'Zaratorio: The Story Continues' is a political parable dedicated in general to everyone who believes in #PeaceinUkraine and who says #NoToWar. More specifically, it is written in support of the brave and generous women and men of Medecins Sans Fro...
Zaratorio emerges from one of his deep trances in an angry mood.
'I can no longer reach Sehzula. There are two presences; one almost certainly the Buzhan and the other is a member of the P-Vanir. They seem to be shielding her from my influence, which is very frustrating ...'
'I am sorry, master. Perhaps it will not be so easy to vanquish the P-Vanir host after all?' inquires Inga.
'No. I will still be following them very shortly. I suspect that it is the particular combination of these two presences that is causing the problem. Plus the very unusual conditions in the time vortex as a whole.'
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***
'Anna, are you awake?'
'Sorry, Paulina ... I must have dozed off. You spend a lot of time in the meadow these days. I hope you are not becoming bored with me?'
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The Slavic warrior laughs and steps closer to her lover's chair.
'I want you to meet some new people. They are time travellers, like us.
Come in Bjorn, come in Sehzula. Our cottage is small, but we always try to make it as homely as we possibly can!'
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***
'Master, you spend so much time in a trance these days, I wonder if we will ever get to Lublin.'
'Inga, Inga! I think that you slipstream my time jumps so often, that you have forgotten the basics of being a biotempador. It does not matter when we set off, but if we arrive there before the P-Vanir, then they may well detect us, and change their plans. But if we arrive there afterwards, we have almost as much time as they, and it will take a while for them to realise that we are present.
What's more, once they are vanquished, we can then go back to the date of the Union of Lublin, and change human history for ever!'
***
'Amber, we cannot find Circe anywhere!'
'SISP RED ALERT. SISP RED ALERT. SISP RED ALERT ...'
***
'I am very glad that I learned how to create these little time bubbles which give me a small respite from having to deal with all these alien dimensions.'
'Well, you are so very clever, Master ...'
'Of course I am, Inga. And if I say so myself it is a masterstroke of mine to create these beautiful simulacra of Paulina and Sehzula. King Sigismund Augustus of Poland, who masterminded the Union of Lublin in order to finance his wars against Muscovy, is infamous for his many mistresses, and so he will soon be in my power.'
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***
But the cards do not fall exactly how Zaratorio is expecting, and several of his spells are disrupted ...
'It's you Circe! How did you manage to get here from twenty-first century Kyiv?'
'Well, Zaratorio, it was like this.
The SISP kept referring to these unusual time vortex conditions, so, while they were distracted, I time-jumped out of their confinement facility and created a time wave. I've never seen such a big one, but I rode it all the way to the sixteenth century – or at least I think that's where we are?'
'You are correct, and it is good to see you, although your appearance has disrupted certain plans of mine.
