News about the victory of the Volkh over the Fiery Serpent quickly spread throughout the entire world. The gods began to look at the young knight with respect, and he decided that he himself was now equal to them. He believed in his power and invulnerability. He forgot that all his abilities were not his merit, but a gift from God. He forgot that he was taught to use the gift for the benefit of others. God's gift is wealth that is given to one, for the good of all. And trouble awaits the one who decides to use the wealth alone, like a rat that snatches a crust of bread from the table and eats the stolen goods in a deep dark hole.
And as soon as the Volkh thought that he could gain power over the world, he immediately heard a raspy voice behind his back. He turned around and saw an old man in black clothes up to the toes, hiding his eyes under a hood. That was Chernobog himself.
- Do you want the Fiery Magus to become the prince of this world? I will appoint my son, Viy, to your assistants. You will own all his subjects. Even Veles will bow to you.
- Veles is my friend and teacher. He did not bow to anyone, and he will not bow to his disciple.
- That's what the cunning was given to win the war without a fight. Don't be an honest fool like your gods. Take the Snake Paraskei as your wife, and she will whisper the necessary advice to you every time. With all my subjects and cunning, you will conquer the entire universe.
Volkh was embarrassed by the speeches of the Chernobogovs, but he hoped to become the ruler of all Chernobogovichs, Vievichs and Zmeevichs. He descended into the dark kingdom, and played a wedding with Paraskeia. After that I began to think about how to increase my strength. I called a council with Viy and Paraskea.
And they did not even think to make Volkh the prince of the world. They decided to use it for their own purposes, and achieve what the Fire Serpent, defeated by the knight, could not do - to steal golden apples from the Irian garden, and then get rid of him. And Paraskea says:
- Great is your strength, Fiery Magus, but in order to conquer the worlds, you need to take possession of the golden apples. Only then will you receive eternal youth, invincible strength, and power over all kingdoms. You can't get apples with a fight. The crown of the trees of life is guarded by a white army with a White dragon at its head. Only by cunning can you get apples from the tree of life. And I'll give you this trick. Take Indrik - the Beast with you, and boldly go to Iriy. And Viy and I will prepare a feast to celebrate your victory upon your return from the garden of heaven.
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The Fiery Volkh then became convinced of the success of his plan, and swam along the underground river to the lake in which Indrik lives - the Beast is the ruler of all underground waters. The one, seeing who came to him, stopped diving and splashing, and froze in the middle of the lake, drooping his tail into the depths, and stretching his neck out of the water. He scratched the transparent scales on his belly with his hind paw, and said:
- Oh, you are still unreasonable Fiery Magus. Young, inexperienced. Well, it's not for me to give you advice, if you've forgotten the science of the Mother of the Raw Earth, and forgot the teachings of Mokosh and Veles. Turn into a transparent fish, swim after me, but do not lag behind!
They rushed like silver arrows along underground streams and channels. Volkh barely kept up with Indrik, and was completely exhausted when they came to land. Then Indrik turned the young man into an ermine, and ordered him to climb onto his back.
Indrik ran in a wet wind, not touching the ground so quickly that Volkh closed his eyes on his back, and only grabbed the slippery scales stronger so as not to fall off on the move. He resisted forcibly, and did not see which way Indrik had taken him to Iriy. Remained behind and rivers with streams and mountains with hills that block the path to Iria. Volkh did not understand how they passed the basilisks guarding the approaches to the heavenly garden, turning all travelers to stone. Even the gods did not notice the arrival of Volkh.
And Indrik threw the ermine to the ground from his back, and he was. He rushed to where he came from, as if he had disappeared into thin air. Then the first doubts began to stir in the Fiery Magus's head. He turned into a gray wolf, and ran, wagging his tail, tilting his muzzle to the grass, scouting all the smells.
He reached the Ripean mountains and turned around in a tour. He rode up the steep, and climbed to the highest peak. There he turned into a falcon, and soared to the very stars to find the crown of the tree of life.
He saw the crown of a tree, on which golden apples are poured with juice, feeding on the roots that go into the world of the dead. I wanted to fall down like a stone so that in my claws I could carry the apple with me, but the trumpets of heaven began to hum. The White Dragon woke up, stirred. His warriors in white armor came running. And above the foliage of the crown, blue balls whirled, crackling sparks began to throw in all directions. One spark in Volkh - the falcon hit, and he fell with a single feather right on the shore of the sour cream lake.
And the swan swims on the lake, sings wonderful songs in a magic voice. She swam to the shore, turned into a girl of unprecedented beauty in a white sundress, with a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows behind her back, and went straight to a feather that had sunk into the grass. The Fiery Magus realized here that this is the goddess Devan, who helps all hunters who hunt a forest beast with the permission of the goblin. He had heard a lot about her, but for the first time with his own eyes he saw before him.
And an ardent love for the girl was kindled in the soul of the young man. He forgot about everything in the world. And about Chernobog with Viy, and about his wife Paraskei the Serpent. I even forgot why I came here. And Devan bent down, picked up a falcon feather from the grass, and took her father Perun and mother Dodola - Perunitsa to her room in the palace.
There she dropped a feather, otherwise, falling to the floor, it turned into a good fellow. The Fiery Magus stood before Devanoy, straightened his mighty shoulders, puffed out his chest with a wheel and began to utter sweet speeches. From those speeches, Devan blushed all over, lowered her bright eyes to the floor, and began to upset the ardent knight, they say, not to cope with anyone in the world with her rebellious disposition.
Then a noise was heard outside the room door. That Father Devan Perun with her sisters Lelya, Mara and Zhivoy came. We were worried about who Devan was talking with there, not with the intruder who was looking for golden apples. Magus immediately turned around like a falcon feather, Devan released him through the window, and opened the door to the upper room.
Father and sisters said that she talked to herself, wrote new poems, and read aloud. In the evening, Volkh returned to Devan's room, turned into his own guise, and he and Devanov began to play nice, have funny conversations, and laugh loudly. The sisters heard the noise from the upper room, and found out what was really going on there.
Then the wise sorceress Mara-Morena went the next day to the window of Devan, and stuck out long sharp needles. Volkh-Sokol flew back to Devan, but he could not get through the window, as it happened before. Fought, fought, all in vain. He can't get through the needles. And when Perun was near, Volkh realized that he was in a trap. He fell to the ground, turned into a Fiery Magus and bowed to Perun's belt.
He began to repent for all his sins. For pride and love for Gromovik's daughter, who accidentally flared up with unprecedented strength. He says that this love brought him back to life, and corrected the mind stolen by Chernobog. He obeyed, asked for mercy, so that Perun would allow his deeds to prove his love and devotion to the gods of light. He swore that he did not want to be either a prince or a sovereign, but that he wanted to protect the light Iriy from the dark forces, and always see his beloved Devanu as an assistant and companion-in-arms.
Then Perun grinned in his beard, he says, they say, having betrayed once, will certainly betray again. A hole from a young age - a hole to old age, answers. You are brave, but cunning and cunning. Here I will incinerate you with my fiery arrow - a feather, and I will scatter the ashes over the okyan.
- Well, answers the Fiery Magus, - be it your way, I still have no life without Devan.
- I would have done so, but I love my daughter and respect her choice. As she says, so be it. Let her choose her own path.
Then Devan came out before the eyes of the priest, bowed to him in the belt, then bowed to mother, sisters, and all the gods of Iry, who had already gathered for the council. And then, ringing like a damask in an imperious voice, he says:
- You are beautiful Fiery Magus, you are brave and savvy. I bought into your sweet speeches, which no fellow had ever spoken to me before. You are wise and powerful, but is your soul as pure as you are? I will become your wife, but only if you can defeat me. And if you don’t overcome, you will perish in the nave kingdom, where you were lured with empty promises, and you didn’t understand that you became a doll on Chernobogova’s hand, which is needed once, and which is then disposed of.
Devan hit the ground and turned into a gray wolf. Her loyal warriors appeared nearby - a hundred dire wolves with fiery eyes. And they rushed away from Iriy. There where Devan's wards hunt for a forest animal.
Volkh immediately turned into a gray wolf. He rushed in pursuit, not a step behind the pack. He realized that it depends on the outcome of this chase whether he will live happily or disappear in disgrace for eternity. I caught up with Devanu, pounced on her, began to tear with his teeth. Threw away all her servants, left to bleed.
Then Dewana turned into an angry bear. Volkh immediately turned into a terrible bear. Such a battle ensued between them that forest leaves began to fall from the bear's roar from the trees. But Devan sensed that she could not cope with the Bear, and turned into a duck. Soared into the clouds, but Volkh overtook her with a falcon. She dived into the okian with a fish, and Volkh caught up with her with a pike.
For a long time, the Fiery Magus chased Devanoy around the world. And his perseverance and diligence so became to the liking of many gods that they began to secretly play along. Veles in the forest on the trail of Devan - he will point out the martens, Yaga will help Volhu to guess among the squirrels the one he is chasing, this chase would have lasted forever if not for the wise Makosh.
She weaved a strong net from magic threads, and placed it in the depths of the okiyan on the path of Devan, who turned into a fast fish. The girl in the net got confused, rushed about, and Makosh tells her that no one can escape from fate. What is tied will not be untied.
Volkh took out the net from the okiyan, freed the golden-finned fish, and bowed his head before it:
- Your will, girl. Judge me as you think right. If you become my friend forever and a mother for our children, you will receive my mind and heart in return. You will have a protector and guardian for the family and all our descendants. Well, and if you answer with a refusal, I will accept the will of Father Perun, I will burn and fall ashes into the waves of the sea.
Devan turned from a fish to a girl, and wept bitterly, saying goodbye to the girl's life. I decided to put myself in the hands of a brave knight. They came together to Perun with Perunitsa, where the Mother of Cheese Earth was already waiting for them. They fell on their knees before their parents and asked for blessings. Perun in turn touched the tops of their heads with his fingers, and uttered:
- He who does not know evil, does not know good. He who has never sinned is not able to know the true virtue. The repentant is like a beaten one, which is more valuable than seven unbeaten ones. I accept you, the Fire Magus, into my family, and I give you the most valuable thing that I have - my daughter Devan.
And then there was a mountain feast. The wedding thundered all over the world. The gods drank kvass and red lead that flowed in rivers. They sang and danced in round dances. That feast was such a loud echo that it penetrated into the underworld. Chernobog learned that he had increased as an invincible knight in the Irian army, and hissed with impotent anger. He beat his tail against the stone vaults so that the earth trembled. And Belobog grinned, stroking his beard, and quietly rejoiced that the Truth again defeated Krivda. The goddess Lada covers the world with her magic wings of love and protects against misfortunes more reliably than the spear of Dazhdbog or the arrows of Perunova.
When love settles in the heart, it makes a person like the gods, and makes him work miracles. Before these miracles, any intrigues of the dark army of the black gods are powerless. True, without reason - love is like a tree without fruit. So Chernobog wanders among people, looking for those who are without reason in their heads and without love in their hearts. The easiest way to lure such people over to your side. And Belobog, on the contrary, is looking for those who have a mind in order to reward him with love, or a lover, but a foolish mind, to teach reason.
There is no place for darkness in Blue Svarga, and light does not penetrate into the underworld. Therefore, the place of the battle between good and evil is determined by the kingdom of reality, in which humans live. In reality, everything is so mixed up that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish Truth from Krivda. And when more people lean towards Krivda, evil wins, and when those who are more for Truth, good triumphs. And it is up to each of us to decide who to serve, Belobog, or Chernobog. Both good and evil live in the soul of everyone, but everyone has the will to choose which side to take. To those people are different from animals, who do not have the will to choose.
Author: kadykchanskiy