***
The vampire woke up and immediately regretted it, but falling back unconscious was already impossible. He rose to his feet, trying to move as smoothly as possible, and walked away, deciding to return when he felt better. Gas molecules, also known as air, were colliding with each other deafeningly, and the wind whistled, watching their dance. After having lost his elite vampire troops in one moment, he realized he'd made a big mistake. He should have taken the castle immediately upon his arrival five thousand years ago. And when he decided to rectify the situation and make it his impregnable lair, he'd chosen the wrong approach once again. He shouldn't have thrown himself into this wilderness without really knowing who lived here. And here was the result, a staggering defeat and a blow to his plans to seize the planet.
His head buzzed, the wind howled and whistled unbearably. Somehow getting to the forest, the vampire found a dark place and collapsed there, unconscious.
***
The captain watched the actions of princes enthusiastically. Yeah, they were brave soldiers. He remembered them from how they'd reacted to his ship. Such people were able to defeat the vampires, and the captain was glad he hadn't burned them during an emergency take off.
The robot-interceptor was recording their conversations, and it became clear that the princes were heading to the mysterious Kashchey, whom everyone called the Immortal. Only it wasn't clear whether this was really so or if it was just an exaggeration. The peasants, for example, when talking about their battle with the vampires, had increased the number of killed enemies by exactly three... thirty-three times. And the soldiers in the capital hadn't even blinked after hearing about a new problem. This world, it seemed, firmly stood on its feet, and people were ready to fight back at any moment. Their military skills were of top class.
Now, if he could learn who Kashchey was...
Why not? He didn't have to worry about the vampires, the people themselves would destroy them. Now he understood why the vampires had failed to conquer this planet. The people didn't allow it! (The captain didn't know how deeply wrong he was by jumping from pessimism to excessive optimism so quickly.) So, he just had to follow the princes, and soon it would be clear who Kashchey was and what he represented.
The captain gave the command to the robot-scout and it began to move after the princes, keeping a careful distance behind them. The captain focused on installing the night vision system. After he returned home, the film would become such a sensation that he would be able to buy a whole planetary system!
The captain dedicated himself entirely to his task, but toward the night, he was distracted by a strange event. Something flashed from the north side so brightly that he'd lost his sight for a moment, and the night vision devices went permanently out of order. The computer showed the calculated power of that flash, and it turned out that it was equal to the explosion of a nuclear bomb with a capacity of three thousand eight hundred megatons.
The tornado beams came from the same direction.
Funnily, the computer showed that princes were moving to that exact region. Conclusion? Only the devil knew what was happening here. He had to leave the ship and look around. Not directly, of course. With the help of mega-scanner.
The captain took off his helmet and put it on his head with trepidation. This device was worth an unimaginable amount of money, so he avoided using it until now. But that moment finally came. He flicked the switch, and the helmet became poorly lit with pink lights. The glasses showed the world so vividly, as if the captain was really standing right on the ground. On the planet itself, a ghostly phantom appeared, moving according to the commands and transmitting the video signal to the ship via the mega-scanner. From there, it streamed into the helmet and goggles, all in real-time. The captain synchronized his movements with the princes', stood on the "treadmill", a so-called flight simulator, and set off. The phantom flew north at the same speed.
At first, the captain dodged the trees, but after failing to do that in one instance, he realized that mega-scanner could slip through any obstacles and surfaces. Rushing straight ahead was unusual, so the captain closed his eyes now and then. Soon, though, he got used to it and increased his speed.
"I hope I won't forget myself and do the same thing in reality," the captain muttered from time to time. Getting un-used to the virtual advantages would be tough.
***
The crow was flying carefully, rising above the trees occasionally to check if the teeth were around. Brontoquack had told her that they came suddenly yet that it was easy to catch their approach by the enchanting singing. Gathering her courage, the crow boldly flew higher, and to her joy, she realized that the teeth were clearly not around. The flight zone was completely clean, so she could fly wherever she wanted! But there was something strange, too. Where were the birds and the insects?
And the ubiquitous sly faces disappeared, as if they'd been licked away.
Deciding to take a break on a high tree, the crow looked for bugs or worms, but they weren't visible.
"Anyone here?" she shouted. She needed to eat someone!
'Anyone here?' a resounding echo responded. 'Anyone here... here... ere... e...' A nearby tree stirred.
"What's wrong? Why are you making all this noise?" it asked in a dissatisfied, low voice.
"Aah!" the crow screamed, darting away. Tangled in the branches, she fell to the ground and started to crawl away.
"Where are you?" the tree asked. "What kind of joke is this? You wake me up and hide right away? I'm not playing hide and seek! Come back and tell me why you're making all this noise."
The crow ignored the order.
"Okay, let's play hide and seek!" the tree agreed grimly. "Ready or not, here I come."
There was a noise like thunder, and then the tree swayed and stirred. The top thinnest branches twitched and quickly got absorbed by larger branches. In turn, they joined the rapidly diminishing trunk. Turning into a tiny sprout, the tree swung, as if looking for a crow, and disappeared completely. The crow flew up, and to her horror, she saw a rapidly growing network of branches right in front of her. Making a steep dive, she turned and flew in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" the tree protested. "You can't fly away from me."
"We'll see!"
"I had to catch different birds before."
"And what do I have to do with that?"
"You woke me up and I'll eat you for it. You look too sporty, but I have no choice."
The crow chuckled and sat on top of the birch. The tree immediately surrounded her with its branches.
"Got you!" it screamed. "You gave up! Wow, that was fast. All right, I'll eat you now. I will!" I will!"
"You talk too much!" the crow said, carefully backing away through the single accessible hole. "What a lousy hunter."
Then she raced toward north. The tree screamed, "Liar! I'll catch you anyway!"
"I fly fast."
"I'm not a turtle either!"
"Goodbye!" the crow cooed. The tree plunged into the ground and followed her with rapid speed. The dirt was getting pushed out to the surface because of its volume, which clearly showed where the tree was rushing.
"What an overgrown sprout," the crow grunted sourly.
The roots of large trees were torn by an underground runner, and small trees jumped along with their roots. The crow saw a rapidly lengthening black line on a green background. The tree was already ahead of her and it was easily repeating her pirouettes and changes of direction. Turning north again, the crow gained altitude and soared. She had a big distance to cover in her fall, so she could relax a bit and take a break. The earth was gradually approaching but the thin black line only became wider. The tree didn't lag behind.
Once upon a time, when the crow was very young, the old raven told her about the mysterious trees that suddenly came to life and caught little birds who decided to fly at night for dinner. The little crows didn't believe these stories, so they flew at night and never met anything l
ike that. But as it turned out, the old raven wasn't out of his mind due to his age. He spoke the truth and made only one mistake. These predatory trees hunted not only at night but also during the day! Perhaps this was what had eaten all the locals and why the forest was dead silent.
The sky was extremely clear. Not a single cloud to change direction and remain unnoticed by the tree. The line of its movements disappeared behind the crowns of the trees, occasionally peeking through the thick foliage. The tree was a stubborn opponent. Or it was very hungry.
"A crawling hunter!" the crow muttered. And suddenly it dawned on her that for the last half an hour, she could hear the soft singing of the flying teeth. The crow was seized by a wild fear, her heart almost jumping out of her beak. She frantically spun on the spot, trying to see a dangerous enemy. And soon she noticed several dots on the horizon.
The tree slowed down. It sensed the powerful waves of fear coming from the crow and was trying to determine what it was about.
The crow swept up, not knowing what to do. If she stayed in the sky, she'd get mercilessly chewed. If she went down, she'd be chewed, too, just as mercilessly. The choice was small and entailed deciding who to give herself for chewing. The crow disliked both options.
The tree became even more interested in seeing what had frightened the bird so much. It stretched out over the forest and turned toward the flying teeth. It wanted to know what feelings were coming from the teeth, but the hatred they radiated hit it so hard that the stunned tree slowly collapsed.
The crow reacted instantly. She dived at top speed and disappeared in the foliage right under the nose of the teeth. There, she grabbed the branch with her beak and froze in anticipation of the enchanting singing. But the teeth took their places in the crowns of the trees, settled back and fell silent. The crow opened her beak and looked at the ground. Maybe the mean tree-hunter was plotting something against her? What she saw plunged her into a deep state of shock. The ground was dotted with crumpled and chewed feathers as well as crushed and simply gnawed bones of birds and animals. The tree was lying in the middle, resembling a dead snake that had choked on hedgehogs and porcupines.
The crow slid to the ground and flew over the layers of bones. She finally realized what it was. A cesspool for the teeth, with the crowns of trees being their home. This was from where they went hunting and where they returned to rest. It was the lair of the predators that made the forest dwellers tremble. The bitten skull of some large animal stared at the crow with empty eye sockets, but it didn't frighten her. After the nightmare she'd lived through, the crow lost the ability to be afraid, so she felt as if nothing terrible was happening. The fear was gone, leaving a feeling of unreality behind.
The tree woke up and began to convulse. The teeth froze. Someone was making noise in their home? It was like a strike of a lightning! But they couldn't go down and find out who was making the noise. They were too scared of getting tangled in the branches. The teeth soared and froze, trying to determine where the source of noise was moving. Meanwhile, the tree was looking for the crow. Catching her waves of feelings, it dived underground and rushed towards her. The crowd of teeth flew after the tree.
Hearing a noise, the crow turned around. The tree was jumping in and out of the ground like a fish, the teeth were flying over it, and this cheerful company was moving right toward her!
"Caaaw!" the crow yelled, and with the last bits of strength, she flew toward the castle.
***
After approaching the castle for the second time, the vampire didn't carelessly storm the gates again. He doubted he'd live through another explosion of a sound bomb. He wanted to look for some holes or cracks. He had to hurry, though, because while he'd be able to tolerate the morning light, the midday sun would kill him instantly. He had to find a way to enter the castle and attack its owner right now. Let it be his revenge for having to enter the building like a rat, not like a Lord of Vampires.
Or should he challenge the master of the castle to a duel? Well... No. Judging by the remoteness of his housing, he was not a simple person. Either a hermit or a villain.
His flow of thoughts was interrupted by the desperate caws of the crow. The vampire raised his eyebrows in amazement. Something like an incredibly thick worm was flying behind the crow, jumping like a fish over water. The crow flew up to the castle and soared up sharply. The tree rushed after her, crashing into the window. It shattered into hundreds of small pieces from the impact, and pushing off the ledge on the wall, the tree jumped on the crow. The bird made a loop and dived into the broken window.
The tree repeated her path and almost disappeared inside when a flock of teeth attacked it, grabbed it by the trunk and dragged it back. The tree twitched, destroying a part of the wall. The stones fell to the ground. The vampire ran to the side and watched these strange events from a safe distance.
***
The crow began to hurl herself along the corridors, still cawing, thinking of nothing but the ways to escape from the tree. She flew into some corridor and almost fell in a hungry swoon. An extremely delicious smell was coming from the nearest room.
With some eighteenth sense, the crow realized that neither the tree nor some other enemies were around, so she jumped on the table and pounced on the food, devouring it so quickly, as if her life depended on it.
***
The teeth pulled the tree outside and began to chew on it. The tree was tossing and writhing in response, the teeth were shattering into dozens of pieces, falling to the ground.
The vampire was shocked. The teeth tore at the tree, the tree responded with titanic blows, and it was impossible to understand who was winning. The battle in the sky reached its climax when a cunning face appeared out of thin air right next to the vampire. The vampire broke away from the battle and stared. More and more faces appeared from the void right before his eyes, smiling slyly and covering the ground with a smooth smiling carpet. The vampire moved away just in time. The carpet moved toward the fragments of teeth and pieces of wings lying here and there.
Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!
The vampire turned cold. It occurred to him that if they didn't have enough, they would probably eat him, too.
***
The crow barely managed to finish the food. She plopped down on the table, exhausted, and only then did she notice that she had company. Kashchey and Maria were sitting next to her. They'd entered right in the midst of the crow's feast. They watched the crow curiously and even had time to bet on whether she would be able to eat all the food or if she'd choke.
"To think how far the hunger can push another living being!" Kashchey said. "The appetite like that of an elephant! Where did she come from and how did she get into the castle?"
"Ask her yourself," Maria advised. "And ask about the racket, too. Hear that?"
"I do. Let her rest and then she can fly where he wants. Such a brave bird shouldn't be turned into a scarecrow."
"I think that since she came here and wasn't scared, she wants to do something to you."
"To me? She? Are you crazy?"
"Well, there have to be some evil crows."
"She's as evil as I am a crow!"
"Nevertheless... You've found a translator for languages of all known life forms, so use it. Ask her what she wants."
"Okay, I'll do it, but later. First, I have to see what that noise is about. Maybe the vampire didn't get the hint and decided to repeat the attack."
***
The captain was so used to passing through the obstacles that in his excitement, he turned on top speed and left the princes far behind. Like a bullet, he passed through the windbreak and almost flew through Kashchey's castle, stopping inches from the tall wall with an incredible number of windows. The captain lifted his head to look at the building and gasped in amazement.
A castle. So tall that if you looked at it from below, you could easily become insecure about your height. The captain moved back and tried to determine the type of architecture. But he'd never
seen such ornamentation before. Calculating how old the castle was, he went cold. Judging by the cracks and its overall appearance, as well as by the thickness of the part of foundation that sank into the ground under the weight of time, the structure was so ancient that it could easily compete with the civilization of the captain himself.
An unknown advanced civilization on the edge of the galaxy? The one that sank into oblivion until the advent of the World Union? How could that be possible? This was a real discovery, one of those worthy of mention in the golden book titled "The History of the Worlds"!
"I've immortalized my name!" the captain exclaimed and felt like someone passed through him. "If I manage to get back home..."
For a moment, he forgot that he was an intangible formation of the mega-scanner. The captain stared at the monster that had struck him. He thought that this place had accumulated a strange amount of organisms from different planets. They were strikingly different from each other in structure and physical characteristics. Why hadn't the developers of the mega-scanner thought to make a built-in screen so it would be possible to clarify the characteristics of the newly arrived forms of life? How come nobody had decided to provide the device with such important features?
"The castle is mine!" he heard the angry cry of a vampire, who was trying to unsuccessfully grab the captain by his clothes. The captain, in turn, tried to grab his hands, but both of them failed.
"You are the owner of this castle?"
"Not yet!" the vampire growled. "But I'll be the owner soon! And I advise you not to get in my way!
He sent a series of crushing blows but only threshed the air in vain. The captain decided to show that he was worth something, too, so in response, he began to box enthusiastically in an emergency mode. Then he realized that the blows were hitting not the vampire but the tools of the ship surrounding him in reality. He must have punched something accurately a few times since his fist was moaning with pain. The captain took off his helmet and rushed to check what damage he had done to his own property.
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