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– And who are you? – Zheka suddenly yelled, staring at me suspiciously.
Ah yes, crossing the threshold removes absolutely all spells. Including illusion magic. How did I not think of that!
– Vsevolod. A high-category mage, master of the Order of the Guardians of Secret Knowledge, and your classmate, – I introduced myself modestly. – I came to the academy to prevent an impending disaster. Just having some trouble with illusion magic right now.
– Seva? – Asya asked in surprise. – You’re quite handsome!
So I was ugly before? Thanks!
– And by the way, – the girl continued, her eyes twinkling mischievously, – after what you’ve seen and done, – she meaningfully ran her hand over her body, pausing briefly over her chest, – you simply have to marry me!
Indeed. How else? Especially since she’s offering herself, so I should take the opportunity before she changes her mind.
– Agreed, – I nodded seriously. – As soon as we get out of the spirit world and deal with the end of the world, we’ll get married. I promise.
– Relax, I was just joking, – the student smiled.
– Too late, young lady, – the sorcerer laughed, having also successfully restored his body. – You just made a magical contract. You should think before saying something to a Guardian. Asya snorted and turned away, not believing the teacher. No matter, she’ll have time to come to terms with being my bride. For now, we should look around. Where have we ended up? And where, by the way, is Kazimir?
The place we found ourselves in resembled someone’s living house from our world. High ceilings, expensive carpets on wooden floors, crystal chandeliers, paintings on the walls, and luxurious leather furniture. You wouldn’t immediately say it’s a completely different world.
– Be careful, – I warned. – The world of spirits lives by different rules. Our magic doesn’t work here, and even physics is different. I hope they understood me. We walked through the spacious hall but found nothing interesting. The sorcerer suggested splitting up, checking the whole house, and then regrouping. Well, said and done.
I took Asya by the arm and pulled her towards the staircase leading to the second floor. Now that she’s my bride, we need to spend time together. But seriously, I was just worried about her. After all, her body had become almost as familiar as my own over the past week.
– It’s beautiful here, – she whispered in awe. Before us was a spacious, bright room with a huge panoramic window and a white grand piano near it. Along the walls were sturdy leather sofas and beautiful live flowers. There was even a neatly arranged fireplace! And the windows offered a view of a well-kept garden with emerald-green trees. It was indeed very beautiful. Someday I’ll build myself a mansion and have a room like this for music.
Asya approached the piano, carefully opened the lid, and ran her delicate fingers over the keys. A beautiful musical ripple sounded, and several glowing lights appeared in the room.
– Oh! – the girl exclaimed. – What’s that?
– Those are spirits, – I shrugged. – Everything in this world is under their control. Music, physics, magic. I flicked the light switch, lighting the chandelier. Miraculously, the room filled with myriads of tiny glowing dots.
– These, for example, are spirits of light, – I continued explaining. – And those you summoned are spirits of music. Don’t try to understand this world; just accept its rules. We’re just guests here.
– They’re beautiful! – my bride exclaimed, looking at the glowing dots, each a separate spirit with a beautiful face and translucent wings. – Can you show me something else? Easy. It’s hard not to find a spirit in the world of spirits. I approached the fireplace, took a box of matches from the shelf, struck one, and threw it onto the logs. The wood blazed brightly, forming a red fiery creature resembling a small human.
– That’s a fire spirit, – I said. – Quite dangerous, but only if you feed it. Wood, for example.
– Can you talk to them? – Asya asked curiously.
– Theoretically, yes. But only shamans can do that, – I nodded. – Unfortunately, I don’t have that specialization. These are just lower spirits, something like our insects. But there are higher ones – they are quite intelligent beings.
– What about technology? Internet, television, phones, social networks? Do they exist here? – the girl asked, genuinely interested.
– Everything exists here, – I smiled. I liked her childlike curiosity, and I was more than willing to satisfy it. – It’s just that everything works differently. Phones are replaced by spirit-brothers. They always feel each other and can instantly transmit messages over any distance. The Internet is replaced by spirit-librarians. They communicate with the spirits of books and can find almost any information. Television is spirit-actors. They give mini-performances, play out whole movies, organize concerts… All live. And there are no social networks here, by the way. But there is an equivalent to email: spirit-postmen can deliver a message to any part of the world in just minutes.
– Amazing! – Asya breathed excitedly. – I want to see all this!
I shook my head.
– You can’t. There are not only nice and kind spirits here but also very dangerous ones. And our magic doesn’t work here. We need to get out of this world as soon as possible.
At that moment, a blood-curdling scream came from below. Asya and I exchanged glances and rushed to the first floor. I don’t know what my bride was thinking, but my mind was occupied by only one thought – I hope we haven’t disturbed the spirits of ancient chaos.
Have you ever been afraid? Felt that nasty, vile, sticky fear wrapping around your soul? Experienced the crowds of goosebumps running down your back, making the hair on your head move?
Kazimir was afraid right now. And how could he not be, with something human-like but with scales, claws, and fangs approaching him? Yes, it was just a transitional form of the dragon’s transformation, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. Apparently, the sorcerer had finally found his traitorous friend who had taken his body and now craved revenge. The director himself cowered under a coffee table, covering his head with his hands and screaming hysterically. Well, fine. The main thing was that these weren’t spirits of ancient chaos.
– Are you just going to stand there and watch? – Asya yelled in my ear. – He’s going to kill him! So what? Kazimir had killed us three times. Each one of us! And who am I to interfere in the affairs of old friends? But you can’t show weakness in front of your fiancée. And let’s not forget, we are in a foreign world.
– Calm down, – I said to Altair. – Don’t you dare spill blood in the world of spirits. Once we get out of here, you can even eat him. Asya elbowed me unpleasantly in the ribs. Well, it could’ve been worse… but it still hurt. There’ll definitely be a bruise.
To my surprise, the sorcerer listened to me and without argument took on a human form. Apparently, he was familiar with the customs of the spirit world.
– I don’t eat that, – the sorcerer grimaced in disgust. – We can just leave him here. Let him survive as he wishes. Kazimir, hearing his fate, jerked and hit his head on the tabletop. How did he even become the director of the magic academy? Yelling in pain, Vseslavsky began massaging the injured spot, smearing thick blood on his bald crown. Well, that’s what he deserves. Wait. What do you mean, blood?
I slowly turned my gaze to the sorcerer. Though I wish I hadn’t. Seeing fear on the face of a powerful ancient dragon is a bad sign. A very bad sign. But maybe we’ll be lucky?
The house shook. There was a rumble and the sound of breaking dishes from above. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky.
– Should we run? – Asya whispered fearfully, clutching my arm. I exhaled wearily and shook my head. It was too late to run. And you can’t escape from spirits in their world. Especially from the spirits of ancient chaos, who had been offended by blood.
The surroundings began to change rapidly. The bright hall on the first floor gradually turned into ruins. The expensive furniture crumbled into chips, the wallpaper faded and peeled off the walls, beautiful paintings transformed into messy smudges, and bright carpets became worn and stained… Everything around us descended into chaos.
We stood frozen in the center of the room, back to back. Even Kazimir took his rightful place in our ranks. After all, a grudge is a grudge, but it’s better to fight together. The room began to fill with a cold, nasty fog. Our clothes instantly got soaked, and clinging to each other became downright unpleasant.
– Everyone close your eyes! – I shouted, hoping my friends would listen. – Stand still and don’t move!
One must not look upon the spirits of ancient chaos. The human psyche is unprepared for such a shock. I heard once a Guardian survived after looking into the eyes of a chaos spirit. But upon returning home, he used pliers to pull out all his teeth, made a necklace from them, and gifted it to his beloved, smiling toothlessly with joy. Better to keep the eyes closed… better safe than sorry.
– How dare you disturb the spirits of chaos with human blood? – boomed a voice above us.
Yes, the spirits of chaos and their phrases are always disordered. Still, I wonder what they look like. Maybe just a peek? No, I mustn’t. Must concentrate and pull myself together. Am I a Guardian or what?
– We didn’t mean to disturb you! – I shouted. – We’re lost souls! Guests in your world! We just need to return!
– And how do you wish to leave? – the spirits laughed heartily. – Your magic doesn’t work here!
Of course, they’re right. Our magic doesn’t work here, and we can’t open a portal. But there are other ways – secret paths of the spirits, for example. But how to ask them to guide us? Chaos is a very poor helper. But what if…
– You’re right! – I took a risk. – We want to stay in the world of spirits!
– What?! – It seemed both the spirits and my friends shouted simultaneously. Well, I do know how to surprise.
– For your audacity, back to your world you shall be sent! – thundered the voice above us. I must be a genius. Good thing the spirits of chaos love to do everything backwards and aren’t particularly smart. – And you’ll be stripped of your minds too!
That, I hadn’t accounted for. Thousands of quiet whispers began to sound from all sides, merging into an unpleasant mush of hissing sounds. The mind tried to analyze the information, but the meaning of the words kept slipping away, scrambling thoughts in my head. Why do I always miss some detail when I make brilliant plans? How could I forget the spirits of chaos’ ability to affect people through the auditory sensory system?
– Everyone, think of something good! – I yelled, hoping to drown out the chorus of ghostly whispers. – Distract yourselves! Remember the best moments of your life!
The worst part was that it was impossible to shield oneself from the spirits’ influence by simply plugging ears. The voices sounded inside the head, distracting and confusing. Gathering all my willpower, I tried to relax and remember the best day of my life. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Either because memories kept slipping away, or because I simply had nothing to remember.
Stop! There it is! When was it? Probably five years ago. I was standing on a small cliff, and beneath my feet stretched an endless sea. I watched as the sun slowly sank below the horizon, painting the sky in a gentle pink hue and leaving a bright sunset path on the dark water. A light breeze picked up the spray of the waves crashing against the rocks and threw it in my face, like a kiss. Somewhere in the distance, I could see the white sail of a magnificent yacht. It didn’t disturb the moment… on the contrary, it completed the picture, making it whole, real. What did I need on that cliff? I don’t remember. Seemed like I was hiding some ancient artifact. Successfully? That’s not important now. At that moment, I found something greater – inner peace.
The voices in my head quieted down, and the noisy spirits of chaos were no longer heard. Did it work? I should check… but I’m a bit scared to open my eyes.
– Kazimir! – I shouted. – What do you see around?
Why not? He’s the only one present I don’t pity.
– I see an oak, – Kazimir replied after a pause. – A huge, green one.
All clear. I cautiously opened my eyes and looked around warily. Indeed, we were standing near a tree in the sorcerer’s office.
– You can open your eyes, – I graciously permitted. – Is everyone alive?
A discordant chorus of feeble responses followed. Excellent. They can speak, so all is well. Well then, welcome back to us.
Chapter 5: The Neverending Story
Outside the castle windows, primordial darkness still reigned. Having returned from the world of spirits, we found ourselves again in the sorcerer’s office. None of us knew what to do next. The entire academy was still trapped in a time loop, locked in a spatial pocket outside our reality. And we still had no idea who was orchestrating the ritual of forced evolution. Initially, we wanted to banish Kazimir from our friendly company, but after appreciating his plan to seize the dragon’s body, we kept him as a villain-consultant.
– What do we know about the ritual of forced evolution? – I paced the office, musing aloud. – The ritual was created as a panacea, a cure for all diseases. However, after practical trials, it had a downside – it forced evolution, and not always appropriately. Mice grew gills, rabbits developed trunks, and rats even began to read minds…
– Wait, – Asya interrupted me. – You said this is the first time the ley lines have shifted. But how was this ritual performed before if it requires so much energy?
– Failing grade! – I cheerfully chided her. – Ancient magicians used magical power capacitors – pyramids, henges, and more. This allowed them to perform such energy-intensive rituals without tapping into free energy and altering ley lines.
– But why doesn’t our mage conduct the ritual using these capacitors? – Zheka wondered.
– That’s a good question! – I praised my roommate. – I don’t know. Maybe because using stored energy requires permission from the international council of mages, or maybe for some other reasons.
– Has anyone ever conducted this ritual on humans? – Kazimir cautiously asked.
Damn trickster! Still hoping to evolve into a dragon!
– Of course, – I didn’t hide it and grinned. – The Atlanteans decided to take a risk and covered the whole of Atlantis with the ritual’s weave. After which they turned into dolphins. Want the same?
Kazimir turned pale and shook his head negatively. Good. He’s getting smarter.
– We need to get out of the spatial pocket, – the dragon said tiredly. – Since Kazimir laid the veil of despair, it’s possible that the ritual organizer isn’t even in the castle.
Indeed. To cast the veil, one had to be inside the space. That was the basis of our search. But if someone else was preparing the ritual, they could have stayed outside. Meaning we need to go back and start searching anew.
There was just one tiny thing preventing me from immediately performing the return ritual to the real world – the time loop. I could have untangled it with my eyes closed, but the time loop had its own laws. For example, the first to die inside the loop would die upon exiting it. And this feature worried me the most because I was the first to die inside the loop. But I couldn’t leave my friends in the closed time circle either, I didn’t have the right.
Ah, I never knew I would meet my death willingly. But that’s the fate of Guardians – to sacrifice themselves for others. I sat in the runic circle and methodically untangled the unfortunate weave. I wonder, will Asya cry? Maybe I should tell them? No, better not to say. Ignorance is bliss.
I carefully reconfigured the power flows, feeling the vibrations of space. And how did I agree to trust Zheka with this? No wonder he messed up. A loud pop sounded, and bright sunlight hit my eyes. It worked! Great! Wait. Why am I still alive?
Suddenly, a pain-filled scream echoed, and Asya collapsed to the floor. Damn it! When will I learn to consider all factors in my plans? I was in Asya’s body when Kazimir killed me in the time loop! Idiot!
I rushed to my fiancée. Just hoping she would survive. Pushing Zheka aside, I fell to my knees before the girl, weaving diagnostic spells of the druids on the go. Her pulse was rapidly fading, vital signs dropping. What to do? It should have been me in her place! Need healing weaves, therapeutic rituals, anything! I can’t lose her…
My mind was blank. Not a single thought. As if all magical knowledge was instantly erased from memory. I saw the dragon applying ancient druidic weaves, but it was all in vain. Spells, charms, rituals… I needed to come up with something. Rituals? Of course!
– The ritual of forced evolution was created as a cure for all diseases, – I repeated my own words. – It should help. We’ll conduct it ourselves.
– Have you gone mad?! – the dragon shouted. – The ritual needs a very powerful magic conductor. Even your homemade staff can’t channel all the accumulated energy into a specific person. You’ll repeat the mistake of the Atlanteans!
– I won’t, – I quietly replied.
Need a powerful conductor? I looked at the mighty oak in the middle of the auditorium. Will it do? I don’t know, but there’s no choice.
– Zheka! – I yelled at my shocked roommate. – Bring Asya to the oak! Quickly!
Without asking questions, he picked up his sister and carefully seated her at the roots of the tree, leaning her back against the mighty trunk.
I confidently approached the oak and knelt before it, pressing my forehead against the warm tree bark. I felt its power, the streams of magic flowing through it.
– You helped me once, help now… – I whispered barely audibly.
A clear pattern of a powerful spell formed in my mind, and its delicate structure immediately began to fill with force. At first gently, a small stream, but the flow kept increasing and increasing until it reached its peak. I could barely hold the weaving. The old oak creaked under the pressure of energy but did not give in. Focusing the magic, I carefully placed my hand on Asya’s forehead, channeling a colossal flow of magical energy through her body.
The girl screamed and arched in pain. Tears squirted from her eyes, but the main thing was she was alive. I did it! We did it! Struggling to remove my hand from Asya’s face, I tiredly lay on the floor. I hope she doesn’t turn into a dolphin or grow a trunk. We’ll handle the rest somehow.
The castle lived its own life. Students were slowly learning, drinking, and having fun, while teachers desperately tried to instill at least a bit of knowledge into their thick heads. The sorcerer also returned to his professional duties. Asya was still recuperating in the infirmary but was recovering quickly. No extra limbs grew on her, and no new organs seemed to have appeared yet. Even Kazimir returned to the director’s chair, giving me a magical oath that he would never again try to become a magical being.
But we never found the organizer of the ritual of forced evolution. However, now I was grateful to him. I don’t know what our villain had in mind, but he helped save a person’s life. And for that, he has my thanks. Magic was gradually returning to the world, and the pattern of ley lines was slowly restoring. Yes, many artifacts around the planet were rendered useless, but we managed to avoid a catastrophe, and that’s the main thing.
I no longer had any reason to stay at the academy, but just before leaving for home, I remembered one unfinished business. After saying goodbye to my friends and setting a date with Asya for the weekend, I slipped unnoticed into the library.
– My light, mirror! Speak and tell the whole truth!
Ripples spread across the mirror surface, and soon Marfusha appeared in the reflection.
– Hello, beauty! – I cheerfully greeted her. – Ready to move?
– And what took so long? – the voice assistant pouted offendedly. – You could have hurried up with your ritual!
Now I’m confused.
– Which ritual should I have hurried up with? – I asked suspiciously.
– Well, this one! The evolutionary compulsion or whatever it’s called… – the girl indifferently waved her hand.
I’m completely lost.
