Vlad was at a loss what was stronger in him - curiosity, which only flared up even more from the proximity of the necessary information, or fear of the unknown, hostile magic and, to be sure, ghosts. People who previously did not believe in the supernatural, when faced with irrefutable evidence of its existence, experience much more shock and horror than those who have always been afraid of meeting ghosts, goblins or zombies. That is why Cesare felt most comfortable and confident of all of the trinity, for him the City of Ghosts, although it was an implausible legend all his life, in the end it was much easier for a local inhabitant to come to terms with its existence than for aliens "from a distant world".The stones that could be seen behind the trees really turned out to be ruins. It was not possible to determine the original appearance of the buildings from what was left: separate blocks and slabs, fragments of walls, usually not more than the first floor high, sticking out like b
This hall was not so grandiose in size. But most likely the main one in the temple. The room was filled with the sun, beating through the huge windows in the ceiling. After the dim glow of the sanctifier, all those who entered for a while closed their eyes. And as soon as the eyes got used, they froze in admiration, surprise, disbelief ... Twenty meters ahead, right in front of them, on a dais, he lay. Wolf Ruby. Even though no one present had seen the ancient artifact before or even read the descriptions of its appearance, everyone understood that it couldn't be anything else.The amulet did look like a gem, but natural rubies don't get that big. It was no smaller than a fist. Sparkling with bloody facets, throwing glare on the walls, floor and altar on which he lay. It made the whole room look reddish. The altar very clearly reminded Vlad of what he saw in his time in Conrad's room and explored in the basement under Lionella's shed. The same stone parallelepiped, with a ligature run
Leroy caught himself on the fact that he no longer remembers how much a pillar costs and stares, almost forgetting to swallow his saliva. The woman clearly saw him in the mirror, but not only did not quit her business, but did not even blink an eye. As if every single day unfamiliar men in strange clothes fill up in her boudoir and freeze into wordless sculptures. Although ... if they had come in, they would certainly have done so. It became obvious that the hostess of the apartment was not going to somehow react to the uninvited guest.- Eee … - thoughtfully began Leroy. It seems that his vaunted eloquence betrayed him for the first time in many years. “And because of what? he wondered inwardly. “You might think I haven’t seen beautiful women!” And then he realized that he had seen something, but unimaginably long ago, in a past life - this inhospitable world did not deign to show him any of its beauties. There is no need to talk about something more than just a look. Armand looked a
This night, unlike the last, was calm. No hallucinatory mists appeared. During the day they managed to overcome the “right of way”, as Vlad aptly called the area of the dead forest. The oak forest lived an ordinary life: twigs crunched, leaves rustled in the breeze, crickets chirped, fireflies gathered on grass stems.Armand went on twirling everything that had happened this way and that in his brain. “Something I also start to run like a puppet. I don't like it. And to understand the intricacies of all the intrigues does not work. Here is this girl, for example. After all, I see that she is lying somewhere, or at least not telling. However, we immediately fell for her idea, like two males for a female in heat. Stop. And here is the answer. She just uses magic. Of course, I understand, beautiful, but not to the same extent as to completely lose my head. He refused to believe that ordinary hormones were to blame for everything. “On the other hand, until we figure out what kind of peb
They caught up with the guards the next morning. The battle ended quite recently, in some places on the grass and weapons, not completely clotted blood still glistened. Eleven bodies of varying degrees of preservation - from literally torn to pieces to killed by a neat, precise blow to the throat. Duffel bags are turned over, but all belongings are left right there. They were looking for something specific. You had to be an idiot not to guess what.-The pebble has changed hands, hasn't it? Armand looked questioningly at Alisande.She nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating for a couple of seconds.-Wolves move faster than people, we need to hurry.No one had any desire to replenish their stocks of provisions at the expense of loaves of bread scattered among the corpses. Cesare, who did not utter a word at the sight of the carnage, quickly collected all the arrows, including those that were sticking out of the corpses of several werewolves. In order to fit such a solid supply, the ar
Lionella and Conrad, having lost their enemy, looked for a new target with their eyes. And there were several of them to choose from: the sanctifier, but it was possible to wait with him, he was exhausted and would not be able to attack right away, a pretty bored archer boy who again got involved in the battle against the non-human heretics he hated, and Vlad, unarmed, trying to negotiate .Ridiculous... What could he bargain for if he had nothing to offer? The mage chuckled. It is done. Wolf Ruby, here it is, warm, as if alive, responding to the slightest thought, to the slight movement of the fingers. And the power that he pours into the brain is more intoxicating than any fortified wine. Konrad felt the ability to slam all enemies with almost the power of thought, without hassle, without loss, with almost no effort. But he was aware that this was only self-deception, a side effect of a too strong magical artifact, which, of course, increases the powers of the sorcerer many times ov
Lisa didn't answer my call. I woke up closer to dinner and immediately dialed my couple's number. I couldn't wait to see how she was doing. But she was silent. Minutes passed and I began to worry.- Toby, did you send the answer to the challenge? - A friend picked up the phone immediately.- Well, yes and what?- When?- What?- When, I say?- Calm down, what are you yelling at? Recently…- What the heck? Why recently, I ask you!!! - I almost yelled into the phone.“S-sorry,” Tobias began to stutter, “first he reported to the elders…- I'm your head! And it was an order! I don't need the approval of the elders! Do you want to go into exile?- Zark, I'm sorry, I didn't think a couple of hours mattered.- They have! And how!!!- Yes, what happened?The fox isn't answering!Tobias was silent for a couple of seconds.- Wait, maybe you're boiling in vain? Probably can't hear, put the phone away. Isn't it enough?- Get ready, we leave for the Southern clan.As soon as I pressed the end call
Riding with strangers to hell knows whereI pressed my forehead against the cold glass of a black tinted car. Outside the window, blurring into one indistinct picture, the trees of an unfamiliar dense forest flashed by. “I was taught not to get into a car with strangers, so where are they taking me now?” I thought belatedly. Despair mingled with fear, making her heart race.The day before…Cold drops of autumn rain fall on your face. I am lying on a bench at the entrance to the cemetery. My eyes are closed. Tears slowly trickle down your cheeks, mixing with raindrops. The head is completely blank. And only my heart shrinks from unbearable pain and despair, proving that I am still alive. And it would be better to die. Together with her. I looked at the small pendant in my hand - the only thing left of it - and tears began to fall with renewed vigor.- Fox!I squeezed my eyes shut even more irritably. No one wanted to hear or see.- Fox! Damian was breathing hard from the fast run. - It
Lisa didn't answer my call. I woke up closer to dinner and immediately dialed my couple's number. I couldn't wait to see how she was doing. But she was silent. Minutes passed and I began to worry.- Toby, did you send the answer to the challenge? - A friend picked up the phone immediately.- Well, yes and what?- When?- What?- When, I say?- Calm down, what are you yelling at? Recently…- What the heck? Why recently, I ask you!!! - I almost yelled into the phone.“S-sorry,” Tobias began to stutter, “first he reported to the elders…- I'm your head! And it was an order! I don't need the approval of the elders! Do you want to go into exile?- Zark, I'm sorry, I didn't think a couple of hours mattered.- They have! And how!!!- Yes, what happened?The fox isn't answering!Tobias was silent for a couple of seconds.- Wait, maybe you're boiling in vain? Probably can't hear, put the phone away. Isn't it enough?- Get ready, we leave for the Southern clan.As soon as I pressed the end call
Lionella and Conrad, having lost their enemy, looked for a new target with their eyes. And there were several of them to choose from: the sanctifier, but it was possible to wait with him, he was exhausted and would not be able to attack right away, a pretty bored archer boy who again got involved in the battle against the non-human heretics he hated, and Vlad, unarmed, trying to negotiate .Ridiculous... What could he bargain for if he had nothing to offer? The mage chuckled. It is done. Wolf Ruby, here it is, warm, as if alive, responding to the slightest thought, to the slight movement of the fingers. And the power that he pours into the brain is more intoxicating than any fortified wine. Konrad felt the ability to slam all enemies with almost the power of thought, without hassle, without loss, with almost no effort. But he was aware that this was only self-deception, a side effect of a too strong magical artifact, which, of course, increases the powers of the sorcerer many times ov
They caught up with the guards the next morning. The battle ended quite recently, in some places on the grass and weapons, not completely clotted blood still glistened. Eleven bodies of varying degrees of preservation - from literally torn to pieces to killed by a neat, precise blow to the throat. Duffel bags are turned over, but all belongings are left right there. They were looking for something specific. You had to be an idiot not to guess what.-The pebble has changed hands, hasn't it? Armand looked questioningly at Alisande.She nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating for a couple of seconds.-Wolves move faster than people, we need to hurry.No one had any desire to replenish their stocks of provisions at the expense of loaves of bread scattered among the corpses. Cesare, who did not utter a word at the sight of the carnage, quickly collected all the arrows, including those that were sticking out of the corpses of several werewolves. In order to fit such a solid supply, the ar
This night, unlike the last, was calm. No hallucinatory mists appeared. During the day they managed to overcome the “right of way”, as Vlad aptly called the area of the dead forest. The oak forest lived an ordinary life: twigs crunched, leaves rustled in the breeze, crickets chirped, fireflies gathered on grass stems.Armand went on twirling everything that had happened this way and that in his brain. “Something I also start to run like a puppet. I don't like it. And to understand the intricacies of all the intrigues does not work. Here is this girl, for example. After all, I see that she is lying somewhere, or at least not telling. However, we immediately fell for her idea, like two males for a female in heat. Stop. And here is the answer. She just uses magic. Of course, I understand, beautiful, but not to the same extent as to completely lose my head. He refused to believe that ordinary hormones were to blame for everything. “On the other hand, until we figure out what kind of peb
Leroy caught himself on the fact that he no longer remembers how much a pillar costs and stares, almost forgetting to swallow his saliva. The woman clearly saw him in the mirror, but not only did not quit her business, but did not even blink an eye. As if every single day unfamiliar men in strange clothes fill up in her boudoir and freeze into wordless sculptures. Although ... if they had come in, they would certainly have done so. It became obvious that the hostess of the apartment was not going to somehow react to the uninvited guest.- Eee … - thoughtfully began Leroy. It seems that his vaunted eloquence betrayed him for the first time in many years. “And because of what? he wondered inwardly. “You might think I haven’t seen beautiful women!” And then he realized that he had seen something, but unimaginably long ago, in a past life - this inhospitable world did not deign to show him any of its beauties. There is no need to talk about something more than just a look. Armand looked a
This hall was not so grandiose in size. But most likely the main one in the temple. The room was filled with the sun, beating through the huge windows in the ceiling. After the dim glow of the sanctifier, all those who entered for a while closed their eyes. And as soon as the eyes got used, they froze in admiration, surprise, disbelief ... Twenty meters ahead, right in front of them, on a dais, he lay. Wolf Ruby. Even though no one present had seen the ancient artifact before or even read the descriptions of its appearance, everyone understood that it couldn't be anything else.The amulet did look like a gem, but natural rubies don't get that big. It was no smaller than a fist. Sparkling with bloody facets, throwing glare on the walls, floor and altar on which he lay. It made the whole room look reddish. The altar very clearly reminded Vlad of what he saw in his time in Conrad's room and explored in the basement under Lionella's shed. The same stone parallelepiped, with a ligature run
Vlad was at a loss what was stronger in him - curiosity, which only flared up even more from the proximity of the necessary information, or fear of the unknown, hostile magic and, to be sure, ghosts. People who previously did not believe in the supernatural, when faced with irrefutable evidence of its existence, experience much more shock and horror than those who have always been afraid of meeting ghosts, goblins or zombies. That is why Cesare felt most comfortable and confident of all of the trinity, for him the City of Ghosts, although it was an implausible legend all his life, in the end it was much easier for a local inhabitant to come to terms with its existence than for aliens "from a distant world".The stones that could be seen behind the trees really turned out to be ruins. It was not possible to determine the original appearance of the buildings from what was left: separate blocks and slabs, fragments of walls, usually not more than the first floor high, sticking out like b
They walked through the oak forest for the third day. From time to time they deviated to the side, but, having heard a mournful howl, they corrected the route. Somehow the responsibilities were assigned. Cesare and Vlad took turns shooting at the birds for food. In the best of times, the boy would have coped alone, but now, with a not quite capable left hand, it was inconvenient for him to pull the bowstring, the arrows quite often went “into the milk” and they had to be searched for a long time. Arman was cooking game on a fire lit by common efforts. The mercenary was slowly mastering the difficult art of using flint and flint. At night, they took turns standing on the clock. No one wondered why this was necessary, because there was no third-party danger, but it was more familiar and calmer.And oddly enough, there were no more conflicts. It is not clear why this happened, but although neither of the men had any special positive feelings towards the other two, nevertheless, quite sta
Cesare looked, to put it mildly, not in the best way, but to tell the truth, it was scary. A face with a huge bruise on the cheekbone, a trickle of blood caked under the nose. His shirt was in tatters, there was a shallow cut on his collarbone, and on his back there was a mark from a wolf's paw that had gone through with its claws. The matted hair almost covers the face. His hands are twisted behind his back, and a barely audible whisper escapes from his broken lips. At first, Vlad did not make out the words, and only listening, he realized that the boy, without ceasing to repeat prayers, reaches the end and starts again from the beginning, and so continuously."Cesare," he called cautiously.No effect. The archer didn't even look up, the mumbling didn't stop. Vlad slightly shook the boy by the shoulder and said louder:-Cesare!The young man tossed his head, looked so that goosebumps passed over the skin - so much pain and approaching madness shone in his eyes. The endless prayer sto