4

She was awakened by a thin squeak and Mali, opening her eyes, looked around in fear. There was only forest all around and no one was around.

- Kiri... Kiri! - she called her brother for a long time and helplessly, but it was all in vain, he did not respond.

- He couldn't leave me, although... the forest spirit was here... So amazing...

The last thing she remembered, the guy with deer horns took Kiri by the hand, smiling at him and didn't even pay attention to her, as if she wasn't there.

A gray little mouse suddenly jumped under her feet with a heart-rending squeak, running away to the side. It stopped, looking at the girl with the black beads of its eyes and moved forward.

Are you showing me the way? — Mali suggested out loud and rose to her feet.

Taking with her a greenish hallucinogenic mushroom, she hilariously jumped after the squeaking lump and followed it.

Soon they approached thick black bushes with long sharp thorns, and the mouse seemed to evaporate, leaving the girl in bewilderment.

Later, she decided to eat a piece of mushroom and suddenly saw through the dense leafless thickets the figure of her brother, busy mending his clothes.

- Kiri! - she shouted several times, but he didn't seem to hear her and continued his work.

If only she could get to him through these bushes, but this was impossible because of the terrible sharp thorns. Soon the vision disappeared and she sat down on the grass out of despair, crying bitterly:

At least he's alive, and that's good. How did the forest spirit bewitch him and this place? And why did the little mouse show it to me?

She sat by the bushes almost until dusk, until she heard the voices of people who had come from the village in search of the missing children.

- Kiri... My son! - the mother lamented at home, squeezing her daughter in her arms. — He was dragged away by an evil spirit, right? I was afraid this would happen!

- So you know about him? — Mali was surprised. - Is this the guy with the deer antlers?

The mother nodded her head, bursting into tears.

- Yes... Your grandmother Loni met him in her youth...

- Ah, well, he's quite handsome, even though he has horns! He's immortal, right? How can you live so long? I saw him with the help of this mushroom! — the girl handed her greenish cap to her mother. — She also suddenly tried this one?

- I don't know! This is definitely inedible... Mom didn't say much, but I know for sure that she refused him because she was already married to your grandfather, and now he is taking revenge on our family...

- And what does revenge consist of? — Mali puzzled.

- He took her grandson because Kiri is very similar in appearance to Loni.

- Really? — Mali arched her eyebrows in bewilderment. 

- Well, you didn't see my mother when she was young! She had brown hair and bright emerald eyes, just like Kiri. The forest spirit sought her attention, but she was already pregnant with me and then he left her alone.

- His name is Ingris... I heard him introduce himself... He looked at Kiri with adoration... and after that I passed out. When I woke up, no one was around.

The mother burst into tears even more with loud lamentations.

- Don't cry like that, mom! — tried to calm her daughter. - Kiri is definitely alive! Ingris is holding him captive, I don't understand why... If he was a girl... How would he be useful as a guy?

- Don't ask! My poor boy! He will torture him... Who knew that this horned villain would return to our forest? Legends about him have existed for a long time, even before my mother was born. They used to scare cheeky little children with it! However, nothing was heard about him for years. I was never allowed into the forest, even with other people, because they were afraid that I would be kidnapped...

- Because you are the daughter of his beloved?

The mother nodded her head and began to cry again:

- I'm naive… I hoped that this wouldn't happen to my children... I look like my father, but Kiri... How to bring him home?

- Don't be so upset! Dad and I will figure something out. Tomorrow we will go into the forest to the black bushes with thorns...

The forest spirit really took care of him, as he promised: he cooked him roast game and fish, brought him tasty nuts and fresh berries, fragrant herbs and edible roots, but never showed himself. He quietly left all the food on the table near the front door of shelter, where Kiri spent the nights.

In the enchanted place, where there was also a flowing pond with a well-groomed garden, there was never bad weather or cold, only the light whisper of the wind in the rustling red maple leaves and the gentle shine of the summer sun. If it rained, it was weightless as dust, only to moisten the garden trees and soil.

  Sometimes colourful birds, he never had seen, flew in to please with their sweet singing. Some pretty flowers suddenly blossomed under his feet, emitting a blissful aroma. 

Only a wizard could court so touchingly. Enamored…

A paradise idyll, only the prisoner felt lonely.

- Ingris! - the young man cried out in despair one day. - Why are you hiding? Are you offended by me?

- You think I'm scary... - a muffled voice came from behind the tall thickets of bamboo. - I don't want to hurt your eyes with my ugly appearance.

- No... You're not ugly at all... I was joking. Show yourself! Please…