Дмитрий Мансуров - Invasion

The fence was nothing, since it was built for the protection from the cattle. Any little thing could easily slip through it, akin to how the water slipped through a sieve. The dog, as usual, would be snoring in his house, but he could wake up from the cries of the rooster. So, she needed to sneak with minimal noise to keep from disturbing him.

The fox grimaced from yesterday’s memories. The tail wasn’t hurting any longer, but the wounded self-esteem demanded bloodthirsty revenge. If she was lucky, the fox thought, she could put the remnants of the eaten chicken in front of the dog’s house, so that in the morning, the creature would be in some serious trouble. She’d eat to that! Or rather, she’d drink to that. To revenge. To food, mostly, but to revenge as well. So long as the rooster didn’t wake up. Otherwise, the bloodthirsty revenge would turn into a particularly sophisticated suicide, and next time, the fox would be able to get into the chicken coop painlessly only in three or four months. During that time, the fox’s weight would drop to a full zero, and she would quietly withdraw from this miserable life. She couldn’t let that happen. No way.

The fox jumped over the hedge and crawled across the carrot bed. Then she ducked behind a tree and cast a quick glance at the dog’s house. The dog was sleeping recklessly, almost snoring with bliss. Maybe he didn’t guard anyone at all, but simply lived in the neighborhood?

With utmost care, the fox crept towards the henhouse. Yesterday’s tunnel was still there when she approached it. Not surprising. Who would have time to fill it if only young human children, Alena and Ivan, were living there? It was impossible to say.

The dog’s abilities, which were enhanced by Yaga, helped him, so even with his eyes closed, he knew what was happening. The peasants went to bed. Happy crickets were chattering loudly. Alena was trying to make her brother drink some useless stuff she was given by a local healer. The goat, having learned the lesson from his bitter experience, refused to drink any water at all. At least until his sister drank it first. The struggle had made them both tired, so now they were sleeping peacefully. Far, far away, strange things were happening at the old mill, and strange creatures were calling the insomniac miller for conversation. These creatures were very similar to humans, and they were emanating the sense of true death. If not for Yaga’s order, the dog wouldn’t pretend to be sleeping, he would rush to the miller to help him. The miller always treated him to something tasty when he ran by, and the dog didn’t want to lose such a good friend.

“Your playful beast-friend is about to come!” Yaga’s command rang in his head, and the dog obediently tucked his tail between his legs.

The restless frogs were croaking in the distant swamps. The nervous rooster was walking around the chicken coop, probably fighting an imaginary fox, looking for a way to peck her so painfully that she would leave this place forever.

Someone’s eyes flashed behind the fence for a moment, and the dog became alert. The fact that this was a beast was immediately apparent. The old, red, familiar beast. All the dog had to do now was to figure out if she wanted to play and then send her to Yaga. And the sooner, the better, because the dog really didn’t like whatever was happening at the old mill.

The fox examined the yard carefully. After making sure that there were no strangers and that the locals were deep in their dreams, the fox quietly walked past the dog’s house to the chicken coop. The dog opened his eyes slightly, slowly watching how the events developed.

‘She’s playing hide and seek!’ he guessed. ‘That means she’s the right beast!’

It was a strange time for games… Although hiding could be done more effectively exactly at night.

After looking around, the fox slipped into the tunnel. Everything had to be done very quickly. She had to catch the chicken while the rooster and the dog were sleeping and then quickly retreat. The fox jumped in front of the ruffled chickens and was about to bite the closest one with her teeth when she suddenly saw the menacingly raised comb of the huge rooster right in front of her. She froze in shock.

“Cock-a—” the cock had no time to finish the battle with an imaginary fox as the real one turned up right in front of him. As soon as he moved, the hen flew in one direction and the fox went in another one. Cock voiced his fury loudly, at the full power of his lungs.

“Damn you,” the fox muttered. “I’m left without food once again!”

She jumped into the street and saw a dog slumbering just an inch away.

“I think this has happened to me before. When did he get out of his house?” the fox asked herself, and suddenly, the dog’s eyes opened. “Ouch! No, this definitely hasn’t happened!”

The dog’s fur stood on end. Shining green eyes without pupils stared at her with wild hatred. It seemed if the fox moved even the tip of her tail, the worries about her food would become a thing of the past along with her life.

“Calm down, fangy, I got the wrong address!” the fox said.

The dog growled. The angry rooster jumped in pursuit but froze at the sight of the dog. The battle cry sticking in his throat, changing into a pathetic chicken squawk. The rooster slipped back into the coop, leaving the dog to decide what to do in this situation. He didn’t fall asleep until the morning, trembling in fear. It was the first time he didn’t let out a sound when the sun rose.

The dog stepped forward and the fox broke into a run. Yesterday’s exhausting jaunt seemed easy to her now, like an unhurried walk in the moonlight. The dog didn’t lag behind, and his growl was like an invitation to visit Death. Something like, “Come! We have enough space for one more soul.”

‘What kind of monster was pretending to be a mongrel? Where did it come from? What does it want?’ the fox wondered feverishly. ‘ I’m too young to die! I haven’t even eaten anything! Why me?’

“HELP!” the fox screamed, but a terrible laugh was her only response. It sounded like a howl of a whole chorus of savage wolves rather than something coming from a single dog. Those who woke up from the cry for help preferred to fall back asleep as soon as they heard the chilling howl of the pursuer.

The fox raced through the fallen trees, not seeing the road, while the dog howled a little behind. They flew into the forest together, covering a dozen of miles in their haste, plowing through the thorny bushes, jumping over the woodpile near the royal hunting lodge, running on its roof… With a distant sense of surprise, the fox noted that she could climb the walls no worse than a cockroach, but worst of all, the dog was not far behind still! In a panic, the fox almost ran into a chimney and rolled down it.

Barely recalling her name from fear, the fox rushed towards the first tree she saw. She already had some experience with it, and so she instantly soared to its top. The trunk tilted under her weight and then sprung, hurling her forward. The dog was seated lower and barely had time to cling to a branch as the tree swayed from side to side. Without a moment’s hesitation, the dog unhooked himself from the branch, grabbed the top of a nearby tree, and flew forward as well. The resulting acceleration was enough to ensure that the dog was thrown with the same force that the fox had just experienced.

The landing was swift. The fox was flying like a proud red bird, so very high in the sky, but suddenly, the lovely picture was replaced with a rapidly approaching earth. Flying turned out to be interesting, and it was especially interesting to fly with the help of her own tail. Falling, on the other hand…