Chapter 5. The World of Antiano

The world of Felvidek, the mountains.

At the foot of the mountains, where the sky met the peaks, a portal suddenly opened. Out of it stepped our heroes: Vestislav, Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir. Feeling solid ground beneath their feet, they looked over the familiar landscape and headed toward Veleslav's house.

"Maybe we should have gone to the world of Kerdiven first, to lift the spell from my mother Veseya?" Blagomir said to Vestislav.

"I think we should first think everything over and consult with Veleslav," Vestislav answered.

Approaching Veleslav's house, the heroes stepped onto the porch. The door swung open, and on the threshold they were greeted by the master of the house himself — a gray-haired elder with kind eyes.

"Welcome, travelers!" Veleslav exclaimed warmly. "How glad I am to see you!"

Veleslav invited the heroes into the house, sat them at the table, and offered them a generous feast.

"Go ahead and eat, while I speak with Veleslav for a bit," Vestislav said to his granddaughter Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir.

Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir gladly began their meal. At the table, they shared memories of their adventures in the Aluysk dimension, recalling the fragrant kipra tea, Aruna's wise words, and her parting counsel.

Having spoken with Veleslav, Vestislav turned to his granddaughter Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir:

"I think you should set out for the world of Kerdiven and lift the spell from Veseya, while Veleslav and I handle this matter ourselves."

Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir wanted to object to Vestislav and offer their help, but he was unyielding. The task he had undertaken was too dangerous, and he didn't want to put the young ones at risk.

Vestislav asked Vidomir for the elixirs Aruna had given them. Vidomir, with regret but with understanding, handed him the elixir of invisibility and the elixir for destroying the world of Antiano.

At dawn, at the foot of the mountains, Vestislav opened a portal to the world of Kerdiven. Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir stepped through the transit portal.

The portal, shining with light, opened at the very place where Veseya had been enchanted, in the very heart of the world of Kerdiven. Our heroes stepped out of it, and the portal snapped shut instantly behind them.

In the world of Kerdiven it was morning, and on the horizon only the blue sun shone. The second little sun hadn't risen yet.

The heroes approached the stone into which Veseya, Blagomir and Vidomir's mother, had been enchanted. Vidomir took out the elixir and poured it onto the stone, and suddenly bright light poured from the stone, and it glowed entirely. Then, out of the light, the bear Veseya appeared.

Veseya, seeing her bear-cub sons grown up, embraced them and wept with joy. Blagomir and Vidomir told her about their adventures and introduced her to Aria.

Veseya, Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir thought about what to do next. There was a chance that Vestislav and Veleslav needed help.

Vidomir turned to Aria:

"When we were heading for the gates between worlds, to reach your world of Grozdan, we saved a forest from ruin. And we entered the Magayny dimension through the forest's source. It looked like a stone tree. Our own forest here should have a source like that too."

After thinking it over, the heroes turned to the spirit of the forest. Having greeted him, they asked him about the source.

"Hello, kind people," the spirit of the forest began to speak. "My name is Heylin. Blagomir and Vidomir! You saved my brother — Bran. He told me about you. Yes, my forest has a magical source."

The spirit of the forest showed the heroes where the source was. They thanked him and were about to set off, but Veseya stopped them:

"I won't let you go anywhere alone. The Chernyaks have long wanted to seize the world of Kerdiven. The wizards, together with the Keepers and fairies, have long been sustaining the strength of the magic shield with energy, protecting the world from the Chernyaks' invasion. But it seems the Chernyaks are searching for loopholes to reach the world of Kerdiven. One evil Chernyak somehow slipped in here. We need to prepare. Let's all go home."

Veseya turned to her sons:

"And your father is helping to strengthen the resilience of the magic shield protecting the world of Kerdiven."

After Veseya's speech, the whole party headed toward the bears' dwelling.

The bears' house was made of logs, modest in size. Veseya had built it herself, with magic, in a single day. Everyone went inside.

"Let's start with a bite to eat," Veseya suggested. "Let's all go to the dining room."

In the middle of the dining room stood a sturdy table with solid chairs. The walls were wooden logs. On the left wall from the entrance were three large windows. The sun's rays, streaming through the windows, filled the dining room with warmth and light. On the right wall hung shelves with a variety of kitchenware. On the ceiling hung a chandelier in the shape of three spheres of the same size. The chandelier's spheres were amber-colored and hung at different heights from one another. Veseya had made this chandelier in the shape of three suns, so it would remind her of home — the world of Narspi.

Veseya invited everyone to sit at the table. Then she whispered an incantation, waved her hands, and delicious foods appeared on the table.

After everyone had eaten, Aria, Blagomir, and Vidomir thanked Veseya. She called everyone into the living room to prepare for the long journey.

Veseya put on magical armor and equipped her sons. The armor looked like the Keepers' — silvery in color. It had the magical property of resizing itself to fit its wearer. And it could deflect magical attacks away from the head, drawing them in like a magnet. At the wrists, the armor could emit magical beams. Aria didn't need magical armor — she already had a magical cloak, which served the function of magical armor.

The fairy Ain came to visit Veseya. The heroes told her about their adventures, and about how they were setting off to the world of Antiano to help the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav.

"Yuman came by, looking for you, Veseya, and for Blagomir and Vidomir. I told him how things stood," the fairy Ain said.

"Yuman came to see me," Veseya sighed sorrowfully. "The two of us grieved together. We decided, at the time, that the most important thing was to protect the world of Kerdiven from the Chernyaks' invasion. If Blagomir and Vidomir had arrived here, and there had been hordes of Chernyaks around — that would have been complete ruin. So he went to help sustain the shield's resilience with energy."

"Yes, that was probably the wisest decision," the fairy Ain said.

"Are the verben crystals working now?" Veseya asked.

"No, they aren't working," Ain answered.

"There's no way to reach Yuman," Veseya said, downcast.

"If Yuman comes by, I'll tell him about you," Ain said. Then she added: "The Chernyaks conjured something to disrupt the connection. It's impossible to reach anyone using the verben crystals."

"It does seem the Chernyaks have conjured something against the connection," Veseya agreed.

"Do you still have the empty vial from the elixir you used to lift the spell from Veseya?" Ain asked the three youngsters.

"Yes, I still have it," Vidomir said.

"Give me the empty vial from the elixir," Ain asked.

Vidomir took out the vial and gave it to the fairy. Ain sprinkled magical pollen into it, shook it, and spoke an incantation. Then she closed the vial, gave it back to Vidomir, and said:

"The elder Supreme Keeper Aruna's vial could be in any number of dimensions. Perhaps my pollen will come in handy. Sprinkle it on yourselves and you'll be able to fly quickly. And don't go into the Magayny and Bahorny dimensions — go into the Sreydim dimension instead, it's safer there, and many spirits will help you."

"How do we enter the Sreydim dimension?" Vidomir asked.

"I know how," Aria said.

"Aria will help you," Ain said. "She has the knowledge and skills needed for passing into the Sreydim dimension."

Everyone went out into the yard. Our heroes thanked the fairy Ain, said farewell to her, and set off for the magical source of the spirit of the forest, Heylin. Approaching it, they saw that it looked different from the spirit of the forest Bran's source. This was a round stone pillar, about an arshin across and about a slant-fathom tall.

"Sit down beside the source and touch it," Aria said.

Everyone sat down beside the source and placed their hands on it. Aria began speaking the incantation:

"Uslakh londaltash sreydimskoe pochyltash visymash."

After Aria's incantation, everyone found themselves in the Sreydim dimension. Their physical bodies remained at the source, while their spirits, in subtle mental bodies, were carried into the Sreydim dimension.

The dimension looked familiar, like the physical world. There were little suns here, sky, trees, grass.

Aria looked up at the sky and said:

"Here everything is almost like at home, but not everything. For example, a little sun, as an avatar, can look like a person."

Aria called the spirits of the little suns. Out of the blue sun stepped the spirit of the blue sun, Siun, in human form, and began to speak:

"Hello. My brother Koyash's spirit is currently in another dimension. We live in several dimensions at once, but a spirit with consciousness can only be in one dimension at a time. In this dimension, they're speaking of the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav. They failed to reach the Chernyaks' source in the world of Antiano. The Chernyaks turned Vestislav and Veleslav into stones."

Our heroes greeted the spirit of the sun, Siun. Siun didn't recognize Blagomir and Vidomir at first, but knew them by their voices.

The news from Siun darkened the heroes' mood.

"We don't even have an elixir to lift the spell from the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav," Vidomir said.

"Did they have with them the elixir Goddess Aruna gave, to pour onto the source in the world of Antiano?" Aria asked the spirit of the sun, Siun.

"I don't know," Siun answered.

"First we need to find out where the elixir is. Let's check on the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav first," Veseya said.

"Grandfather Vestislav had the elixir of invisibility with him. How will we manage in the world of Antiano without the elixir of invisibility?" Aria said.

"We'll travel right to them for a short while, I think the Chernyaks won't notice us. Just in case, let's sprinkle ourselves with the fairy Ain's pollen, so if anything happens, we can travel quickly out of the world of Antiano," Veseya said.

Our heroes said farewell to Siun. Vidomir sprinkled the pollen the fairy Ain had given them onto himself and everyone else. Then our heroes joined hands, thought of the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav, and traveled to the world of Antiano.

Our heroes found themselves by two stones, the height of people. Around them was empty, bare earth, and a half-darkness reigned. No evil Chernyaks were visible nearby.

"I'll speak with grandfather and Veleslav in thought, so as not to draw the Chernyaks' attention," Aria conveyed her thoughts to Veseya, Blagomir, and Vidomir.

Everyone agreed with Aria and wished her luck.

Aria approached the two stones, placed her hands on them, and began communicating in thought with the wizards Vestislav and Veleslav.

Having spoken telepathically with Vestislav and Veleslav, Aria began telling Veseya, Blagomir, and Vidomir aloud, forgetting about caution:

"My grandfather and Veleslav's bodies are in my world of Grozdan, by the source in our garden. And the elixirs are hidden in our house."

"We need to get back to our material world quickly, you accidentally spoke it aloud," Blagomir said to Aria.

"Chernyaks have appeared in the distance and are approaching quickly. We'll have to travel back while flying, or we won't make it in time," Veseya said.

All our heroes quickly joined hands and took flight. Aria spoke the incantation while flying, and everyone returned to their material world. The Chernyaks failed to catch up with them.