Dmitry Nazarov - Right hand. Prince of Darkness

– She got scared! I snapped. – There would be something to be afraid of! Who needs it?

– Then the nuns went crazy when you came to the convent, – he continued with the insistence of an enraged prosecutor.

– They were crazy about you, so you can still argue who is to blame! – I retorted.

– And I also felled the trees in that clearing?

– An earthquake, a coincidence. A natural phenomenon. Maybe it was the Prince of Light who intervened, I suggested caustically.

– An interesting earthquake. Local is. One clearing shook, but the rest of the forest – as if it had not happened.

– I am not responsible for your local forests.

– What about your horse? This is a completely different song. It gallops without a road, barely touching the ground, and at such a speed that any riding horse will envy.

I folded my arms across my chest and looked accusingly at Eitan. Well, now what to do with it? Incinerate on the spot?

– Okay, let’s say you caught me. I’m not a person. And he is not a horse. What’s next? I warn you right away: garlic will not help. I can’t stand the smell, but I won’t scatter ashes. And the sign of the Prince will not help: that old woman has already tried. I will only get angry. Aspen stake is better. The tree, of course, does not matter, but if you hit the vital organs, I will die. But can you get to me?

From such pressure, Eitan was embarrassed.

– I’m not going to do anything. I just wanted to ask. Who are you really?

I let out an unintelligible exclamation, meant to express my annoyance.

– I don’t know how to say it! You don’t have such a word. In order for a word to appear, a concept is needed. And you have no idea what is happening in my world. Well, if you like, you can call me a demon, – I relented, although I grimaced at such a wording. – In your language, this is probably the closest.

Eitan still got it, judging by how convulsively he swallowed.

– I didn’t think demons… looked like that.

– Demons don’t look like anything, – I snapped. We are incorporeal and can take on different forms. And I ask you not to confuse me with all sorts of primitive beings who are not interested in anything but to devour energetically.

Eitan did not quite understand what I was talking about, but it seems that a new thought occurred to him, as he closed his eyes and began to massage his temples with his fingers.

– So I slept with a demon, – he finally stated. Will I go to hell?

I batted my eyelashes in bewilderment, and then burst out laughing so that I fell back onto the grass and clutched my stomach with both hands.

– You know, – I said with difficulty, then, wiping my tears, – I have seen an innumerable number of people who ended up in, as you put it, hell. None of them have this reason. Oh, I can’t, well, you have a fantasy! Such details of your personal life are of no interest to either the Prince of Darkness or the Prince of Light. I’m sorry, but to get to hell, you have to do something more serious.

– It’s calming.

– And don’t calm down too much, – I advised vindictively. – Maybe I’m lying? I’m a demon! What if I came to earth for this, to seduce you and forever deprive you of paradise?

– I doubt. I don’t think a… demon like you would come for such a small thing.

One point for you. Wouldn’t have arrived. Our meeting with you is a 100% accident.

– What an accident?

Again a puncture. Such words should not have been used.

– Absolute. Full.

– Okay. And still. What brought you to earth? There is some purpose.

– Of course. Let’s put it this way: I came to earth with a mission.

– And… what kind of mission is this? – Eitan asked with undisguised apprehension.

– But I won’t reveal this.

He paused, half gathering courage, half grabbing an elusive thought by the tail, then asked:

– Are you going to destroy the earth?

– Minus five points. To destroy the earth, it is not necessary to go down to it.

– To go down? he seized on the word. – I thought hell was below.

– Up, down… – I waved. – Outside of your reality, these concepts completely lose their meaning. But the fact remains that in order to destroy the world, the brothers must come to an agreement.

I did not specify, but Eitan, of course, understood without explanation that the brothers are the Prince of Darkness and the Prince of Light.

– Can they? Come to an agreement?

– Well, they have a complicated relationship… In principle, they can. But the land will not be destroyed.

– It’s calming.

– You will calm down after death, – I snapped, once again laying down comfortably and looking up.

During our conversation, the clouds managed to move, and the picture of the starry sky changed.

– Why are you so mean? Eitan complained and immediately slapped his forehead, realizing that the answer was obvious.

– Ha-ha-ha! I deliberately laughed. – I’m supposed to. And with what pleasure I drink the blood of the righteous! Mmmm… yummy!

– I do not believe.

– And rightly so. Blood tastes bad. Too salty.

It seemed that the conversation managed to be diverted away from slippery moments, but my companion turned out to be a tough nut to crack.

Have you come to bring destruction? – he asked in the forehead, leaning forward.

I glanced at him with disapproval.

– Naturally. What did you think? Without destruction, you know, there will be no place for new life. And then, you people love to look for the guilty. First, do something that even the most painstaking work cannot fix. And then you wonder: “Like a global flood? For what?” Yes, for nothing! Global warming should not have been arranged.

– What kind of warming?

– Forget. This is what I got into. The bottom line is that sometimes you can’t do without destruction, and you won’t be able to shift all the blame on the Prince of Darkness. So what are you going to do now, righteous with tasteless blood? Will you run home in the morning? The bride isn’t as scary as a demon, is she? Or do we still stop at the option with an aspen stake?

Something subtly similar to regret scratched the soul. The wind blew soothingly across his face and palms.

– I am not my own enemy, – Eitan reasonably objected.

Covered his eyes. And pretended to fall asleep.

All clear. Run away. Maybe tonight, maybe later. Yes, and no wonder. Any mortal will be frightened when they realize who they are facing. It’s like a ladybug making friends with an elephant that comes and doesn’t notice. And for a long time he will be surprised: where did the new friend go? Creeping away slowly, then spreading your wings and flying away is the most reasonable act in such a situation. And for the most part, I shouldn’t care.

But regret continued to scratch from somewhere inside. And it was wrong.

Eitan did not escape during the night. However, he spent her without sleep, it was clear from the reddened eyes, which he began to rub every now and then, when he thought that I was looking the other way. The disappearance of a satellite is a matter of time. Most likely, he was simply afraid that I would consider such an act a betrayal, I would catch up with him and punish him somehow. Ridiculous thought, really: do I really have nothing better to do than run after… ladybugs? At first I even wanted to tell him directly about it, but changed my mind. Conducting conversations with ladybugs was also outside the scope of my official duties.

Another town, which we soon reached, Ir, differed from the others in especially narrow streets. Often, with arms stretched out to the sides, one could easily touch both walls. Driving here was problematic, so the chariot had to be left on the outskirts, since the distances were ridiculous – we reached the center in just half an hour. We passed, bowing our heads and turning up our collars, under clotheslines stretched between the windows (it was always dripping from poorly wrung out clothes), admired the abandoned church, lopsided from time to time, and went down the stairs to one of the taverns.