章 1: 1
"It seems we're lost... - Mali froze in confusion on the path leading into the depths of the dense forest. - And it gets dark..."
Her older brother, teenager Kiri, stared ahead in thought and began to look around frantically.
"You started talking to me with all your girlish nonsense and we turned in the wrong direction. I don't know this place at all! You'll have to spend the night more often to avoid freezing! And all this because of your favorite mushrooms. Still, we didn't find anything, we just wasted our time. And where did you get the idea that they grow here?"
"Can you smell it? — Mali answered busily, raising her index finger up. - Such a special aroma! The chanterelles mushrooms are definitely here, or rather... over there!"
"In an unfamiliar deep forest? What naivety! I didn't want to take you with me, and rightly so. I felt that we would end up in the wrong place."
Continuing to grumble under his breath, Kiri took the bulky knapsack off his shoulders and, wrapped in a gray wool cloak, began to look for dry twigs for the fire. Dusk thickened quickly, but the boy managed to extract a spark from the flint and light a flame on the collected heap.
"Someone is walking there..." - the girl anxiously turned into the darkness, shaking her shoulders from the coolness of the night by the flaring fire.
"Forest spirits, - Kiri explained, his face reddening from the pleasant heat. - The fire irritates them, so they get angry!"
"So what should we do?" — Mali was alarmed, looking around.
"Nothing... warm yourself calmly. We need a lot of coals to survive until the morning and not freeze."
"What kind of forest spirits are they? — the girl asked quietly, holding her breath. - They are scary and... dangerous?"
"I've never seen them!"
"Ah, you're just kidding me," - she said displeasedly and shuddered from the sudden whistling whirlwind that appeared over the fire.
The flames went out abruptly, releasing a thin plume of blue smoke with sparkling red sparks.
"What an heck! — Kiri flared up in frustration. - What's wrong with these woods? It looked like they were dry! We'll have to do everything again!"
In the depths of the dark forest, a crash was heard again and Mali clung to her brother, shaking with fear and cold. Suddenly, bright mischievous lights flashed in front of them, illuminating the thick darkness.
"These are fireflies! — Mali blurted out happily, catching one of them. - What a beauty!"
She was distracted from her fears by admiring the insects pulsating from the greenish flame and did not notice the approach of a large forest deer. Its impressive horns, covered with bugs, looked like a branched torch.
"He... is so calm, - Kiri said, enchantedly extending his palm to the animal's muzzle to stroke it. - And warm..."
The deer blinked its long eyelashes and lay down next to the teenagers, breathing noisily.
"Are you planning to sleep here?" — Kiri asked dumbfoundedly and carefully sank down next to him, continuing to smooth the coarse fur on his back.
"Is this the spirit of the forest? - suggested Mali. — He sent us a deer so that we would not freeze. Because he's afraid of flames?"
"Mali... it's just a coincidence! There are no spirits here! Only animals."
"Then why did the deer come to us?"
The girl snuggled into her brother's arms and, having comfort from the animal warmth, the kids fell asleep.
As soon as the rays of the rising luminary touched the branches, the deer stood up, waking them up, and rushed off heavily into the thicket.
"It was amazing! - Mali said, rubbing her eyes. - It was like he was enchanted to keep us warm. And in the morning the spell broke and the deer realized that something abnormal was happening."
"Well, who would enchant him, silly!? Fireflies or what?"
"I don't know… — the girl waved her hands mischievously, spinning in place. - Their radiance was truly magical!"
"We need to get out of here! Let's go find a way home." — the boy grumbled.
Walking through the forest for many hours did not lead to anything, and Mali, falling onto the soft green grass from fatigue, moaned:
"How hungry I am! We ate the last crackers from my pocket supplies."
"Rest a little and we'll go again. We need to make it before dark," - Kiri said gloomily, realizing that they were even more lost in the woods.
The sun was still at its zenith above the spreading crowns of tall pines. This place was not familiar to him at all. He sat down and thought about what his grandmother had told him about a meeting with a forest spirit who helped her get out of a dense thicket. She didn't see him with her eyes, but she noticed his marks in the form of broken branches, where to follow. But in order to help in this way, you need to call the spirit and ask.
"Mali! Mali! Where are you?" — the boy was scared when he didn't find his sister nearby.
"Here! - her voice was heard nearby. - Mushrooms! But not chanterelles, another! I found them by smell."
In a small clearing, many miniature gray-brown caps grew on rotten snags.
"Shiitake! — Kiri appreciated her find, running up to her. - There is something to eat! They can be eaten raw, but only the tops are soft."
Having stuffed the findings into her mouth and chewed it, the girl reached out with her lips to some kind of greenish mushroom, on the inverted cap of which a little water had collected.
"No, don't drink this!" - her brother shouted in fright, but it was too late.
Mali backed away from the mushroom, making a sour face.
"Bitter… disgusting!"
Rainbow circles immediately swam before her eyes and everything around shimmered.
The forest was filled with strange sounds and shadows.
"What... what is it? Do not be silent!"- Kiri shook her wide-eyed sister, who was staring into space, by the shoulder.
"This mushroom is poisonous! Do you see something that I don't?"
"This is... a forest spirit... - Mali barely said with a numb tongue. - With horns... looking at us now, a handsome guy. He has a purple skin and bright purple eyes in a dark…"
"What!? - Kiri screamed in despair. - Well, this mushroom causes glitches! Need to check…"
He cautiously put a piece of green mushroom into his mouth and swallowed it.
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