Chapter 1 — Chapter 1

I am a kikimora, one of the few survivors of the war. Of course, now the Earth and magic are coming back to life, and new beings will be born. Creatures from another world sucked the life out of magical beings, nearly wiping us out. But a queen was born—she who managed to unite the two worlds. And after the Great Battle on the marshes, the Earth came back to life.

I am one of the eight surviving kikimoras, hidden by our parents in another world while still eggs. Now I have returned: I found my parents' home on the marsh and settled there. I didn't like civilization—better to run barefoot through the grass and swim without hiding from human eyes!

It all started when my kin realized there was no escape from the creatures, so they united with the last survivors. They put all the eggs into an old kikimora's belly pouch and, with a ritual, hid her in a neighboring world. That's where we were born, one after another. I am the youngest, exactly fifty years ago.

We lived a simple life, unaware that there was another side to it. So when we were brought back to our native world, to Earth, I didn't want to stay with my sisters. No one tried to stop me. Supplied with the necessary items and food, the witches sent me back to my ancestral home.

My mother's house was covered by a dome, hiding it from prying eyes and preserving it intact for almost three hundred years. She was loved by an ordinary mage, my father, and I became their first egg, which they didn't even get to see.

Looking at my parents' portrait, I realized I took a little bit from both. My mother—a petite blonde, descended from the princes Yurich. Her white hair lay in curly locks around her slender face. My father—a mage in the sixth generation, a true giant with broad shoulders and dark hair tied in a ponytail with a leather cord.

Marishka, the last kikimora in the family. Slightly wavy chestnut hair almost reached my calves, my body—slender but with a large bust and full hips. I took my height from my mother, though. And my father's eyes—dark brown, almond-shaped, with thick black lashes. Above them—arched eyebrows. A thin, straight nose, full lips the color of ripe raspberries, and dimples on my cheeks when I smiled... The girls said I was like a porcelain doll. But what good did it do? I still hadn't met anyone who would love me for who I am...

And my transformation was unusual. I didn't turn green like all the other girls, but was covered in small, colorful scales. My hair completely disappeared, leaving large eyes without eyelids on a flat face, a flat mouth full of sharp teeth, and two slits instead of a nose. Gills appeared on my neck, webbing between my fingers. My ears also disappeared... Everything disappeared! It was impossible to tell my gender.

I looked pretty scary... The other girls were such beauties in their transformed state!

My marsh needed cleaning and care—that's what I was doing, swimming calmly in my kikimora form. Who would see me here?

Oh, how wrong I was...

My marsh had been used as a dumping ground for some chemical waste: people had simply sunk several huge containers. I had to ask the swamp queen, Svetlana, for help. She, along with her husbands, took all the poison away somewhere.

I stayed behind to heal the forest, the water, and the sick wildlife—it was my gift. I could turn a sick heron with mutated short wings into a normal, healthy one and give it the ability to fly.

For five years, I worked hard until I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The marsh was almost clean—soon I would be able to gather cloudberries, herbs, and roots, rare and therefore valuable. I brought them to the witches, and in return, they supplied me with everything I needed.

Today was a heavy day. I woke up at dawn: the frogs on the marsh were screaming about strangers. My first thought was that the creatures had returned, but I found nothing. The magical trail was empty, with only a few places where the grass was pressed down. As if something large and heavy had stood there.

There was nothing to report to the queen, but I decided to swim across the entire area—just to make sure. Frogs are skittish, but they wouldn't raise a panic for no reason. Too bad there were no snakes here—the queen's helpers. With their rudimentary intelligence, they could tell much more.

While searching, I came across an injured snake. The little one had just hatched from an egg. Maybe a bird tried to eat it and damaged part of its tail, tearing it off. I curled the tiny creature into a spring on my palm, covered it with my other hand, and, sitting on a tussock, began to heal it.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling behind me. Turning around, I initially saw nothing until I switched to magical vision. It didn't help much: I could only see a shadow where someone invisible stood. Instead of being scared and diving into the water, I stared at the stranger in confusion. And that's when I paid the price.

Someone threw a small glowing ball at me, which instantly flew towards me and burst with a bright flash, knocking me unconscious.

Coming back to consciousness was hard: my head hurt and I felt nauseous. The space around me was strangely vibrating and humming...

It took me a while to come to my senses, slowly realizing that I was... in a glass container, full of water and plants from the marsh. The baby snake, which I had managed to heal, was wrapped around my neck.

Footsteps sounded behind the glass, and I instinctively recoiled, hiding behind the duckweed. Through the murky swamp water, I could make out two silhouettes, possibly human. The snake, on the other hand, detached from me and swam to the surface. After a while, it returned with mental images of what it had understood. Of course, it didn't know the language, but everything the beings behind the glass said was transformed into images and conveyed to me:

"Do you think we can sell it?"

"They'll fight over this creature! It's the only one of its kind in the entire universe!"

"That would be great! The repair costs were astronomical!"

"We've got a hold full of animals and plants from planet Tar—we'll make it back!"

"The main thing now is not to get caught by the admiralty fleet. Who came up with the idea of banning trade in rare beings!"

"They won't be in this sector. It's marked as off-limits anyway."## News like this!.. I knew what space was. For a whole year, witches taught us the basics of Earth sciences, and since I was particularly attentive, I was given access to the restricted section of the library. They taught me how to use a computer where I could gain any knowledge. Though I was only superficially interested in everything, I knew a lot. And that space is empty, there's no one there... So who are these beings and why do they consider me an animal?

Although this played to my advantage: I couldn't imagine what they might do to me if they found out I could transform into a human.

At least a day had passed, by my calculations. I was incredibly hungry. And I needed to feed the little snake too. Even if it was just a small fish or a worm.

I tried not to surface for long, it was scary after all. I'm not particularly strong magically, and I couldn't harm a living creature. So, after a quick breath, I would dive back to the bottom, managing to glance around the room where they were keeping me. A simple room, lined with iron. I really didn't like that metal: it was unpleasant to me, though I didn't know why.

They brought the food probably at night. I tried to doze despite the hunger. They threw a fish into the water - at least it was a sea fish, not a river one. When did they manage to catch it?..

I'm not a fan of eating raw food, but since I had no choice, I surfaced as soon as they left the room. You can't clean a fish in water - it would spoil instantly! Carefully removing the insides with my sharp claws, I tore off the tenderest flesh, separating the tiniest pieces, and gave them to the snake. After swallowing just four, it was full and started yawning. After eating everything, I pushed the remains far away from the glass tank. Hopefully, they'll clean it up. I didn't want to sleep in the water, and I didn't change my form - I lay down on a small elevation on the floor. Something like a cot, covered with a strange fabric or rubber.

The main thing was not to oversleep the arrival of the jailers...

Two days I spent studying the magical channels, listening and trying to understand where I was and how to get back home.

Probably, there's no way... These are pirates... hunters for rare creatures and plants. They ended up on Earth by accident - had to stop for repairs in orbit. They descended to explore the new planet and possibly steal something, but couldn't stay long: they were spotted by Earth's military. Not wanting to take risks, they took water, kidnapped me, caught some fish... and flew away. But where to - it's unclear...

I heard the animals and plants they were transporting in the hold for sale. Mostly, they were semi-sentient. Of course, it might be possible to escape when they land on some planet, but again, where and how?..

For now, I decided not to panic, to wait.

On the third day, the spaceship suddenly stopped: all sounds ceased and the lights went out. Then a terrible siren wailed, and a red light flashed on the ceiling. Then the door opened...

Without thinking twice, I jumped out of the water and headed for the exit. Peeking out of the doorway, I saw no one and resolutely moved towards the hold with the animals. It seemed safer there. I knew how to get there, just by following the magical lines, so I descended down the ladder in the tube.

As soon as I reached my goal, there was a grinding sound. As if metal was rubbing against metal... Frozen with fear, I dashed towards the large crates with plants. They parted, accepting me and closing behind me. I sat in the farthest corner and fell silent.

The magical ether was in chaos, and I couldn't understand anything. Among the plants, I felt calmer, somehow... Though these were predators. Still small, though, taller than me.

Somewhere, large doors opened, and a cold draft came in. I shivered. It was scary again - another unknown...

I couldn't make out what and who was speaking, but there were many beings. The plants, sensing my fear, suddenly intertwined into a ball, hiding me.

The little snake helped too: it peeked out through a gap between the vines. Grabbing onto its growing tail, I could see everything through its eyes.

Beings in tight suits were quickly loading crates with animals and plants, leaving our corner untouched for now. When it was our turn, the plants rebelled, not allowing anyone to approach. Their small heads with sharp and venomous spikes literally deafened with their hissing. I think I even stopped breathing...

Someone detached from the crowd, distinguished at least by their height. Removing their helmet, they approached closer. The snake transmitted the image unclearly, but it seemed to be a human. Suddenly, he began to speak mentally, striking the plants and me. My head hurt, and I tried to shield myself from his words, while also pulling the snake closer to me.

The man conveyed: they wouldn't harm anyone, the kidnappers were punished. Was this message for me or the plants? Though I shouldn't be visible at all right now...

The man started to instill that we were safe and nothing threatened us. I managed to shake off the suggestion... but the plants didn't. They lowered me to the floor and retracted their vines, leaving me exposed to everyone.

I froze with fear, huddled on the iron floor, looking at the crowd in horror. The same man spoke mentally again with images, extending his hands to me and showing they were unarmed. They gave him a cloth, and he slowly approached me, constantly repeating that I was safe. Didn't he understand that I was sentient?..

The stranger draped the cloth over my shoulders and suddenly wrapped me in it, swaddling me so I couldn't move. All I could do was hiss in fear. The man, suddenly baring his teeth at me, growled, showing his fangs...

What kind of beast was this?!

My desire to resist vanished instantly. They carried me through large doors into an even larger room. Looking back, I realized: we were leaving the ship. And where to now? Everything around was huge, just as metallic... and humming. Another ship, or a spaceship?

The main thing was not to give myself away. Let them think I'm semi-sentient.

They carried me into a large room and... put me in a cage! An iron one! I didn't burn from the metal, but I couldn't stay on it for long: direct contact started to give me a headache. At least they left the cloth...

Wrapping myself in it, I moved to the farthest corner. I wouldn't last long without water! What safety are they talking about? I'll have to admit that I'm not an animal... And, judging by the aura, the ship is full of men!

Tension made itself known. Curled up into a ball, I fell asleep. In my dream, a thought came to me: I needed to learn their language urgently. Instinctively grabbing a magical thread, I simply pulled the knowledge towards me and started absorbing it. Maybe I won't be able to speak right away, but I will understand.

I only fell asleep completely when I decided not to be afraid, but to look for ways to escape. They won't be in space forever, right?

In my dream, I finally shed the fabric — I woke up on the iron floor. I was shivering... This was already bad: I couldn't heal myself.

The doors opened and several men entered the room. They wheeled in a cart with some containers.

"What do we feed this green thing?" one of the newcomers asked another.

"Let's see, let's try. We'll start with meat."

One of the men took a piece of raw meat with tongs and, extending it between the bars, placed it on the floor. The smell of the slaughtered animal's blood made me nauseous.

"Not that, take it away. Let's try fish, and if not, fruits," suggested the second.

I had to take it; I was already out of strength. Wrapping myself in the fabric, I moved closer so as not to touch the iron. Fish and a bowl with fruits and water appeared on the floor. I pulled them towards me, indicating that this was edible for me. Though I didn't really want to eat. The main thing was the water, which I drank greedily.

"Well, now we know." The men were satisfied and, after distributing the food, left. Tearing the flesh of the fish, I fed the little snake and with difficulty forced some food into myself.

A few hours later, I felt much worse: my scales started to fall off. I urgently needed water. There was a structure resembling a sink in the corner, from which they took it. And I decided to go for it.

The lock opened with a small spark of magic, and I, struggling to straighten my stiff limbs, walked over. Touching the faucet, I activated it and began splashing water on myself, wetting my dry and already cracked skin. Right now, I didn't have the strength for much of anything. It was so bad that I missed the door suddenly opening.

"How did it get out?" a voice rang out.

I shuddered and, slipping on the water I had spilled on the floor, stumbled. But the same man who had brought me here caught me under the arm and, quickly pulling me away from the faucet, threw me back in. He took the fabric and locked the cage.

"You're not watching carefully! It's not studied, it could be poisonous or just dangerous!" he growled angrily.

I realized: this was the end! Surrounded by iron, no water... I crawled to the corner and, turning away to the wall, froze.

"I doubt it! More likely, it's afraid of you!" muttered the other.

"You're forgetting yourself!"

"Please forgive me, Captain Fler!"

My body started shaking with chills, and my consciousness began to blur...