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Reapers Of Suffering 35
The days spent between nightmares and reality slightly dulled Lesana's black longing. The girl got up and began to clean the closet. - Did you get up? - the old woman, who returned with a bucket of icy water, was surprised. - Got up... - Come, come here, wash yourself here. The student suddenly said bitterly: - You're messing around with me. Useless me. Worthless. The grandmother put her hands on her hips and asked caustically: - She invented it, al suggested who? - Itself. What kind of howl am I if I couldn’t fight back?! the girl suddenly cried out. Karga chuckled. – Howl... What kind of howl are you? You are a follower. About last year, you were only taught to jump and fall, to wave sticks, to pull the bowstring. In the autumn, they only began to mix with each other. And for the time being, you don’t know how to own your Gift at all. Howl... will say too! She sat down on the bench, wiping her sweaty forehead with the corner of her handkerchief. Lesana clenched her fists
Reapers Of Suffering 36
Lesana was carefully cleaning the soot-covered vat. Nurlisa shuffled along, shaking the junk from the chests. She took out one bundle of fabric, then another, laid them out, stroking them lovingly. It was hot, stuffy and ... blissful in the closet. During her monotonous work, the novice was carried away by her thoughts into the void. She didn’t think about anything, she just carefully rubbed the round iron sides, and enjoyed the warmth and roar of fire emanating from the furnace. “Look out,” Nurlis’s assistant would sometimes call out and show her another piece of fabric. - It seems like you didn’t catch it? The girl nodded in response. That was the whole point of their simple conversation. And the grandmother, like many old people, loved to ask empty questions and wait for an answer to them. - Avon, how firewood cracks! Come on, again this stoker from the stokers of one pine fell off me, but what, Lesanka? This question had to be answered with an invariable “yes”, otherwise Nur
Reapers Of Suffering 37
The climber has come. Severe, with frosts and snowstorms. For days on end, outside the walls of the Citadel, the wind howled, whined, whistled and beat, sweeping loose loose snowdrifts to the foot of the fortress. But Lesana still lived in the dungeons, rarely getting out to the surface. Daren, enraged by her clumsiness and inability, imposed a double duty on the novice, turning her into a second Nurlisa. Now she, too, carried firewood all day long, washed, rubbed, drowned. Here it is today... The girl slammed the casemate grate shut and threw the dirty rag into the bucket. Phew ... All hands are pissed and cracked, the skin has become like a washcloth! But today, even the dead to scrub. And just try not to wash somewhere, Daren will instantly appear, poke his nose at a poorly done job. He, apparently, had already decided for himself that the student Kleskha was not capable of anything other than scrubbing the floors. Well, let. In the end, the usual women's work. However, this was
Reapers Of Suffering 38
She dragged her forward along the steep corridor, they ran, slipping on the smooth stone floors, and how they flew out of the low door straight into the frosty night - the captive did not understand at all. It seemed to her that she was sleeping and seeing a feverish dream. Only when frost and a furious prickly wind hit her in the face did she realize that what was happening was not blaspheming, but was happening in reality. - Go. Fast. If I ever see you or that bastard again, I'll kill them both. Understood? – asked the strange huntress and shook the walker: – UNDERSTAND? - Yes! - she clutched at the hand of the savior and asked about what had tormented her from the first moment of their meeting: - Why are you helping me? And what did you call me? - Zoryanka. Because you are my sister. And now - get out! And the huntress pushed her, pushing her into the arms of the blizzard and wind. * * *Before returning to the casemates, Lesana climbed into the soapbox and took a full bucket
Reapers Of Suffering 39
She raced through the blizzard. Gusts of wind burned his face, prickly snow beat on his head and shoulders. Oh, how she ran! Faster. Faster Faster! The hunter's blood boiled in her veins. The fugitive raced like a wild beast, but it seemed to her that she was dragging along. Several times she jumped up to the white blizzard sky, exposing her flaming forehead and cheeks to the snow, and sent a call to her flock. They must know that she is alive and that there are hunters from the Citadel with her. The flock must get away from the round-up. And she will catch up. Now or in a few days. The main thing is that she is alive. She and her child. The precious bundle pulled back his hands. The walker stopped several times. She frantically caught her breath and looked into a serene sleepy face. A son. Her son! Alive! Joy gave strength, spurred on like a whip, and the woman again rushed away from the gloomy bulk of the Citadel, which was left behind. Winter nights are long. She will be far awa
Reapers Of Suffering 40
Lesana was cleaning the sorrel. The fussy birds flapped their wings, screamed, dropped their feathers. Then they calmed down and sedately sat down on the perches, waiting for food. The girl cleaned the cages, poured water, threw the bones left over from the dinner she had learned into the feeders, sprinkled bread crumbs. Voracious rattlers rushed to the delicacy, cursing and trampling. The novice paid no attention to them, mindlessly doing her work. Her thoughts drifted far, far away. To a memorable and terrible night, when she made a wild, unworthy resident of the Citadel and a warrior fighter. She let go of the walker. Not just a walking one - a bloodsucker with a cub! I saw them as people! Led out of the fortress to freedom. She stunned Tamir, who, keeping a sober mind, was going to stop her. She spoke out against a friend, against a guardian. And for whom? For the undead! These thoughts made me so ashamed and sick that I wanted to howl. But, despite the gnawing feeling of guilt
Reapers Of Suffering 41
“Shhh... Quietly...” Febr covered her mouth with his hand, and Lesana silently screamed into his hand, hard as a board. - Well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. It was necessary to escape, what are you like dead? She finally sucked in a breath through her nose, dispersing the circles floating in front of her eyes: - Fuck you... And then... through...!!! The guy laughed. Well, let me see what you have... Still grimacing in pain, Lesana pulled up her shirt and turned sideways. There was a huge bruise on the ribs. Febre looked up at the girl with guilty eyes. - I beat half-heartedly ... She crouched and sank down on the wet trunk of a fallen tree. The sagging coarse snow in the clearing where the opponents fought was trampled to the ground. Lesana felt the bruise, breathing through her teeth in a jerky and uneven way. You broke my rib! “I didn’t break it,” the guy argued. - Give. Strong fingers slid unexpectedly softly over the flaming skin. - Maybe it cracked?
Reapers Of Suffering 42
Lesana had never felt so good before. The fire burned hot in the hearth. The guys threw fabrics on the floor, old worn skins, dragged in, only Guardians know where. All four of them settled down next to the brightly blazing hearth, dumping the stolen food on a clean canvas. The guys laughed, sorting out the stolen goods. - What a thrifty girl you are, you even stole salted fish ... - Milad laughed. - What are you laughing at? Velesh chided him. - She's delicious, you know. You will eat faster than gingerbread. “I’m not drawn to salty,” Olst’s student laughed again. The guys cleaned the fish, and it was somehow very comfortable for Lesana to sit next to her, talking in an undertone, laughing and feeling equal. Not a stupid worthless girl. Equal. Nobody teased, nobody teased. Wonderfully , but usually gloomy, taciturn Velesh tore off and gave her transparent fat fish backs .- You did not peel off your sides when you climbed? Febru asked. The girl lifted her shirt. Red abrasions
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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
