Mausoleum of Nature

The train drove through dense deciduous forests. In the distance the outlines of mountains could be seen, shrouded in gray-blue fog.

Etinnei curled up on the cot under Itinit and slept. Tuot looked at the Arctic fox girl and was glad that she did not notice him.

“We will soon arrive in Tohsonun,” Itinit said. “Tuot, stop staring at it. Of course it are cute, but looking at them too often is somehow strange.”

“It’s not strange,” Tuot summoned a virtual screen and took several pictures. “You said it were cute. So you like it too?”

“What are you talking about?” Etinnei’s voice was heard.

“About local landscapes,” Itinit lied. “Are these mountains and forests really cute?”

“When I woke up, I heard something different,” Etinnei thought. “Perhaps it seemed to me. I hope they weren't talking about me.”

The mountains were getting closer and closer. Along with the mountains, the fog was also approaching. The forests became more dense. Low tree ferns and deciduous shrubs appeared under the trees.

The train entered a tunnel. For a few moments there was darkness, but soon the previous landscape resumed outside the window. Etinnei looked out the window with interest.

The train turned to the side. From the windows there was a view of the gray sea, to which the mountainside descended, covered with light green deciduous forests, shrouded in a layer of fog. Etinnei opened her mouth in surprise and stuck out her tongue.

“This is the sea?” the arctic fox girl asked.

“Yes,” Itinit answered. “This is one of the coasts of the Northern Continent.”

“So this is what the sea looks like, like in a game,” Tuot thought.

The speed of the train decreased. Stone pillars and several rails appeared from the windows, diverging in different directions. Soon the station itself came into view: a gray stone building in the shape of a pyramid stood in front of a spacious platform covered with a giant canopy with columns. The station had several entrances from the platform: in front of each of them there were two stone statues.

Tuot was the first to get off the train, walked up to one of the statues and began to examine it. It was a creature in a dress-armor, with a helmet on its head, from which two horns protruded, and a spear-sword in its hand. The lower part of the face was hidden by a mask.

“This statue looks like a girl with horns from a dream,” Tuot thought. “It’s probably just a coincidence.”

“Are you interested in statues now?” Itinit’s voice came from behind the dinosaur.

“I’m not that perverted,” Tuot objected. “What creature does this statue depict?”

“I don’t know,” Itinit came closer to his friend. “But these statues have been here for a long time.”

Etinnei walked up to Tuot and looked at the statue.

“This creature was in the memories that Minniges showed me,” Etinnei said. “I think her name is... Something like A... Maybe Minniges remembers?”

But Minniges did not answer.

Inside the station there was a gigantic hall with thick gray stone columns. On the walls there are huge virtual screens with train schedules and a real-time route map.

“You can get lost here,” Tuot noted.

“I won’t get lost,” Etinnei said. “I find my way by smell. So I can't get lost.”

Tuot and Itinit looked at Etinnei somehow strangely. The arctic fox girl remembered that she had recently gotten lost in the big Munmut and she felt embarrassed.

On the other side of the station there was a large area covered with paving stones. Several paved roads led from it to the town.

Tohsonun began with small wooden houses that stood along the road. Several stone pyramids peeked out from behind them. The rest of the town was built up with tall, rectangular stone and low wooden houses.

The town approached the seashore almost closely and was separated from the water by piles of boulders against which the waves crashed.

“I’ll go to the ships’ parking lot,” Itinit said. “I need to find the robot ship I reserved. Wait for me here.”

Itinit walked along the shore towards the silhouettes of ships in the distance. Tuot and Etinnei sat on the boulders and began to look at the sea.

“The sea looks so scary and delicious at the same time,” Etinnei said. “I want to try it. I wonder what kind of water in this sea is warm or cold.”

“Are you afraid to check?” Tuot asked.

Etinnei tried to touch the water with her foot, but did not dare.

“A little,” the arctic fox girl answered. “On the Southern Continent I touched the water several times, and it was warm. And here I am afraid that the water will be cold. My feet don't get cold, so I decided to touch the water with my foot first rather than my hand. But I couldn’t do even that. Maybe try again?”

Etinnei plunged her leg knee-deep into the water and then pulled it out.

“The water is warm,” the arctic fox girl said. “I shouldn’t have been afraid.”

Tuot brought his foot to the surface of the water and then slowly plunged it into the water. The dinosaur froze for a few moments, and then took its foot out of the water and crawled back a little.

“This water is cool,” Tuot said. “You deceived me.”

“I’m an arctic fox,” Etinnei answered. “I’m better adapted to the cold than you.”

Etinnei saw her reflection in the water, smiled, folded her hands together at chest level and began to wave her tail from side to side. A new idea appeared in her head.

“If I freeze the sea, then I can walk on ice,” the arctic fox girl thought. “It will be fun”.

Etinnei touched the water with her foot. A white glow appeared between the surface of the water and the foot, from which icy vapors spread in all directions.

Etinnei's body was filled with white light, which soon disappeared. The arctic fox girl's hair turned white-yellow, and her clothes changed to a blue-white fur jacket with a hood and fur shorts.

“Her hair became the same color as in the dream,” Tuot noted. “And even the clothes are like that. Something is definitely wrong with these dreams. They can’t just be a dream.”

The white glow with fumes turned into a small but thick ice floe. Etinnei stood on it and pushed off the coastal stone with her second foot. The ice floe floated a little from the shore and began to spin in place.

“I thought that the sea would freeze at least to the horizon,” Etinnei thought. “But I was mistaken. I only had enough strength for such a small piece of ice. But this is even more fun. I can ride it.”

Because of her thoughts, Etinnei became distracted and therefore began to lose her balance. The girl staggered on one leg and then fell into the water. But she could not drown: an ice crust appeared around Etinnei, which kept her body on the surface of the water.

A few moments later, Tuot noticed that his girlfriend was chest-deep in water, and she was surrounded by an icy “lifebuoy.” A green energy aura appeared around the dinosaur, after which it turned backwards. A green energy harpoon emerged from the tail part of the aura and headed towards Etinnei.

Tuot wanted to grab the arctic fox girl by the hood, but instead the harpoon grabbed her by the ear and pulled her to the shore. Etinnei opened her mouth, widened her eyes, and then moaned loudly...

... The ice around Etinnei cracked. The harpoon almost instantly pulled the girl ashore and then released her. Etinnei's moans became quieter and then stopped altogether. The arctic fox girl curled up into a ball and put her hood on her head. The aura around Tuot disappeared.

Passers-by did not notice what was happening on the shore. They were not surprised either by the arctic fox girl who stood on the ice floe, or by the dinosaur launching an energy harpoon from its aura.

“Did it hurt?” Tuot asked.

“Yup,” Etinnei’s voice was heard from under the hood.

“Aren't you mad at me?”

“No.”

“I hurt you.”

“Not you, but your skill.”

“But I used it.”

Etinnei turned to Tuot.

“It was it that hurt me, not you,” the animal girl said angrily. “It's your skill that's to blame. I hate it. If I see him again, I will destroy him. And you are not to blame for anything. You're good. You are my friend.”

“It’s good that the characters from the program think like this,” Tuot thought. “Otherwise I would already be dead.”

Etinnei's body was again filled with white light, which then disappeared. The girl's hair turned black again, and her winter clothes were replaced by summer ones - a short gray-purple fur top with a hood and shorts.

“Can you once again call upon the skill that brought me to shore?” Etinnei asked.

“Do you want to destroy it?” Tuot asked.

“Yup!”

“I can’t summon him. It is cooldown.”

Etinnei looked at Tuot angrily and then turned away.

“You will summon it later, when the cooldown ended,” the animal girl said.

“It’s good that she believed,” Tuot thought. “I hope she forgets about it and doesn’t force me to call the harpoon again.”

Etinnei touched the injured ear. It still hurt a little, but no damage could be found.

“I hope everything is okay with the ear,” the arctic fox girl said. “The arctic fox’s ears help me hear better. You cannot rely on ordinary ears, which are located on the sides. They hear almost nothing. I don't understand how people live with normal ears.”

***

Ikte in a purple aura, with closed eyes and lowered hands, flew over endless mixed forests.

Suddenly, the remains of a village appeared among the forests. The stockade surrounded the area with trees, bushes, open areas and a house in the middle. The doll landed near the wooden gate, after which it opened its eyes and looked at the gate.

The gate opened with a creak. The doll entered the yard.

The door to the house was open. Ikte approached the porch and was about to enter the house, but heard a rustling somewhere nearby. The doll walked along the path and accidentally discovered a dinosaur with a long tail in armor, who was trying to hide behind a bush.

“You hid yourself well,” Ustumut,” Ikte said. “I didn’t notice you right away.”

Ustumut looked at the doll, rose from the ground and retreated a little towards the fence.

“Ikte, what are you doing here?” the dinosaur asked.

“I came here to find Yueret’s little sister,” the doll explained. “Her name is Unana. Do you know her?”

“Yes,” Ustumut answered. “Your little brother ordered me to bring Unana to his home. He wants to make her a doll.”

“Get out of here.”

“I can't. This is my master's order.”

“And I am your master’s elder sister. My orders take precedence over your master's orders.”

“But you’re his doll. You must obey him.”

“I shouldn’t. I am immune to his signal due to the fact that I am his older sister.”

A short curved sword appeared in Ustumut's hand.

“The signal orders me,” the dinosaur explained. “I can’t resist him. If you are against my master's orders, I will have to destroy you. In this case, the status of his older sister will not save you.”

A green energy aura appeared around Ustumut. Ikte's pupils turned purple. The doll looked at the dinosaur and tried to focus on it, but could not. Ustumut jumped to the side and avoided the attack.

The dinosaur appeared behind Ikte and hit her with its tail. The doll's body broke into two parts: the upper one flew towards the fence and hung in the air, and the lower one fell to the ground.

“He’s too fast in this energy aura,” Ikte thought. “I don’t have time to keep track of him.”

Ikte looked at the lower part of her body and moved it towards her. A few moments later the doll was already on its feet.

Ikte looked towards the enemy and saw a purple egg with black purple veins. Next to it stood Ustumut with a short curved sword in one hand and a small semicircular shield on the other hand.

The egg released a wave of black and purple energy. Ikte noticed that it was more difficult for her to move.

“This egg emits waves that reduce speed,” the doll guessed. “He specifically called it so that I wouldn’t have time to catch him with my gaze.”

Ikte tried to focus her gaze on the egg, but was forced to distract herself in order to dodge the clot of wind.

Ustumut in a purple aura appeared in the air at the height of the top of a tall tree. A clot of wind formed in each of his hands and flew towards the doll. Ikte released a pink and white lightning bolt from her hand, which collided with the clots of wind and destroyed them.

Ustumut flew to Ikte. The doll noticed this and released lightning towards the dinosaur. The lightning hit the shield and disappeared.

The dinosaur landed behind Ikte and hit the doll with its tail. Ikte managed to stop the tail with her gaze and direct it in the opposite direction, but then she could not concentrate and let go of the tail.

The dinosaur flew over the doll's head and landed behind her, and then released an energy harpoon from its tail. Ikte did not have time to turn around, and was grabbed by the hair with a harpoon. Ustumut rose to a bird's eye view, picked up the harpoon along with the doll, and then threw it into the nearest forest.

The stone path passed through a mixed forest. Unana stood on it and looked deep into the forest. Her attention was attracted by a squirrel that was running along the trunk of an old thick tree, and then along the branches. When the animal disappeared behind the leaves and did not appear again, Unana suddenly realized that she was lost. The girl felt uneasy. But after a few moments, this feeling gave way to confidence.

“I must go,” Unana thought. “Otherwise Yueret will catch up with me and kill me.”

Heavy footsteps were heard. Yueret came out from behind the trees onto the road with a short sword in his hand.

Unana was right. Yueret really came to her with a weapon in his hand, clearly not just to talk. A black bow with a purple energy string and a dark blue arrow appeared in the girl’s hands.

Yueret noticed his sister and stopped.

“Are you coming to kill me?” Unana asked.

“No,” Yueret replied. “I’ve come to take you home.”

“If you’re not going to kill me, why did you summon the sword?”

“I need a sword to cut branches in the forest. This road is very overgrown. It is difficult to cross it without a sword.”

Unana looked at the sword and noticed several leaves on it that stuck to the blade. The girl frowned and pointed her bow at her brother.

“You deliberately glued the leaves to the sword to deceive me,” Unana said. “You're going to kill me. You once killed our parents, and now you want to kill me.”

“Our parents abandoned us themselves,” Yueret answered. “Perhaps they sensed a signal and left. I looked for them, but didn't find them. I hope they are alive and come back to us someday.”

“No, they are not alive. You killed them. And now you want to kill me. Therefore, I will be forced to kill you.”

Unana released a dark blue arrow at her brother. A shield appeared in Yueret’s weapon-free hand and was immediately covered with a blue energy aura...

... The arrow hit the shield and turned into a dark blue mark. The shield's aura became almost transparent. Dark blue fumes emerged from the mark, which completely destroyed the aura.

“It was an arrow with a negative effect,” Yueret thought. “It destroys energy. The dinosaur I fought had the same debuff in the same color. Unana knows me too well, so she used this arrow. I didn’t think that my little sister would be the most difficult opponent for me.”

Unana released an ordinary arrow. Yueret threw down his shield, summoned the interface, and pressed the circle button. A blue translucent protective barrier appeared around the guy. The arrow hit him and flew off into the forest.

A purple aura appeared around Unana. The girl jumped and hung in the air, and then fired a series of purple energy arrows at her brother.

The arrows hit the protective barrier and were absorbed by it. Several clots of energy appeared inside the barrier.

“This energy accumulates inside the barrier,” Yueret thought. “If Unana shoots energy arrows at the barrier, the energy from the arrows will accumulate and not come out. When there is too much energy, the barrier will explode. I can take it off, but then I will be left without protection, and they will kill me. But if I continue to take refuge in the barrier, then I will explode along with it. What should I do?”