".

The owner of the house had been away for an extended period, leaving for three or four hours at a time. Towards the end of my stay, the old man's condition deteriorated, and he eventually fell ill. By the sixth day, he had fallen ill and could not rise from his bed. The wizard was fading like a candle, his vital energy draining away. He forbade me under strict orders not to even mention doctors or hospitals. I agreed only to administer the painkillers I had brought with me.

I beheld his demise. I felt no pity for him, nor did I feel remorse. Living among the people and in the realm of night has imbued me with a sense of cruelty and cynicism. Yet I also respect the right to one's own choices. I had no doubt that, had the sorcerer desired, he could have healed himself. But he chose to depart. Death does not exist for children alone. It is mortals who fear it, fearing the unknown. Death is but a transitory phase, akin to the shedding of a snake's old skin.

On the sixth day, the elderly man abruptly requested that I sing for him. I was taken aback. Setting down my book, I inquired:

–"For you?"

Upon receiving a nod in affirmation, I acquiesced.

– Pay the Witcher in silver coins, in silver coins, whoo, pay the Witcher, it shall all be counted, I sang with a discordant voice.

And then the old man was struck by the candour. It was akin to a confession. The wizard divulged everything about himself in a concise manner, revealing the very essence of his practice. He engaged in witchcraft, aimed at causing harm and casting curses. He received various commissions. However, most of those who sought his services requested retribution. They sought to exact punishment on their wrongdoers.

After all, injustice has always been prevalent. Someone has been robbed of their possessions. Someone's life has been destroyed by gossip and defamation. And someone's child has been subjected to rape and left for dead. And a woman's daughter has been tormented by her mother-in-law to the point of suicide. Rarely could one expect a just decision from the human court. For corruption, bribery, and nepotism have always existed. Thus, people turned to the wizard. Driven by despair in their grief, they knew that the wizard would not turn them away.

"I've always done evil in this world. He stood for a force that does evil but does good, brown-eyed. – Said the sorcerer. I wore an inverted cross and represented the Dark and Evil One in this world. I served him faithfully and faithfully. He sent you to me. I'm glad. I didn't want to die in the mud and alone.

The old man looked into my eyes and spoke in a charming voice.

– As there is the power of creation, which creates and will create everything in this world, so there is the power of destruction. The power of destruction is needed in order to destroy the old in order to build a new one in this place. Darkness and Light are the two wings that carry our world into eternity. Darkness is not evil. The sprout reaches out to the Light, but it gets its life in the Dark. So it is with the child, in the mother's womb. It's dark in the womb. And during childbirth, a newborn sees Light for the first time. Mother darkness. The damp grave earth is also dark. We begin and end our journey in Darkness. – The old man shared his wisdom.

Clearing his throat, the sorcerer continued:

– This world needs us, we are the destroyers. I've always destroyed, no matter what or who. You're not, you're the judge. It is in your power to have mercy and punish, brown-eyed.

You know what the funniest thing is? No matter how hard he tried to destroy paganism and witchcraft on this earth, he failed. I didn't tell you. I used to be a priest. It was a long time ago. Even in his youth. I studied the Bible, read all the volumes, the entire Gospel, and I prayed to the Lord God. I tried to understand. But you know, brown-eyed, those who seek God sooner or later come to the Devil.

The sorcerer fell asleep, not for long. When he woke up, I served him a decoction in a mug for coughing to ease his suffering. After drinking it, the sorcerer confessed to me that if he were younger, he would have done many interesting things to me. Which men usually do to women. I grinned at that. The old man told me that there is no need to laugh at old age, that it is very insulting.