Chapter 10-Little Children
"Mikhail," Piotr shouted when he and Anya arrived back at the edge of the forest. The air was so quiet, it was hard for the two of them to walk through the twig covered ground. The trees were reaching down at them with their branches, as if trying to snatch them up. Everything about the forest reminded Piotr of the stories he heard when he was a little boy.
The Baba Yaga was a fearsome witch whose hideous appearance was enough to petrify even the bravest of men. As thin as a skeleton, she didn't ride on broomsticks but in a large mortar with her knees almost touching her chin. She lived within the Iron Forest in a small hut that moved about on its extra large chicken legs. Comical indeed, but the worst of it was that many children were killed and eaten by her hand.
An owl suddenly swooped down frightening Anya, and made her hug close to Piotr. "It is just an owl," he walked on, but Anya still clung to him without protest. Far ahead of them, they heard men screaming and yelling. Piotr ran away from Anya, armoring up about half way to his brother and Sabretooth.
Piotr collided with Sabretooth at full force when he saw Mikhail get thrown at a cliff's face, and him grunting in pain. Anya ran over to Mikhail to help him back up as Piotr fought Sabretooth.
"What are you doing here?" Mikhail growled angrily at Anya, but winced at the pain on his side.
"I came to help."
He looked at her sternly. "That beast knows where they are." Mikhail said as Anya helped him off of the ground.
"He isn't the only one." She sat him down on a boulder.
"Where are you going?" Her voice picked up on a melody as Mikhail began to sway, his eyelids weighing heavily and his heart rate slowing to near unconsciousness.
Sabretooth growled as Anya walked closer to him. He snarled and bared his teeth as the melody reached his ears. Piotr too felt the same as Mikhail. He struggled to keep his body upright when Sabretooth became silent. "Show me," the undertone in Anya's words forced Sabretooth forward. The further away Anya traveled from Mikhail, the fainter the song was and he was soon broken from the trance. However the injuries caused from Sabretooth left him immobile and he couldn't follow his brother and Anya.
Mikhail tried to call out to them, but they were too far away. "Poor fallen soldier." Said a voice in the wind. Mikhail turned around and saw a pale white man with sharp pointed teeth, and a red diamond on his forehead approach him.
"Stay away from me." Mikhail threatened as he drew a dagger from his jacket.
"I'm here to help you . . . all of you." The pale man stuck a syringe in Mikhail before he could react.
Anya's voice began to waver and grew hoarse, but she, Piotr and Sabretooth had reached a small cabin before she fell exhausted.
"Anya!" Piotr ran to her side.
"The trance will only last for a few minutes more. Go, I'll be fine." Anya tried to catch her breath as she watched Piotr go into the cabin.
"Piotr!" A little blonde girl ran into his arms as he swung her gleefully around and tightly held her against his chest.
"Illyana, my snowflake."
A wild wind began to blow, shaking the trees and causing them to creak and groan. The windows of the cabin also started to rattle. Leaves whirled through the air as shrieking and wailing sent shivers down Piotr's spine.
Out of thin air three bodiless hands appear and begin raking at the windows. "Who is in my house!" A woman screams, her eyes glow a golden yellow when they fall upon Piotr, who is still holding onto his little sister.
"Baba Yaga." The old woman steps forward and sizes Piotr up.
"You young man," she points a bony finger at him, "What do you think you are doing here?" Stricken with fear, Piotr could find the words to speak. "Were you sent here or have you come on your own volition?" By now Illyana was struggling to be released from Piotr's grasp, when he lost hold of her. The old woman smiled, showing her iron teeth as Illyana made her way to the woman.