Дмитрий Мансуров - Invasion

“Is it the right village?” the prince asked. “Do you live here?”

“Yes, but it never looked like that!”

“The peasants couldn’t just drop everything and quickly ride off into the sunset…” Artem muttered. “It’s not possible.”

They heard the faint sound of an axe falling.

“I think someone is still here!” the prince rejoiced. They ran toward the sound and stopped near a small house. Boards were being nailed to it, giving it the appearance of an ancient, abandoned ruin. Artem took a moment to ponder over it and then he knocked on the door. Nobody responded. The owners, frightened by the vampire stories, decided not to open the door to anyone in general.

“Let’s go to my house,” Ivan suggested.

“To Babak!” Artem corrected him. “Alena is there. If we’re lucky, we’ll find out why the village has suddenly lost its hospitality.”

They reached a familiar house on the outskirts and saw the exact same picture of devastation. In complete bewilderment, they stopped before a huge hole in the wall and looked at each other.

“I don’t understand,” Artem said. “Where did this hole come from? Was Babak’s house attacked by some woodpeckers?”

Artem walked inside and noticed a dark spot on the floor.

“Blood!” he gasped and pulled out his sword with lightning speed. “Stay where you are,” he whispered, turning to Ivan.

The manhole covering the attic opened slightly, and Alena’s voice asked, “Who’s there?”

“Alena!” Ivan ran into the house, relieved. His sister quickly climbed out.

“Ivan! You’re a boy again!”

Artem lowered the sword.

“You’re all alive,” he exhaled with relief. “Great.”

His heart ached upon seeing such a genuine and excited reunion between the relatives. Trying not to disturb them, he went outside and sat down on a log that served as a ram for vampires. He was torn from his thoughts when a kiss landed on his cheek, accompanied by a joyful voice, “Thank you, Prince Artem!”

He turned his head. Alena was standing next to him, shining with happiness.

“You’re welcome,” he murmured, suddenly embarrassed.

“We fought the vampires!” Ivan said proudly and at a very bad moment.

“Oh!” Alena immediately became serious. “So did we. The fanged and bloodthirsty ones?” Ivan nodded.

“Then they’re the same ones.”

“How long?” Artem wondered.

“After you left.”

Artem sighed. Whatever plans Yaga was making to save the villages, she was very wrong in thinking that the vampires would come to her first.

Yaroslav and Babak came out, looking so gloomy and angry that Artem felt worried. They seemed ready to kill anyone who got in their way. However, they brightened considerably when they saw Artem and heard Ivan’s cheerful voice. Yaroslav seemed to forget about all his troubles. He ran to Artem and embraced him with such strength as if they hadn’t seen each other for a thousand years.

“Take it easy,” Artem murmured, embarrassed. “It’s all right…”

“I thought you were dead,” Yaroslav muttered. “There was such a racket from the forest!”

“And you decided that someone was celebrating my defeat by roaring?” Artem was bewildered. “Nope, I wouldn’t give up so easily! And I had a powerful partner! I can’t say his name, though… Not yet.”

“Why?”

“He’s… He’s not on the good terms with the locals and he doesn’t want to change anything.”

“And you rescued Ivan from Yaga together?”

“Well… How do you say it… Not quite.” Artem squinted at Babak. He was chatting with the boy amiably, occasionally throwing half-amazed, half-respectful looks at the prince. “He must have told them everything anyway.”

“Who? Ivan?”

“Ok, listen,” Artem sighed. “But it’s a secret. I fought the vampires together with Baba Yaga.”

Yaroslav stared at him in complete amazement.

“After the battle, she let Ivan go. You know, she’s a real and powerful ally against those monsters. She kidnapped the boy to create a potion that would deceive the vampires and save people.”

“What a terrible idea!” Yaroslav was indignant. “Couldn’t she find a volunteer?”

“What do you think?” Artem snorted. “Do you think she’d be allowed to come to the village on a rescue mission and hold a contest among the likely volunteers?”

“But why Ivan?”

“Children love adventures and are more or less loyal to supernatural forces. But overall, it’s just a matter of chance.”

“The most important thing is that he’s alive and well,” Yaroslav summed up. “I think we’ll be fine on our own. The vampires will surely appear at night, so we’ll kill them and move on to save Maria.”

“Don’t get carried away,” Artem remarked gloomily. “What makes you think we’ll kill them all?”

“There can’t be many of them. Otherwise, they would attack in large groups,” Yaroslav explained. “And we would have heard about them a long time ago. Who is their commander? What country are they from?”

“They…” Artem remembered Yaga’s lecture. “How did she put it… ‘They’re not human anymore. They aren’t mages. They aren’t a brigade of crazy warlocks. They’re vampires. And we ran into scouts, who aren’t the smartest of the vampires. They’re newborns. Their task is to sow panic and deprive people of the ability to think rationally.’”

“Really?” Yaroslav felt a rock plummet in his stomach.

“Absolutely!” Artem said. “There are really lots of them. Thousands. And they’re all heading this way.”

“But why?!” Yaroslav asked in shock.

“Ask them,” Artem replied.

Yaroslav was plunged into a stunned silence, pondering over the information. Soon, Babak approached them.

“Well done, prince!” he praised. “With warriors like you, we won’t lose!”

“Ivan told you about Yaga?” Artem wondered.

“He sure did. Right away. Did you really recruit her into our ranks?”

“In a way. But that won’t help.”

“Why?”

“There is one actual story that fits our situation,” Yaroslav began thoughtfully. “A warrior rode up to Dobrynya Nikitich once and said, ‘Dobrynya! We have a great army coming to attack us! What should we do?’ ‘Give me two weeks. I’ll make a new shield, take a new sword, and go to war.’ The warrior rode to Alyosha Popovich next. ‘Alyosha! A great army is approaching us to declare war! What should we do?’ ‘Give me a week. I’ll collect the weapons, patch up my mail, and go to the war.’ The warrior rode to Ilya Muromets after this. ‘Ilya Muromets! A great army is approaching us to declare war! What should we do?’ Ilya Muromets abandoned everything he was doing and jumped on his horse immediately. ‘Are you not planning to get ammunition?’ the warrior was surprised. ‘What’s there to get?!’ Ilya shouted. ‘Time to flee!’”

Babak chuckled.

“What are you leading to?”

“I have just been informed,” Yaroslav said dryly, “that we are complete idiots. And that we’re about to die. Artem, tell that tale again.”

Artem did. Babak whistled.

“We must run,” Yaroslav said. “We should gather people in the cities and fight from there. Three warriors cannot stand against an army of thousands. If we stay here, we’re doomed!”

“In that case, we should take the good advice of Ilya Muromets and follow it,” Babak said. “But we’ll need to warn the others before that.”

“You think so? They won’t believe us again.”

“I’ll explain it to them myself!” Artem volunteered. “They know that I have gone to fight against Yaga, so they’ll listen to my words.”