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– Spirits of those long dead. They say they still live in the local swamps, and at night they sing songs and take away lost travelers.
– Let’s try not to catch their eye.
A huge stone flew over the heads of the travelers and knocked down a tree.
– Are these your ghosts, Herald? – Dorian glanced sideways at the crushed plant.
– No. These are giants! Get down!
As soon as Dorian lowered his head, another cobblestone flew over him.
– Out of the frying pan into the fire! Run!
There was no need to repeat it twice – all four immediately started running as fast as they could. A huge hairy monster ran after them, its toothy mouth open. Then the giant bent down to throw another stone.
The travelers ran deep into the forest, and somewhere in the distance they could still hear the dissatisfied roar of the cannibal giants.
– Looks like they’ve come off! – said Eleon, and immediately realized that he was mistaken: someone was pulling his leg.
Hands without flesh grew out of the ground. At first there were few of them, but then completely skeletons began to appear. In rusty armor and with rusty swords, they blocked the path of our heroes.
– Fate, be merciful! We found ourselves on the ancient Swamp Mound!
– Run! – once again the cherished phrase sounded. But this time there was nowhere to run: the wights stood on all sides, and there were more and more of them. Eleon used his skills, and a couple of monsters flew up, and then fell, and all that was left of them was dust. The Herald and Esmeralda did not stand idle either. After all, they also had magic. The father fired the cherished lightning, from which the living dead turned into ashes, and Esmeralda pushed them with the power of thought. Dorian grabbed a nearby branch, so he also defended himself. The strength was already running out, but it was impossible to stop – only a third of the revived ancestors were defeated, and now the hands that protruded from the ground were becoming more and more numerous.
– You know, Esmeralda! I’m glad that we met. This was worth living for.
– I love you too, Eleon!
– I can’t die! After all, I didn’t tell Aingi so much,» Dorian continued the old song.
«It looks like these guys were out of luck,» said the Herald, looking at the pile of bones behind the wights. – They didn’t survive the meeting with them. The main thing that…
Before the clerk had time to express his thought, the pile of bones began to take on human shape and stand up!
– Now it’s definitely over! – said the Herald.
– Sorry! I betrayed you, teacher! I never fulfilled your last wish! – Eleon lowered his head.
– Don’t get soggy! Let’s give them the last battle and die with a sword in our hand! – shouted the Herald.
– With which we will then begin to kill new passers-by, returning from the grave. But how many will we take with us? Go ahead, friends!
Dorian took the rusty sword of one of the fallen wights.
In preparation for death, our heroes received new powers. Now tenacious hands were no longer able to hold them to the ground, and the skeletons scattered left and right, as if from a whirlwind.
– Stop! – a woman’s voice sounded, and the corpses froze.
Behind the dead stood ten people in red cloaks with hoods.
– You must return to the world of the dead! Rest in peace!
– Thank you! – the zombies roared, and they suddenly crumbled, turning into ashes.
– Tie them up! – commanded the woman who had just saved our travelers. – Let’s take them to Sylvia. Let her decide their fate – no one can cross the line of our forest with impunity!
Esmeralda tried to fight the woman, but all the rescuers had magic suppression runes, so resistance was useless. Soon all four were tied up.
They were heading east. The prisoners were exhausted from the latest events, but the guides pushed them from behind, not giving them the opportunity to stop.
– Who are you and why did you come to our forest? – asked the woman who saved their lives.
– We were looking for shelter in your forest from the inquisitors.
– Our forest is not the best refuge for honest people. Do not stop! Can’t you talk while walking? Did you wake the wights? It’s good that this time the rune of repose worked correctly! Otherwise, last time we were missing two… So why did you do it?
– We didn’t revive the dead! – said the Herald. – We fought them off!
– The Creator grant that this be true. The hostess will judge. But if you are a necromancer, then you will be in trouble, I promise you this with the bodies of my dead comrades!
– Sienna, stop! – one of the captors held the sword in the woman’s sheath. «You yourself said that their fate should be determined by Sylvia.»
Then they walked in silence, each in their own thoughts. Sienna repeatedly pushed the captives so that they would not stop.
***
So they came to a beautiful castle made of white marble.
– But we should have seen its roof many miles away! – Esmeralda was surprised.
«Magic hides a lot from prying eyes,» said Sienna. – Don’t you know about this, necromancer?
At the threshold they were already met by a red-haired woman in a green dress that matched the color of her eyes.
– Greetings, Guardian of the Ancient Portal! – said the people in red cloaks.
– Portal?! What kind of portal do they mean? – Dorian seemed to express his thoughts too loudly, remembering his home with bitterness.
– Why are you asking? – asked the Guardian. – What have you forgotten on my lands?
«I believe that it is they who are to blame for the revival of corpses, Sylvia,» Sienna grinned maliciously, looking at the prisoners.
– Search them! – the mistress of the castle commanded.
– Oh, the coin is the key to the prison. You are in cahoots with the prisoners. Let’s get to know those you are trying to save.
«Everything is lost!» – thought Eleon.
Sylvia took the round object and held it up to the mirror. As one would expect, the old man looked at those around him through the looking glass.
– Greetings, Master Sylvia!
– Avinius! What are you doing in prison?
– Troubled times have come. Again Evil is trying to envelop our world in intrigue, and again I don’t even know his face.
– Who is this guy that carries this key?
– Eleon. He conjures Light and Darkness, and perhaps it was about him, and not about Della, as I mistakenly thought, that was spoken of in the ancient Prophecy. It is he who is destined by Fate to destroy Evil at its roots forever.
– Or Good. If we misinterpreted the Prophecy like we did last time. Tell me, Avinius, if they didn’t awaken the dead, then who? After all, this may mean that another prophecy will also be fulfilled.
Sylvia handed the coin to Eleon. And then she turned to the servants.
– Free them.
– But shouldn’t they be punished? – Sienna was indignant.
– You heard my order! Free them!
When the order was carried out, Sylvia called the White Wolf to follow her.
– I’ll tell you the story of this strange Forest. He’s been cursed for a long time…
– But why don’t you leave him? After all, we encountered so many dangers on the way here.
«We are forced by oath to live next to danger. Every evening I perform a ceremony to prevent the Ancient Evil from awakening. You know, here the lines between worlds are much thinner than in other places.
Once upon a time, elves lived here. They hid their existence. Until one day a general who got lost in the forest, hiding from the enemy, found this village. His army was destroyed, but he himself escaped in the wilderness.
The elves could not leave a person in trouble. They did not know human meanness at all. They knew no one but their own kind. The elves were strong – after all, any word spoken in the ancient language became a law of nature. All their words were fulfilled. The spell of the High Elf, Herberolden, was especially strong. It is rumored that the elves on earth were the descendants of the High Elves, who were deprived of their wings. After all, the High Elves, who swore allegiance to Zeymond, were overthrown after his defeat, and no one knows where they went.
The general was a simple guest for a long time, but a vile thought was ripening in his soul that would never have occurred to a naive elf.
– But with such power as yours, you can take over the whole world! – he once said to the king of the elves. But Herberolden did not heed his words and drove away the careless guest. Although there were also elves who liked this proposal. And then a split occurred in the ranks of the forest inhabitants. Some of the elves left after the general. The general managed to learn the basics of the language, and even compiled a dictionary with a translation from his native language into Elvish. And, of course, he asked the priests to make themselves a staff covered with elven runes. He personally taught many warriors elven magic.
The general went first of all with the new army against the soldiers who killed his soldiers. The magic was stronger than the sword, and he won. Then again. And then an empire appeared, which had no equal in this world.
But he did not forget that in one of the forests those elves who did not join him still live. Of course, his army had long possessed ancient magic, but not as masterfully as the elves.
– What if they decide to overthrow me? – said the new emperor. – He who is not with me is against me.
The elf village was burned to the ground, and the forest will never forget this betrayal. Gerberolden, together with the surviving elves, found opponents of the new government. But in this war, as they say, none of those who knew the elven secrets survived. The elven race was exterminated, but along with them the elves also took the treacherous man who had corrupted their people. All the elven staves were lost, the dictionary compiled by man was burned.
Centuries passed, but the cursed place made itself known again – the center of the new Antimonian Empire arose here. Antimonik was the strongest magician who ever lived on Earth, but, unfortunately, he chose the path of Darkness and destruction.
No one could refuse the Prince of Antimony. The strong-willed either voluntarily served him, becoming officers of a countless army, or died. The weak in spirit became zombies: the living dead, subordinate to the ruler in everything. Cannon fodder, without thoughts and the meaning of life… All Antimonians became combat dark magicians, recruiting more and more new soldiers. From the ashes of the fires of rebellious cities and the fear of those who submitted, the Antimonian Empire arose, absorbing more and more new territories.
But there were also those who decided to resist the magician: this is how a military order arose – our ancestors called themselves Monians. In contrast to Antimonik, the master called himself Claudius of Monia. The swords were covered with silver and many ancient magical symbols and runes. Killing a magician is difficult. But he is not able to resist such a sword.
It seemed incredible, but Claudius’s army burst into the abode of evil. Antimonikos fell from the sword of Claudius. But that wasn’t the end. Claudius died of an unknown illness. Then our ancestors decided to destroy the city to the roots so that the curse would not return to our lands.
Many years later, when many had ceased to believe in the veracity of the stories about the black magician, his spirit returned to this forest, where the line between the worlds is so thin. The Monians defeated him a second time.
Since then, I have been guarding these forests to prevent the Ancient Evil from returning again.
But there is a prophecy that the Chosen One of Fate will be able to destroy Evil forever, so that for many years it will not be able to return to our lands. But there is another prophecy.
Once upon a time, even before the arrival of the elves, some of our ancestors took an oath to the higher elements. They became Lords. The Light Lords healed people from any disease, the Dark Lords brought destruction and anger with them. Lords could bend the will of the people. And one day a fierce war broke out between the Lords of both colors, in which all the Lords died, and with them tens of thousands of people. But legend says that another Dark Lord will appear. And his appearance will be the end of everything. And only a Lord of a different color can stop him.
– Are the Lords really omnipotent?
– No, what are you talking about, Eleon! Lords are only Lords. But no one denies that the Lord will be able to bring the Prince of Darkness with him. Or even the King. And this is already worse.
But you don’t need to think about sad things, so as not to invite trouble! Come on, Eleon, let’s join the feast!
The guests ate and drank. Beer flowed like a river, the tables were laden with food. And only Dorian was sad in the corner, looking at the photo of his beloved, which he took out of his breast pocket.
– Can I have a look? – Sienna asked to dispel the guest’s loneliness. – Beautiful. Is it your wife?
– No, this is Angel. She is my girlfriend, but we were planning to get married soon. Who would only know how much I miss her!
Sienna touched his cheek with her lips, but Dorian pushed her away.
– No. I have a favorite.
Siena lowered her eyes. But no one loved her so much. And she remained callous to all signs of attention from the guys.
Dorian was consumed by memories of the past.
But he wasn’t always like he is now.
When the father was taken away, accused of conspiracy, he was left as the sole breadwinner for his mother and younger brother. Jobs were not easy to find on his home world, so he became a member of one of the gangs that ruled the city at night. He robbed stores and random passers-by, defended the local drug lord. Later, his brother also started down this slippery slope. Together they became a stronghold of evil, which everyone they met was afraid of. The government turned a blind eye to the gangs’ activities. After all, it is better to let them fight among themselves than, united, to become a force that can deprive them of power. But soon a new Senator came to power, and he decided to carry out a grand cleaning of the streets. This time, soldiers of the Government Army came to the aid of the patrolmen.
In one of the shootouts, Sam, Dorian’s brother, was killed. And Dorian himself had to give up his dirty profession, since now this crime was punishable by death.
Dorian went to university. Studying never interfered with sports: he attended the volleyball section regularly.
For a very long time he was unlucky in his personal life. Dorian tried dating a good dozen girls, but many attempts to find happiness ended in betrayal by the girls and subsequent breakups and quarrels. He had already become disillusioned with his weaker half when he met Angel. She was perfect for him. She became the core of his life. He broke off all old connections, stopped seeing friends, and even gave up sports. If only I could have more time with her.
So they lived in perfect harmony for several years. Dorian graduated from university and found a job.
But his personal life began to crack more and more often. Maybe before he was so carried away by his beloved that he did not notice her shortcomings. But now not a single day passed without quarrels. Dorian began smoking again, and very often quenched his grief with whiskey, which, of course, did not make the relationship stronger.
But now he was so sorry for all the words he said out of emotion. After all, she remained the only possible center of the Universe for him. Every evening, as now, he again and again took a small photograph from his breast pocket.
Chapter 6. Ghosts of past mistakes
