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– Marfusha, my sunshine! Could you please explain why you think I conducted the ritual of forced evolution? – I kindly asked.
– Well, how, – the girl in the reflection looked at me in surprise. – You asked me yourself to start drawing the world’s magical energy using the castle’s protective charms, to conduct this ritual and save someone. So I connected to the academy’s storage system and drew power from the ley lines…
This is nonsense. What does it mean? Marfusha is the villain who almost left our world without magic? Or is that villain me? I don’t understand anything.
– My darling, – I smiled kindly. – And when did I ask you about this?
– When creating the mirror protection, you asked, – the girl rolled her eyes. – Like three hundred years ago… And by the way, you didn’t say goodbye, rude!
I think I’m starting to understand.
I paused on a small cliff. Beneath my feet stretched the boundless sea, annoying seagulls screeched around, and the sun unpleasantly scorched. Unfortunately, sunset was still far away. In my memories, this place was definitely better. But that’s not important. This time, I was interested in the artifact I had once hidden here.
Moving a huge boulder with a simple weaving, I carefully descended to the ground and pulled out old wooden prayer beads from the hiding place. I never thought I’d want to use them, but fate always has its plans.
Time travel is a very dangerous and unpredictable thing. Take, for instance, the paradox of the missing starting point. I learned about the plan to save Asya yesterday from Marfusha but told her about this plan hundreds of years ago. Yes, I can go back to the past and inform the voice assistant about the details of the operation and the timeline will be restored, but… it doesn’t add up. I’ll be telling Marfusha in the past what I learned from her in the present, and she in the present will be telling me what she learned from me in the past. Complicated? Very. And the main question – when did I actually come up with this plan? I hate temporal paradoxes.
I cautiously wrapped my wrist with the powerful artifact, squinted my eyes, and activated the ancient mages’ gift. Oh, I’ll feel bad when the other Guardians find out about this! The wind suddenly intensified, throwing cold sea spray in my face. I cracked open my eyes and exhaled in amazement. Night had fallen. Or rather, it only seemed to me that night had come. In reality, the ancient artifact had transported me back several hundred years, and I had just ten minutes to prepare my brilliant plan.
Not wasting any time, I concentrated and teleported to the academy’s library. The familiar hall was empty. Even the bookshelves were barely a quarter filled. A sad sight. But the mirrors around ostentatiously glittered with gold.
I rushed to a familiar mirror, not thinking about the possible activation of protective charms. According to my calculations, the mages hadn’t yet set up the system, which meant I could access the factory settings.
– My light, mirror! Speak and tell the whole truth! – I blurted out on the go.
Ripples spread across the mirror surface, and a girl appeared in the reflection, unchanged for hundreds of years.
– Voice assistant of the mirror protection system Marfusha welcomes you. How may I assist you? – she said politely.
– Change of factory settings, – I began. – Time interval – two million six hundred thirty thousand hours. Upon expiration of the time interval, begin drawing the world’s magical energy using the castle’s protective and storage charms.
– Time interval set, – Marfusha said complaisantly. Young still, quite harmless. – Would you like to leave any explanatory comments?
– I would, – I nodded. – The magical energy will be needed to perform the ritual of forced evolution, which will help save a student of the academy.
– Comment recorded, – the voice assistant smiled. – Would you like to make any other changes?
I would, but I completely ran out of time. Only three minutes left. Without saying goodbye to Marfusha, I teleported to a sparse forest on the outskirts of a tiny village. In a hundred years, it will turn into a small, but quite charming city, and only an unkempt park under the windows of my apartment will remain of the forest.
I quickly knelt down, scooped up a handful of soil, and placed a pre-prepared acorn in the hole. Someday it will grow into a mighty, beautiful oak. Someday it will save a good person’s life.
The prayer beads on my wrist crumbled to dust, I jerked sharply and was literally hurled into the present time. Well, it seems I managed everything in time.
Part 2: Offspring of the Abyss
Chapter 1: The Last One
I stretched, laboriously stifled a yawn, took a cup of aromatic coffee, and approached the window. After our recent adventure, the park near my house had hardly changed. Except for the mysterious disappearance of the old oak, of course. I honestly wanted to return the tree, but the dragon-charmweaver adamantly refused to give it back. He claimed that the mighty oak was now the highlight of his office. And here I naively thought his highlight was a human heart preserved in a three-liter jar.
The disappearance of the oak, by the way, piqued the interest of journalists from tabloid newspapers, ufologists, and conspiracy theorists. But the main thing is that none of their theories even came close to being as insane as the mundane reality. A pity. If everyone knew that I saved the world, they would immediately give me a hero’s star. I would have become famous, starred in commercials. Maybe for some expensive car… Or at least socks. On the other hand, why do I need it? They might dig up that I was the one who caused all this commotion. And then what?
Anyway, it was funny, of course. I nearly destroyed the planet, and I was the one who saved it. What an achievement. And a good holiday it was, entertaining. It’s a pity that I have to go back to work soon. Interestingly, why haven’t they called me back yet? After all, the Guardians are facing many problems now: artifacts all over the globe are discharging due to a lack of energy, masking charms are malfunctioning, and certainly, rifts in the veil of our reality are appearing. Look, people might start noticing magic soon. Or maybe my colleagues have already dealt with it without me? I’ll come back to everything ready… That would be great.
– Stop admiring the views! You’ll be late for work! – a bright female voice sounded from the corridor.
Yes, it’s good that I swiped Marfusha after all. She would be gathering dust in the castle now, but here it’s more interesting for her and more fun for me. I wove her into the protective charms of the entire house, she controls them so it won’t turn out like last time. Now she informs me about any fluctuations in power. My smart girl. And as an alarm clock, she’s simply irreplaceable… In a word – an assistant.
And now she was definitely right. I was indeed already running late. Putting the empty cup on the windowsill, I put on a jacket over my T-shirt, smoothed my tousled hair with my palm, and teleported to the Guardians’ headquarters. By the way, calling this building a headquarters, in my opinion, was incorrect. Our place of work resembled more a state museum. A highly secured, secretive, incredibly extensive museum-library. Yes, that’s exactly it.
I found myself in the middle of a huge hall. High bookshelves with books and artifacts of ancient mages surrounded me from all sides. More precisely, with a small part of the artifacts entrusted to our headquarters. The most dangerous ones were here, and the rest were equally distributed among the Guardians and rested in hiding places all over the planet. For example, ninety-three powerful artifacts were under my care. Or rather, now ninety-two.
However, something in the surrounding environment categorically displeased me. But what exactly? I slowly walked among the shelves toward my office, trying to understand what was bothering me. Wait! Why is it so quiet?
There was always noise and bustle in the headquarters. Hundreds of Guardians from all over the world wandered through the main hall, carrying books and studying artifacts. Periodically someone yelled, cursed, or laughed. In rare cases, even fights broke out. True, only with fists. Using magic in the main hall was strictly prohibited. With such a number of artifacts, it was akin to smoking in a powder keg, and the distinctive feature of the Guardians, as is known, was precisely prudence. But I had never heard such silence.
Turning at the nearest crossroads, I approached the stairs leading to the second tier of the hall. Usually, this balcony was used by observers to watch what was happening in the main hall, but even they were not to be found. I leaned on the wooden railing and peered intently into the dimness of the room. No movement. Absolutely. The main hall of the headquarters was completely deserted.
But where is everyone? Even during the last war of shamans, there were duty Guardians here, ready to fight and repel an attack in case of an assault. But there were no duty officers. Nobody. Oh, I feel that serious problems are looming again. I knew I should have stayed on vacation longer. Well, I’ll get to the office and contact one of my colleagues and find out everything.
The protective spell on the door of my office let me inside without any trouble. A thick layer of dust covered the worn, massive table, the shelves of old cabinets, and even the small sofa. Strange… The entire headquarters building was entwined in a dense web of conserving charms, and this was the first time I had seen dust here. Could there have been some kind of malfunction? Or maybe someone played a prank? Anyway, it didn’t matter. A short mental impulse, and the dust rose into the air and immediately vanished. Thankfully, using magic in the offices was allowed.
I habitually glanced at the world map, covered with an uneven network of ley lines, and smiled. Magic was gradually returning, and the magical streams had almost taken their usual places.
Settling into the office chair, I took out my cell phone. Yes, Guardians used phones too. It’s much easier to make technology impervious to high concentrations of magic than to send postal birds every time. Pigeons, owls, and ravens – they were more a tribute to traditions and a beautiful gesture, but for work communication, it was easier to just call.
However, none of my colleagues picked up the phone. Even my grumpy chief refused to pay attention to me. All this was strange.
– Well, if you don’t want to talk on the phone, let’s try to contact you another way, – I thought.
Extending my hand forward, palm up, I lowered my eyelids and began to fill a complex, intricate weaving with power. Feeling a pleasant heaviness on my forearm, I opened my eyes and smiled. On my hand sat a beautiful indigo-black raven, as if woven from swirling darkness – the oldest method of sending messages between Guardians. The ghostly messenger required quite a lot of energy but could find the recipient anywhere in our world. Rumors even said it sometimes found them in other worlds too. A smart bird, overall.
– Find any other Guardian and deliver the message, – I ordered the raven and scribbled a few words on a piece of paper. My messenger cautiously took the note in its beak and dissolved into a dark mist. Well, let’s wait…
I was about to walk to the coffee machine when the raven returned.
– Good job, that was fast, – I praised the bird and extracted the reply from its beak.
“Contact me if you read this message. Guardian Vsevolod I.”
Something I don’t understand. Did the raven bring me my own message? Why? Did I formulate the order poorly?
– Deliver this to any other Guardian! – I said clearly and handed the ghostly bird the message.
The raven looked at me thoughtfully and shook its head negatively. What kind of joke is this? Did I mess up the weaving? I closed my eyes and focused on magical vision. The naughty bird immediately appeared before me as a tangled ball of shimmering lines. Yes, the weaving was complex, but perfectly executed. So why then did it refuse to deliver my note? A terrible guess pierced my mind. I abruptly opened my eyes and looked at the bored raven.
– You’re not delivering the message because you can’t find the addressee? – I asked, with slight anxiety in my voice.
The bird nodded in agreement. Damn it! What does that mean? Could the ghostly messenger really not find a single other Guardian? But where did they disappear to? I slowly sat down on the old sofa and thoughtfully looked into the black eyes of the ghostly messenger. And now what to do?
***
– No, no, and no again! – the sorcerer decisively waved me off and nervously paced around the office. – I won’t step foot into the Guardians’ lair!
For half an hour, I had been trying to persuade my former teacher to help me. However, the dragon wouldn’t even hear of rescuing my colleagues. And honestly, I understand him. Since ancient times, we, the Guardians, have protected our world from intelligent magical races from other worlds, including massive lizards capable of taking on human form. The fact that Altair managed to stay unnoticed was the exception that proved the rule.
Still, I desperately needed help. All my fellow Guardians had vanished, and of all the other mages I knew, the dragon was undoubtedly the most prepared. And probably the smartest. But how to persuade him?
– Aren’t you curious to see the most powerful artifacts of the ancients? – I asked again. – Or try to read the Great One Almanac in its original form? Where’s your draconic curiosity?
– I got rid of it many years ago, – the sorcerer looked at me seriously. – And only because of that, I managed to stay in this world.
– Fine, – I gave in. – What do you want in return for your help?
– You’ll owe me a favor, to be called upon when I ask, – the dragon smirked. – And you’ll pull me out of the spirit world if your colleagues send me there.
Any favor? That’s quite a price, of course. But fair.
– Agreed, – I nodded. – When do we leave?
The sorcerer paused for a moment, glanced at the reddening sunset outside the window, and waved his hand dismissively.
– Let’s go now!
That’s more like it. I firmly grabbed his forearm and deftly wove the spatial transition spell. The surroundings instantly transformed. Gone were the shelves with flasks, the student desks, and the majestic oak. Even the stone walls of the castle dissolved. Now we were surrounded by millions of books and thousands of artifacts.
– Wow… – the dragon exhaled in amazement. – Not a bad office you’ve got here!
Not bad? The main hall is the jewel of our world! The greatest creation of several generations of Guardians! A magnificent example of the symbiosis of magic, technology, and architecture!
But as I inhaled to start my tirade, the sorcerer managed to derail me again.
– Why did you bring me here, by the way? – he asked innocently.
Why?! To help, of course. But… what help can he offer if even I don’t know what to do?
– We need to check the records of the duty chroniclers and inventory all the artifacts.
– All of them? – Altair asked suspiciously, eyeing the numerous shelves with magical relics.
Yes, many. Or rather, very many. But what can we do?
– Will you at least make some coffee? – the dragon resigned to his fate.
Now that’s a good idea. I didn’t even have lunch today. And they’re probably serving porridge with butter at the academy now… But coffee it is.
Leaving Altair to wander among the rows of artifacts, I leisurely strolled towards my office, enjoying the silence and peace. I don’t know what happened to my colleagues, but I liked this atmosphere in the headquarters. The main hall had transformed from a noisy office into a very cozy library. No one was rushing between the rows, carrying stacks of books, or chatting on the work phone. Beautiful!
I was so relaxed and lost in thought that I hardly noticed a loud explosion somewhere deep in the building. But I did notice the next one. And the third as well! What’s happening there? I dashed towards the loud sounds, remembering whether I had warned the dragon that magic couldn’t be used here…
Apparently, I hadn’t warned him. It seemed so obvious that I didn’t think to mention it! And evidently, I should have. The frenzied sorcerer was running towards me, shouting something. What, I wonder? The colorful explosions behind him completely drowned out his voice. But I immediately understood the meaning of his shouts and turned to run as well.
I’ve been running too much lately. Away from a dragon, and now because of a dragon… Well, I’ll have time to scold him later. If, of course, we survive. But why are we running?
I stopped abruptly, and Altair crashed into me, nearly knocking me off my feet. Grasping his arm tightly, I wove a transition spell. In an instant, we were standing on the shore of an azure sea.
– Damn it! – the dragon cursed and collapsed onto the scorching sand. – Why didn’t you say that magic can’t be used?!
– You could have figured it out yourself, – I reproached him. – Who uses magic in an artifact repository?
– But we teleported right to the shelves! – Altair protested. – I thought they were protected somehow…
– How do you teach magic students if you don’t know such basic things? – I wondered. – Any spatial movement spells leave residual traces only at the point of transition! Therefore, you can teleport into the main hall, but it’s strictly forbidden to teleport out! I only pulled us out now because there was nothing left to lose!
– So, what now? – Altair looked at me guiltily. Seems like I did shame the retired dragon. – Will all the ancient relics be destroyed by a chain reaction? – The protective weavings should work, – I shrugged uncertainly. The enthusiasm to save colleagues from an unknown trap suddenly waned. Just thinking about what awaits me when the bosses see the destroyed main hall and hundreds of ruined artifacts and books is terrifying. Well, we’ll deal with that later. Hopefully, something in the headquarters will survive.
– Hey, where are we? – the sorcerer suddenly asked, looking at the bright sun. – Wasn’t it evening? – Bermuda, – I replied proudly, observing the dragon’s surprised expression. – You mean to say that… – Yes, – I nodded in agreement, interrupting my friend. – The Bermuda Triangle still hides many secrets from people. I sat down on the hot sand next to Altair and gazed at the calm sea. The Guardians vanished, and the headquarters, possibly destroyed along with a bunch of priceless artifacts, relics, and books. Well, it could be worse.
***
I practically ran through the gloomy corridors of the State Academy of Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft. Why must magic schools always be located in ancient castles? In the past, it was understandable, constantly defending against inquisitors and pagans, but now? A tribute to tradition? At least they installed central heating in the dormitories. I can’t imagine how everyone lived here a hundred years ago with such drafts. Surely, they all had a perpetual runny nose…
The wizard’s office welcomed me with pleasant dimness and silence. Altair was peacefully studying something, sitting at his old desk right under the canopy of a mighty oak. He really looks great here! I hope the dragon remembers to water it. The teacher tiredly raised his eyes to me and lazily motioned me over with his hand. Yes, these clueless students have exhausted the poor reptile. I even feel a bit sorry for him.
– Hello, – I cheerfully nodded to my comrade. – Why did you call? And so urgently at that? Altair’s call caught me just as I was about to take a shower and relax. After all, Guardians are humans too. And constantly jumping around the world is quite energy-consuming.
– Well, here, – the sorcerer indifferently nodded towards the table, – take a look. Hmm, what do we have here? A world map? And why is it all in white spots? Did he spill milk on it? Dragons are such strange creatures. Wait a minute! I took a closer look at the map. Volga Bulgaria? Khazar Khaganate? Rus’? What year is this map from?!
– Is this what I think it is? – I looked suspiciously at the teacher. – It’s a dragon’s map of the veil, – Altair condescendingly explained. Well, I had already guessed that. – And the white spots are breaches. The protective veil of this world is unraveling. What do you mean the veil is unraveling? I suspected such a scenario, but it stood as an unbreakable wall for over a thousand years, protecting our world from hostile incursions from other worlds. Occasionally, some curious and cunning dragon might slip through unnoticed, but they were always caught, and the holes in the defense mended. But now, judging by the map, only about half of the veil remains.
I felt uneasy. I cautiously sat down on a wooden chair opposite the sorcerer. He wisely remained silent, allowing me to grasp the scale of the tragedy myself. What does this mean? No Guardians, no combat artifacts, no headquarters, and the veil nearly gone?
– Now all the dragons will flock to us, – I looked at Altair a bit bewildered. – And we won’t even be able to hide them. Imagine what will happen? People will notice them, start killing them. And your kin are vindictive, they will seek revenge. A war between humans and dragons…
– Are you serious right now? – the teacher looked at me as if I were an idiot. – We dragons are very curious, but, as you know, not fools. None of my kind will venture into this world after the fall of the veil. First, it’s uninteresting to walk where it’s allowed, and second, they will understand that the veil didn’t collapse for no reason. And we really don’t like meddling in other worlds’ problems.
– So you’re saying the fall of the veil doesn’t pose any serious threat? – I was surprised, but Altair’s words considerably reassured me.
– Are you a Guardian or what?! – the sorcerer suddenly roared at me. – Do you really think the veil protected your world from dragons? Does your incompetent generation consider our kind the highest threat?!
– Well, actually, yes… – I cautiously responded, trying not to further enrage my friend. – We mostly protect against you. Sometimes there are outsiders from the spirit world or kamikazes from minor parallels, but it’s always small fry.
– Alright, – Altair exhaled tiredly, gradually calming down, – I’ll tell you a story of your own world, ignoramus. In ancient times, long before the veil was even thought of, this world faced a terrible threat. All dragon attacks and large-scale shamanic wars pale in comparison to the beings that came here. Our people call them “ekrhg’rakrges,” which literally translates to “invisible killer.” If I’m not mistaken, the Guardians called them “unseen nightmares” or “nezmares,” which, I think, is the same thing. Nezmares are inhabitants of the upper astral plane, from whom dragons long ago borrowed their favorite type of magic.
– Unstable upper astral charms, – I nodded understandingly. – I see. But what makes these nezmares so dangerous? Honestly, I’ve never even heard of them.
– Because you should have read the Great One Bestiary! – the sorcerer sharply interrupted. – It should be described in great detail there!
– I just haven’t gotten around to it yet… – I sheepishly replied to his reproach. – Always no time, you know. But it’s stored at the headquarters.
