Lilith I-VI Eng

"Let’s play Death!" Said Lilith putting her hand on Lord’s chest.

"You won’t dare!" Lord shrank, but Lilith’s hand started to slowly penetrate his body. Lord screamed with pain, but everyone who could have helped him in any way was already dead.

"You murdered them all! Everyone who was precious to me!" Lilith was uttering with tears in her eyes.

"You are an experiment! You have no senses!" Lord was crying with his last bit of strength.

"I’m not an experiment!" Lilith’s hand entered the body so deep that his eyes rolled back and his throat didn’t produce a single sound more. "I wasn’t an experiment! I’m a human."

Lord’s eyes widened in amazement. There was a glimpse of denial on his face. His arm slid underneath the arm of the chair. In a blink everything was finished. The hall was lit with a bright flash of light which absorbed Lord, Lilith and the Governmental Palace.

History turned its course without giving common people a chance for objection. Once glorious Capital ceased to exist.

=-I-=

Capital is the city where life is running constantly. It is a huge place full of metal, cold human souls and dirt. Somebody’s blood is always spilt in here. Regular executions, murders, punishments are common to this place. Fear, hatred, envy, spite and blood thirst persistently accompanies the Capital. These sensations saturate this city to such a great extent that if it wasn’t for them, the city itself wouldn’t probably exist at all. Each inhabitant of this cursed place hated, envied or killed someone at least for once. Doesn’t matter if it was a human or an animal. Everything went rotten in this city. However, for an unknown reason it still remained in its place and wasn’t going to collapse. It is probably because of the fact that it underwent continuous renovation. Pretty much the entire continent worked for the city – the Capital.

Iron, construction materials, food supplies and many other goods are delivered to the Capital from every corner of the continent. The city itself doesn’t produce anything in great quantities except for beggars and outcasts. It only consumes something. It consumes people depriving them of everything, even their soul. It swallows supplies throwing unwanted waste outside its borders. It consumes metal not only for renewing itself but also for defending from the monsters that aren’t against feasting upon the inhabitants who went astray.

The Capital devours everyone who has displayed even the slightest weakness of their soul. It doesn’t give a second chance. If you didn’t succeed at once, you can forget about your desires and about the place in the society. Perhaps, this is the reason why only best of the best managed to assimilate with the city. This was the city where the entire elite has been accumulated, and this city was the judge over the rest. No matter the attitude the city received, be it hate or love, it remained staying in its place and only grew further. It slowly spread absorbing more and more territories and human destinies.

This is the only place where everything is possible and the only place where one cannot change anything.

The city is inhabited by a vast multitude of citizens – from the mutants who lost their point in existence to wealthy and prominent pure-blood humans. The latter are recognized in the city the most. If you descended from the upper levels and, more than that, were pure-blooded – you can consider yourself to have already succeeded. You were always surrounded by light and adoration in the society. You could become the master of the world if only you wished. The pure-bloods are the descendants of the humans who survived the nuclear disaster in safe shelters. However, there was a small number of those left on the continent. Just a few families, three of which lived in the Capital. The first family was the Kurokawas. The progeny of the last surviving Asians. The family consisted of two elder brothers each having three wives. All of the women gave birth to children. The wives also had blood relations – whether a brother or a sister. The family was relatively big, unlike the second family – the Gerbens. The head of the family was Father who had two sons, all of whom had wives, yet only the elder brother had a daughter. The third family was the descendants of the Slavs – the Yasnas. The head of the family was named Victor. He had a wife, the elder son and the younger daughter. Victor once had the younger sister, but she has disappeared under strange circumstances. No matter how he tried to find his sister, it was all in vain.

A long time ago, or not that long, the numbers of pure-blood families were greater, yet with time the majority of them were simply extinct.

More than a century has passed since the moment of the catastrophe, which devastated their former way of life. It was such an unexpected event that nobody could even realize what exactly had happened. Suddenly everything around became different – the air, the ground, the water. In a blink of an eye everything changed, and it resulted in enormous casualties of human beings on the planet.

Unfortunately, the world has changed not on the surface but also from the inside. The planet weakened and ceased to protect its inhabitants from danger. Therefore, there were many of those who were unable to defend themselves from the collective insanity. Gradually every living being was filled with fear of something mysterious that has finally released itself. What exactly it was no one knew. After the collapse of the civilization, humans started to reestablish communities since it was the only chance for survival in struggle with this unknown. Communities transformed into villages, villages to towns, towns to states, and the states began to form alliances. As a result, the alliance comprising of all the survivors grew into a big city, which received its name – the Capital.

This Capital was surrounded by lesser cities which bore numbers rather than names. City Number One, Two, etc. And the world around continued to go crazy. Animals turned into monsters ready to attack and devour you without batting an eye. The beasts changed not only their psychology but also the appearance. No one could tell what exactly happened, and what caused radiation level on the planet to rise, but with time it saturated the planet and altered its nature. Animals developed into smarter and more agile creatures, while flora became even more dangerous. Some of the plants became so much carnivorous that they not only preyed upon the flesh of living or deceased, but also learned to move great distances. Their movement could be compared to the way a slow turtle crawls, and still it was enough.

The practice of living among the humans also transformed: it became harsher than it used to be. The upper level entirely controlled the lower. Outcasts were neglected. They were nothing more than meat for the animals outside the city. At the same time, everyone seemed to be forgetting that even the outcasts had emotions and dignity. Many people were simply indifferent.

The higher you climbed the social ladder separating you from the lower levels, the haughtier and rougher you could become. This world didn’t tolerate the weak. “Weakness is for the outcasts!” – the upper levels tended to repeat. All of them hid their “little weakness” in closets. For the upper levels everything that in the slightest way was connected to a level below was not worth paying attention. At times, the lower you went, the more humane people you could come across, the ones ready to show empathy and assist you in any way. This empathy was foreign to the upper levels. Still, exceptions to this fact could be found.

Time taught humans, even from the upper class, that many objects should be treated with care so that they can last longer. Of course, this referred to furniture, household appliances and other household stuff useful in daily routine. New goods were expensive to buy, while financial income wasn’t that easy to get.

All in all, humans in the new world had quite a number rules for conventional lifestyle. Not always and not all of them followed the rules, and still the greater part tried to do so, as these rules helped to survive in this violent reality.

The upper class has always been alluring for the lower one. Only sharp wits and inventiveness possibly opened the doors to this society. Only few managed to escape from the lower levels. Fortunately, at least they existed. There were also those who was rejected by the upper class and ended up at the bottom. This happened to a famous scientist who invented the weapon to fight the “dogs”. Such a name was given to mutated doglike creatures – wolves and jackals that enjoyed prowling about the lover levels of the city and often attacked the smaller cities in packs. If it was not for the fact that these cities supplied the Capital, no one would have approved the scientist’s ideas.

Thus, everything was decided. For a long time this scientist had everything he could dream of – money, power, position in the society. Even though he was a lunatic, he was very worthy. And then, after someone else invented a different, more convenient and effective way to fight the “dogs”, the scientist’s position started to gradually shake. Soon he found himself on the lowest levels of the society. No longer was he worshiped and loved, he had no power and no money. However, despite all the deprivations, he carried on creating. He continued to invent and was a true genius.

The scientist had a daughter whom he loved dearly and thus didn’t want the upper society to spoil her. Destroy the purity of her soul. For a long time she had been living outside the capital, and when she grew older she returned to her father who already lost his wealth but kept his mystical muse. One evening, while strolling about the old house where they lived, she came across an unusual metal door. First she didn’t want to open it, but the natural curiosity took advantage. The girl opened the metal door by entering the pass code – her mother’s birthday date. Behind the door was a miniature laboratory. Tables with chaotic disorder on them, shelves with different books and a huge container – that’s all what could be seen in this lab. The girl looked around and wanted to approach the container to see what’s inside, as someone pulled her back by the hand.

- Miriana, what are you doing in here? – The scientist asked her.
- I… simply… ehm… - Miriana didn’t know what to reply because her father appeared so unexpectedly.
The scientist looked over his daughter, turned around to close the door to the lab and walked towards the container. On his way he started a monologue full of emotions and gesticulation, while Miriana was standing timidly aside observing her father. Never before did he let her in his laboratory, and probably his current mood was on the rise.

- It’s been a while since I started to realize that my days in the upper society are numbered. Therefore, I decided to build my own lab on the lower levels of the Capital so that nobody could find my creation. I remember the day I found her body ten years ago. Oh! She was unusual! She couldn’t be distinguished from the pure-blood human! Only the eyes gave her away – the irises were simply incredible. It was constantly changing colour! Her body, even almost dead, kept on living. I could never have imagined something like this was possible! I recall helping her avoid the claws of death. Yes, it was back then when we concluded this agreement. She gives me her body, and I help her forget her past. I don’t know what exactly was in her past that made her want to erase it from the memory so desperately, but I accomplished my promise. I sealed her memory!

For many years I had been studying her body. It possesses unbelievable abilities. If she is released, she can conquer the capital with her talents. I don’t know how, but she is able to control the surrounding organic world. She can penetrate living tissue and affect it! She is just amazing. I will show her to you, daughter, but I beg you – protect her, don’t allow her talents to be used by anyone. – The scientist stopped as if choosing the right words. He was clearly talking to an invisible opponent. Finishing his inner dialogue, the scientist continued. – These vermin can use her power for their nasty goals, and I don’t want this to happen. She possesses the soul, even though she doesn’t have memory anymore. But I left a single fragment in her head – the one in which I appear. The moment when I find her tormented in the junkyard.

- Daddy, what were you doing in the junkyard? – Miriana asked in surprise.
- I was searching for research material, and I found it, – the scientist gently petted on the container. – Sometimes people throw away valuable material without noticing it. Miriana, let me introduce you to someone, this is Lilith.

The scientist pressed a button on the panel at the container, and its walls started to slide down. Behind the glass was a girl with light-brown hair. She was entirely wrapped in wires connected to her arms, legs and torso. She tranquilly floated in the aquarium filled with a yellowish liquid which seemed to serve simultaneously as a blanket, home and the best friend. Lilith seemed so peaceful that one could think she was in a coma or simply sleeping when she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Miriana.

- She liked you, - said the scientist smiling.

Miriana didn’t share his confidence. She was afraid of Lilith. Miriana didn’t know who in fact Lilith was, and it frightened her the most. After finishing inspecting Miriana, Lilith slowly closed her eyes and drowned herself to sleep again. Miriana’s father pressed the same button, and the walls started to go up until it completely hid Lilith from view.

=-II-=

After she together with her father exited the lab, Miriana went up to her room. The house wasn’t too big, just two floors tall. A small parlour, a kitchen, a small living room and two bedrooms on the second floor. As it turned out to be, the house had a huge basement holding her father’s laboratory. The truth is the hidden door was located in the most ordinary place – in the so called storage closet. Miriana didn’t want to guess the reasons why the closet held her father’s lab with the most precious research in it.

Miriana didn’t want to contemplate about this and decided to forget about everything, but no matter how she tried, nothing worked out. Lilith’s eyes remained in her memory and weren’t going to leave. Her eyes sparkling in the thick yellow liquid mesmerized and frightened her at the same time. They were soft as silk and cold as ice – as if the entire world and its inhabitants were indifferent to Lilith. When Miriana closed her eyes, Lilit’s eyes appeared before her. She couldn’t figure out why Lilit’s eyes pierced into her memory and why she is so afraid of them, but soon the answer came itself.

Miriana was about to fall asleep when the father ran into her room. She sat up in her bed to ask what has happened, but the father started to chaotically pack his daughter’s things disorderly showing them into a compact backpack.

"Quickly, dress up! The “dogs” showed up in the lower town and it appears our home is their target." The scientist said nervously while keeping showing the clothes into the backpack.

"But how? Why?" Miriana rose from the bed and started to put on her trousers, her woolen hoodie and warm socks. "They attack only big houses with a lot of people in it, and there are just thr… two of us in here."

"I think they are controlled by someone." The scientist replied with agitation. "Miriana, my sweet daughter," the scientist approached her and took her by the shoulders. "You must go down to the lab and open up the container with Lilith. Only she can deal with this huge pack of “dogs”. As far as I know, this time it is much bigger than usual."

"But father? What about you?"
"My darling, I will hold the “dogs” while you are releasing Lilith."
"But this means… " Miriana’s voice trembled with terror.
"It doesn’t mean anything," the scientist suddenly became serious. "We will defend our home! And we will save our lives! Did you understand me?!"

"Yes, father."
"And now get down there and take more clothes, so that you can dress up Lilith. Is it ok?" The scientist gently ran his hand over his daughter’s cheek and went downstairs to prepare to protect his home and its inhabitants.

"Alright, father, I will do just as you said, just stay alive, I beg you." Miriana knew her father wouldn’t hear it, but she still hoped he would survive. She just couldn’t resist hoping.

Quickly putting everything necessary in the backpack, Miriana rushed down the stairs, reached the kitchen, entered the closet and put in the sacred digits on the display opening the door to the laboratory. Throwing the backpack over one shoulder, Miriana approached the container and stopped. She wasn’t sure she knew how to open it. Her father didn’t leave any instructions how to do that. Looking around, Miriana decided to close the door to the lab first but didn’t lock it. After that, putting the backpack aside, she started to hurriedly look through her father’s papers, but still couldn’t find any hint how to open the container. Then she went to the control pad that was near the container and tried to remember which button her father pressed to lower the walls covering Lilith. Finally, she found it, pressed it, and the walls starded to slowly go down.

At the very moment the door to the lab opened, and a “dog” entered the scientist’s sanctuary. It was a doglike creature, almost two metres tall with a massive gape which oozed the rotten stench. The hideous gape opened no less hideous view – two rows of extremely sharp teeth as well as small forked tongue which dripped some bluish slime. Its red eyes emitted insanity ready to overwhelm you to fingertips. The body movements of the “dog” as if were telling: “now I will catch you, play with you and devour you”. Its brown fur was hanging in flocks opening ash-grey skin spots. Blunt but long claws of the dog unpleasantly scraped the stone floor as it slowly, as if taking pleasure in the moment, was approaching its victim.

"Ah," it’s all Miriana could produce having seen the creature.
Astonishing terror overcame her – as if the death itself stood before her. Miriana was so afraid that she completely forgot why she came to her father’s lab.

“Open the container.” The voice sounded in her head, but she thought it were just her father’s words recurring in her memory. “Open the container, and I will help you” – the voice sounded again, and Miriana realized that wasn’t her memories but rather the voice of Lilith in her head.

"I don’t know how," Miriana honestly replied not even knowing where she could draw strength from to utter these words.
“Then step aside.” Lilith said.

That is when something incredible happened. The container’s glass suddenly cracked into millions tiny pieces and, giving up to the pressure of liquid, crashed down releasing Lilith. Still wrapped in wires Lilith floated in the air. Seeing the advancing liquid, the “dog” retreated trying not to step into the unknown substance.

Lilith’s facial expression showed that hanging on the wires plugged in your body wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Pulling the wire out of her left arm, Lilith winced as if she touched red-hot iron. Meanwhile, the “dog” tried to struggle with its fear of the unknown liquid and hunger. Lilith already pulled the wires out of the right arm – the wounds left by them closed almost momentarily, allowing nearly not a drop of the crimson blood to spill. As the “dog” was about to surrender to its hunger, Lilith was already almost free from the wires, the only remaining were those keeping her hanging in the air.

Miriana, still frozen with fear was standing overshoe in the yellowish liquid substance, looking more like a jelly, while Lilith was trying to swing herself to get loose of the wires.  At this very moment another two “dogs” ran into the lab and appeared just in the yellowish substance before they halted, as if not understanding what exactly is happening around. These “dogs” were about two times smaller than the first one, and their bodies were completely covered with ash-grey fur, the eyes flickered with ginger colour rather than red, and their jaws hadn’t such an ugly look. Seeing that the liquid on the floor hasn’t inflicted immediate harm to the other “dogs”, the one that came first confidently stepped forward. Making sure the liquid doesn’t cause any damage, the big “dog” roared with satisfaction and moved towards Miriana. The “dog” was approaching slowly, as if taking pleasure in each step taken and the effect of terror it produced. The rest of the “dogs” stood aside, letting their leader forward.

Miriana was so paralyzed with fear that she chose simply to close her eyes and give up to the imminent death. Just as she closed her eyes, the laboratory was filled with the sound of cracking bones and whine of the “dogs”. Something warm splashed over her, and a strong smell made her open her eyes and also her mouth as she tried to catch just a breath of air. That is when she saw four dog’s paws standing before her with no body on them. The lab was sloppy with blood and torn insides of the beast.

Lilith kept hanging on the wires, but her hand and eyes were directed in the spot where the “dog” was standing a moment before. Her eyes observing the remains of the “dog” burned with bright-yellow, but the fingers of her right hand were spread. Casting a cold glance at Miriana, Lilith looked in the direction of the two remaining “dogs”. They only recovered from shock and started to roar trying to frighten Lilith. But Lilith wasn’t afraid; it seemed the entire situation entertained her. Lilith’s eyes as if smiled mockingly as she observed the roaring “dogs”.

When this long pause was over, everything went to instantaneous motion, the result of which was another eight paws remaining in the liquid substance and the cold, almost indifferent look of Lilith.

“Maybe it’s time you release me?” – the voice sounded in Miriana’s head, and she regained consciousness. Trying not to look at all the disorder in the lab, especially on the remains scattered around, Miriana approached the container panel and using the control menu freed Lilith from the rest of the wires and supporting devices. After that, Lilith fell on the floor of the container not able to stand on her weakened legs.

Miriana came towards Lilith and helped her to remove the tubes supplying oxygen from her nostrils and those with which Lilith received nutrition. Lilith started to vomit, her organism definitely decided to get rid of unwanted substance.

Miriana was confused with the fact that Lilith was absolutely naked, so she began to look for her backpack. Noticing it laying on the distant table of the lab, Miriana assisted Lilith to sit down and went to collect the bag. Luckily for them, no other “dogs” entered the lab, there were no sounds heard from the kitchen. Miriana was digging in her backpack for a while, found a towel, an old tunic and her old diary. The necessity in the latter was questionable, and, as Lilith started coughing, so she kept the diary for later.

Approaching Lilith, Miriana helped her to swipe off the remains of the substance and blood left over from the “dogs”. After that Miriana put the tunic on Lilith and, supporting her from the side, helped her to get on her feet.

"I think we should leave this place," Miriana dared to say with her heart still beating frantically and her hands shaking.
"Akhhh," - was the only sound Lilith could produce.

“Apparently, I won’t be able to speak for a while, so, for the time being we’ll have to communicate in this way. I hope, you have nothing against” – Lilith’s familiar voice sounded in Miriana’s head.
"I have nothing against it," Miriana replied, and they both started to head slowly to the exit from the laboratory.

Exiting the closet, Miriana noticed a great number of scratches in the kitchen. Before the “dog” found the lab, he seemed to have inspected the surrounding premises as thoroughly as it could. Not having a slightest desire to recall the recent nightmare, Miriana turned around in the direction of the parlour and froze in shock. The entire room was shred to pieces, and the body, remotely reminding Miriana of her father, was lying in the centre torn to several parts. Four bodies of the “dogs” were also lying on the floor – they kept moving about convulsively as if the effect of the stun gun was still in effect.

Miriana instinctively wanted to rush to her father’s body, but the consciousness of being the support for Lilith, his last creation, stopped her. She could not bring her father back, yet she could try to protect his creation.

"Let’s go," - swallowing a lump of pain in her throat, Miriana started forward to the parlour. Stepping over the bodies and chaos in the room, Miriana kept herself heroically not to burst into tears, not to break down, to maintain the last particles of strength in herself. Each step away from the father reverberated with such a pain which could only be compared to a thousand of needles simultaneously piercing one’s body.

Having left the house at last, Miriana, keeping supporting Lilith, went to the elevator to the lower level where they were able to dissolve among the outcasts of the Capital and find a way to flee this terrible city.

=-III-=

The Capital was left behind.
Miriana tidied her tumbled jacket, covered sleeping Lilith with a small cover and started recollecting the recent events. Everything that happened now seemed nothing but a nightmare.

After she and Lilith had finally reached the lover level of the Capital, they faced the fact that leaving the city was going to be much more difficult. The problem was the armoured cargo transport arrived and departed under certain schedule, and they happened to be there just to miss the last transport.

Beneath the Capital there was the entire system of departure tunnels which provided for more secure delivery of goods. Of course, raiding on the cargo transport occurred, but it usually happened somewhere far away from the Capital.

Leaving the Capital was only possible in a specialized transport – it was, in fact, an armoured cockpit on top of a track flexible enough to take aggressive maneuvers. Dimensions of such transport depended on their duty – cargo models were accordingly bigger; passenger carriers were relatively smaller yet more maneuverable. The machine was driven by a compact actuator which produced enough power not only for locomotion, but also for defending from small predators. The machine had its own power shield which prevented getting into the cockpit. Inside were also equipped with shock rifles capable of temporarily incapacitating even the most dangerous creatures inhabiting the Wild World.

For some reason the whole area occupied by the creatures and not yet populated by the society was called the Wild World. Everything that was located outside the Capital, the cities and the villages was regarded as part of the Wild World. All the forests, deserts, river basins – literally any territory not having any fenced-in structures was considered the Wild World. There were rare lonely houses inhabited by people, of course, but they were living at their own risk. Very often such buildings were abandoned, since their owners were unable to protect their homes from the surrounding creatures.

Miriana looked around. In the cargo terminal she saw another two female passengers who were, cuddling up, peacefully sleeping. One of them was slim with thin dark hair on her head, strongly pronounced cheek-bones and small eyes. Her mouth was on the side of her face, and the nose constituted a pair of holes in the centre. She was dressed in some dirty rags which were not enough to hide the unnaturally yellow tinted body. The second female was more corpulent, and her face wasn’t that skinny, but the cheek-bones were pronounced in the same way. Her forehead took a half of the face, underlining tiny eyes and, two holes representing the nose, and a thin line of the mouth on the left side of her face. She was dressed similarly as her neighbor, yet the tint of the skin was bluish in places.

The smaller one produced a snoring sound, twitched and cuddled up tighter to her neighbor, who, in turn, as if didn’t notice any discomfort. Once more Miriana scanned the passengers with her eyes and returned to her memories.

Just one year ago everything was so nice, but in a single moment everything went out of control. She was living with her aunt-cousin in the Tenth City from the Capital, assisted her running a small household, and took care of the kids at a kindergarten. She was about to graduate from school. She was always sweet and kind to everyone and never refused if being asked for help. Miriana was always smiling, and it seemed she never had bad days, as she projected sunny happiness. Back then everything seemed so simple and unburdened until a man appeared in her aunt’s life. He was working as a forester and was physically massive, his huge arms served him a good weapon against small predators, running around the city walls. This man was always kind to her and never harmed her. Everything was so perfect that Miriana had never had any thoughts of leaving and paying a visit to her dad in the Capital.

Now she regretted her holding a grudge against her father for his decision to send her away from the Capital. This resentment came to her in the day of her turning fifteen. Miriana couldn’t have predicted what day it would turn out to be and what it would bring to her.

The morning of that day was as usual, but closer to the evening Miriana noticed that the man of her aunt somewhat suspiciously stares at her; his touches became different, as if he wanted something from Miriana, something only she had.

"You know," he murmured devouring Miriana with his eyes. "There’re certain unspoken customs in our society. Would you like to hear of them?"
Miriana was frightened with this strange persistence coming from the man.
"A woman living in a man’s house for more than a year and not having found a husband is obliged to give herself up to the head of the house. And if his relatives ask for the same thing, she must obey. Did you know that?"

Miriana looked at her aunt in fear, but the latter only hid her eyes trying to cover her embarrassment. She was definitely not going to stand up and defend Miriana, even though she probably wanted to protect her from the test ahead. At that moment Miriana understood that she has nowhere to look for help.

"So,"- the man softly moved his big rough hand along Miriana’s spine. "You are living here for more than a year, and this house belongs to me, I bought it recently from your aunt. Have you faund a husband yet?" – His voice was flattering, as if not accepting any reply apart from the negative one and get what he wants from Miriana.

Miriana turned away from the man – she understood what he meant. Although Miriana knew that each city had their own customs which were to be followed by every inhabitant, she was afraid to imagine what they can be in here. And so the day came when she faced one of these rules. She had a lump in her throat and tears filled her eyes. Miriana was terrified to even imagine that her first partner would be a huge forester, whose rough hands were now caressing her back.

"Don’t do this," - her aunt said in a quiet voice, almost ready to break, "Doug, I beg you, spare the child. She is too delicate, I fear she won’t handle it."
"What did you say, Amata?" - the man turned around swiftly and faced Miriana’s aunt who was sitting obediently and fumbled nervously with a napkin. "Are you worried about her body? Be sure, I’ll be gentle."

Saying this, the man turned Miriana’s face to his and licked his lips, as if looking at his favourite dish. Amata didn’t drop a word more.
"Don’t be afraid," - the man pronounced softly. "I won’t touch you today, but you must be prepared for your first time. Amata will help you prepare yourself, and tomorrow you’ll turn into a different person."

Doug stepped away from Miriana and went out of the room. The aunt approached Miriana to calm her down but was rejected.
"I will go to the bathroom," - Miriana said quietly.

Sitting in the bathroom Miriana was holding a razor trying to decide for herself what exactly she wants, what is meaningful to her now. Her colourful dreams of serving the ones in need vanished in face of the cold reality. Now she started to realize that all the men carry a grain of filth in them.  All of them want to share their filth and turn a kind, pure and honest being into someone just as they are themselves.

Fear of this huge and dreadful man who was going to do something terrible with Miriana was residing in her head. Recently she witnessed the change in one of her friends who went through something similar. Once joyful and always laughing girl turned into a pale copy of herself. She became silent, as she lost her voice, and shy of people. Miriana didn’t want to became someone like that. But what could she do? To leave. She can leave, but not this city. The thought of the cities out there having similar traditions terrified her. She can leave this world. She was ready to abandon her life just not to give herself to his arms. There will be no pain after death, no suffering, nothing but the overwhelming void in which one is not afraid to drawn.

Sitting in the bathroom and almost ready to give away her life, Miriana remembered her father and smiled ironically. He loved her daughter dearly and, therefore, did everything to protect her from the Capital and from, as he called it, “the filth of the Capital”. Na;ve man, he didn’t realize that every city with people in them will be “filthy”. Or, probably, he simply didn’t want to notice it, and feared only of the “filth of the Capital”.

A tear ran down Miriana’s cheek – she wanted to see her father so much at that moment. He was the only one who would never let anything bad happen to his dear daughter.


The frightening memories stopped getting into her head. Gradually, she was falling asleep. Miriana had seen a dream about her past, the time her mother was still alive. This was the only precious memory of her mother she remembered.

She was four. Together they went to a resort city not far away from the Capital. Her mother was a blonde with blue eyes, a bit plump, but this didn’t make her look less gorgeous. Her face was covered with numerous scars left by constant attempts to look like the pure-blooded people. Yet, although she could correct her face, she couldn’t do the same with her arms. They were a quarter shorter than the arms of the pure-blooded: moreover, her left arm was fifteen centimeters shorter than her right arm. Plus, only four fingers on each hand kept her away from her dream of look like the pure-blooded.

Her legs were long, a bit curved in the knees, which, however, didn’t spoil her ability to walk elegantly – the ability that overweighed all the small flaws. She always tried to look exquisite, and she did it perfectly well despite certain noticeable imperfections in her body.
That day turned to be cloudy. Miriana and her mother were in their hotel room. Miriana’s father had some meeting taking place in this hotel. Little Miriana was sitting by her mother and was watching the pictures in a small book read to her by her mom. This was a tale of a poor girl who turned from a servant to a princess. She was kind, nice to everyone and never fell into despair. At thas very moment Miriana decided to herself that she will become as nice, kind and caring as that servant girl, so that one day she can bring her mom and dad to a lucurious palace.

Hearing of her daughter’s plans, Miriana’s mother smiled kindly and kissed her on the forehead. Her blue eyes were shining like two small stars, and the love behind these eyes was unmatched.
"Of course, you will become the most beautiful princess on the entire Earth. Besides, you were born with much lesser mutation than me. You are a little princess of mine and your dad’s hearts."

Mother gently held Miriana close to her, and they were sitting like that for a while, while the sound of alarm disturbed them.
Miriana twitched and found herself in the cargo bay of the armoured transport. Tears were running down her cheeks, and the sound of the alarm disappeared in the dream. Lilith was carefully looking at Miriana.

"Why are you crying?" – there was a note of worry in Lilith’s voice.
"I’ve seen my mom in my dream," – Miriana whispered not being able to speak normally because of the lump coming up her throat.
"Did something happen to her?" – Lilith kept watching at Miriana.
"Yes," Miriana replied struggling to speak. "We were visiting a resort near the Capital all together when because of the breach in the defence system the city was infiltrated by the predators. My mother managed to hide me, but she herself…"

Miriana couldn’t speak anymore; the memories caused too much pain to share them with anyone. But Lilith felt Miriana’s pain without words. She lightly hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Everything is fine," - Lilith said quietly. "It’s all in the past. It is over, don’t think of it. Everything will be good – the future is in your hands."


Miriana kept crying, and Lilith started to feel the loss experienced by Miriana. This cruel sensation appeared to be such familiar to Lilith, but she decided to throw all these emotions out of her heart.


=-IV-=

One month has passed since Lilith and Miriana left the Capital. They spent two weeks surviving on its lower level and two more to reach their destination. And now, standing at the doorstep of the cargo cockpit ready to open, they were both submerged into their own thoughts. The one thing that united them – they both didn’t want to return to the Capital.

The doors of the cockpit opened. Miriana with Lilith proceeded to the exit from the armoured transport to reach the Fourty-fourth City from the Capital.
It was a regular coastal city holding a small seaport. Cold breeze met Lilith and Miriana with mistrust, as if trying to fend them off to the transport, which was already started being unloaded of its goods, ready to be transported by sea. 

"Well," - Miriana uttered inconveniently. "We should probably start by finding a place to spend the night. I have a little money saved, so, I believe, it would be enough for a couple of nights. Then, I hope, we’ll be able to find some job."
"If I were you, I wouldn’t be so confident," - Lilith replied to her. "Remember how we were rejected in the previous city? We were simply lucky nobody informed the law of us as of runaways. We escaped with a slight mistrust."
"It was in the previous city, and now everything will be different." Miriana didn't back away. "This is another city, different people, maybe, we’ll be able to stay here."

"Yes, it would be nice. I’m tired of this stupid chase for the transport." Lilith stretched to her full height, as if trying to reach the branches of the nearest trees. "You know, I offer you that we split up for a while to investigate. What kind of city this is and what traditions it has. Don’t you agree?"
"I think it’s a nice idea. I was already started to be worried by the gazes of the people who had seen us together." Miriana shivered. "I don’t even want to know what they could have thought. "
"Ye-e-e-ah," - Lilith uttered thoughtfully. "This information is certainly unnecessary to you."

Having decided to meet at a local bar, Lilith and Miriana separated and started in the opposite directions, first dividing the money they had in half. In its essence, the city was not hostile,  the locals were suspicious of the new faces. This was especially evident from the glances that were thrown at Miriana and Lilith.

Closer to the evening, in late afternoon sunlight, Lilith and Miriana met in the place arranged before. Miriana was troubled with something, while Lilith, on the contrary, looked as if she had found something suitable for her. After ordering meals, they began to discuss the day.
"Lilith," - Miriana started, "Have you managed to find something out about the city?"
"Yes," - Lilith replied, putting the spoon into the hot soup. "I even got a job. It’s not too lofty in the city, but still, better than nothing."
"Great, what exactly is this job?" – Miriana lazily whirled the contents of the soup in her plate.

"I joined a hunters’ squad.  You know, I am not even surprised they accepted me with caution and joy at the same time. I assume that it’s only to their advantage that I’m a newcomer to the city, as we don’t have any relatives here. I believe they are afraid only of the fact that I’m a woman, but, as I proved I’m not that helpless as they thought, they decided to take me in. They told me if I endure a couple of raids, they will take me on a regular basis. I’ll hunt creatures. " 
"It’s good that you found the job so soon. I’m afraid I’m not as talented as you."  Miriana spooned up some soup and poured it back to the plate. "I’ve heared if newcomers don’t get job in two weeks’ time, they go to sea or end up in a brothel. "

"Don’t worry," said Lilith finishing her meal. "If everything goes fine with my job, I’ll take you to the squad too, and you won’t have to go to the sea or the brothel. But don’t give up – seek and you shall find. "
Miriana smiled to Lilith. To her  Lilith’s words seemed both so simple and so incredibly complex. Miriana didn’t have any education; she left the Capital not finishing the last year of the college. At that moment she wasn’t considering studies seriously, but now she started to regret it.
Every place Miriana went to, she was always asked about her education and if she had any papers that would give her work permit. She had to reply that she didn’t have anything, and every time this fact saddened her more and more.

Having dealt with her soup, at last, Miriana suddenly asked her companion:
"Lilith, don’t you really remember anything from your past? The time before my father found you and helped you?"
Lilith changed countenance; her good mood was gone at the drop of a head. Lilith’s face expressed the shadow of stress and worry; it seemed that she wanted to evade the question but didn’t see a reason to do so.
"No," Lilith replied quietly. "I don’t remember a thing and don’t want to. If I wanted to forget it, then so it had to be. "
"I see, I’m sorry for asking this, I just… "
"You were just curious," - Lilith replied with the same stiffness, and stood up from the table.

The rest of the evening they spend in silence searching for a place to stay for the night. They were lucky to come across an elderly woman. She almost instantly offered them to spend the night at her place. The woman observed Lilith with some weird stare, as if she wanted to ask for something but didn’t dare. Lilith felt it but didn’t even want to know what this woman might ask her; deeply inside her consciousness she knew this could change something in her – she feared of it the most.
"Are you staying here for long?" – said the woman showing them their beds.
"We hope so," - Miriana replied; she tried to put the expression of joy on her face, yet she didn’t do too well with this.

The woman watched Lilith’s face thoughtfully and, finally, uttered:
"Does the name Markus ring a bell to you?"
As soon as Lilith heard this name, something painful stung her chest. Throwing aside the overwhelming emotions, Lilith looked at the woman and replied with confidence – “No”. The woman smiled sorrowfully and left Lilith and Miriana alone.  Neither of them wanted to talk, therefore, they decided to go to sleep.

The night was calm; there was not a single cloud in the starry sky. The sea was singing its song somewhere near, lulling to sleep and promising liberty and fulfillment of all dreams. The forest, on the contrary, whispered and encouraged you not to listen to this liar-sea; not to believe in its sweet talks. It whispered about the dangers the sea hides, about every mysterious thing it buries. The sea replied, in turn, that the forest is no less perilous than the sea itself. Suddenly, the sound of alarm screamed through the night. Miriana and Lilith were instantly awake and ran out of the room; they were met by the elderly woman.

"We must go to the shelter immediately," - said the elderly woman packing the rest of her belongings in a bag. "Some beast has infiltrated the city."
"Miriana, follow the lady to the shelter, and I will find out what happened. Maybe I can help." – Lilith was speaking firmly, confidently, knowing exactly what she is planning to do.
"Ok," Miriana replied, took the woman by the hand and they both exited the house.

Lilith, in turn, took the road to the hunters’ headquarters, where she had been earlier today. Having passed a few lanes and ignoring the people running in her direction, Lilith has at last reached the headquarters and went straight to the tallest and biggest of the hunters. It was the head of the squad – Herald. He was giving instructions to his men. He was about two metres tall, and one and a half metres wide in shoulders. Herald had very developed strong arm which resembled more of two huge buckets. His facial expression was rather stern and decorated with scars, which was enough to get anyone frightened. His rare light hair gave his appearance even more severity.

"Herald," - Lilith addressed the big man. "Can I be of any assistance?"

Herald turned around and looked at her as if trying to figure out if this seemingly fragile woman can help. Having decided for himself that it was not an option, he returned to giving orders to his hunters. Lilith was a little offended by this attitude and that, despite the earlier assurances they aren’t going to take her as one of their type. Fists clenched, Lilith decides that she alone can deal with the creature that breached the city’s perimeter. Grabbing the first weapon in her way, she exited the headquarters unnoticed by anyone.

"It’s time to get to business," - Lilith told to herself and closed her eyes to concentrate. Her intuition gave her a clue of the beast’s whereabouts. It was somewhere near. Inspecting the street and seeing that there was no one the apart from her and the hunters in the adjacent building, she started hitting the ground with the sword she took from the headquarters.

Having focused herself, she quickly determined the direction where the creature was and rushed there. After passing a couple of lanes to the north, Lilith saw a huge snakelike cat creature scavenging the ruins of a small house. Having dug something finally, it started ripping it to pieces and devouring it. There were no cries of pain, no yells of panic or despair. Only the sound of champing flew across the street. 

“Hey, you!” – Lilith addressed the creature; it stopped champing at once and looked in her direction, as if wondering – how can it be that someone dared to disturb its meal and is not fearing of consequences? “Spit it out, you, little rat” – Lilith was in a serious mood, yet she didn’t know if she had enough abilities to deal with this creature, but she wasn’t afraid to find it out. The thoughts were slipping through her mind – “And what if? What if I can” – she knew exactly that she needs to be the winner in this battle.
The creature hissed violently; this sound ran across the corners of the city, but it wasn’t going to attack for now. “Leave, while you can” – Lilith couldn’t wait the creature to start attacking – she wanted to make sure whether she can change the structure of its cells. She succeeded once, back then in the lab – will she be able to do something like that now?    

The creature started to realize that this strange female before it not only doesn’t fear him, but also is going to attack it herself. The creatture was fed up with presence of woman and decided that to attack or even eat this strange insolent woman would be preferable.
Having understood its intention, Lilith braced up for the battle. They were glaring at one another couple of moments more. The city lights were dimmed, and the creature was lit only by the moonlight. Its scaly skin was glancing with its every motion, even its breath. The red cat’s eyes watched closely every movement of the woman, and the forked tongue was carefully testing the atmosphere around. The creature was tense, it was ready for attack; it can be seen by its paws, tail and the whole body.

Just one more breath, and in a moment the outcome of the battle will be decided.


=-V-=

Lilith’s head couldn’t stop going round, but the delighted smirk didn’t come out of her face. She was victorious, there was no doubt. Before her laid the breathless carcass of the huge snakelike cat, which planned to feast upon some of the citizens.

The sky started to lighten, and the stars to pale. Already a couple of minutes ago Lilith’s legs stopped to support her, so she kept lying on the ground enjoying the pleasant chilliness of the soil. Closing her eyes Lilith was rewinding this night’s battle in her thoughts. 

She has seen how she tried to affect the structure of the creature’s cells; it felt this attempt and roared so loudly to frighten her that the walls in the city kept reverberating for some more moments. But Lilith didn’t give up, she continued the attempts to change the cell structure, and it was enraging the creature more and more. Finally, the creature couldn’t stand any more of this impudence and attacked. Lilith dodged and scratched the creature’s skin in the process. This maddened the beast even more.

The creature stood face to face with Lilith and hissed at her viciously. “You won’t frighten me”, - Lilith said to it, which made the beast go absolutely crazy. Gradually the creature began to lose control; it seemed the only thing it wants now – to swallow the female who dared to intrude into its body with such insolence.

Meanwhile, Lilith went on trying to disrupt the cells, and it seemed to start happening, as the beast began to lose coordination and orientation. But Lilith was feeling that each new intrusion into the creature’s organism consumes a lot of power which she would probably need again. Mustering up all her will, Lilith decided to change as many cells as she can during this attempt and started approaching the beast.

The creature began shaking head as it was trying to brush away something from its snout. This started to entertain Lilith when her concentration was interrupted by someone’s cry. 
"What are you doing?" A male’s deep voice cried. Lilith turned around and saw Herald standing in a hundred metres behind.
"I’m trying to prove that I’m not a weak woman," - Lilith declared tensely.

At this very moment the creature, sensing relief, looked fiercely at Lilith and rushed towards her to rip her into tiny pieces. What happened next continued for no longer than a few seconds, but to Lilith it seemed as if time had stopped. Herald’s loud cry “Beware!”, the creature’s stomping, mere moments to change the structure of her body and pierce through the creature. Running through the woman, the beast didn’t understand what just happened but was unable to stop and ran into the man knocking him off his feet. 

Lilith rushed towards the beast with fury not willing to give the victory away to Herald, who started to regain consciousness after the collision with the creature. Again, concentrating on changing its cell structure, Lilith started to simultaneously change her own cells in order to reach every vital organs of the creature. Being inside of the writhing in hysterics beast, Lilith sensed the warmth emitted by it with every cell of her body. Lilith felt how painful and hard the creature must be feeling now; for a second she was compassionate and wanted to release it, but it would mean the loss of concentration and her own fusion with the creature that none of them would survive.

Still being inside the beast and finding its heart, Lilith squeezed it in her hands as tight as she could. The creature strained, its pupils widened, and in a couple of seconds it fell dead. Lilith remained standing waist-deep in the creature’s body with its heart in her hands.

"Who are you?" - Herald whispered in terror.
Lilith began to return to a normal state and understand who she was. After this, releasing the heart from her hands, she took a few steps backwards to get away from the beast’s remains. Her head was wobbly like if she was riding on a merry-go-round, but Lilith was delighted with her victory.

When Lilith opened her eyes again, it appeared that she was inside someone’s room. This tiny shack had nothing in it apart from a bed, a cabinet and a small table with a chair.

Lilith stood up a bit from the bed, but her going-round head made her return to lying position. A couple of minutes passed before her dizziness calmed down, and Lilith repeated the attempt to stand up. Quiet steps were heard behind the door; Lilith drew back the blanket ready to rise up as the door opened and Herald came in. He seemed a little confused for some reason looking away from Lilith and stroking his chin as if hoping to find a beard on it. Still looking away, Herald approached the table, pulled out the chair and sat down neatly on it.   

"Khm," - Herald started shyly. "You see… I’m sorry, we had to undress you to see if you don’t have any visible injuries."
Just now Lilith noticed that she was naked. Covering herself with the blanket not to embarrass Herald even more, Lilith pronounced:
"Found anything?"
"Khm, not exactly," - Herald replied with less confidence in his voice. "Judging by your body, you haven’t had a single injury, which is pretty uncommon for our city. But don’t worry, you were checked by our wise woman; it was her who undressed her. Our tradition prohibits a man to touch a woman unless she isn’t his wife, or a courtesan.  "

"Good to hear," - Lilith said trying more to calm Herald down rather than herself. "Anyone else suffered?"
"No, everyone’s safe. Thanks to you, I guess."

Lilith couldn’t figure out if she heard the notes of joy or sorrow in Herald’s voice. However, Herald didn’t give her a chance to find it out as he stood up hastily and went towards the exit.

"I will give orders to bring you your clothes," - shyness, joy or sorrow disappeared from Herald’s voice; it became firm and unshaken. Stopping at the doorstep for a moment, herald was pondering over something, but, throwing the thoughts away, stepped forward and closed the door behind him leaving Lilith alone with her own thoughts.

“What's next?” – the question kept running through Lilith’s mind, yet there was no answer as there was knocking at the door again and two elderly women followed by Miriana holding clothes in her hands entered the room.

As soon as the women helped Lilith to dress up, they left the room allowing Miriana and Lilith to communicate for a while. Just as the door shut down, Miriana rushed to hug Lilith not being able to hold tears anymore.

"I was thinking you won’t return," - said Miriana through tears.
Lilith didn’t expect such an outbreak of emotions from Miriana, so she hasn’t figured out instantly what she had to do. Hugging her friend, Lilith tried to calm the still sobbing Miriana down.

"As soon as we heard all these terrible cries, I was so worried for you," - Miriana kept holding Lilith tight in her arms. "I didn’t know what to think, what to do without you. I wanted to run to your aid, but the citizens held me, and when the leader of the hunters appeared with your breathless body at dawn, I was ready to die. "

Miriana kept sobbing while Lilith tried to comfort her and listen.
"You understand, you are the only one. The only one I have left. You are my only friend, the only family, I have no one left but you."
The last words produced a warming effect on Lilith’s soul.She didn’t know exactly why, but Miriana’s words that she was her only family meant so much for Lilith. They were standing this way just for a bit longer until Miriana calmed down. Then they went down to meet the citizens.

Some of the citizens looked at Lilith with hope, some with fear, some were seeing a hero in her, while some – a still unknown enemy. Each the people present in that room considered Lilith in their own unique light.
"Well," - Herald started, rising up from a chair as soon as Lilith and Miriana sat down beside him on a bench. "Let us commence with our gathering in which we will decide the fate of these two women."
Herald pointed the finger on Miriana and Lilith. A quiet roar of whispering went across the room; it ceased just as Herald sternly looked around.

"So," - Herald pointed at Lilith. "This woman alone defeated the so-called Catsnake. We all know that this is quite a dangerous creature which we, the hunters, dare to oppose only in groups of seven to ten men to gain advantage and leave the battle with minimum casualties. It’s not a secret to anyone how poisonous the spit of this creature is – it’s capable of killing you in a few minutes. Also, you all know how healthy is its meat, as well as what a killed grown-up species of a Catsnake means to us. I advise you not to forget how many lives are saved by this woman and how more could be saved in the future. Thus, I ask you to think it over thoroughly and put forward the right decision for all. "

Herald sat down on the chair and encouragingly smiled to Miriana, who couldnt’sit still. Overlooking everyone with blind eyes the elder of the people gathered in the room rose up from his chair. He was extremely thin, and it seemed his skin was about to slip down leaving the old man just a pile of white bones. White hair hung down from his head and chin like icicles that one could only guess what wealthy looks he had in the past. The old man wheezed, cleared throat and, putting a metal cone to his lips, started his speech:

"Outsiders," - the old man’s voice trembled, but not with fear. "You came to our city uninvited, and in the very first night changed our life with your presence. I am aware of the opinions of everyone present in here, and I hold the right to speak on their behalf. You have not brought us any evil, but neither done anything good for the city during the short period of day you’ve been here. But this night gave you a chance to change something in your life, and both of you used it in her own way. You," - the old man pointed at Lilith. "Took the life of the creature we fear, but also respect and value. Do you sense your guilt before it?   "

Everyone turned and faced Lilith, patiently waiting for her reply. Lilith didn’t know what to say; she was trying to realize if there was a right answer to this question, but she couldn’t. At last, she remembered the creature itself, her emotions during the battle, her feelings, and, as a result, the answer was found.

"Yes," - there was not a drop of doubt in Lilith’s voice. "I feel my guilt in its death, and also that his life could mean more deaths than one."
The old man smiled vaguely and addressed Miriana.
"And you, do you acknowledge the gravity of your deed?"
Miriana shrank; she obviously didn’t want to remember what had happened. Clenching her fists, Miriana boldly looked in his eyes and said:
"Yes, and I would do the same if I had to do this again."
A displeased roar flew across the room, but as the old man raised his hand, everyone turned quiet.

"Well," - the old man pronounced after holding a brief pause. "You have exactly seven days to find your place in the city. Otherwise, you will have to leave. Since you came together you will have to leave together in case one of you cannot find her place in the city."

Telling so, the old man gave the cone to a man sitting by him and went to the exit. While the old man was walking everyone remained in their places; as soon as he disappeared behind the door, the gathering started to disperse until only three persons were left in the room. Herald gave Miriana a somewhat sorrowful look, stood up and turned to Lilith wanting but not daring to say something. Then he turned away and went out of the room, leaving Lilith and Miriana together.

"And what did you do?" – Lilith asked finally.
"Delivered the baby for the wife of a local cursed," - Miriana whispered. "No one of the citizens wanted to help her, but I just couldn’t turn my back on her. After that, they’ve been condemning me for some time for what I did, but I believe I did the right thing. No matter if the majority thinks the baby is doomed, but it deserves a chance to live."
And Miriana plunged into her own thoughts leaving Lilith pondering over the ups and downs of fate.

=-VI-=

The term allotted for Lilith and Miriana drew to a close. And if Lilith managed to find her place in the city as a hunter, Miriana’s efforts always went up in smoke, no matter how hard she tried. People haven’t forgotten how she, making a good deed, doomed an innocent soul to suffering as an outcast, a cursed one. It appeared that in the entire city there was not a single person but Miriana who would give a helping hand to this condemned family.

"This was the worst week in my life," - Miriana said with desperation in her voice. She was sitting on the bed and embraced her knees; her eyes, full of tears, looked indifferently through the wall. "But I still believe I made the right choice. And let my world crush. Let’s get driven out. I don’t care…"

The sense of fault seized Miriana once again, and two tears of misery dropped from her tired, tear stained eyes. Miriana didn’t want to be the cause for them to leave the city. No matter what, she liked it and she wanted to stay, but the fear gradually overwhelmed her, pushing her to crazy ideas. At last she decided that they should remove the major problem hindering them from being able to stay in the city.

Miriana calmly packed her belongings and left the house. Since the old lady who gave shelter to Lilth and Miriana was in the market at the time, and Lilith herself was on hunting mission and was goint go be home only closer to the evening, Miriana could hope that no one would notice her disappearance too soon.

Hiding it the deepness of the streets, Miriana finally reached the city gates. There she saw two guards. Both were massive and looked very stern and serious, but Miriana was lucky to know them. They appeared to be very kind-hearted persons, and they knew Miriana brought food to the hunters at times, especially when they had training days. Having lied to the guards that she is bringing supplies to the hinters to the training ground, Miriana seamlessly left the city. To go further away and, if she is lucky enough, to survive – that’s what Miriana was thinking about leaving the city. Passing the training ground, she went deeper in the forest. Of course, she was aware of where the hunters and Lilith were, but hoped they would miss each other on the way.

The forest surrounded Miriana with fantastical trees and plants which, it seemed, could breathe evaporating different odours. These smells intoxicated, caused disgust and a sharp desire to relish them. At one point Miriana realized that she cannot proceed further. She looked around and understood that she had entered a grove with some small plants of astonishing colours that smelled so unbelievably sweet, that there was no chance not to succumb to this pleasure. This was when Miriana wanted dearly so much to stay surrounded only by these plants, so she went in this direction completely forgetting of her plans.

Not far from this place a small swinelike beast was also attracted to the smell. He, like Miriana, was fascinated by it. It didn’t pay attention to anything apart from this striking odour. The beast accidentally touched a trunk growing from under the dazzling plants, and the whole string of flowers enwrapped the animal which wasn’t able to resist. Shocked by what she saw, Miriana halted but was still unable to leave this ill-fated place. She fell in panic, and her body refused to obey. Looking around, Miriana understood that she has run to a trap with no way out or a chance for saving. She was standing on a thin cover which, it seemed, was vibrating as if waiting for the right moment. At arm’s length there was the same trunk – dry on the surface it was exactly the source of the tempting and dizzying odour. Drops of fluid were slowly falling down from the trunk; they accumulated in a reservoir at the plant’s base, and then this sap flowed across the multicoloured cover, moisturizing it and making it sparkle like a rainbow.

Miriana looked at the animal enwrapped by the plant which was already started to get digested. She was terrified as soon as she realized in its place. This fear cleared her dizzy head. Slowly and erratically she turned back from this strange grove. Her legs failed her at times, refusing to hold her on her feet. With some luck, summoning all her strengths, Miriana managed to leave this toxic grove and end up on the training ground. The fear of being devoured by some plant or animal was greater than the fear of depriving her loved human being of her future.

Getting to the training ground, Miriana saw the hunters and Lilith. They were discussing something vividly and would probably not even mention her, but Lilith turned her head to Miriana, and the both understood everything on the instant. Overwhelmed by helplessness, Miriana fell down and burst into tears. Lilith quickly ran towards her and embraced her. 

"Hold on," - Lilith was trying to comfort her friend. "I won’t allow anything to hurt you. We will get through this, everything’s gonna be alright. "

But Miriana didn’t listen to her, she could not stop her hysteric, she gave up.
She didn’t remember the last days. Everything mixed up in one solid porridge, so, when sitting at the gathering which decided her and Lilith’s future in the city, one of them was totally indifferent. No matter how she tried, because of the single mistake Miriana was rejected everywhere.

"So," - the Elder started. "It came to my knowledge that one of you hasn’t found her place in the city, which means…"

"Have you given her a single chance?" – Lilith stood up from her sit. "Nobody gave her the opportunity to try and stay in this city! All of you denied her help even if you needed it! And you know what, if we have to leave this place, I won’t regret! I will remain by my dear friend rather than with such low human beings as you! No, there are noble and worthy persons among you, but too few, unfortunately!"

After Lilith finished her speech and sat down, a roar of disapproval ran across the hall. The elder tried to call everyone to order but in vain. It was only done when Herald intervened.

"We appreciate your fiery speech and the expressed opinion, Lilith the outsider, and now if you let me continue…?"
"Elder!" – a voice was heard from the hall. "Let me have a word before you announce your decision."
"Speak, my son."
"Miriana the outsider, I am the youngest of the Elders’ sons – Arthur. I want to offer you to stay in this city as my wife."

Another roar of disapproval was heard around the hall. Citizens were obviously discontented with such a decision. Meanwhile, Miriana was standing looking at the one who pronounced these words. It was the same man who assisted her to deliver a baby to the wife of the condemned man. It was him who held her back when she rushed forward trying to save Lilith. “But why?” – the thought was running through her mind. She hasn’t known his name till now, she knew nothing about him. Up to this moment he had been just one of the citizens to her, nothing more. But now, looking into his calm eyes, she wasn’t afraid. Something inside her assured her that she will be safe by his side. She will be happy herself and will allow Lilith to be happy as well.

When the roar was down, and there was no more time for pondering, Miriana replied confidently: “I accept your proposal”. Another wave of whispering flew across the hall, but it didn’t worry Miriana any longer. She was looking in his eyes and was sure she made a right decision.

"Silence!" – Herald cried, and everything went calm in an instant.
"Thank you, Herald," - the Elder was quiet for a couple of minutes, as if he was pondering over how and what to say, and then continued his speech. "The rule remains the rule. Both of you now have her place in the city and you have every right to stay in here and consider yourself the rightful members of our society. I congratulate you. The wedding will be held as soon as all the preparations are done."

The Elder went towards the exit; this time he was assisted by one of his relatives. When he was out, the roar in the hall went on. Many surrounded Arthur trying to find out of his motives for this action. Girls, who were apparently hoping Arthur to choose them, now were swearing and cursing him and Miriana.

"Silence!" – Herald cried again, and everyone became quiet. "Arthur, come stand by your wife to be. And you, - Herald pointed at the citizens, - get used to what has happened and accept the new citizens regardless of their past. Their present is now shared with our, and we all together are building our common future. Those who disagree have every right to leave this city."

It appeared there were no those who disagreed.
About two months have passed until the preparations to the wedding were finished. Gradually, many citizens got used to what had happened; some of them even found the decisiveness to get closer to Miriana, as she was going to become the wife of one of the Elder’s sons. The wedding day was there, and here Miriana was, standing in a white wedding dress at the mirror looking at herself and getting ready to come down to the guests and her husband to be. Lilith dressed in an elegant blue-and-black dress was standing by her.   

"You know, I never thought I’d merry one day. I was always thinking it’s just impossible. And here I am standing in a wedding dress ready to give my hand to the man who gave me his helping hand in the hard times. You know, Lilith, he appeared to be very kind and reliable. I’m glad I accepted his proposal."

Lilith came to her friend from behind and hugged her tightly.
"I’m also glad that you accepted it. You deserved to be happy, and I believe he can make you a little happier, and you will forget about what you’ve lost. "
"Thank you, Lilith, I hope you will find your happiness too. "

In a minute Miriana and Lilith were already heading to the altar where Miriana’s fianc; was waiting for her. They tied their union with a kiss as fireworks rose to the sky. This tradition was applied by the city only on the special occasions like this.

As soon as the first firecracker burst into a flower with thunderous boom in the night sky, Lilith stood aside as if stunned. With each sky-flower Lilith shrunk and the tears ran down her cheeks. She remembered everything that she desperately tried to forget. These memories collapsed upon her uninvited, unneeded, unwanted, yet they were the part of her she could not deny. Herald noticed her condition and approached her. Seeing her face he understood that she cannot enjoy this evening, as she herself needs support now, therefore, he took her away from the festivity. Some time later Miriana was asking everyone, where did Lilith disappear; people replied that she has gone together with Herald, suggesting they had a possible romantic affair.

When Herald invited Lilith to his house giving people food for gossips and trying to fend her off disturbance, he made an herbal tea and passed it over to the shivering girl.
“I remembered everything.”  Lilith whispered. “I remembered who I was. I recall the photos of my uncle, his girlfriend; they now probably have kids already. I remembered my father, and how dearly he loved and cared for me. I remembered my mother…” Lilith burst into tears. “They killed them. They were concerned I’m not a human being and carried out tests on me. They took away the most dearest and precious from me! They almost took my life… Marcus was my father…” 

Lilith continued to weep. Herald tried to comfort her but in vain. Lilith cried over her past, her losses, and her family. Having regained self-control, finally, Lilith continued:

"The only man who treated me as a human being, who could control my new abilities, who gave me this short oblivion, was Miriana’s father. He was the first one for a long time who didn’t view me as the object for studies but rather as a tortured victim. Though, at times, his views tended to alter, his kind and careful attitude to me was unchangeable. He gave me so much, and the only thing I can do to repay him is to make sure his daughter is happy… and then to revenge his death. "

Herald was silent; he didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to act; he was confused.
"And after I avenge Miriana’s father’s death, I will find every single person who destroyed this world. Everyone who took my family and my beloved ones away from me. Everyone who took away my future. Everyone will pay for their deeds. "
"Lilith," Herald started somewhat unconfidently. "What was your name before all this insanity had happened?  "

Lilith turned tense a little, trying to recall her genuine name.
"Lily," - she uttered in a whisper. "My name was Lily in the past.
!I will help you, Lily,! - Herald descended to his knee and took the hand of the woman still being Lilith, took her hand and looked piercingly through her eyes. "I will help you, as now I cannot see my life without you. We will tell everyone that we went to a hunting, let them think we decided to make a kind of a honeymoon to ourselves. Let them think that we are somewhere far away and happy. I will help you with your revenge, so I don’t want to see tears on your face anymore. "

"Herald, I… "- Lilith didn’t get to finish her thought, as Herald stopped her.
"I will not leave you, from the very moment I realized it was you who I need. I will do anything to make you smile again. Doesn’t matter if you don’t experience any feelings to me; I am ready to deal with it; I want to be close to you and help you with everything."

"Thank you, Herald." – Lilith smiled warmly to this loving giant and thought it was not by accident that the destiny brought her to the city – the place where her father had once been living.