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Reapers Of Suffering 11
It was damp and semi-dark in the cramped dugout. A splinter fumed, illuminating the wretched decoration: several shops and a hearth, near which children played on a tattered skin. Three kids were busy with bast dolls, talking softly in different voices. A young woman, sitting by a dimly lit light, was spinning yarn. She had a pale, haggard face and long hair tied into two braids. The door slammed. From the draft, the amulets suspended from the mother rattled, knocking against each other. Old wooden ones have long lost their protective power and left them only as a memory ... a memory of protection, of a calm, well-fed life. The spinner tossed her head. Fear froze in his dark eyes. A man descended into the dugout. He was short, but broad-shouldered, and dressed in the same way - poorly, almost beggarly. "Get ready," said the newcomer. The inhabitant of the miserable dwelling got up from the bench, dropping the spindle and looking at the man with plaintive doom: - Again? - Necess
Reapers Of Suffering 12
Eilish looked out the narrow window, hoping the warmth of the sun would dispel her dark thoughts. No. Instead, she saw an awkward guy dressed in a gray dress being tied to a punishment post down in the courtyard. From sorcerers. To know, or Lashta, or Donatos are fierce. Now they will flog, like a couple of weeks ago Lesan. Until now, the healer remembered the merciless whistle of the whip, the swelling furrows on the white back and the way the half-naked body wriggled ... And then at night the young doctor, struggling with tears, nursed her friend. Kleskh forbade going to healers. Said it would be better remembered. Where is it! She would have screamed out loud if Tamir hadn’t guessed to put a canvas folded four times into her teeth, and she almost gnawed that one too. How she cursed the hard-hearted kref Eilish that he forbade Darom to relieve pain! But all the same, she could not resist: easily, without touching the mutilated skin, she ran her hands, sending through the body of a
Reapers Of Suffering 13
Tamir climbed from the cellars of the Citadel to the upper tiers. His head was buzzing, and from temple to temple flew a deaf and booming: “Knock. Here! TUK! The pain throbbed, pressed on the eyes, responded in the back of the head. And so it was every time. After every lesson. It was as if witchcraft was pulling the life force out of the guy, giving in return only dizziness and nausea.Left behind are the turns of the teaching, which brought, in addition to the current suffering, knowledge of how to put to rest a rising baby.And ahead was still a meeting with Lesana’s kref, foreshadowing the throwing of a knife at a target, and a lesson with Ailish’s mentor, who today threatened to ask in which decoction the wolfberries are suitable for medicinal purposes, and in which they are plotted to death.Interestingly, Eilisha knows that healers can not only heal, but also take life? This thought, inadvertently coming into the sick head, terrified. Tamir could not imagine his beloved doing b
Reapers Of Suffering 14
“You and Lesana have gone wild here,” Tamir shook his head. Nothing, but I remember. Let's wait for our warrior - you will be happy. The main thing is to sneak to the place unnoticed. - What if they get caught? Look, Febr does not take his eyes off Lesanka, like a kite is watching, - Eilisha was frightened. - They won't get caught. We quietly, after the evening, when everyone has gone to bed. - And where to? Her eyes lit up with curiosity. “I won’t tell you,” Tamir smiled and carefully removed a wavy strand from his high, clean forehead. - Be patient until the night, since Velik day missed. The healer looked down, and then snorted: - It hurts! But he saw how her curiosity consumed her. And that made it fun. “I wish Lesana would come soon,” Eilisha sighed and bent over the scroll again, hoping to pass the time by studying and bring the evening closer. However, the young doctor lied to herself. She didn't want her friend back. Suddenly realizing this, the girl was ashamed of he
Reapers Of Suffering 15
Donatos found himself in the yard, where he talked with a red-haired healer, whose name Tamir, no matter how hard he tried, could not remember. However, the young novice did not give a damn about this and began to frequent, barely abreast of the krefs: "Master, I'm not a sorcerer!" That cannot be! The watchman looked at the learner with squeamish pity and turned back to his interlocutor, only throwing a careless over his shoulder: - Change your clothes. But the novice did not want to retreat so easily. - Well, what a charmer of me! he shouted desperately. “Not a spellweaver, but a bow tie,” the kref corrected indifferently, “remember this firmly.” Spellweavers at fancy fairs show fools like you and sell weed to women to poison the fruit. And the guards are those who block the way for the dead and give rest to those who walk. Once again I hear that you are interfering with our craft with a buffoon business, I will tear out my tongue. Tamir shuddered, but did not stop stubbornnes
Reapers Of Suffering 16
- You are clueless. And you talk like you have a mind. When cattle are driven with a twig, they want to save it so that it does not fall into a ravine or is not strayed from the herd. So are you. Saved from unnecessary pain. Now it's hard, then it'll be easy. She clenched her fists. - Easy? What is easy? Live like a wolf? Take money for protection and amulets? The mentor's eyes narrowed. - When did you see the burned villages? The girl's heart skipped a beat. She only heard about the devoured villages, and from some stories she became sick. If a small village did not have enough money for a talisman, if a flock of Walkers started up nearby, then ... - No, I didn’t see it ... so what? Why not save people? If they don't have money, let them die like dogs? “Lesana,” a threat was heard in Kleskh’s voice for the first time, “you can’t save everyone. Remember this. - Can! Can be saved! I will never pass by if someone is in need, I... She did not have time to finish - cold fingers s
Reapers Of Suffering 17
Leaf a day - the average month of autumn - this year stood out with severe frosts. Standing on the outskirts of the old buoy, Tamir absentmindedly watched the voracious waxwings feast on frozen mountain ash. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked down at his feet. There, at the bottom of the freshly dug grave, Donatos was preparing for the ceremony. Here he took out a knife from his belt and began to draw a continuous line on the turf walls, pronouncing the words of the spell. When the line converged and the circle closed, the sorcerer cut his left palm with the same blade soiled in the ground, sprinkled the pit with blood and quietly began to read a conspiracy that closed the path to the world of the living for the dead. The words of repose sounded measuredly, the birds quarreling over a large bunch of berries shouted, a pregnant woman sobbed muffledly in the distance, covering her face swollen with tears with a corner of the cover. On the sides of the mother huddled two sobbing boys in
Reapers Of Suffering 18
One night, Donatos brought Tamir to the casemates of the Citadel. I must say that as the fortress itself ascended, so did its dungeons - the lower tiers - go down. The basement was closest to the surface, where there were soapboxes and Nurlisa lived. There were also stocks of canvases, old, worn clothes, which were boiled, boiled and used for bandages or other needs. Under the cellars there was an underground - mortuary and mortuary. At first, Tamir was confused, but then he realized that the corpses of those walking were kept in the dead. In the mortuary - dead people, whose bodies were first of all needed for the study of healers. But already under the dead and dead were casemates. The lowest tier of the Citadel was deaf and cold. Silence always reigned here, there was a smell of stone and prel, and the realization that there were dozens of cubits of earth and stone above your head made it difficult to speak loudly. The casemate was nothing more than a long, long corridor with du
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Reapers Of Suffering Epilogue
And then the caretaker laid siege to himself. Again he is angry with Kleskh. Again he is blamed. As if all the troubles of the Citadel are from him alone. No, not from him. Or not from him alone. Trouble is a great many. Only now, Lesana's kref teases everyone tirelessly, does not obey the word of the elder, goes against the will. And maybe right? Maybe, indeed, youth and strength tell him a different truth? The one that Ned, with his stagnant mind, can no longer hear? Wants, wants Kleskh, lascivious bastard, power! It is eager to lay a hand on the Citadel, to establish its own rules here. Just mindless. Mad. By the stubbornness of the young! Heaps things up, let him come to power. He'll screw up, he'll put everyone under attack. But the head pulled himself up again, realizing that Kleskh was perhaps the only one who would be a fortress and learn to protect more than the apple of his eye. And if not? Will not if? If he loves to amuse himself with power?"How are you?" whispered the
Reapers Of Suffering 51
When lilac twilight spread over the fortress and hung in the corners like grayish shadows, Lesana was finally girded and released from the chambers of the dejected leader. Instead of a student's dress, the amulet was now wearing the clothes of a warrior, belted with a wide heavy belt, which, surprisingly well, grabbed her thin waist. In unusual attire, the girl still felt uncomfortable. It seemed that the novelty of a black shirt made of good quality linen, a leather top with short sleeves, pants, and the belt itself was too noticeable. The thought flashed through my head that five student springs flew by somehow too quickly. It seems like yesterday she dreamed of unlearning and returning home, but now she has unlearned, and will go home tomorrow. Somehow there? Mother and father would see, cuddle the young. Although ... who is there to squeeze, everyone has already grown. Styoshka is seventeen this year. And what is Styoshka like now? Stoyana Svet Yurdonovna. Elke, that is, Elavi,
Reapers Of Suffering 50
- I brought a novice who went to my students for five springs. Now her training is over, and I speak my word for her. Lesana of the Ostrikova clan is ready to accept the belt of a warrior from the hands of the head of the Citadel. The krefs looked at each other. Ned looked at Kleskh from under his brows, gloomy as a thundercloud. It seemed that a little more and start throwing lightning. - So, the belt ... - said the caretaker and thunder could be heard in his voice. - A belt for a worthless girl. Where were you? For three years - neither hearing nor spirit - only sent quitrent money with occasions. Yes, even magpies flew several times with notes, where they learned to look. Only by your magpies, not a single novice could be obtained! And now he appeared, when they didn’t even look forward to waiting, the belt demands! Lesana's mentor answered evenly. - I, the head, do not have a great day to wait for me. And I don't need a belt. My belt is with me, - Kleskh pointed with his eyes
Reapers Of Suffering 49
If someone asked the student Kleskh to tell about how she lived for three years, wandering with kreff through cities and villages, the girl probably could not tell beautifully and smoothly. And what is there to say? About the days spent in the saddle - under the wind, rain, snow? About spending the night under the open sky, when did the heat overcome, or cold, or dampness? About how sometimes she woke up in the fall, and her hair (fortunately short) froze to the roll placed under her head? Or how you wanted to wash and sleep, but instead you had to drive carts one by one along the forest roads? How did you learn to wield a sword? How did she kill the first werewolf, who, for her bad luck, turned out to be not a wolf, not a fox, not a forest cat-lynx, but a bear? Or remember how Kleskh ran after her with a jerk at the ready through a remote village and yelled: “I’ll kill the scrawny !!!” Well, this is after she shied away from him for nothing, mistaking him for a walker in the middl
Reapers Of Suffering 48
How good is the greenery at the very beginning and the air smells! Young grass, damp earth, tart needles, buds that are ready to bloom with sticky young leaves. That is why a childish bubbling joy boils in the chest at this time. Lesana stood, bent over a boiling pot. Fragrant bread bubbling merrily. Above the clearing, where the girl and her mentor settled down to rest, a sweet mushroom spirit floated. The student smiled as she stirred the stew. Kleskh was not picky, but he did not like mushrooms - passion. And precisely because he hated them to the point of mental inversion, the girl deliberately kept a handful of dried mushrooms at the bottom of her shoulder pad. Kref grew up on the shores of the Evil Sea. They did not know and did not eat mushrooms there. Therefore, he could mutter two turns about these "slugs" and never repeat himself. The girl chuckled, foreseeing how the mentor would burst out, returning from the forest to the parking lot. White, boletus, russula - only they
Reapers Of Suffering 47
Evening descended on the Citadel. Kleskh returned from Lesana to his unheated dark rest and sank down on the bench, inhaling the smells of the Citadel: dampness, stone, preli. It was necessary to order one of the servants to heat it. And, however, one night and so you can endure. I was too lazy to light the light. And the guard sat in the dark, listening to the silence. Ned, without knowing it, made exactly the decision to which he was diligently pushed by kref - exile. And together with Lesana. The mentor of the warriors chuckled and closed his eyes. To tell the truth, the indignation of Ichthor and those who joined him turned out to be unexpected, which almost ruined everything. Well, at least Rust and Donatos have not changed themselves. Klesh smiled contentedly. At that moment, there was a soft scratch at the door: - Open it. Mairico. The guard hid. Can he believe that he doesn't exist? The light is not on. The hearth is cold. You never know where he goes. - I know you're he
Reapers Of Suffering 46
Kleskh dismounted, threw the reins over the horse's head and handed them over to the jumping servant. - Mentor... Lesana stood a little apart. She looked at the kref with eyes that were dimmed, but filled with hidden relief. - Take him to Nurlisa, then to the soap house, to the doctors and to the refectory. Show the Citadel, explain everything. Then we'll talk. Go with her,” the last kref said, turning to his companion, a strong, broad-shouldered fellow who had just left the saddle and now stood at a respectful distance. The guy tried to look calm, but confusion was reflected in his dark eyes. Lesana gave the newcomer a quick glance and nodded, inviting him to follow. He obediently moved after her, but the girl felt his eyes glowing with curiosity behind her back. Still - a girl in ports and without braids. Or maybe he did not understand that she was a girl? And then Lesana remembered how Febr led her, Eilisha and Tamir in the same echoing corridors of the Citadel to the lower ti
Reapers Of Suffering 45
The rope, thrown over the dryer pole, swayed measuredly. It was hot. The barn smelled of old manure. Shreds of last year's dry hay stuck out of the gaps in the eaves. Skotin had to slaughter greenfields in the middle , when Siyana fell ill, and Volynets was up to nothing. The wife had a hard time giving birth, but the daughter was born strong, pink and noisy. The father and grandmother nursed the child together, because the mother fell ill. Volynets treated his wife with Dar, but even Dar did not help in such rotten weather. A rainy spring turned into a cold and also rainy summer. Water poured down from heaven day after day in unstoppable torrents. The earth became limp, the young grass began to rot, neither mushrooms nor berries grew in the forest, the fields turned into swamps - there was nowhere to sow bread, and no one ... However, little by little, Shiyana stood up, although she was still weak. Volyn breathed a sigh of relief. Therefore, when on a rainy morning of the month of
Reapers Of Suffering 44
“Whoo! Wow!!!" the wind whistled through the trees "Tsh-sh-sh ..." - powerful crowns responded to his thin howl. Tamir tried to fall asleep, but for some reason sleep escaped his head. And, although for a few days spent in the saddle, the guy was exhausted - even fatigue could not knock him into a slumber. He was still afraid of the forest. Not even so much those who walk, live here, but the thicket itself. With my mind I understood that the forest feeds, waters, gives shelter. Look, take them with Veles - already nine days on the road, and there is nothing to complain about. Sleep on soft, eat hearty. And yet the forest remained a forest. He frightened the novice, who still did not really know how to find his way among the impenetrable thicket, did not know how to remember the path he had traveled. Velesh was from the village, so he willingly told the youngest about everything he knew: he taught him to find streams in the thicket, remember the way and find the way in the sun. But
