Chapter 28

     Leolik was sleeping badly. He woke up several times from the rumbling in the mountains. Probably, unknown rockfalls continued to crumble. By morning, he fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed of Milena. She was stretching out her arms to him and calling him. Leolik woke up instantly. It was still dark. It could hardly be called darkness. The big star Golubika was shining brightly in the sky, suffusing everything with a deathly blue light. Leolik left the cave. He shook the cat out of his backpack.
– Murzik, stop sleeping! We have to find Milena.
    Leolik examined the backpack carefully. And, miracle of miracles! He found a box of matches in the pocket of the backpack.
    Leolik began berating himself. Idiot! He should have checked everything he had available, already yesterday. He chose several branches from the bundle of twigs he brought yesterday. He smoothed the ends of these sticks on a stone with the axe. Then he tried to light the end of the stick. It was burning, but with difficulty. Leolik prepared several more sticks, trying to smooth them as much as possible with the back side of the axe. When the preparations were complete, he took a grass string from the cat's grass basket, tied it to the cat's collar. He put the cat's basket into his backpack. He took his torches into his hands.
– Murz, fetch Milena! There's still some fish left! Wanna eat? Look for her, kitty, look for her!
    The cat meowed and pulled Leolik into the cave. This did not surprise him. After entering the cave, he lit his torch and picked up Mara's small hatchet. The cat pulled him deeper into the cave. The flame at the end of the stick was barely glowing, but it was clearly leaning towards the exit out of the cave.
– However, there's clearly some draft over there. It must be a passageway, – Leolik thought.
    The cat was pulling him into the cave. They walked about a hundred metres and came up against a wall. The ceiling of the cave was getting lower and lower. Leolik didn't know what to do next. But the cat was confidently pulling him to the right. Touching the wall with his hand, he followed the cat. Some light appeared ahead. They passed through a narrow passage and found themselves in the next hall. There were huge holes in the ceiling of this cave, through which light was coming in. In the middle of this hall there was a lake. There was enough light. Huge limestone icicles hung from the ceiling along the walls. Leolik was looking around with interest. Sand was crunching underfoot. The sand was clearly out of place here. It had been piled up in the form of a path. Someone had been marking the way. The cat stopped and suddenly began to sniff something with interest. Leolik crouched down and had a look. Manure. Horse manure.
– Murzik, you're a real tracker! We're following the right path!
    From there on, Leolik was walking confidently, along the sandy path. The path led to the next cave. Here, there were holes in the ceiling az well , through which one could see clouds and clear sky. Outside, the yellow Sun had already risen. They passed through one more hall, and ahead they saw the exit from the cave. Leolik went outside. There were some bushes all around. He and the cat went across the mountain through its caves and ended up on the other side. The cat was pulling Leolik towards the foot of the mountain. Leolik put out his torch. And he threw away all the other sticks. He was almost running after the cat. They went down the mountain to the lake.
    Leolik looked back, he definitely couldn't find his way to return. The cave they had come out of – was completely invisible. There were bushes and small trees. Leolik made his way along the lake shore. There was a mountain on the right.
    Suddenly, the cat stopped and meowed plaintively. Then he approached Leolik and began to climb up his leg, to get onto his shoulders. Leolik was puzzled by his behavior. He put the cat into his backpack and began to move forward cautiously. A large clearing appeared ahead. Leolik was standing in front of it, wondering what had frightened his cat so much. Suddenly, he clearly felt the vibration of his collar.
– Danger! But what kind of? – he was thinking.
    Leolik carefully examined the clearing once more. The grass was clearly trampled. He was thinking what to do. He decided to move on. He took a few steps. Nothing. A couple more steps. And suddenly he felt a sharp vibration from his collar. Without any idea, Leolik took a giant leap aside. Just in time. Right on the place he was standing a moment ago, a net appeared. Someone was clearly hunting Leolik. But who? He didn't see anyone.
    Leolik took a small hatchet from his belt and held it in his hands. He looked back. Again, he felt some sharp vibration of the collar. He took a step to the side. A spear was flying at him from the bushes. It stuck into the ground where he had just been standing. Leolik pulled the spear out of the ground. It had a huge flint tip and a well-planed shaft.
– Hey, you! Thanks for the spear! Dare come out?
    A figure emerged from the bushes and began walking slowly towards Leolik.
    Leolik gasped. It was not a human! It was covered in fur from head to toe. Finally, the stranger came closer, and Leolik had a good look at him. It was a giant cat walking on two legs. The creature’s face was clearly cat-like. It had cat ears on its head. It was shorter than Leolik. A tail was dangling behind its back. Its hands were almost like human. Its fingers were shorter than human, but covered in fur. At the tips of its fingers there were claws, as if they were cat-like fingers. A skirt made of reeds was hanging from its waist. A flint knife was attached to a woven strap around his waist. It held a crossbow in its hands.
– Murzik, it looks like your relatives have evolutionized.
    Meanwhile, the giant cat approached Leolik. It was staring intently at Leolik, as well. It pointed at the spear. Leolik gave a smile:
– Wanna take that? Where’s Mila?
    And then, something unexpected happened. The cat, who had been sitting quietly in the backpack until then, decided to have a look at his “relative.” He crawled out onto Leolik’s shoulders. This sudden appearance really startled the guest. It jumped back.
– Myarg, myarg? – that giant cat said.
    Murzik jumped down from Leolik’s shoulders and bravely walked over to the guest. The sun glinted off the cat’s collar. And that huge cat suddenly dropped to his knees in front of Murzik and bowed its head to the ground. Murzik walked up to him with an air of importance and sniffed the guest. Leolik called his cat in his mind.
– Murzik, come here.
    Murzik rubbed against the guest’s head and went back to Leolik. Leolik put the cat back into his backpack.
– Hey, what’s your name? Myarg, myarg. Get up, come on! Grab your spear and lead me to Mila! Stop lying here. Mila! Got it? M-i-l-a!
– Mia?
– Yeah! Come on, hurry up.
    Leolik stepped away from the spear. Myarg picked up his net and spear. Then he pointed at Leolik’s neck and said something. Leolik didn’t understand a word. Myarg's entire speech consisted of snorts and growls. But it was clearly some speech.
    Leolik was following Myarg. He could barely keep up with him. Leolik was deep in thought. Is Myarg a name? He recalled the story of King Arseniy. How the King had told him about his first encounter with Chronos. They had been walking through the bushes for nearly half an hour and finally came out to the lake and walked along the sand. Leolik spotted the little horse from a distance already. It was lying on the lake shore. A small figure was visible nearby.
– Milena!
    Ignoring Myarg, Leolik ran as fast as he could towards the horse. The giant cat was shouting something to him, but Leolik paid no attention to him.
– Mila! – he was shouting at the top of his voice.
    Finally, he ran up to the horse. There was Milena. She was sitting next to the horse, her hands tied. Not far away, Leolik noticed a few more Myargs.
– Mila! Are you OK? – Leolik took his knife out and cut the rope on the girl's hands.
– Leolik! – the girl started weeping. She was rubbing her wrists. Anger was filling Leolik.
– Mila? Are you all right?
– Oh, yeah, Leolik. I wanna drink and go to the toilet.
    Leolik turned around. Standing around him, there were unfamiliar myargs, armed with spears. There were three of them. Finally, Leolik’s escort ran up. It started saying something to those three. They answered him, but it seemed he couldn’t convince them. Without any mess, Leolik pulled Murzik out of his backpack and threw him to the feet of those myargs.
– Murzik, come on, sort things out with your relatives!
    Then he took Milena by the hand and walked with her towards the nearest bushes, ignoring the myargs. They tried to stop him, but Leolik’s escort stopped them. Leolik led Milena to the nearest bushes. He handed her his small hatchet.
– Mila, do what you need to. No one'll dare to stop you.
    Then they returned to the horse. Myargs were stroking Murzik. Milena called the cat. And he happily ran to her. She picked him up, into her arms.
– Mila, have you had a good sleep?
– Not so good actually, Leolik. I was dreaming about you all night.
– Me too. How have those cats managed to grab you?
– I didn’t even have time to scream or figure out who they were, on earth. It seems they can see in the dark really well.
– One of them tried to catch me with a net and stab me with a spear. But it seems our Murzik's a goodwill ambassador. You should have seen how that myarg was groveling in front of our little cat.
– Leolik, but what are we gonna do now? They’ve clearly taken us captive, haven’t they?
– Just nothing. We’re setting up the tent right now. We’re unhitching the horse. She needs a rest, too. She hasn’t been unhitched for two days already. And then we're gonna sleep.
     After saying that, Leolik led the horse over. He unloaded the bags and the tent from it. He unhitched it. The horse whinnied happily and walked towards the lake. It began to drink greedily. Meanwhile, Leolik quickly pitched the tent. Then, taking his axe, he went to the bushes and chopped down a huge branch there. The myargs watched Leolik with interest. Then they decided not to interfere. They moved away from the tent. They settled down nearby.
    Leolik made a fire. He chopped some more branches. He set the pot over the fire.
– Mila, got any more fish?
– Yeah, Leolik, from yesterday. But it’s probably smelling bad by now.
– That’s okay, we’ll boil it more thoroughly.
   They cooked the dinner in a very short time. Some leftover fish, a little grain, and some spices. The fish soup turned out great. The fish hadn’t gone bad yet. They ate the soup with pleasure. They tossed a piece of fish to Murzik.
– Mila, what do our captors eat actually, I wonder. Could it be raw fish, really? I think they might actually be cats, in fact. Do you have any catmint in your herbs? You know, like valerian, or something?
– Leolik, I've got that. What're you wanna do?
– Well, brew some tea, let the aroma be strong for any nose. Let’s see how they'll react to that.
    Mila made some tea. Just nothing special, it barely had any scent. But while they were drinking it from their clay mugs, they heard the crunch of sand. Myarg walked up to the fire. It was the same one who had tried to catch Leolik in the very beginning.
– Oh, Mila, we have a guest. Come here, buddy.
    Leolik beckoned him over to the campfire. He handed him his mug.
– Help yourself. Let’s get acquainted. I’m Leolik, and this is Mila. What’s your name, kitty?
– Barf!
– Mi!
– Oh, Mila, we already know their two words. “Mi” is probably “yes.” And “Myarg.” That seems to be how they call themselves.
    Barf stuck his nose into the mug and sniffed with great delight. It seemed the smell was driving him crazy. Then he stood up and walked over to his packmates, carrying the mug. Leolik was watching with interest. Barf let each of them take a sniff. They tasted it.
– Mila, have you put anything into their drinks, like some kind of sleeping berries?
– No, Leolik, why, do I need to?
– The main thing is that they shouldn't go mad. And that they shouldn't start dancing and stabbing people here.
    Meanwhile, Barf walked back over to the campfire. Leolik understood everything what was going on and simply handed him the teapot and one more clay mug.
– Just don’t overdo that, my dear myargs.
    While the myargs were sipping their tea, Leolik suggested Milena to go for a swim. She agreed.
– Leolik, you’re so scruffy you look like a myarg yourself. Maybe you should shave? I’ve got a bar of soap.
– Why, am I really that scruffy? Aren’t you embarrassed by those cats?
– No.
– All right, then. Let’s go swimming.
    Leolik shaved. The dagger was excellent and hadn’t lost any of its sharpness. After their bath, they crawled into their tent. They hugged and fell asleep. Leolik woke up several times from the sound of crunching sand. It seemed Barf had brought the pot and mug back. Leolik took his axes with him into the tent, just in case. And the cat, as well.
    They woke up well past noon. Leolik had an excellent sleep. He crawled out of the tent. Barf was sitting by the campfire. The other myargs were gone. It seemed like they had left.
– Barf, where are the other myargs?
    Barf said something, but Leolik only caught one word: “Mia.” He repeated it several times. Then he pointed Leolik to the pot. Leolik looked inside, it was full of small fish.
– Oh! Barf! Thanks! Mila's gonna wake up soon and she'll make something to eat. Well done! Fish is good.
– F-f-ish, – Barf said.
    Mila crawled out of the tent.
– Lelik, who are you talking to?
    Lelik rushed over to the tent and helped Milena to get up. She peeked into the pot.
– Not bad!
    Leolik grabbed his axe and went to chop some branches. Murz came out of the tent, yawning. Milena picked up the cat and placed him into Barf’s arms. Though calling them “arms” was too much. Paws? But the cat didn’t mind and purred in Barf’s paws.
    Leolik carefully cleaned and gutted the fish. About an hour later, they were already eating fish soup. They also poured some into a bowl for Barf and gave him a spoon. His fangs were clearly interfering him to eat. He waited for the soup to cool down, then simply drank it straight from the cup, with the fish, easily chewing up the fish and its bones.
    Then Milena rinsed the teapot in the lake and brewed another pot of tea. It seemed that the scent of valerian delighted Barf. Murzik was purring happily, too, when Milena was taking her herbs out of her bags.
– Mila, what are we gonna do? Stay for the night here? Or go meet that mysterious Mia? I think Mia is their leader among the myargs.
    At the word “Mia,” Barf perked up. Then he pointed to Leolik’s collar. And he said:
– Mia! Myarga.
– Leolik, we had a good sleep last night. The horse has had a rest too. We can walk at a slow pace till late evening.
    Leolik packed up his tent and saddled his horse. They extinguished the campfire and erased all traces of it. Leolik still feared being pursued by King Arseniy’s men. While he was gathering his things, he noticed that the crossbow he had found was gone. It was likely this very item that had led to Milena’s kidnapping. The myargs recognized their crossbow. But Leolik had found it next to a human skeleton. It seemed that humans and myargs had crossed paths at some point, and those encounters had clearly not been peaceful. He explained all this to Milena. She agreed with him. Then he helped Milena to get onto the horse and turned to Barf.
– Barf! Let’s go to Mia Myarga!
    Strange as it may seem, Barf was very happy, and they followed him. Leolik took a furtive look at his map. The two-headed mountain was visible on the horizon, peeking out from behind the other mountains. And as they were walking towards it, Leolik was calming down.
    They walked almost until evening. The sun was already setting. They came to a huge basin. There was a lake in the middle. The massive double-peaked mountain towered over it all. After the sunset, they reached the lake. Barf pointed Leolik to the ground and walked away. Leolik cut some grass for a bedding and quickly pitched the tent.
– Mila, wanna eat something?
– No, not really. But if you want, we have some grains, we can make some porridge.
– Well, then we’ll stay here for the night. I think we'll meet up with Mia Marga tomorrow.
    They slept peacefully all night. The cat lay with them.