Since he'd been searching for the source of the woman's voice, Nikolai was surprised when the first person he encountered turned out to be a teenage boy. Warily, Nikolai swept his gaze over him, frowning in disapproval as he noticed the boy's entirely modern clothing.  A hoodie and a pair of jeans did not make an appropriate outfit for any fairy tale character -- not even a sorcerer in disguise.  This was turning out to be a very unsatisfactory dream.<br/><br/>And Nikolai's indignation only increased when the boy addressed him in English. This was his dream, so the people in it should have the courtesy to use his native tongue. "Speak Russian," Nikolai insisted, still expecting to have some influence on his surroundings.  Unfortunately, before the boy could answer him in any language, a violent tremor shook the ground.<br/><br/>As the boy fell to the ground, Nikolai stumbled backwards, snatching at tree branches in a frantic effort to remain upright.  At first, he only succeeded in grabbing a few handfuls of leaves.  But then something stopped him.  A soft sigh of relief escaped Nikolai.  Until he realized that he wasn’t holding on to the branches -- they had wrapped around his wrists and arms.  A wordless cry of alarm, understandable in any language, tore from Nikolai’s throat as he fought to escape.  Unfortunately, it seemed that the more he struggled, the tighter the branches held him.