Tsvetana Alеkhina - Collection of mysticism. + author’s biography including essays about books

– How is this possible? I am scared to imagine what she might do to us when she gets to us.

– Do you think he will get there?

– And you think she does not know that the three of us are here. In addition, how do you think we all got here? By her grace.

We went back to continue watching the holiday that had not yet begun. The corridor was crowded with people in the flesh. They appeared out of nowhere and stood up waiting. There were not a large number of them, and they continued to appear. We froze in amazement.

– «My God, they’re corpses. This was actually the case. The corridor was crowded with living corpses.

– What are you doing here? In addition, who are you? I asked this question so boldly, forgetting that I am still alive.

– We are servants of Mara Marena. Every year we are called here from our chambers to serve at the feast. We are the ones who are not worthy of the light. Now we live in a world of darkness. In addition, those who are now in the hall, they are honored with these ice palaces of the goddess herself. They have the right to stay there with her until spring.

– Why before the onset of spring?

– In the spring, the great goddess ends her rights to rule on earth, and she retires here to her Palaces. In addition, she prefers to be here alone with her husband. These spirits arrive every year for the holiday, and every year they become more and more, but not by much. Not everyone manages to make friends with her. In addition, we are just servants. I learned useful information, and it became easier for me.

– What will you do?

– You will see.

With these words, I finished my story. My listener did not miss a single word. The room was dark. It was already late at night. However, I knew that my friend was listening to me carefully. A blizzard was howling outside the window, and a lantern shone dimly. This picture reminded me of the window in my friend’s room when the room I was in was covered with ice. I remembered with horror everything I had experienced. Although I did not regret it. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Early in the morning, my neighbor greeted me and imploringly asked me to continue my story.

– Tell me. I said seriously. Do you really believe that?

– Yes, I do. In addition, I will soon provide you with physical evidence that this is true.

– OK. I will continue my story after breakfast.

– I will be sorry to part with you. He said with bitterness in his voice. I do not even know what you are going to do next. However, you had better not come back here anymore. My friend’s words scared me. I could not imagine what he meant. However, he said them seriously enough. After breakfast, I continued my story.

The gods greeted each other and took their places. The hall was empty, it was very dark and there was a deathly silence. This silence did not bode well. The hall was huge, and it seemed to me that it would be heard even if a snowflake fell. That is what happened. First, a fire lit up on the suspended chandelier, which was swinging, and then a whirlwind of snowflakes began. Again, there was a deathly silence. The fire went out. Only the outlines of the gods were visible.

The same old woman appeared, her appearance was still terrible. My friends were surprised to see her.

– Is it really your grandmother?

– Yes. I replied dryly.

The old woman began to build a fire. She brought dry brushwood, and tried to set it on fire, but she could not do anything. The brushwood was too cold and saturated with moisture. This process took time, and everyone silently waited for the result. The fire began to flare up and went out. Mara was amused by this, and she sat silently and smiled, I could see a grin in her eyes. The fire went out before it had time to ignite. The old woman bent down to light it again. Bat, she was thrown away by an invisible force, and with such force that she hit the ice wall, but immediately stood up briskly and looked in the direction of the gods. No one moved, everyone was looking at the extinguished fire. Mara laughed, it amused her. The flame broke out, of course. In addition, it flared up like a pioneer bonfire. The appearance of this flame was not natural, more like an artificial one. While the flame was burning, I wanted to get to my grandmother, but my friends stopped me.

– It’s not time yet. Wait.

– She’s right here, she can hear me.

– «She’s not the only one who’ll hear you. I listened to my friend and stayed where I was.

Then the souls flew away and took seats for the guests. Devils teamed up with trolls. The chandelier made of ice began to sway, the flame of the fire burned evenly. Nothing-foreshadowed trouble. Gradually, one by one, the dead who were standing next to us began to disappear. It was not known where they had gone. The cold hall turned into a taiga, it was the summer time of the year. The thickets parted by themselves, forming a flat clearing. The fire continued to burn, all the evil spirits began to come out of the thickets, ghouls, goblins, demons, there were so many of them that I could not see them and even find out which of them, who. They all climbed out of the darkness, came up and bowed to Mara. This ritual did not last long. When all this was over, and they disappeared, dark gods began to come out into the clearing, who had a direct connection with the dark world and expressed their respect to Mara. Mara received them kindly, and they went back to the depths of the taiga. The flames of the bonfire subsided. It illuminated the holiday. Then the taiga parted, forming an abyss, and the whole picture collapsed, and the hall took on its former appearance, and the same lighting, the chandelier continued to sway. Then one of the dead men appeared and removed the remains of the fire, after which he disappeared along with the remains.

It was the turn of the invited guests, they lined up in pairs, devils and trolls did not part. They flew up to the gods and gave them the skulls they came with. It was more of a gift for Koshchei. He decorated his home and even furniture with them. After these events, it was the turn of her favorite guests. She accepted them generously. The pile of skulls disappeared, at the snap of two fingers of their owner. The servants brought tables and chairs for dead souls to sit at them, only in human form. They took the form of sitting down at the table, and did it by seniority. First the male elders sat down, then the female ones. Only then, in the order of dying, the bodies and souls mixed up and sat down as they had to. The sight of these bodies spoke for itself. It looks like they died a long time ago, and are already used to being in the dark. They did not pretend to be anything more, they liked their existence. Their eyes shone with a transparent light, and the shell around their eyes betrayed the absence of life. Their bony fingers were like skeletal bones, their hair was lifeless, and they were not breathing. They were just sitting at the table.

The guests took their seats and sat waiting for something. We continued to watch. An old woman appeared, she appeared out of thin air and splashes of frozen water scattered in different directions. In her hands, she held the pot from which I managed to drink the magic drink. The servants carried wooden cups, one dead man carried a tray with dishes, and another poured this drink and distributed them to the guests. There were several of them, and they did their job quickly. One of them made a mistake and was immediately deleted. The scattered like flakes of snow, and in his place was another. Then all the servants quickly disappeared.

– How are you going to save her if she appears and disappears? It can turn into flakes of snow at any moment.

– Yes, you are right. I do not know myself anymore. Can I approach Mara herself?