Spirit of All the Russias

By John C. Bunnell

"This is not the Russia I remember."

Baba Yaga, legendary witch and mistress of the chicken-legged hut Izbushka, has awakened to find her ancient homeland a blasted, nearly lifeless wasteland. Forestland has vanished, the old spirits are gone, and even humanity has nearly disappeared.

"You are stubborn as we were stubborn, fierce as we were fierce, self-reliant as we were self-reliant."

One young man, Josef, finds himself caught up in Baba Yaga's search for answers. But even with Josef's insight, and with all the magic in Russia at her fingertips, will Russia's most notorious sorceress be able to restore her homeland to even a shadow of what it was?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Uncial Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781601741882

Book preview

Spirit of All the Russias

By

John C. Bunnell

Uncial Press       Aloha, Oregon

2014

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events described herein are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 13: 978-1-6174-188-2

Spirit of All the Russias

Copyright © 2014 by John C. Bunnell

Cover design

Copyright © 2014 by Judith B. Glad

All rights reserved. Except for use in review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five (5) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Published by Uncial Press,

an imprint of GCT, Inc.

Visit us at http://www.uncialpress.com

For my parents, Rod & Sally Bunnell

in thanks for a lifetime of books, bedtime stories, and other adventures.

Spirit of all the Russias

In the tangled shadows of a clearing surrounded by blasted trees, power gathered. Stray bits of light mingled with less visible energies until a vortex crackled in the center of the clearing. In the space between one moment and the next, the cloud of power took on vague form. Its mad spinning slowed to reveal a decrepit hut whose stilt-like chicken-legs chased themselves in an endless circle. Gradually, the pace of their running decreased until finally the hut came to a stop, bending its legs so that its floor was only a few