Universal Parallels: The Earth. Marina Marli
broken. The warriors stopped laughing and obeyed his leader. For a moment, everything was quiet again, only the occasional snuffling of horses disturbed this newly established idyll. There were seven of them. Seven people who intended to destroy something unknown to them.
Deva watched them attentively, noting the clothes created for battles. Their swords, arrows and knives. But most of all, she noticed their similarity to the environment they lived in. Hair and beards stuck out in clumps from under helmets, shaped like scalps. The clothes made of leather, reliably protected their bodies. Metal rings of armor covered it from above, as if the thinnest haze covered the earth from a stranger’s eyes. Of course, everything is as it befits hunters who went out in search of prey.
The leader finally finished examining her and breaking the silence that hung, said:
«You are going with us.»
Even the air was shaken by his loud voice.
«The cloak,» he commanded, looking at one of the warriors and moving his head in the direction of the maiden.
The warrior did not take long to wait. He quickly jumped off the horse, took a cloth from a bag strapped to the saddle and threw it over Deva’s shoulders covering her silver cloak. In this attire she became just like them. Just like an Earth clan inhabitant. Only a fading glow coming through in some places from under the fabric, revealed her as a stranger.
«Here,» the leader pointed to a place behind him.
The warrior grabbed her by the elbow and led to the horse. The maiden looked at the leader and shook her head, making it clear that she did not know how to handle horses and had never ridden them.
«Nursing you,» the leader snored with displeasure, clenching his teeth and angrily exhaled.
«Hands here,» the warrior pointed to the saddle straps, then pointed to the stirrup. «Put your foot here. Understood?»
The maiden nodded.
«Thanks heaven,» he breathed out in relief, while the leader silently watched all the actions of Deva.
Grasping the fastenings, she unsuccessfully tried to get her foot into the stirrup, which was running away from her, and her foot got tangled in the long fabrics of her clothes.
«She just arrived and is already pissing me off,» the leader muttered. «Help her!» he commanded the warrior standing next to him. He hastily took her by the waist and, like a piece of fluff, threw her into the saddle in one easy movement. Deva settled behind the leader, who was still threatening, muttering and swallowing words.
Spurring their horses and wasting no more time, the squad set off on their way back. The road to the Earth Clan lay through the Dark Woods and a Burned Valley, which in the morning light were preparing to emerge in front of Deva in all their ugly beauty. However, neither terrifying picture, nor these conquering warriors, nor the twisted trees, nor the trip to the unknown somewhere, intimidated her. There was only one thought in Deva’s head: to fulfill her mission.
Throughout the journey, Deva didn’t just observe, she felt the poison-soaked earth on her skin. There have been many wars. A lot of blood was spilled. She inhaled this poisoned air and, riding out of the forest into the valley, with great sadness in her eyes and pain in her heart, she looked at what was left of the once flourishing land. She closed and opened her eyes. She thought it was all a dream, that it can’t be like that. But no matter how she wanted to hide herself from all that – it was the current reality. With a depressed and contrite look, she stared at the leader’s back and tried to hold back the tears rolling into her eyes.
The first rays of the morning sun, breaking through heavy leaden clouds, illuminated what remained of the former beauties. The maiden peering out from under her hood felt a sharp stab in her heart. She held her breath as if someone attacked her from behind and unexpectedly stabbed her with a knife. She bitterly thought about the awful treatment of nature. «How could people have created all this? These little, uncomprehending people… They don’t just kill each other, they destroy all around.»
The valley was scorched, sprinkled and powered with death. For a moment, it seemed to her that there was nothing left to save on the Earth and she was sent here in vain. From such terrifying views and heavy thoughts, she again buried her lifeless gaze on the back of the man who sat in front of her. Her fingers clenched involuntarily, and she felt the warmth of him. Deva remembered what was hidden deep in the hearts of these people who were bringing her to their clan. The realization of this gave her hope, fragile as the first autumn ice. The maiden’s doubts were interrupted by a sudden stop: the gates of the Earth Clan towered in front of them like iron guards. Deva finally got distracted and, squinting her eyes, looked with interest at the gate and the huge stone wall surrounding the settlement.
The giant wall was so high that the peaks of the observation towers touched the sky; so wide that a pair of chariots could ride along its top. Four identical towers rose along the edges of the settlement, forming a regular square, and four more were visible inside it. There were two more small turrets on each side of the gate, where sentries hid in narrow loopholes. The whole structure seemed to her an impregnable fortress, and it seemed impossible to conquer it. However, the huge gate began its movement with ease, rising. First, a thick iron rod began to move. Its ends were sharpened. Then, the cloth itself. It was chained in an iron frame. Deva saw just an ordinary settlement, where common hard working people lived. They met their brave warriors and she stared at them curiously.
For some they were fathers, for others they were sons. Men in dark brown trousers and long shirts the color of wet sand, tied with sash. Older women hide their hair under shawls, the ends of which encircled their heads. Their loose, straight-cut, plain, thick green dresses were probably comfortable. The dresses of young girls are long and layered, it seems that they are standing in the clouds. Over the dress, strict linen vests are worn, the length is till the layered clothes. The girl’s hair was gathered in thick braids, and a ribbon in the color of vest was on their head.
The inhabitants were completely different from the stern warriors who accompanied her. This contrast made a strong impression on her. On one hand, she was glad to see that not all people are the same, on the other, she did not understand how, with such similarities, some kill, while others calmly did what they usually do, leading an ordinary life.
She saw the villagers standing on the other side of the open gate looking curiously at her. Deva lowered her eyes and tried not to look at anyone else as they gazed at her. Meanwhile, the warriors accompanying her were so inspired by their brilliant work that they completely forgot about caution. It seemed to the leader that they were already at home and nothing could threaten them here. Losing his vigilance, he decided to dismount from his steed right in front of the open gate to enter the settlement victoriously, holding their prey tightly by the hand.
«To help or by yourself?» he asked Deva almost in a friendly way, as an absolute master.
«I’ll try it by myself, thanks.»
«Okay,» he replied indifferently and, turning away, stared at the open gate, where a mass of people was crowding, waiting for the return of the squad.
Meanwhile, Deva was throwing her leg over the horse’s back, jumping lightly to the ground.
«Nimble,» the leader quietly commented on Deva’s successful leap, squinting at her.
All the other warriors from the escort also jumped off their horses one by one, being proud of themselves, slightly puffed out their chests.
Deva smiled faintly. She heard the praise that inadvertently fell from the lips of the stern warrior and which, probably, she should not have heard. Suddenly, something whistled by her ear and the warriors started to fall. One, two, three… The inhabitants of the clan started to scream and run around. The arrows whizzed past her again and again, piercing the bodies of the warriors. Their carelessness was not forgiven. The horror was imprinted in her eyes. She couldn’t move. Meanwhile the remnants of the warriors were hiding behind their horses. They sacrificed