The autumn forest smelled of dampness and rotten leaves. Despite the cool weather, Aznar put on only a linen shirt and thin pants. The man walked barefoot, stepping inaudibly like a big cat. The red scythe swayed in time with his steps, slapping him on the back as the markat jumped over the roots of the trees. Deya involuntarily admired these deft, measured movements. And did not notice how they went to the cliff."Be careful," the man warned, raising his hand.The girl came closer and gasped with delight: the slope abruptly went down into a rocky cliff. Fog floated in wisps below, and the splashing of water was heard. Flocks of small birds resembling swallows hovered over it, chasing each other.-There is a lake, - Aznar explained. - Very cold. And a lot of fish.The man turned to the girl, ran his hand over her cheek, brushing a strand of hair out of her loose braid. Deya was braiding hastily, and now her hair began to slowly unravel.Why did you leave the castle? Beria told me.He
Sharaam, city of magiciansEndy swayed measuredly in the saddle. The clothes were still damp from the recent heavy rain, and there were smudges and dirt stains on the boots and trousers. His back was numb, his legs were buzzing, and his neck was unbearably itchy. On the road in autumn it is very unpleasant, he had already forgotten that. The man adjusted his collar, looked ahead, and sighed. The forest thinned out considerably, and the road became wider and better. But most importantly, the city walls appeared ahead.Made of dark gray flat stone, tall and gloomy. Narrow towers, over the peaks of which red lights burn, gloomy guards in black robes.The city of magicians, Sharaam, greeted the guests unfriendly. Endius felt uncomfortable in front of the massive gates of bog oak, soaked in some undeniably magical mixture that gave the dark wood an ashen bluish tint. And when the air around him suddenly thickened and shone with a white light, he shuddered in fright. Fortunately, the white
Deja woke up because she suddenly felt that there was someone else in the room. She didn't know how and she couldn't explain it. Yes, and there was no time to think about it.Abruptly sitting up in bed and pulling on the covers, the girl met the gaze of her father's spy. He stood by the fireplace, peering into the darkness, and next to him was a woman. Stately and beautiful, in a dark robe, which perfectly hid her in the darkness. Only her eyes glowed slightly in the dark, and some kind of bluish glow also emanated from her open palms.A wave of cold and fear swept through my body. It was the first time Deja had seen a real live magician. And she was afraid that the Markats would wake up and tear them to pieces right on the spot. But the moments dragged on, and the measured breathing of the sleeping men remained even and calm."I put them to sleep," the woman said quietly. She had a soft and pleasant voice, inspiring trust and warmth. “You have nothing to be afraid of."My lady, get r
The wind grabbed handfuls of bright leaves, played with them, mixed them and threw them to the ground. Enregal was called the fortress city for a reason. He stood on the high bank of the river, surrounded by a powerful fortress wall. The laying was fresh, reliable. The heavy gates opened slowly, the gate creaked strainedly.The warrior next to Deamara touched the reins, forcing the horses under the archway. The two washerwomen followed the procession with indifferent glances and went on. Some thin boy sat on the roof and looked at the soldiers through a paper tube. Other passers-by who got in the way tried to quickly disappear from sight.The warriors stopped at a tall, rich house with turrets and carved doors. Deamare was helped off the horse. The girl was tired, her legs and back ached a little from a long trip. And I was very thirsty.- Here, - one of the men opened the door in front of her, skipping ahead.The house had high ceilings, stained-glass windows made of colored diamonds
When they reached the castle, Deya trudged inside on trembling legs. Bery wanted to follow her, but Aznar stopped him.- Wait, don't touch her.Deya, under the frightened glances of the servants, entered the castle. The girl was covered in blood: face, hair, hands. The woolen suit is hopelessly ruined: the blood is caked with a crust.The princess walked along the familiar path to the baths. There she took off the dirty cloth that had stuck to her body. I sank into the spring and sat there for a long time, losing track of time. She washed and scrubbed dried blood from her skin and hair, shuddered from the rustling. Unsuccessfully warded off the vision of the dead guard, who was left lying on the floor in Leverius' house, face down. Fantasy boldly drew an empty blank look, a terrible wound on the neck, although in fact the girl saw the body only briefly, and even then - in the dark. The water around the girl gradually turned into a pink hue. Daya winced.She returned only when Arleta c
BrivenBery was angry and could not find a place for himself. And he himself could not understand with whom he was more angry, with Deya, for having run away, or with himself. Or furious because he was horrified by a possible loss. The man imagined that Leverius was touching her, and he shuddered. A dry branch crunched underfoot.The werewolf more conveniently intercepted a simple, leather-covered bow, delving into the forest. He didn't like to hunt in human form, but now he needed to think and be alone.When he reached a suitable tree, the man strapped the weapon on his back and jumped lightly, pulling himself up and climbing onto one of the thick lower branches of an old pine tree. He pressed his back against the rough, resin-smelling bark. Bare feet confidently stood on a branch, feeling only a slight chill.Beria closed his eyes and sensitive ears immediately distinguished many sounds. The rustle of leaves receded, subsided, replaced by other sounds. The werewolf heard a distant s
For three days there was an uneasy silence in the castle. For Dei, almost nothing has changed. She still hardly left the room, visiting only the baths. Arleta had been with her, but now she stayed for the night. Slept on the carpet, by the fireplace. The princess noticed how worried the maid was, constantly listening to something. Always keeps at hand a small but sharp dagger in a leather sheath. Dea herself constantly returned her thoughts to the border, wondering how this battle would end.On the fourth day, a large armed detachment arrived at the castle, which was sent to the border. Arleta said that they had just restocked their supplies and were on their way right away. There was no news.In the evening, Deya felt a little anxiety, which in a couple of hours turned into tangible fear. But the girl could not explain what she was afraid of. As a result, after drinking a soothing broth, the princess went to bed early.During the night Arleta woke up because the mistress was tossing
In the morning Beria came to his senses. He took a deep breath, opening his eyes. Almost all the wounds healed and brightened, leaving thin pink scars as a memory. Soon they will become almost invisible. The man looked up at the ceiling, sniffed the air and looked at his brother.Aznar did not sleep. He sat in a not very comfortable position, legs bent, but did not move, because Deya fell asleep on his lap. Trustingly, she curled up, grabbing the man by the waist. Markat carefully held it with one hand, and with the other he went through the blond strands of hair, playing and passing through his fingers. He felt the gaze, Aznar looked back. Slightly smiled at the corner of his lips.- Where is she from? - despite the good health, Beria was in no hurry to get up. He knew how much internal resources such accelerated regeneration could use. Weakness is the least of the consequences that can be expected.- She arrived last night, - satisfied notes were heard in Aznar's voice.-One? Beria
Three more months later...- Deya ... - male fingers, lightly tickling, ran along the bare back. - Deya-ya-ya ... - Beria whispered in the ear of his wife, who was sleeping sweetly, hugging the pillow touchingly. Pillow, not his, legal spouse.- Mmm… what? the girl sighed, eyes closed as her hot breath touched her neck.- It's time to feed the children, - said Beria, carefully brushing aside his silky hair and kissing the soft skin on his neck.-Yeah...His fingers traced wavy patterns between his shoulder blades, moving down and up his spine.Dea, are you sleeping? the man asked ingratiatingly.- Get away from her, - Aznar's displeased voice was heard. Bery tried to get it in the dark with his foot so as not to interfere, but instead he heard a dull sound of a blow and a quiet hiss.-For what? Beria groaned. - Deya!“Your children, you feed…” the princess muttered unintelligibly.“Yes, I would love to,” Bery quipped, rubbing his cheekbone.- Shh, - Aznar hissed at him, - let him slee
Finding a much-needed vampire was not so easy. His office, with its shiny brass sign, was locked. And where does he hide on weekends?I hope the professor didn't leave the academy and head into town to have a couple of drinks with friends, or, well, dine with an unfortunate townswoman.Thinking, I walked over to the silent armor in the corner. These were very old, the feather was faded, thick cobwebs twined around the helmet. Perhaps no one has asked for directions here for a very long time."Honorable sir," I said slowly, imitating Fiona. “Can you tell me where I can find Professor Valentine?”The armor was silent for a while, either surprised by the question, or trying to find what they were looking for. With a terrible clang, the rusted spear hit the stone floor, and a thin, shining line snaked into the corridor.- Thanks! - I threw on the run, following the prompt.She led me lower and lower, first to the first floor, and then past the utility rooms and the kitchen straight to the
In the morning, Borch woke up everyone who managed to tame animals, as soon as the red disk of the sun appeared above the horizon. The rest, less fortunate, had another day of hunting ahead of them.Sleepy and yawning freshmen climbed out of the tents. Then they brought their companions out of the stalls.Smoke hopefully sniffed my pockets, snorting and hot breathing, but found no food and out of spite tried to bite me on the shoulder.“We’ll have to be patient,” I patted the horse’s withers. - I'm hungry too.August failed his griffin. He stubbornly glared angrily at the hunter with orange eyes. The front bird's paws plowed the ground with their claws. The lion's tail twitched nervously from side to side. I looked at the griffin in fascination. And she shuddered when Thunder snapped his powerful beak right next to August's face.With persuasion, and even shouting, we, along with other students, pulled our companions into the luminous circle of the portal. The animals were stubborn, r
August helped me lead Smoky to the makeshift stalls that had been hastily put together from thin logs. Then the games began: the horse did not want to go into the corral, and completely dodged the rope with amazing dexterity. In three hands, we barely coped with it. Looking into the eyes burning with resentment, I felt guilty.- Do not worry - I stroked the freedom-loving animal on the neck. - It's not for long. Now I'll bring you water and apples if I can find them.There were no problems with water: in a day, freshmen dragged a whole bucket to the stalls. But with apples it turned out to be more difficult. But Eitin unexpectedly came to our aid. The magician left for a short time, agreed with someone, and soon brought three large red apples.You have no idea how you saved me! I said gratefully.-Nonsense. You owe me.- Hey, wait a second! We didn't agree on that.“Okay, okay, I was joking,” the half-elf snorted when he saw my surprised face. - Come on, we're on the same team.It too
Alas, the euphoria from a successful landing quickly evaporated. The sun was slowly going down, and the air was getting colder. Having examined the area, I concluded that we were on a small green plateau, next to the rocks.Fortunately, the elemental was not going to fly away and leave me cuckooing alone. But he didn’t let me approach him either, as soon as I approached, the horse briskly ran off to a safe distance and continued to pluck the grass.- No, I understand everything, such stress: they woke me up, led me by the nose, and also rode without permission, - I could not stand it. “But what am I supposed to do now, huh?”The horse twitched its ears and turned its back to me. The bushy black tail twitched contemptuously.I crossed my arms over my chest and thought as the only chance to get out of here continued to ignore me. If I do not agree with him soon, I will have a hard time. Who knows when they'll find me here? The backpack was left somewhere in the forest, the flask of wate
Immersed in my thoughts, I did not notice at all that I was lagging behind. When I woke up, I realized that the Kertar was not around. All around was only a bright forest, and the chirping of invisible birds.I thoughtfully looked at the squirrel, which enthusiastically gnawed a bump, tightly clasping it with small paws. Yes, it is unlikely that she will be able to suggest the way.Well, at least I'm not in danger of dying from thirst now. The flask is here, full.-August? – just in case, I shouted.Silence was my answer.Okay, don't stand here alone. I'll go ahead - I'll go out somewhere. Maybe I'll find our footprints, which we generously left on the way to the lake.Walking through the forest without a hunter turned out to be not so easy: driftwood constantly fell under his feet, low branches whipped his face, a lone mosquito rang disgustingly above his ear. Soon I wandered into such dense deadwood that I almost got stuck there.Somehow getting out and tearing my hands to blood, I
He got close. Too close for me to be indifferent.Forgetting herself for a moment, she slowly and carefully ran her finger over her parted lips, wiping away the drops of pure water. The hunter froze, almost ceasing to breathe, and his hands gripped my waist tighter.Abyss, why are you so attractive!It was foolish to deceive myself - I was drawn to Augustus from the very beginning. His good-natured smile and a little obsessive concern sunk into my heart from the very first day. And now, biting my lip, I shamelessly admired the bronze skin of the southerner, his clearly defined rough cheekbones and hard jawline, allowing myself not to think about anything else for at least a few agonizing minutes.August reached out to me first. Male lips were unexpectedly hot, greedy. I didn't resist. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before: the kiss was powerful, crushing, disturbing the darkest hidden desires.The partner released me almost immediately, catching my exhalation-groan with his lips,
Waking up before dawn was not the most pleasant: the morning cold insidiously penetrated into the tents and chilled to the bone, so that Fiona and I had a tooth on the tooth. Trembling and wrapping yourself in raincoats, you climbed out, hoping that it would be warmer in the morning sun.The sky on the horizon gradually brightened and filled with a blush, dew glittered on the grass with millions of diamond drops, even if you dive in face and wash yourself.- Are you ready for the second round? - Asked a sleepy August, getting out of his tent, and not even trying to suppress a yawn. - Today I propose to walk through the forest to the lake. In the fields with prey is not dense.-Look forward to!The Larnian and I looked at each other, jumping up and down to keep warm.We set off as soon as it was finally light. Instead of breakfast, we were given a loaf of rye bread with a decent piece of soft cheese. The food was divided equally and had a bite to eat on the way, so as not to waste time
I coughed, trying to unstick my face from something prickly and realize where the top is, and where the bottom is. Fiona moaned softly nearby.Finally, I realized that I was lying on the ground with my face in the grass. But as soon as I raised my head, trying to look around, I was again unceremoniously pressed to the ground. I thrashed about, trying to throw off my heavy body.From above, they cursed in Eitin's voice. I listened with interest - I did not even suspect that one could swear in Elvish.“I'm lucky it wasn't me,” said the cheerful voice of Augustus.Almost immediately they gave me freedom: the hunter helped Eitin up.“Hannah, didn’t you get squashed a lot?”I choked. Here is the concern!- That is, if a little, then it's not scary? I still grabbed the outstretched hand. Don't neglect help.It was necessary to quickly get out of the portal, until someone else arrived heavier.Fiona dusted herself off beside her, all green, as if she was about to vomit.“You know, it’s still