SP-Эзиж

"If you could choose, which would you prefer: a wonderful dream or a terrible nightmare?" asked the patient sitting in front of me. From his bloodshot look, I realized that this question could not be more serious for him. It was increasingly difficult for me to answer: "Of course, a wonderful dream." Laughing contemptuously at himself, he began his story. I live in a remote village on the border of the empire. She is completely out of touch with the world, but you can live here. The locals have a hard time, but they cope. At least, that was the case until recently… A few months ago, the villagers began to have nightmares, constantly. Farmers dreamed of their crops dying and their families dying of hunger. Merchants saw robbers carrying off their goods. Veterans of the Border Regiment woke up in a cold sweat, seeing a horde of bloodthirsty thugs break through the border and arrange a massacre in the village… In general, everyone dreamed of what they were most afraid of, what they did not want to face. At first, people did not worry much about this, convincing themselves that it was just "coincidences". But as time went on, the number of those who suffered from nightmares grew, as did the general anxiety. A gloomy atmosphere reigned in the village. The headman asked for help from the Temple, but the village was so far away that it would take almost three months to get there and back. There was nothing to do — we waited. For a whole week, the whole village was tormented by nightmares. People were on the verge of collapse, dark circles appeared around people's eyes from lack of sleep. They were afraid to fall asleep, but they still passed out due to fatigue. As soon as they fell into a dream, they soon woke up again from the horror experienced in it. One night I had another nightmare, but it was not quite ordinary. A little girl with pink hair and wings like a butterfly appeared in it. She fluttered around, scattering brilliant magic pollen everywhere. Wherever she went, the nightmare dissolved, like snow not the sun. "Ezizh! I won't let you poison these people's dreams anymore!" she screamed. Her opponent was a demonic entity formed from a nightmare where the pollen had not yet hit. The demon's hands were tied with vines, and an ominous black fog swirled around. "Come on, Tazi, try to stop me." Then I understood everything. This demon named Ezizh sent nightmares to the villagers. Before I lost consciousness, I saw how the enemies came together in battle. When I woke up, the whole village was talking about Tazi and how she appeared in their dreams. Although the nightmares have not disappeared, we have hope. So a few more days passed. Tazi appeared to all the villagers and fought fiercely with the demon. The decisive battle took place in my dream, where wonderful dreams and a terrible nightmare were mixed. I was in the middle of a sea of flowers, then in a terrible flame. It seemed that I would be lost in this tossing between dreams and a nightmare. I was ready to say goodbye to life. I almost lost touch with the world when Tazi, flapping her wings and scattering pollen, was able to overcome the nightmare. The demon was running. Pollen covered everything around, and I had the most wonderful dream of my entire life… Where there used to be bleak wastelands, unfading flowers bloomed, rivers of wine flowed, dense fields of wheat sprang up. There was no more need, no hunger, no disease. I saw the headman hugging his long-dead wife, as a veteran returns to the barracks in full health, as a merchant opening a shop in Savannah smiles, looking at the endless stream of customers. The next day, no one wanted to wake up before noon. Little by little, people began to go outside, and their faces were swollen with tears — it was so painful to part with a wonderful dream. Now life had to get back on track. At least, that's what I expected. However, after a wonderful dream, it was hard to see the depleted lands and the squalid village. Three days later, the locals erected a statue of Tazi and began to bring her food as offerings. Passing by the statue, everyone bowed to her in the hope that Tazi would return and give them another wonderful dream. A week passed, but Tazi never showed up. The food left at the statue disappeared somewhere, and the locals stopped worshipping it. A few more days passed, and still there was no Tazi. The hopes of the villagers were replaced by disappointment, and then rage. Some even began to curse the Tazi, accusing them of selfishness and disregard for them. I have no idea who started it, but one night the statue was destroyed. By dawn, only debris lay in its place. Time passed, but the villagers still wanted to return to a beautiful dream — every glance at the barren land and flimsy shacks contributed to this. In the end, some simply stopped going outside and lay in bed, hoping that sleep would return to them. This never happened. Without care, the fields are overgrown with weeds. They became even less like what we saw in a dream. The worse the reality became, the more we wanted to return to a wonderful dream. The locals became irritable — their wishes were not fulfilled, and discontent grew. Quarrels broke out over trifles. Then someone pushed someone, blows rained down, and the whole village plunged into chaos. It seemed to me that I saw a strange dark haze around people. It entwined around them and spread around, enveloping the whole village. Suddenly, a terrible mouth appeared out of the void, which swallowed the dark haze. "Nightmares breed fears, but good dreams make people weak..." the demon's voice sounded. "The will of mortals is so fragile, but the strength of their passions cannot be compared to anything." Then the silhouette of a demon appeared. He broke out of his shackles and became more and more distinct. On his back, wriggling tentacles grew, of which there were so many that they obscured the night sky. Then I understood everything. The demon didn't even think of leaving. He accepted defeat so that we would think that Tazi had saved us, and he could safely feed on our discontent. Our unkind thoughts so sated him that he had enough strength to escape from captivity and enter our world… "So how did you manage to escape?" I asked, unable to resist after such a story. "Tazi," said the patient, smiling sadly. "Apparently, the demon had not yet managed to completely free himself from the dream world when Tazi attacked him, and they both disappeared." "Disappeared?" "No one knows where they went. I'm sure of it. Perhaps they are still fighting in the dream world? the patient thought for a moment. — I really want to see Tazi again… And thank her personally." Judging by the expression on his face, the patient spoke sincerely, but I still noticed a spark of madness in his bloodshot eyes.