Марина Марли – Universal Parallels: The Earth (страница 4)
Throughout the journey, Deva didn’t just observe, she felt the poison-soaked earth on her skin. There have been many wars. A lot of blood was spilled. She inhaled this poisoned air and, riding out of the forest into the valley, with great sadness in her eyes and pain in her heart, she looked at what was left of the once flourishing land. She closed and opened her eyes. She thought it was all a dream, that it can’t be like that. But no matter how she wanted to hide herself from all that – it was the current reality. With a depressed and contrite look, she stared at the leader’s back and tried to hold back the tears rolling into her eyes.
The first rays of the morning sun, breaking through heavy leaden clouds, illuminated what remained of the former beauties. The maiden peering out from under her hood felt a sharp stab in her heart. She held her breath as if someone attacked her from behind and unexpectedly stabbed her with a knife. She bitterly thought about the awful treatment of nature. «How could people have created all this? These little, uncomprehending people… They don’t just kill each other, they destroy all around.»
The valley was scorched, sprinkled and powered with death. For a moment, it seemed to her that there was nothing left to save on the Earth and she was sent here in vain. From such terrifying views and heavy thoughts, she again buried her lifeless gaze on the back of the man who sat in front of her. Her fingers clenched involuntarily, and she felt the warmth of him. Deva remembered what was hidden deep in the hearts of these people who were bringing her to their clan. The realization of this gave her hope, fragile as the first autumn ice. The maiden’s doubts were interrupted by a sudden stop: the gates of the Earth Clan towered in front of them like iron guards. Deva finally got distracted and, squinting her eyes, looked with interest at the gate and the huge stone wall surrounding the settlement.
The giant wall was so high that the peaks of the observation towers touched the sky; so wide that a pair of chariots could ride along its top. Four identical towers rose along the edges of the settlement, forming a regular square, and four more were visible inside it. There were two more small turrets on each side of the gate, where sentries hid in narrow loopholes. The whole structure seemed to her an impregnable fortress, and it seemed impossible to conquer it. However, the huge gate began its movement with ease, rising. First, a thick iron rod began to move. Its ends were sharpened. Then, the cloth itself. It was chained in an iron frame. Deva saw just an ordinary settlement, where common hard working people lived. They met their brave warriors and she stared at them curiously.
For some they were fathers, for others they were sons. Men in dark brown trousers and long shirts the color of wet sand, tied with sash. Older women hide their hair under shawls, the ends of which encircled their heads. Their loose, straight-cut, plain, thick green dresses were probably comfortable. The dresses of young girls are long and layered, it seems that they are standing in the clouds. Over the dress, strict linen vests are worn, the length is till the layered clothes. The girl’s hair was gathered in thick braids, and a ribbon in the color of vest was on their head.
The inhabitants were completely different from the stern warriors who accompanied her. This contrast made a strong impression on her. On one hand, she was glad to see that not all people are the same, on the other, she did not understand how, with such similarities, some kill, while others calmly did what they usually do, leading an ordinary life.
She saw the villagers standing on the other side of the open gate looking curiously at her. Deva lowered her eyes and tried not to look at anyone else as they gazed at her. Meanwhile, the warriors accompanying her were so inspired by their brilliant work that they completely forgot about caution. It seemed to the leader that they were already at home and nothing could threaten them here. Losing his vigilance, he decided to dismount from his steed right in front of the open gate to enter the settlement victoriously, holding their prey tightly by the hand.
«To help or by yourself?» he asked Deva almost in a friendly way, as an absolute master.
«I’ll try it by myself, thanks.»
«Okay,» he replied indifferently and, turning away, stared at the open gate, where a mass of people was crowding, waiting for the return of the squad.
Meanwhile, Deva was throwing her leg over the horse’s back, jumping lightly to the ground.
«Nimble,» the leader quietly commented on Deva’s successful leap, squinting at her.
All the other warriors from the escort also jumped off their horses one by one, being proud of themselves, slightly puffed out their chests.
Deva smiled faintly. She heard the praise that inadvertently fell from the lips of the stern warrior and which, probably, she should not have heard. Suddenly, something whistled by her ear and the warriors started to fall. One, two, three… The inhabitants of the clan started to scream and run around. The arrows whizzed past her again and again, piercing the bodies of the warriors. Their carelessness was not forgiven. The horror was imprinted in her eyes. She couldn’t move. Meanwhile the remnants of the warriors were hiding behind their horses. They sacrificed then and began to fight off the attack from the back.
«The Mountain Clan! Everyone gets to the shelter! Close the gate!» the lookouts shouted. They were angry at themselves for having overlooked the approach of the enemy while watching the victorious march of their warriors.
Never before had other clans come so close to the Earth Clan and stood at the open gates of the settlement. Never before…
The warriors of the Mountain Clan found only trampled grass at the place where the ray fell. They followed the trail then, which led to their eternal enemy. And now, in full readiness and determination to win back their prey, they suddenly appeared from the forest, immediately going on the attack.
Dozens of arrows sliced through the air. One flew very close to the Deva’s head and miraculously didn’t graze her. In this general mess, she felt someone’s hands grab her by the waist and drag towards the closing gate, literally shoving her there. On the other side were left all the warriors who had recently celebrated victory in their minds. Now they were fighting to the death with the enemies who had attacked them surreptitiously. They had no fear of imminent death. They were always ready for battles. They knew that sooner or later, a sharp blade or arrowhead would catch up with them, and so they fought desperately, paying the price of their unforgivable carelessness. Even the archers, who by coincidence were not on the wall at that time, got up there and realized that there was no one to help. All seven warriors were dead, putting their lives on the chopping block, protecting one.
Catching the enemy off, the squad of the Mountain people dealt with them quickly, but they didn’t get the main prize they were hunting for. After taking minor losses, their warriors were forced to return home empty-handed. The surviving warriors turned their horses and headed back to the woods, where they hid behind shady trees and stood for some time watching the movements on the wall of the enemy clan.
CHAPTER 3
People rushed in disorderly crowds in front of the gate, bumping into each other and knocking down. But Deva didn’t lose her head and run to the wounded young woman whom she noticed first. She didn’t have the gift of resurrection, but she knew the secret of healing. When she reached her, she examined the wound.
«Everything will be fine,» Deva promised, realizing that the arrow only grazed her tangentially and the bleeding wound only looked scary.
Deva looked deeply into her eyes, trying to inspire confidence. The woman, frightened and bloodied, immediately trusted her, holding her breath, took her hand away from her shoulder and winced at the terrible pain spreading in jerky impulses throughout her body. Deva brought her hand to the wound, stopping just a couple of inches from the split skin. A soft light poured out of her palm, and the bloody laceration healed. It took only a few moments, and the incision was already gone. The woman no longer felt pain and seemed to be more shocked by what had happened than by the dastardly attack on the clan.
«Thank you,» the woman said.
Deva barely smiled, thanked her in return and helped her get up from the ground. The woman nodded and started backing away from her. Deva sensed her fear. She was afraid of what had just happened. The fact that Deva appeared at the moment of the unexpected attack caused even more fear in the woman. Tears began to roll into her eyes, she turned away and disappeared into the terrified crowd. The maiden looked at her, following her with a sad look. She saw the feelings that overwhelmed the sufferer, but had no right to intrude further with the help. Among the warriors who died behind the wall was her beloved, whom she had come to meet. She will never see him again in the world of the living. Deva wanted to shout the words of regret after her, but she remained silent, realizing that it was much easier to heal a physical wound than the one that damaged the heart and pierced the point into the soul.