At that moment we heard a strange noise in the corridor. Koschei was very surprised, as did I. As far as I remembered, there was not a single soul in the Koschei's castle, except for himself. We went out into the corridor and saw how some strange man dressed in fancy armour was wandering around the castle and making noise. Seeing us, this man rushed to us, thundering at the same time like a whole army of pots.
Running closer, in this strange man, I recognized Ivan, whom I met at the very beginning of my dream. If in our first meeting he was in rags, now he was dressed in a strange-looking armour, which made him not a simple fool, but a fool-knight. To say that Ivan put on iron from head to toe is to say nothing. Back in school, in history lessons, we looked at knightly armour, in pictures in books. Well, now imagine that ordinary knightly armour was covered with a whole bunch of various thicknesses and lengths of thorns, and that's not all. Those places that this same armour should have protected - the chest, arms, legs and groin - it didn't cover. In these places, there was some semblance of aluminium, and it is hardly capable of protecting anything.
"Koschei! Give me back my beloved!"
Ivan's voice broke into a squeak when he shouted it. We looked at each other with Koschei, and I shrugged my shoulders, showing that I wasn't aware of what was happening now. To which Koschey winked at me, and with all possible acting skills, said:
"No, I will not return her to you, now she belongs to me!"
To be more convincing, he hugged me with his icy cold hand, and goosebumps ran all over my body.
"Then... then... Then I will kill you with this very sword!"
Ivan took out a wooden sword from somewhere. There was drawn some strange inscriptions. At that moment, I felt that Koschei shuddered. I looked at him and saw genuine fear in his eyes.
"Is it possible to kill you?" I whispered so that only Koschei could hear me.
"No, but it's really possible to put me to a long sleep," Koschei answered me and turned to Ivan. "Where did you get this "heroic" sword? Did Baba Yaga helped you?"
"She..." Ivan tightened his grip on the hilt of his wooden sword. "She told me that you are sharpening your teeth to my love, that you liked her. You want to enchant her, but know that I won't give her to you! She's mine!"
Ivan rushed to Koshchei. The all-powerful sorcerer managed to say something, and guards in shiny armours with a wild roar appeared right in front of Ivan.
"Stop him!" Koschei shouted and then grabbed, whispered: "Follow me" and led away. Hiding around the corner of the corridor, I turned around and saw how one of Koshchei's guards was defeated by a wooden sword.
Koschei led me into a hall: there was a very gloomy atmosphere, I would even say that it was more of a massive crypt than a simple large threshold. Koschei closed the door behind us. Led me to the middle, where there was a big frame from a mirror. Next to a small altar, there was a goblet with an empty decanter. The only light that illuminated the room came from the ceiling, above the mirror frame.
"You must promise that in return for fulfilling your desire, you will give me your heart."
"What if I can't promise? What if I'm not sure of myself anymore? Maybe I don't want to go home?"
Koschei stopped and looked sternly into my eyes:
"Do you really want my death? After all, this fool can really put me to sleep with this sword, and then you definitely will not be able to get home. You'll become his wife... at best. After all, he is deeply in love with you and will not let you go anywhere. Do you want this?"
"No," I answered timidly.
"Then promise me that in return for the fulfilment of your desire - to return home - you will give me your heart!"
Koschei again led me towards the frame and the goblet on the altar. Having poured crystal clear water from an empty decanter, Koschei took out a needle from under his cloak and pricked his ring finger on his right hand. A crimson drop of blood appeared on Koshchei's marbled white skin; he wiped his finger on the edge of the goblet and the drop of blood mixed with water. Having handed me the cup, Koschei said:
"Now say: I promise to give my heart to Koschei in exchange for the fulfilment of my desire to return home. After which you have to drink it all until the bottom."
I reached out for the goblet but hesitated. Somewhere outside the door, Ivan shouted. The roar of his strange armour was heard.
"Say it!" Koschei raised his voice.
Under the onslaught of his voice, I took the cup and whispered: "I promise to give my heart to Koschei in exchange for fulfilling my desire to return home," after which I began to drink from the cup. The icy liquid filled me, and I felt my body weaken. I swallowed the last gulp and gave the cup to Koschei. A bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face; he took the goblet from my hands and put it on the altar. At that moment, the doors to the hall opened, and Ivan burst inside.
"I won't let you enchant my love!"
Koschei again said something and the floor in the hall split, leaving us with Koschey on a small island in the middle of a vast abyss.
"And now let's seal our agreement," Koschey said maliciously, put his arm around me with one hand the other on my chest, and then kissed me.
His kiss was scorchingly cold as if he was drawing all my vitality from me. It seemed as if the soul was being pulled out, tearing the flesh apart. I wanted to scream in pain, but his lips didn't allow me to do it. In the end, when the pain stopped, I heard what Ivan was shouting something towards Koschei.
I couldn't even imagine that someone could insult someone like that. But, to be honest, I wasn't interested in it. My gaze fell on the scarlet sphere in the hands of Koshchei, which made the sounds of a beating heart.
"A woman's heart is capable of giving incredible power to anyone. And therefore for such a generous gift, I will fulfil your wish, I hope you'll found what you were looking for in life."
Holding the sphere with my heart, Koschey waved his right hand, and the frame of the mirror suddenly sparkled, opening the passage to my apartment.
I touched my chest, which continued to ache with pain. I would be swayed and would have fallen if Koschei hadn't picked me up.
"Don't fall, darling, go ahead... They're awaiting you at home."
Koschei pronounced these words so gently that the pain in my chest began to heal. I looked into his dark eyes, pulled a little closer to him and gently kissed his cold cheek. Then I took a couple of steps back and plunged into sweet bliss. The last thing I remembered before closing my eyes was Koshchei's mocking smile.
The next time I opened my eyes, I realized that I was lying in my bed. On the walls of the room, there were old wallpapers from the days when my grandmother was young. A wide armchair-bed on which my sister usually sleeps, a large wardrobe with grandfather's books and two small tables. One was mine, and the other belonged to my sister. I got out of bed and looked around: everything seemed so familiar, but something in me had already changed, only I couldn't understand what it was.
Having tried to discard all unnecessary thoughts, I went to get ready for work. As usual, I entered the regular rhythm of everyday life...
Only occasionally, I dreamed of a dark-eyed handsome man, with a sloppy, but no less attractive haircut. He was dressed in a grey shirt, black, in places frayed, pants and a green cloak. He and I walked along with the green gardens, and his tender kisses burned my heart like fire...
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