6

Yarsi sank back to the ground, exhausted.

“But... I don't understand, I killed them. There in Reet... I know that their lives, the lives of werewolves, were cut short... forever.

“Congratulations, you have a gift, Yarsi, it’s funny,” Matzher carefully looked into his eyes. - And if only for this reason, I don't want your life to end soon.

Yarsi shook his head stubbornly.

So you need a gift? Do you mean a magical gift? Then I turn to the wizards.

Matter sighed.

- Not every sorcerer has the Force capable of killing a werewolf. Such a minority. But any sorcerer is able to shackle a werewolf with spells for a while, then put him on an enchanted chain and calmly conduct experiments on him. You will become a very rare and very valuable booty for them. You will never be released. In the hands of sorcerers, there was not yet a werewolf outside of Reeta. You will never be killed, and you will become their guinea pig for life. It will be a very long time, Yarsi! Therefore, I do not advise you to turn to sorcerers. They are just scratching their heads over how they could study at least one of the inhabitants of Reeta. So say closer.

Yarsi let out a sigh.

- So I'm drowning.

- You can't.

- Why?

“The essence of the werewolf won't allow it.

- Yes? Then you can throw yourself into the fire.

“You’ll only get burned, and even then not completely.” And how are you going to keep yourself in the flames?

- Yes, it's a problem. So I'm going to be a werewolf anyway? Yarsi looked longingly at the sky. “Okay, if you don’t want to help me, then, having finished my business, I will surrender to the sorcerers. I will serve the great purpose of studying the undead! After all, they still won’t find another test subject ... at least they will protect other people from me.

Matter grimaced.

“You will doom yourself to a life of captivity, forever.

- Reeta is also a prison, and at least I will be among the people among the sorcerers.

- You will be in constant pain, their experiments will be aimed at finding an effective way to kill you.

So I hope they find a way. Thank you for enlightening me about my immediate future, but I have to go,” Yarsi resolutely got to his feet and looked around. I don't see my horse.

- He is gone, he remained in Reet, he did not even reach the Border, the wounds were too serious. I took off his saddlebags,” Matzher nodded somewhere behind Yarsi.

He looked around and noticed familiar things in the grass. Rummaging through his bags, he pulled out clean clothes and began to change.

“Medallion,” Matzher said very coldly. - Take it off.

Yarsi shuddered, he had already tore off the remains of his shirt from his body, he had to operate with one hand, and now he was naked to the waist. The rays of the sun played merrily on the silver facets of the medallion hanging around his neck.

- What?

“Your locket is silver,” Matzher explained. “Soon you won’t be able to touch the silver, it will burn your skin. Take it off.

Yarsi clenched the medallion in his fist and yanked hard. The silver chain could not stand it and broke. His heart was beating unusually fast in his chest, and he opened the locket. The picture inside was very small and for some reason blurred, something interfered with viewing. Yarsi rubbed his eyes, surprised to feel the moisture on his skin. Tears? He hadn't cried since his mother's funeral, he'd forgotten what it was. So it was necessary.

The sight cleared up. Yarsi ran his finger over the image, wiped away a fallen tear. His family, father - a stern face and a detached cold look, brothers - Egor and Eromir, outwardly very similar to their father, fair-haired and gray-eyed, only in their views there was never the same coldness and lifelessness. And mom - a black-haired beauty with clear blue eyes, he alone looked like her, like mom. Yarsi closed the medallion slowly, his hand trembling, perhaps the last time he saw their faces.

He lowered the medallion into the pouch at his belt and with difficulty began to pull on a clean shirt, weakness began to spread through his body again. I had to pour blood out of my boots, all my legs were covered in blood, but there was nowhere to wash. Yarsi put on his pants with a sigh and pulled his boots back on.

Scraps of bloody clothes he threw into the fire. Matzher silently watched him. Yarsi slung his saddlebags over his healthy shoulder and looked around, it was necessary to choose the direction of the path. An unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar forest, but he clearly knew in which direction Ereald, the capital of Miros, was located. It was like someone put knowledge into his head. And the way he was now looking, turning towards the city, did not please him at all.

– Five days of travel directly? Without stops? he asked quietly.

“You yourself feel the distance,” Matzher replied calmly.

“I feel it,” Yarsi said dejectedly. Right in front of him was Reeta, Ereald was exactly behind the cursed forest. And to get around Reeta, it will take not five days, but all ten.

- And I feel that if I enter Reeta now, I won’t be able to get out of it.

Matter nodded.

Can you sell me your horse? Please, I have money, please,” Yarsi pleaded.

Matzher shook his head silently again, this time negatively.

- Farewell, - Yarsi turned sharply and quickly walked along the forest.

He wanted to go fast, he wanted to run, but in fact, the weakness was more and more fettering the body and gradually became more and more irresistible. Each step was given with great difficulty. He stubbornly walked forward. I wandered until my head began to spin, until my knees began to buckle. And when dark spots danced in his eyes, he sank to the ground and remained seated. The fire of rage, which had just raged because of his own impotence, slowly died out in his heart, and there was nothing left. Not even the ashes of hope, only emptiness and indifference.

After some time, Matzher caught up with him, he slowly approached and sat down next to him.

“You lost a lot of blood and the potion wore off.

- Yes? And what? What do you want from me? - Yarsi's voice was muffled, he unbearably wanted to lie down on the ground and never get up again. Never get up.

“Listen to me, Yarsi.

I don't have the strength to plug my ears.

“I don’t wish you harm and I see that you are very negative about the prospect of becoming a werewolf, but still let me tell you about them.

Who are you, Matzher? Where did you get this knowledge? And why should I trust you?

“Perhaps someday I will answer your questions, but for now, just accept me as some kind of force, a neutral force.

– Neutral force? And how great is your power? Who are you, Matter?

“Let’s just say I specialize in the undead. Nothing else matters. It is important that I know what awaits you.

- You've already said that. So you're a dark sorcerer, a necromancer?

“Not really, listen to me. Once upon a time there was a great kingdom on the site of this forest, it was also called Reeta. It was ruled by sorcerers, very strong sorcerers, they were the most powerful in this world. Their knowledge was collected for centuries, and one day they decided that they could open the Doors to other worlds. You know, they almost made it. They were able to cross the Edge of the reality of their own world. Only they made the wrong choice, in their desires there was more Darkness, not Light. They wanted to be omnipotent, they wanted power, they wanted to become masters of Forces that are not subject to people, - Matzher thoughtfully looked at the forest. – If only knowledge were their desire, everything would be different, but their choice opened the Doors to the world of demons – the Dark World. Two alien realities have come into contact, and now we can observe the consequences of this contact. Undead.

But a werewolf is a werewolf, he can become a man. And even Reeta, when there is no full moon, does not keep them beyond her Border. They walk your land, live among you, all the greatest warriors are werewolves. And not only warriors, they became rulers, led huge armies into battle and won. If you remember history, you will understand who they were and are now. Their hearts are burned with longing and pain, they will always remember the lost power and the inability to change anything. Magic is no longer available to them. And then there is Reeta, who summons them every full moon. But they are not insane and therefore remember everything.

“I know the history of Reeta,” Yarsi said softly. – But I hear about the fact that werewolves quietly walk among us for the first time.

“And you are an educated boy. Even about the very existence of the ancient kingdom, few people have heard, but you know the story. Your teacher was supposed to be a sorcerer.

“Doesn't matter.” Yarsi grimaced.

“Well, so be it,” Matzher smiled. – Do you know the name Alato?

“He was the last king of Reeta. It was under him that the kingdom, together with the inhabitants, disappeared - it was reborn into a cursed forest.

“Not just a king, he was the one who opened the Doors. In his hands were concentrated all the forces subject to the sorcerers of Reeta. He was reborn first, became the first werewolf of the new Reeta. And those forces that he possessed and used remained tied to him. They continue to exist in Reet, continue to nourish and restrain its inhabitants….

“Border,” Yarsi breathed.

– Yes, the Border is one of the manifestations of Alato's power. He is the king of Reeta and he rules over his subjects. That was the Treaty that allowed Reeta to exist many centuries ago - its closeness from the rest of the world. Now imagine that the one who controlled it suddenly disappeared. And the energy wall holding back the undead in the Forest of the Damned fell.

Why should I present it? Alato cannot disappear, judging by your words, he is omnipotent.

“Only in Reet, but he's a werewolf, a werewolf with his own quirks and habits. And when a victim suddenly appears in the forest, he gathers his subjects for a feast and always attacks first. And it doesn't kill right away. He likes the still living hot blood running into his mouth, and the victim's heart continues to beat while he bites into her flesh with his teeth ... Or rather, he liked it.

Yarsi shivered shiveringly.

“Are you saying that I was bitten by Alato himself?”

- Bitten, and you killed him. And by the law of Reeta, you became his heir. So congratulations, you are the new king of the cursed forest!

- No no no. Don't joke like that, - Yarsi groaned muffledly and did not notice how he fell to the ground. The forces finally left him.

The bitterness and the liquid that burned her throat confidently drove away the saving gloom. I really wanted to forget myself and never wake up again. But the thoughts were too clear, and the memories again and again gave the consciousness eerily vivid pictures of the experienced nightmare.

Yarsi coughed and opened his eyes, Matzher let go of his head and removed the flask of decoction.

The sun was high overhead, so it was far from morning, and most likely half a day had passed.

Why didn't you wake me up earlier?

- You needed to rest.

“For a werewolf, I pass out way too often.

You are not a werewolf yet. You will receive strength after conversion, but for now you have only survivability.

Yarsi sighed.

- This is all true? Am I permanently linked to Reeta now?

- Is it true.

“Tell me, Matzher, did you decide to save me before I killed Alato, or after?” Yarsi sat up and looked his savior in the eye. Maetjer held his gaze silently, mockery flickering in the depths of his green eyes.

- Do you really need an answer to this question?

“I heard that the Forest of the Damned has a Keeper,” Yarsi said slowly. “Not a human, not an undead, a soulless, indifferent creature, moving freely across Reeta, and able to calmly cross the Border. The Guardian has the power to intervene in everything that happens in this forest and next to it. Thousands of people prayed to him for salvation, but he never helped anyone, no one came back ... And you pulled me out only because I killed Alato and became his heir.

- The keeper? I? Matter shrugged. - Yes, I watch Reeta, but I'm not in it all the time. And the fact that I was there when the undead attacked you is just an accident.

"So you would have saved me if I hadn't killed Alato?" Yarsi asked insistently.

Matter smiled.

“That wouldn't make sense. Reeta does not let her victims go.

“You could have helped me before I was attacked!”

I don't interfere in anyone's fate.

“Understood,” Yarsi clenched his fists angrily. - Living people do not bother you, but you care about these creatures, they need to be fed!

Matzher rose to his feet and gave him a cold look.