While Emil was busy with his new scaly friend Iwo was finally able to make his own move. He saw Amelia in the company of other girls. Some were sitting on the shore and others lying on the shallow water, having their conversations. Still others were coming and going, swimming or walking around and lying on the grass. He could not make out what they were talking about. Amelia was sitting at the edge of the group.

“Still the same as always, not good with crowds, I see,” he whispered to himself. He decided to wait, knowing that an opportunity would arise soon. Sure enough after a short while she got up and left her group. She walked along the edge of the lake and reached the river. Iwo crept along the bushes, keeping out of side and followed her. From behind her he could only admire her hair, that waved behind her like a cloak, covering the slightly tattered white tunic. He followed her until they were both out of sight of the others and spoke in a low voice, yet loudly enough so that she could hear him.

“Hey Amelia! over here.” The voice made her flinch in surprise.

“What, who is there?” Amelia replied, matching the volume of the unknown voice. Iwo slowly stepped out of the bush.

“It’s me.”

“Who are you?”

“Come on, you know. It’s me Iwo,” he replied and took off his fox mask. His face was a sickly blue of a drowned person and his face was disfigured from the ear to the corner of his mouth by the formation of a layer of adipocere. He smiled, knowing the reaction that his deathly appearance would provoke. Indeed Amelia was taken aback in horror, her mouth wide.

“No it can’t be.”

“Yes I know, I’ve changed a lot since we last met, but haven’t we both.” Amelia began regaining her composure, but then the look of horror on her face started being replaced by anger.

“Why are you here? Why won’t you leave me alone?!” As she was speaking her eyes became filled with tears of rage.

“What do you mean? I’m here to rescue you!”

“Rescue me! How dare you say that?”

Generations ago there was an obscure village at the edge of the forest. There was nothing special about it and all within lived their regular everyday lives. In the house at the border of the village lived a young girl named Amelia. She was a lonely child. She never knew her father and lived most of her life alone with her mother. They both loved each other dearly and lived happily regardless of the death of the father. As she was growing up Amelia’s health deteriorated and she often became sickly and weak. To make their lives easier, but also for her own personal reasons her mother decided to remarry. Things were even better than before and Amelia’s health seemed to have improved. That was until a year later when Amelia’s mother suffered a great illness. On her deathbed she compelled her new husband to promise to do everything he could in order to keep her daughter healthy. In the weeks following her mother’s death Amelia’s health began deteriorating again. In order to keep his promise her stepfather decided to keep her inside in the bed. Even as her health began improving he still forbade her from leaving the house. At some point the protection naturally grew into isolation and even apathy towards the girl. All he remembered was the promise and he knew he had to keep her inside. In her loneliness Amelia began fantasizing about leaving on journeys and adventures, but was only able to stare through her bedroom window.

One day this led to her seeing a boy outside her window. As soon as he saw her he knew she is the one for him. He only waved to her and went on with his day. In the following days he kept coming back, sometimes showing himself and other times only looking from a hiding spot. One day when he was sure she was alone in the house he waved to her and gestured her to open her window. She did so and leaned out.

“Hi there I’m Iwo. Who are you?”

“I’m Amelia.” She told him about her illness and her solitude.

“How about you come outside? I can take you away from your home at least so you can see the view from the other side of the village.”

“I told you I can’t because of my health.”

“Are you ill now?”

“Well no, I haven’t been for a while now. But I’m afraid what my stepfather will do if he finds out.”

“Don’t worry no one will ever know you went outside.”

“All right, I trust you. We can go outside, but how will we do it?”

“I’ll come back at night with a ladder and you can use it to climb down.” That day Amelia was in an exceptionally good mood so that even her detached stepfather took notice when they ate together. But his acknowledgement of that fact were just some mumbled words before telling her to return to her room. Normally Amelia would at least try to resist, but that night her excitement was too great and she gladly secluded herself in her room. Her anticipation kept her from falling asleep and after dark had begun to fall upon the village she heard a gentle rap at her window. She opened and saw Iwo standing there on a long wooden ladder. He took her hand and helped her out through the window. He hid the ladder behind the corner, just out of sight of anyone still outside at the late time. They hurried towards the meadow outside the village. There Amelia laid down in the grass and began softly laughing with elation. Iwo was only looking at her silently, as she extended her hand towards the open sky and the thousands little lights that shone there, so far away and free.

“I wish I could just fly away and go onto amazing adventures like they do in all those books I’ve read. I wouldn’t look back, just go forward into the unknown.”

“Hmm, maybe one day I could take you away for real.”

“Maybe, but right now I feel like I would like to travel those journeys all by myself.” She sighed deeply. “Of course that will never happen. I don’t know if my health will ever allow me to leave these forsaken hinterlands or even this little village.” They talked on for a while about many things, Amelia was especially interested in all the knowledge of the outside world that Iwo knew about and even what went on with the villagers that she had not seen in such a long time.

“I think I should go back now. I can’t risk getting caught.” They went back to the house and she was able to return through her window without her stepfather knowing anything. In the following days and weeks the two made their little escape many more times, talking and playing all the while. In Amelia’s heart the longing for freedom grew more and more with each small taste she could steal away on nights like those.

On one of those nights, that seemed no different from all the ones before she once again heard a rap at her window. Her heart skipped with joy, but she still made her way quietly to the window. Iwo helped her out and once again they made their way to the meadow outside the village, that had become their spot. Once again they talked for a long time, but Amelia could sense that Iwo was acting in a more serious manner than usual, but thought nothing of it as they chatted away. As time went on though it started becoming more and more pronounced, Iwo was becoming distracted and his responses were few and brief. After that it seemed as if he had stopped listening to her at all. She commented on it with an angry voice to which he replied with a distant mumble. As she began reprimanding him he suddenly cut her off.

“Listen Amelia. There is something I want to tell you.” That made her stop dead with a shocked look on her face. “Over these past few weeks I’ve come to realize that well you know … I love you.” Amelia gasped, her face heated up and tears welled up in her eyes. She felt as if her entire body was hit by a swirling mass of emotion, from embarrassment, her undefined feelings for Iwo to even the shame of getting angry at him a moment ago now that she knew what he wanted to say. It took her a while to regain her composure.

“I didn’t expect that but I guess well I love you as well,” she replied with a stutter and gave a nervous smile. Iwo returned an even bigger smile.

“I swear that one day I will take you away from here. We will see the world together.” As he talked Amelia felt like her mind was just melting away like the snow that she would watch from the confines of her room. “But for now I will just show you how great my love for you is.” He began walking towards Amelia.

“Wait what do you mean,” she replied, her mind still in a haze. Before she could get another word out he suddenly put his arms around her and kissed her. She was shocked for a moment, but then returned the kiss passionately. After they finally separated she felt so warm inside she felt like she could just start crying like a small child. As she was catching her breath she noticed that Iwo had begun taking off his clothes.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“I told you, I will show you how great my love for you is. I will make you mine. We will be together as one.”

“No wait, stop,” she responded and began backing away from him. He walked faster and grabbed her arm.

“Stop running, don’t you understand I am doing this for you.” He forced her to the ground.

“Stop, I don’t want this, please stop,” she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

After he released her she ran crying back to her home. Burying her face in the pillow she silently cried the night away. When no more tears would come her temperature began rising into an intense fewer. The fewer didn’t let up for many days it was the worst fewer she had ever had. Amelia’s health deteriorated more and more. In a half of a year she died in her bed. She was buried in outside the village on a hill that overlooked the meadow of her brief happiness.

Iwo was cast out from the village and spent the following years as a drunk in a faraway city. He was ridiculed and despised by the locals even though nobody knew what he had done. His life ended as he was walking in a stormy night and in his drunken state slipped on the wet stones and fell into the raging river.

“But I love you.”

“You killed me. And even before I died in agony I prayed for death every single day.”

“All I did was for you. You are mine!”

“I was never yours!” Their shouting was heard by other rusalki, who hurried towards them.

Meanwhile Emil was still listening to the vodyanoy. He was already recounting his third lengthy tale and as much as Emil thought they were interesting and fantastic he felt his eye glazing over. He had heard as much as he could take in a single sitting.

“And that was how the school of fish tore down the city walls, allowing the resistance to infiltrate the city and begin the revolution. And furthermore,” at once he fell silent and turned around. “You bastard,” he said and what followed all happened so fast that Emil didn’t even had time to react when Zenon the vodyanoy grabbed him and swam across the lake at an amazing speed. They left the lake and even went a short way up the river where Amelia and Iwo stood and other rusalki were closing in.

“You belong to me!” Iwo shouted and dashed towards Amelia. He was stopped by the other rusalki. Zenon made his entrance, throwing Emil aside to roll along the grass he faced Iwo.

“Begone, scum!”

“Never, I will have her!” Iwo shouted and charged towards Amelia again. With a single blow of his arm the vodyanoy sent him tumbling towards the lake. He faced Amelia with questioning eyes. She nodded without a second thought. Zenon gestured towards the lake and the group of rusalki followed him into the water. Iwo was struggling in the water, the weight of his clothes dragging him down. The rusalki formed a circle around him. Their long hair flowing in the water causing his limbs to become tangled. It made it harder for him to stay above the surface, but he fiercely fought on, spewing obscenities all the while. He was losing his battle and spent more and more time under the surface of the water. After a while the vodyanoy appeared again, dragging a heavy chain behind him as he swam. He dove under the group and moments later Iwo was pulled down into the depths at an amazing speed like an arrow fired down from the city walls. Soon he found himself chained up and attached to a big anchor. Slowly both him and it were sinking into the muddy lake bed. As Amelia wathced, her mouth stretched into a wide grin and she began cackling loudly. The rusalki held their hands and swam in a circle around the spot where Iwo sank. The dance grew more and more elaborate with them swimming in opposite ways in concentric circles or did synchronized moves. It culminated with the vodyanoy leaping out of the middle of the circle high up into the air doing a somersault, rolling and spinning in the air. As their ritual was finished they returned to the shore where Emil was still lying on the ground where he stared in bewilderment. They stood facing Emil, the girls at either side of the vodyanoy.

“And what about you? Shall you join your friend? You know, I trusted you. I never felt so betrayed.”

“Wait, he just told me he needed me to distract you so he could talk to his girlfriend and save. I didn’t know she hated him.”

“I am not his girlfriend! What he did to me is unspeakable,” replied Amelia, stepping forth.

“So he told you he’d save her. From what?”

“Something about being held prisoner by you.”

“She is no prisoner. She is free to walk around as much as she wants, wherever and whenever. Though I suppose we all are some sort of prisoners of this lake. We could find a different one, but it just wouldn’t be the same.”

“I see. So are you happy here Amelia?”

“Yes, even though that bastard stole my life from me, I have never been as free as I am now in death,”

“About that. I saw you drag him down the lake, but it’s not as if we need to breathe anyway. Won’t he just escape somehow?”

“Believe me child, I’ve been here long enough to know how things work. But if you want to know, your friend is currently sinking into the mud on the bottom of the lake, bound in chains. He will not bother anyone for a long time.”

“Okay, that’s nice, I suppose. I don’t really know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I suggest you return to where you belong.”

“About that. I actually wasn’t lying. I don’t really know how to get back to Veles’ meadow.” Zenon let out a croaking sound, that Emil interpreted as laughter.

“It’s over in that direction,” he said and pointed with his webbed fingers. “But if any of you are in a mood for a walk you can take him there.”

“I will do it,” said Amelia. “I need some time to think anyway. Come on, we’re leaving.”

She turned around and walked back along the river, deeper into the forest. Emil hurried and walked behind her.

They travelled in silence for most of the time, Amelia walking in front and Emil following from a slight distance. He felt like he needed to say something, but couldn’t think of anything good to say to her. A couple of times he took a breath to start talking, but changed his mind along the way.

“So … hey. I just want you to know that I’m sorry for causing you grief, I just,” he said, dragging the words slowly out of himself. Amelia cut him off.

“It’s fine, I understand. You don’t need to say anything else. I hold no hard feelings for you and we will almost certainly never meet again.”

“I see. What about him?”

“What, Iwo? I dreaded ever seeing him again, but now that he is trapped, I feel like I can finally start to really move on. I was really livid that he didn’t even acknowledge what he did to me, but now I don’t even feel like actively hating him any more. He just doesn’t matter any longer.” They walked onwards, mostly in silence, but eventually Emil told her his story, about his death and about the task he was forced to do. He told her more than he had even told Kasia.

“So you were a jerk as well I see. I don’t envy your position, but you should probably try to get over it. There are worse things than having to kill a couple of animals. Like being buried alive for example, as you know already.” They walked to the point that Emil began remembering the way back to the glade.

“So long, and good luck,” she said as she stopped and stood still.

“Thank you for taking me back Amelia. I know you said we will never meet again, but if we do I hope we will be able to get along. There isn’t much I can do, but if you ever need anything, you can consider me indebted to you. Goodbye.” He walked forward for a couple of steps, then turned around, did a slight bow and waved to her. After waving back she turned around and walked away. Very soon she disappeared among the trees and shrubs of the forest. Emil made his own way back.

“It’s weird how this feels like I’m returning home. This little clearing in the middle of the woods,” he said to himself as he walked on. As that feeling began to pass his mind was occupied by the two who were supposed to be lovers. He never heard the full story of what Amelia had gone through in her brief life, though he could take a solid guess.

“Oh god, Iwo was complete scum, but even after that happened to him I barely reacted at all. What is wrong with me? I lost it completely when I had to kill the foxes and when I killed Eon, but he is being buried in dirt and I don’t really care at all.”