on the edge of the ecumene
by Ivan Efremov
Clouds of dust rose above the low adobe fences, and piercing cries were heard. Something happened in the labyrinth of narrow streets, at the very pier of the city of White Walls - the capital of the Black Earth, the country of Ta-Kem. Wakheneb, the helmsman of the royal treasurer, quickly got up and began to peer towards the city, from where an alarming noise could be heard. The guests sitting nearby did not move, did not even look back at what was happening outside the walls of the small garden...
Like transparent ribbons, combs, umbrellas, as if made of magical flexible glass, these animals swayed in the burning waves, themselves emitting an even stronger blue or golden light...
The fugitive cried out weakly, turning his whitened face with huge wide eyes to the boats...
One of the pullers, who was walking with his back to Bourdzhed, suddenly turned over in the strap, exposing his chest instead of the sore back...
Two of mighty, strongly built priests took copper hammers, the third one raised a torch high...
The wind covered Tessa's face with her black hair, and the girl did not try to straighten it...
The warriors blocking the entrance to the valley did not flinch, did not hide from the angry monsters...
Illustrations by Sofia Berlina,
for "Swing" Publishing House,
Saint-Petersburg, 2022.
