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Chapter 34: Bone
“Who is there?” Anya called. Her voice echoed in the wind.
The music stopped. “A wanderer,” came a voice like a waterfall.
Anya squared her shoulders. “That is not a name.”
“You may call me Kosti,” he replied. “I see that you are armed. What a pity. Fair things like you should not live in fear.”
“I am not afraid.”
“That, my girl, is a lie. My music tends to stir up… rather unsettling emotions. But I beg you relax. You are safe.”
“Am I?” Anya said. “The anglerfish's lure gives comfort before its bite.”
Kosti laughed. He stepped from the pine's shadow. “I am far from a fish.”
Anya caught sight of him in the morning light. He was slender and tall, dressed in furs and a white kaftan, a violin at hand. His skin was pale and h
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Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 35: Storm Brewing
“I do not trust Kosti,” Morozko hissed, looking at Anya. “I do not like how he danced with you. I do not like how that blasted koldun even looked at you.”“You know that he is a koldun too?” Anya asked.“Of course he is.” Morozko wiped dust from his jacket. “A powerful one.”Anya shivered. “He creeps me out.” Anya did not want to admit that she was also intrigued by Kosti, albeit in a sickening way.Later that night, as Anya slaved over homework at her rickety desk in the kitchen, Iosif came in, his fur bristling as he swept. He moved about frantically.“Whatever is wrong, Osya?” Anya asked.Iosif let out a low moan. “Something is amiss. I have seen something horrible in my kasha. There is a dark presence in this inn, only I cannot place the face. I fear it is your cherti.”
Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 36: War
Anya woke early the next morning, restless. She dressed in jeans and a pale sweater, then went to fix herself a bowl of Cheerios. Morozko slept all the while. Pouring over the cereal, Anya stirred the milk idly. There was a scratch at the door.“Mistress, you seem unhappy,” purred Aym. He slinked in on jazzy feet, bending his ears as if tipping his hat to her.“No. I am just tired. That is all. I cannot for the life of me sleep.” Anya took a bite of cereal.Aym leapt onto the table and settled beside her, his tail twitching. “And what has you blue, damselfly? Is it a man?”“What?” Anya echoed.“You look frazzled, that is all. Bags under your eyes, hair askew.” Aym licked his paw. “Usually the signs of love troubles.”Anya was amused. “And what does a cherti know of
Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 37: Hail and Rain
Outside was madness. A fire had been set, and enemies ran mad-dash between the tongues of flame. The inn’s guests fought for their lives. Cherti and witches swarmed the field. Guts spilled onto the snowy ground; vampir went for necks and vodyanoi summoned water from the mill pond to drown opponents. Vila and leshy battled above.The kolduny and witches that had been staying at the inn formed a circle, casting spells to turn the tide of the battle. They summoned a storm, directing lightning to strike the swarms of vila above. The vila’s lightning-charred bodies fell from the sky.As the sky darkened and storm winds picked up, the flames grew higher, setting fire to the inn. Aym ravaged the enemy, ripping out their throats, his iron hide impenetrable to arrow and sword. Anya punched bolts of golden flame at her opponents, letting her rage manifest as magic. Morozko struggled to defend her
Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 38: Wounds
Anya sat in the waiting room, her eyes following the second hand of the clock. Minutes turned to hours, and still there was no news of Morozko's health. No matter how often she asked the doctors, they refused to answer her, saying she couldn't enter the operating room. So she waited, desperate, her thoughts turned to the burning inn and gory battlefield. How many members of her family were dead? How had they broken through Liliya's encampments to the north? Was Morozko going to survive? A myriad questions rattled her mind.“Anya?” a nurse asked.Anya looked up. “Yes?” she said quietly.The nurse smiled softly. “Your friend is stable.”Anya clasped her hands together. “Sweet Mokosh, thank you. Can I see him?”The nurse nodded.Anya rushed to Morozko's room. Morozko lay asleep, an IV attached to his arm. His heart
Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 39: Taken
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Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 40: Glazed
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Anya sank onto the bed, head in her hands. “No,” she whispered. “That is not right. You disgusting liar.”“Would I lie to the daughter of a goddess?”“The gods are gone. They abandoned Buyan eons ago. You are delusional, you bastard.”“Which is perhaps why Baba Yaga found you on Earth, little demigod.” Kashchei sat beside Anya and put his arm around her. She was too panicked to resist.“No.” Anya looked out the open window, at the treacherous beauty of the land of the deathless. Anya clutched the firebird pendant at her throat and inhaled sharply.“And here Baba Yaga has raised you all this time, keeping you in the dark about your heritage so you could be her perfect little pawn.” Kashchei tapped his shoeless feet on the ground. “Cruel, really. Keeping your true family from you.”&l
Jack Frost's Bride Chapter 42: Ivan Tsarevich
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