as you wish, I am gone,» Zimin turned round and walked up to the door. «Time to act. If you don’t want to take part in this merry competition, just step aside and observe. Enjoy watching virtuosos of seduction at work.» He touched the door handle to open it.
The angel tried to stop him:
«Don’t do that!»
«Look and see how to do it!» Boris triumphantly declared opening the double door wide. «Sorry, I made you wait,» he graciously addressed Marina upon returning to the living room.
«Grisha, by any chance is that the shell that I gave to Borya?» Marina was curiously studying the angel’s reddened face.
He had no sooner opened his mouth than the demon interjected:
«My dear, it is indeed. Grisha managed to wheedle it out of me. He told me he collects shells as mementos of his wonderful vacations. I simply couldn’t refuse him. He was so eloquent.» And he glanced scornfully at the angel.
«Uh, yes. That seems about right,» Grisha murmured. And screwing up his courage, Grisha turned to Marina and said:
«Marina, I want to give you a gift. Take this ring, hope you will like it.»
Out of his pocket he pulled a ring with a skull on it; two large rubies were glowing in the eye sockets.
«It is so gothic!» Marina exclaimed and put the ring on her finger. «It matches my dress perfectly, doesn’t it?»
«You are beautiful!» The boys assured her all together.
«I found this attire in my aunt’s closet. Kid said that I look like Isolda a lot.»
«I have a gift for you as well. And it comes straight from the heart,» Zimin said. «Please take this pendant. It will tell you when your guardian angel is close by».
Demon came up to Marina and in a showy and dramatic fashion, draped a chain with a heart-shaped pendant with little wings around her neck. The pendant glowed warmly.
«Dinner is served!» Kid appeared out of nowhere. «Help yourselves.»
The friends had no sooner enjoyed the dessert than something hummed boomingly downstairs. Kid was gone like the wind. The boys hurled after him, having only time to tell Marina:
«Stay here! Don’t leave!»
However, the girl did not follow this advice. In a couple of minutes, she was going downstairs to the basement. There she saw a rather curious scene.
Boris was shaking his finger at a petite, slim young girl with luxurious black hair and a rather revealing outfit. She was holding her hands up in front of her, as if trying to deflect his words. Her eyes were green and full of a fear that gave way to a complete absence of expression.
«You’d better help me!» Boris exclaimed.
Grisha and Zimin started waving their fingers as if in an attempt to weave the visitor into an invisible cocoon. She was growing more and more frozen. Seeing Marina, the visitor, with a final, desperate effort, cried out:
«Madam Isolda! Help me!!»
And she went almost completely limp. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kid appeared:
«Everything’s all right. No reason to worry,» he gestured and freed the captive off the invisible manacles. Failing to keep balance, the stranger fell down in the middle of a five-pointed star drawn on the floor.
Marina dashed forward to help the night guest on her feet. She felt that the latter needed assistance.
«You know my aunt, so we have to assume that this isn’t the first time you’ve been in this house. But how did you get in? And why are you here?»
«Through the window,» Boris joked. Then he immediately dropped his voice and added, threateningly. «You decided to clean out the house while the mistress was gone. Is that it, you thief?»
«She is neither a burglar nor a thief,» Kid said. «Be respectful. In front of you is Praya, the Priestess of the Circle of Light, the burgomaster of the City of Zueraf from Damramir!»
«Priestess?» Grigoriy’s eyebrows went up.
«Dam-ra-mir?» Marina slowly repeated the strange word in a low voice.
«Burgomaster?» Boris snorted disdainfully; nothing could surprise him.
The priestess was bombarded with questions from all sides. She shook her head, as if trying to finally wake up from a deep sleep and said:
«I can see that, I will have to tell you a bit about myself and why I am here.»
On the way upstairs Marina noticed that their visitor was evading shadows and dark corners. In the living room Marina settled down in an armchair, Grisha sat down on a little sofa, Boris remained standing next to a table, while Kid snuggled by the fireplace and kept adding logs into the fire. Sothern nights are extremely chilly.
Praya walked up to the fireplace:
«May I have a seat here? I feel somehow more comfortable when the fire is near. What shall I start with? I don’t know how to describe my world for you. One day I found a book titled Seven Underground Kings in the library. There was an illustration there depicting a huge cave with a city inside that was lit up with a ball of light. It is very similar; the difference is that our world has no walls. Where the light ends, Darkness and Chaos begin. The world is lit up with not one but a few Lights. I am one of the Priestesses of this Sacred Flame. Madame Isolda taught occultism and potions classes. Lo and behold, one by one, girls of our class started disappearing. We were in despair and decided to seek your aunt’s help…»
Marina, who up until that moment had been calmly listening to the story, stood up and asked crossly:
«Can somebody here explain to me what is going on? How did this young girl get here? What were you doing to her when I got here? How can we understand her if she’s from a different world? Besides Russian, I speak English, but I can understand her without a problem. What is this, a practical joke? If it is, it has failed. Well, which one of you is going to talk?» She looked at each of the young men in turn.
«Perhaps, you?» she jabbed her finger at Praya who drew back reflexively and almost fell into the fireplace. «No, you have said enough.»
«Maybe, you?» she looked at Boris. He shrugged his shoulders and sipped his cocktail. «Nothing to say, huh?»
«Could, you, Grisha, possibly quell my worries?»
«I think it’d be better if I did it,» Kid stood up. He took a deep breath and started talking. «I shouldn’t do it, but I have no choice. Your aunt Isolda is a witch. So is your mother. The only difference is that the first one is dark while the second one is light. An incredible future was foretold for you. Hence, you father decided to protect you against magic of any order. However, there is no escaping your fate. So, here you you are.»
«My mom? What are you talking about? My aunt is a witch? It’s nothing but words, you have no proof, she is not here. Where is
