Читать книгу Anna Alexander: Master of the void. Part II - - Страница 3

The deserted plain where Anna lay was surrounded on all sides by four giant royal cobras. Frozen in their warning postures, they seemed to watch for prey that had strayed into the thickets of tiny cloudberries. This ominous sign warned all living and non – living entities of the dwelling of evil that no creature capable of harming the fragile being or disturbing its rest could penetrate the world of darkness.

The girl’s ashes floated in the air, as if oblivion wrapped the mind of someone who seemed on the verge of disappearing. Anna had been shattered into the tiniest particles, barely discernible to the eye. They swirled in the air, performing their whimsical and perhaps final dance. The girl was not a whole, but existed in a state of disintegration, splitting into billions of particles, with her entire being on the brink of complete physical annihilation. The pain inside was no longer merely physical; it penetrated every cell, every atom of her body, like a poison corroding the very foundation of her existence. Her consciousness flailed, distorting reality, turning familiar outlines into nightmarish visions.

Memories surged in waves, sometimes scorching with icy cold, sometimes burning with hellish fire, demanding an end to these torments. The faces of loved ones, fragments of phrases, and moments of happiness now seemed like a distant dream, almost erased from memory. She felt the connection with the world her friends inhabited slipping away, as the threads linking her to reality tore one by one.

But in this chaos, in this agony of disintegration, a new spark flared up – the very spark of hope and will to live. Something inside, buried deep beneath layers of pain and despair, refused to give up.

Clinging to this spark, she held onto it mentally and painfully, returning piece by piece from oblivion. It promised a long and arduous journey, but she knew there was no other choice.

Perhaps, in her oblivion, Anna was saying farewell to her friends: Azazel and Triiter, or perhaps she was thanking Lion and Anastasia for the emotional thrill they gave her…

Most likely, she did not blame Mark for his action, possibly done against his will. But more than anything, she longed to see the younger of the brothers and work alongside him, like with a being that had saved her life twice. The girl was bound to Ruvars by a single strong thread, and that very thread was his demonic power, which did not allow Anna to disappear in the triumph of reason over chaos…

On the bier of her silence, Anna controlled nothing: neither life nor death, neither malice nor joy…

Now she was at the mercy of the younger of the brothers and his power, which, like a wild beast, did not know what to do or how to exist in a “body” that did not exist. In a state, that could not be recognized by either the higher beings, which dwelled on her level or the lower ones inhabiting the flow of darkness.

Anna’s power seemed as if it had been trapped in a cage, and she could only break free from the snare through the demon and his assistance. Selfish and once self-absorbed Ruvars could not find peace, watching the dust motes floating inside the vacuum sphere. He forgot all his problems and shut his eyes to everything happening around him. His thoughts were only where there was still a glimmer of hope for the salvation of a person who had become a breath of fresh air for him.

Ruvars didn’t know what to do next or how to move forward! He was afraid of making the wrong step, just as Anna once feared, and of harming his friend.

Hoping to hear or feel something approving that might give him confidence in his next step, Ruvars went to… Anna.

Noticing the approaching figure, the cobras reared up, taking on a threatening posture. They hissed furiously, keeping their eyes fixed on Ruvars, opening their mouths wider and wider, like enraged dogs. Two of them stretched to their full length as soon as they saw that Ruvars was crossing the boundaries of their territory.

He leaned forward slightly to look into the eyes of the snakes, knowing they were supposed to recognize him.

– Forgive us, master, but we didn’t recognize you at once! Are you now a human, with a beating heart in your chest? – hissed one of the cobras in a human voice.

Ruvars smiled and once again took the form of his former ‘master.’ He was pleased that they recognized him, but the reptile’s words touched him, emphasizing his human nature, albeit incomplete!

– I hear a heartbeat! – suddenly said the second one, in the same human voice as the first.

Ruvars was slightly taken aback by the tone in her voice, which sounded like a verdict. Could it be that she didn’t understand who was standing before her?

The cobras, as if parting in a bow, cleared the path for their former master, once the curse of their dwelling. He was aware of his duality, accepted it, and understood how tormenting the process of rebirth from darkness into light was for a demon!

Ruvars’ path had been paved with heavy and harsh lessons. Every misdeed, sharp and relentless, pierced his very essence to the core, tempering his will and twisting his morality. Rejected by his family, hunted by the angels of darkness, and misunderstood by humans, he wandered through worlds, gathering fragments of past glory and hope into a bottomless well of despair, that is, of his very existence.

And now he had to learn to see the light in people, the higher links in the unjust chain of life, who had fallen into his circle not by chance, but to “continue” their path.

The demon did not crave praise or guidance. Cruel and stubborn, he yielded to no one in the boundless expanses of the abode of darkness or in the cold void. His name, spoken in a whisper, struck fear even in the most hardened criminals brought before him for judgment, and his gaze, piercing the darkness, made the very foundations of existence shudder. He was the embodiment of chaos, the architect of destruction, an untamed whirlwind sweeping away everything in its path.

In his past – if one could even speak of a past for a being so ancient and beyond time – there were moments of the fall of empires, the fading of stars, and the birth of stories. He was both observer and participant in the greatest tragedies of the universe, a centuries – old witness to the transience of all that exists.

He was surrounded by legions of servants, lower – ranking demons, and ready to carry out his every will, no matter how monstrous it might be. They bowed to him not out of fear, but from the highest sense of devotion, admiring his power and his ability to sow destruction.

But even in this realm of darkness and despair, in the very essence of the demon, there flickered a sense of something else. No, not kindness, but a certain semblance of longing. He saw the worlds he had created crumble, and despite his destiny, he felt a fleeting, painful emptiness.

Perhaps even the most terrifying demon has its own, personal form of sorrow, a sorrow over the fact that, in the end, everything turns to dust. And this sorrow only pushed him toward new destructions, to new acts of vandalism against reality.

Suddenly, a light breeze, fresh as if after rain, brushed against his cheek. The demon shuddered at this touch, for such a thing had never happened before.

Along the blurred banks of a river that seemed to appear from nowhere, one could guess that the water parted before the lord of the dark world. His selfishness slightly receded, but his chest was overflowing with joy at the fact that nature and the elements were still subject to him, as in those times when he ruled over them absolutely.

The closer Ruvars got to Anna, the more his thoughts wandered. A few meters from the vacuum speckled with dust, strange metamorphoses were happening: they thickened into shapeless dark spots, contracted into tiny spheres the size of walnuts, stretched into barely visible threads. Lightning, like spears, pierced Ruvars’ body, unmistakably making it clear that Anna’s space resisted his intrusion.

It wasn’t that he felt pain – the demonic protection shielded him from unbearable suffering – but the tingling caused slight irritation, which made Ruvars flinch.

The youngest of the brothers valued his freedom above all else and did not want to part with it, nor did he want to lose Anna. The demon was being torn apart. Without Anna, he felt like he was crumbling from the inside, and the desire to get her back grew with each passing hour, gaining frenzied strength.

He was subject to strange forces, alien to both darkness and light. His human mind thought differently than when he was a demon. Ruvars understood that these changes were for the better, as they gave him a sense of purpose. He felt that his existence would end when Anna finally disappeared from his life. But he pushed these thoughts away, for he had grand plans for the girl; he was not going to give her up to his soul-hungry brothers!

A few steps away from the place where Anna’s dust motes swirled in a chaotic dance, Ruvars saw a strange aura, like the glow of a bright beam. He wanted to quicken his pace, but something held him back, preventing him from approaching the girl. Then he cast off his human guise and returned to his devilish form.

The glow intensified so much that the heat of the underworld seemed like a faint spark. Ruvars imagined that he was not the master of hell, but the Master of the Void, still as powerful and almighty as ever. His face remained stern, but the scorching heat brought him back to reality, where he realized that unknown forces were keeping him away from Anna. Ruvars hoped that he could be useful, to fulfill all her wishes and whims…

He wanted to be a true friend to her, caring and honest, but right now that was impossible…

Anna remained unattainable for him, distant, existing outside the world of good and evil. She couldn’t imagine how much Ruvars was suffering because, instead of him, she had been the one to suffer.

The celestial body, resembling the sun, shone dimmer than usual. The icy wind from the east grew stronger with each gust, instilling fear in all living things near Ruvars and his “friend” within the vacuum sphere.

Grains of sand swirled as if driven by a hurricane, scattering with immense force in all directions. It was impossible to keep track of them; their movements were strange and unusual. As Ruvars approached Anna, the sand grains seemed to panic, darting around their “home” – Anna. His presence was something frightening, terrifying to them. How else could one explain their chaotic running, their frantic dashes from side to side, and their continuous movement along a path dictated by an invisible force?

Ruvars was torn by confusion. He least of all wanted to disturb the girl, whose gaze; he felt, could watch him from afar.

The vacuum, seeming strange and ominous, was split in two. One half was black, like a starless night, the other white, like bone. With each passing day, its color shifted to the opposite, and the blackness deepened as Anna’s life force waned in her struggle against the shadows of the underworld.

She was partially surrendered to the power of the Ruvars brothers, where her zest for life had almost dried up. Only a small spark of indomitable will lingered within her, giving hope for salvation if Ruvars decided on a desperate step and returned her with the help of the Root of the Sun’s.

As if in a fleeting dream, Anna wandered down a corridor woven from thick fog, where her steps were slow and uncertain. Dry leaves, freshly fallen from the trees, rustled under her feet. Sometimes, finding herself in a ghostly forest where dense thickets intertwined and the trees whispered strange voices, Anna vaguely recognized the place. She drove away thoughts of oblivion and the possibility that her return might not happen…

Her heart ached for the days when she had joyfully lived among close and beloved people. The longing for a past that could not be reclaimed or relived tormented her. Thoughts of Ruvars – the being who had helped her become what she was now – kept surfacing in the girl’s mind again and again.

Although she could not be called a “living” person, every particle of her broken body felt that she could return to life only through a miracle. She awaited this miracle like the dawn of a new beginning, like the first star in the night sky that would show her a new path.

In secret, Anna dreamed of Anastasia’s return. She had embraced her like a mother and, with all her heart and the purity of her soul, nurtured in her the noble feelings inherent in aristocracy. She understood that the refined manners she had learned from Lion were connected to Anastasia. At this thought, Anna shuddered, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt that she had lost a close person in the figure of her lady, a woman who had loved her like a daughter.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by someone’s concern over the vacuum. She heard the beating of a heart and a swarm of thoughts that she could barely grasp. In that very moment, Anna realized: it was Ruvars.

A trembling voice, full of questions she could not answer, wounded her, causing unbearable pain. Every sound the demon made resonated in her with scorching torment. Anna shouted at the top of her lungs that she could hear him, but he was distant, like an impenetrable mountain peak. She could not help someone who was so far away, even though only a few meters separated them…

The young demon hid from the pain in silence. He tried to seem cold and distant, but it was in vain. After all, now he was human!

– Ruvars! – Anna cried out with such fury and pain that her servants shook their heads, as if they had heard her desperate plea.

He turned toward Anna. The yearning in his chest made the half-demon look around for a familiar voice, but he saw no one and turned away.

“I’m going to lose my mind soon, living like this is impossible!” – Ruvars thought.

Anna screamed again at the top of her lungs, and this time the young demon’s heart seemed to stop. The girl was calling him for help!

The cobras twirled their heads again, as if dancing, showing their displeasure. Their peace had never been disturbed so often!

They were looking for their master, but the Master of the Void was nowhere to be found. He stood with his head down, examining unfamiliar tracks under his feet. Ruvars seemed to dissolve, disappearing from the sight of his former servants.

He thought about how wonderful it would be to have his former demonic power! How quickly he could find Mark and how cruelly he would punish him for betrayal, sending him to the underworld for the highest judgment. But his full demonic might had faded over time, and having been reborn, he began to realize the tragedy of the situation, why and for whom he had become ordinary!

Ruvars knew that the girl was calling him, that she needed his help, for her strength was running out! She couldn’t control it in a vacuum, and hope for salvation was fading with every second.

Anna and Ruvars were equally afraid of being left alone on opposite sides of the worlds! She didn’t want to fall under the control of his brothers, and he did not want to remain alone in her world! Therefore, the search for the Root of the Sun՚s, the source of supreme energy for Anna, had to succeed. He believed in it with all his demonic heart!

Ruvars was one step away from discovering Anna’s secret, from appearing to her and pulling her out of the captivity of the unknown. Neither of them could have imagined that their separation would last so long. Anna dreamt of Ruvars, of his transformation, and of the blessings he brought to people, while Ruvars was certain that Anna deserved to live in luxury befitting the Queen of Fire. But for now…

Two kindred hearts, thinking and feeling the world alike, were separated! A demon in the guise of an angel or an angel in the guise of a demon – neither is true! And if Anna had inherited a part of his devilish power, his strength had not waned; on the contrary, he felt it surging within him. He knew that soon he would have to rid himself of the excess energy at all costs, in order to somehow tame his unquenchable power and wrath.