Catharsis, Legend of the Lemurians (7 page)

Finally, wrapped in cozy softness, she leaned her
head on her father's well-worn, Soviet-era rucksack, which still
preserved the warmth of his body, and stretched her long,
pleasantly tired legs. She squinted into the slithering flames of
the campfire, her eyes following the escaping sparks straight into
the sky, all the while inhaling deeply. The aroma was
intoxicating—a mixture of pine, fresh water, and an elusive
ingredient this place alone possessed in abundance, a scent the
Mother Nature herself must have brewed in her secret labs for the
few lucky souls to enjoy.

Sasha half-listened as her father and the old Shaman
Tengis talked. Maxim wore his usual Soviet-made hiking gear and
boots, insisting they didn't make them like that anymore. He
pensively stroked his short, dense beard (he always let it grow out
in Siberia—warmer, and a break from shaving, according to him).
Tengis, sitting in his usual lotus pose, gazed into the fire with
those penetrating Asian eyes that seemed to be able to see into
other dimensions. His beard was rare, as Asian beards tend to be,
and all white. As Tengis talked, small clouds of puffy smoke issued
from his mouth. It was one of his funny habits—he was a virtuoso
when it came to talking without taking his pipe out of his
mouth.

Sasha let the smell of taiga and the breeze from
Baikal wash over her. The sacred lake of Siberia, Baikal, contained
more than one fifth of the planet's fresh water reserves. An
average lake on Earth had rarely survived past the age of ten
thousand years. There was nothing average about Baikal. Over a
million years old, rather then contracting with age, it kept
expanding. Scientists believed that Baikal was an ocean in the
making, while the locals swore that its pristine blue depths
possessed incredible healing and spiritual powers. At the moment,
the sacred lake was a gleaming, rippled sheet of silver in the
light of the full moon.

The dark taiga—Siberia’s giant untouched
forest—loomed silent just behind them. The kettle bubbled merrily
on top of the makeshift fire, as Tengis took out three travel mugs
and got busy brewing his famous green tea.

“Sasha, tea?” He offered her a steamy cup, which she
accepted gratefully. There was nothing better than
Dedushka
Tengis’s green tea after a day of hiking in taiga. She stretched
her legs in front of the fire and savored it slowly.

She called him
Dedushka,
meaning “Grandpa,”
ever since she could remember, because it seemed he was always
there, and she had the feeling that he always silently and
unobtrusively watched over her. Tengis wasn’t related to Sasha, of
course not. He was a small, bowlegged Asian man with squinty dark
eyes that pierced directly into your soul, as if it stood wide-open
for everyone to see. And Sasha, who took after her father, was
tall, with huge blue eyes and flowing hair that was the sunny color
of ripe Russian wheat. The color of her hair she actually inherited
from her mother, Olga.

Too bad Mama couldn’t make it, thought Sasha. Olga
Elfimova had a very important job in Moscow and couldn’t join them
for the summer vacation. Maxim, being a professor, had summers off.
School ended on June 22 and they just gave themselves enough time
to pack. Both Maxim and Sasha couldn’t wait to get out of Moscow
and submerge themselves into Siberia’s untouched wilderness. While
packing, Sasha had a persistent feeling that something very
important was awaiting her there. Today was June 29, their sixth
day on Lake Baikal.

“So quiet,” Maxim broke the silence. “Beats the city
every time.”

“It’s another world,” Sasha echoed. “Peaceful.”

At that very moment, she noticed two gleaming yellow
eyes staring straight at her from the darkness of the trees.

“Dedushka Tengis,” she whispered. “Look!”

Tengis slowly turned his head in the direction of
the gleaming eyes, as Sasha gave a slight gasp. More and more eyes
were appearing in the surrounding darkness, and now at least ten
pairs stared at them from various corners.

“Wolves,” mouthed Maxim. “Sasha, get behind me.”
Maxim started getting slowly to his feet, while at the same time
reaching for his hiking stick. “Sasha, behind me—now!”

“No, Papa!” Sasha shook her head. “You won’t achieve
anything with your stick against ten wolves. Let me talk to them.”
She started getting to her feet, too.

“No, Sasha, no! These are wolves, not seals!” Maxim
made a quick move in her direction, as if trying to shield her, and
that caused the wolves to growl.

“Papa, don’t,” Sasha whispered. “You are provoking
them!”

“Oh, sit down and be quiet, you two!” said Tengis
finally, in an uncharacteristically sharp voice, carefully setting
down his smoking pipe on the nearby rock. “I will handle this.”

Tengis rarely, if ever, got this way, which meant
that he was serious. Sasha obediently sat back on the ground, and
as she did, her nostrils were suddenly overpowered by the foul
stench of a large, sweaty animal that appeared out of nowhere next
to her. She turned her head to the right and saw a huge brown bear
right where Tengis sat just a moment ago. The bear’s fur was
shaggy, and as he got up to his hind feet, his towering form
blocked the moon.

“Oh, my God!” yelled Maxim, jumping back to his
feet. He threw himself on top of Sasha, attempting to protect her
with his own body.

Sasha struggled to free herself. “Papa, it’s okay!
It’s not what you think. Let me go, please!”

“Sasha, be quiet,” whispered Maxim frantically. “I
will protect you!”

“You don’t need to, Papa. Just watch!”

Meanwhile, the bear didn’t even look at the two
struggling humans next to him and made a deliberate beeline for the
wolf pack. After taking several steps in the direction of the
taiga, he again got up on his hind paws, his menacing claws shining
in the light of the moon. Then, the bear opened his mouth, his
growl rocking the forest. One of the wolves issued a squeal and
started backing up. The others reluctantly followed.

The bear took a few more steps in the wolves’
direction and opened his mouth again. A growl, even louder than the
first one, broke the stillness of the taiga. Two of the wolves
deserted the field in a hurry; the rest backed up some more. Then,
the bear stood all the way up on his hind paws, his giant front
paws outstretched, and the third growl rocked the land. It sounded
like the final warning. The wolves decided not to argue. The rest
of the pack turned around and ran for their lives from this strange
and dangerous beast that appeared out of nowhere and for some
reason wanted to protect he humans.

The giant bear issued one more growl, evidently to
reaffirm his victory. After that, he turned to face Sasha and
Maxim…and smiled. His huge body started shrinking, until it was the
same height as the tiny Tengis. A moment later, the bear was gone
and the shaman was standing next to them, brushing the dust and
animal hairs off his clothes.

“Still smell a little like the bear,” Tengis noted,
chuckling. “Can’t be helped—residual effect. But no matter, it’ll
air out by the time we reach the village.”

THE EARTH SHIFTER, new YA fantasy thriller, coming
in December 2012!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Russia, Lada Ray always wanted to
write cool stories, which she'd been imagining in her head ever
since she can remember. Instead, she listened to her well-meaning
parents and started her life in a more traditional way (for her,
that is).

She is a linguist, internationally certified
feng shui master practitioner, world traveler, financial
consultant, nature lover, spirituality & metaphysics
researcher, and writer.

Lada imagines her stories in bustling New
York City and the serene Catskill Mountains, New York, where she
lives with her family and gorgeous calico cat.

Coming soon:

THE EARTH SHIFTER, new YA fantasy
thriller

DRAGON GATE, Accidental Spy Asia
Adventure

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LADA’S
BOOKS:
http://www.LadaRay.com

CONNECT:

Twitter: @ LadaTweets

Goodreads: Lada Ray

YouTube: Lada Ray Channel

Blog:
http://LadaRay.wordpress.com