I woke up and looked around. Mira was not nearby.
"How she has grown up," I said quietly into the void.
And me? Fragments of other people's phrases suddenly began to pop up in my head. The voices of people whose faces I could no longer remember sounded as clear as if they were standing right behind me.
«Zenkhald! You never learn anything, you still step on the same rake!» someone shouted in a fury. «Zenkhald... and you are still the same,» another voice uttered with incredible warmth. «It's about time to grow up.»«Please, don't change. I look at you and remember my youth. Times fly by, mountains are replaced by steppes, but you are still the same.»«YOU! You are a mistake of nature! How does the earth even tolerate you?! And is this him? You possess such power, and for what!»
Someone sat down heavily on the ground near a neighboring tree. I turned around.
A woman was sitting in front of me. Well, no, more like a girl with gray hair and gray eyes. She looked extremely exhausted. And a little boy was hiding behind her shoulder. He stood, clinging to her fabric, and was openly afraid to look at me.
I slowly stood up and took a step towards them. A kid... Red eyes and gray hair. I had seen this combination somewhere before.
The girl smiled weakly. With one hand she patted the boy on the head, pressed him to her shoulder and began to whisper quietly: "Don't worry. This uncle is very kind and good."
"But he is so scary... his eyes are so..." the kid squeaked.
"WHAT?!" my indignant voice echoed through the forest. I put on a theatrical show of being flustered: "What do you mean scary? Kid, watch your words! Otherwise I will be so sad now..." I blurted out as pitifully as possible.
The girl turned her head in my direction.
"And you... you are still the same," she uttered with a tired, tortured smile.
This voice. It seemed familiar to me. Or maybe not... I don't know. The book in my head began to shuffle the pages again.
"Hello, hello! Do we know each other?" I looked carefully into her eyes.
She looked away at the grass, gathering her thoughts. What the hell, what is she stalling for? flashed through my head. Looks like we do know each other after all.
"I won't give you any money!" I stated confidently, setting boundaries just in case.
She ignored my joke and began quietly: "I saw Aya. She doesn't look like herself at all. She doesn't even remember us, doesn't remember that time... Sometimes it seems to me as if I just made it all up. But now I look at you and realize that it was all reality."
This story started from so-o-o far away somehow. Aya? Aya... What kind of two-letter name is that? And then it was as if needles pierced my chest. Emotions and images from the past hit me like an avalanche. I staggered and froze in place, looking at the guest with wide-open eyes.
"Are you... Yara?"
She gave a short nod.
"You've grown so much!" I breathed out in shock. "And where are Tizor and Erol? How are they doing?" A sincere, hopeful smile began to spread across my face. "Tizor probably grew up, became a big man! And Erol probably already found his woman..."
But with my every word, Yara's face became gloomier. What the hell?! Why does everything always have to be so sad? Why can't at least something turn out happily and well?! I howled mentally. And then I looked at her more closely. Noticeably lengthened fangs.
"Wow, you didn't hold yourself back, did you?" I asked quietly.
"I had to," she answered dryly.
Yara tried to gently push the boy towards me. He reluctantly took a step forward and glared at me angrily.
"Like a beast driven into a corner?" I commented on his look. I squatted down to be on the same level with him.
"What's wrong, kid? I'm not going to eat you. Well, unless you bite me first," I smiled broadly at him.
"This is, let's say, my grandson," Yara continued. "The last one left. As soon as I heard your words from the heavens, I immediately rushed here. Tizor... he became different. Those fanatics turned him, brainwashed him. And Erol made a name for himself in the war. And when it ended, he just went to another one, in a foreign country. He lives only for cruelty."
"WHAT THE HELL?!" I couldn't stand it, grabbing my head. "How do you all change so much?! No, I understand that I haven't seen you for a couple of years... but to this extent! How did this happen..." the last words escaped me almost with despair.
"That depends on what you answer us," Yara uttered. "This kid's name is Alas. Right now someone is trying to completely eradicate all the children of the old rulers..."
"Alright, alright, alright!" I abruptly waved my hands, interrupting her. My overloaded brain simply refused to withstand these long, dramatic explanations and another set of bloody intrigues.
"If you are ready to put the past behind you, then Mount Slick will accept you both."
I stretched out my arm with an important and solemn air, pointing my finger into the distance.
"The Mountain is right over there. In the far north!"
Yara looked in the indicated direction in confusion, then at me. "Then... why are you pointing to the south?"
I froze. Lowered my eyes to my finger, then shifted my gaze to the moon. Turning sharply one hundred and eighty degrees, I stretched out my arm in the opposite direction with an absolutely unbothered face:
"The Mountain is right over there. In the far north."
Yara rested her hand on her knee and stood up with a quiet sigh.
Wow, she really shot up, I whistled mentally. In height, she could now only compete with Alastia, perhaps.
Then my gaze caught on her hand. A familiar ring glinted on her slender finger. Noticing my look, Yara gently ran the pad of her finger over it, and the metal immediately responded, glowing with a soft, warm yellow light.
She looked at the ring and smiled—for the first time in our entire strange conversation, truly sincerely and brightly. "After all... this really is the best gift," she said quietly.
I felt a treacherous lump rise in my throat. Another second of such conversations, and my armor would crack. I sharply raised my hand.
SNAP.
A loud snap of fingers tore through space. Yara, together with her ruffled grandson, instantly disappeared, teleported straight to the safe caves of Mount Slick.
I was left completely alone again in the quiet forest.
"I didn't need to burst into tears here from nostalgia on top of everything," I said aloud, rubbing the bridge of my nose angrily. "Forget. Need to forget everything. These are completely different people now, not the ones I knew."
I desperately convinced myself, trying to protect my mind, which was already bursting at the seams. The past must remain in the past.
I sank heavily onto the grass again, lying down in the shadow of a spreading tree. The meeting with Yara exhausted me emotionally more than magic did physically.
"Alright. I'll sleep a little more," I muttered, closing my eyes. "If no one else comes to my beam, I'll just return to Mount Slick. I've had enough guests for today."
I turned on my side, put my hand under my head, and let the silence of the forest lull me to sleep.
Z-z-z-z-z-z...
I woke up, again, from some noise. It seems I won't be allowed to get a normal amount of sleep in this life.
Without even opening my eyes, I felt that far away, drawing towards the forest clearing, whole crowds were coming. They were slowly but surely surrounding me. When I fell asleep, it was night. I woke up—it was night again. Only now I was surrounded by loners, armed squads, and entire groups. I just sat on the grass and began to wait to see how it would all end.
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Suddenly, one man jumped out of the crowd. He was almost suffocating from a long run. Standing in front of me, he hurriedly unrolled a scroll and read:
"I am the ambassador of the Sultanate! The message reads: 'Dear Halibut! I apologize that I cannot be present in person, but I wish you quiet and peaceful times—they are so lacking in our time. If you have time, come visit me. I am, of course, terribly angry with you for taking all the mages out of my country, thereby putting us under threat... But every time I remember you, I can't help but smile.'"
Having finished reading, the ambassador lowered the paper, raised his red, tired eyes to me, and suddenly swore foully:
"AND FOR THIS I DRAGGED MYSELF HERE SO FAST?!" He turned around and left, stomping his feet angrily.
He's good, I assessed mentally. From the country of sands to me in three days...
But here the rest of the crowd around for some reason did not share this joyful mood. A huge man stepped forward. He was almost two meters tall, in a light breastplate and heavy iron armor on his legs. In one hand he clutched a massive axe, and a long sword hung on his hip.
"Okay, stop, man," I put my hand forward so as not to waste time. "Just going to ask. If you came to my wedding, then I'm expecting a gift."
There was only silence in response. This was very strange. Did they seriously decide to come out one by one and fight me in a duel?
The giant stomped his foot heavily and struck himself in the chest with his fist.
"I am Ladon Vlak! I have come to fight you, and in this battle I will kill you!" he looked down at me with hatred.
I continued to sit calmly on the grass.
"Why are you introducing yourself if you're going to kill me anyway?" I inquired lazily. "Although, maybe you are saying this for the rest of the spectators..."
Suddenly someone in the crowd raised a musket. A shot!
Was that supposed to be a surprise attack? The bullet whistled past a meter away from me. I didn't even do anything, absolutely nothing at all, he just missed.
I slowly stood up and dusted off my pants.
"I actually invited guests to a feast, not looked for opponents!" I complained loudly to the whole clearing.
"You are all so weak, it's even sad for me to look at it. I'M ACTUALLY OFFENDED!" my voice broke into a shout.
"THAT SUCH WEAKLINGS CHALLENGE ME TO A FIGHT! APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW!"
Ladon Vlak raised his axe and pointed the edge right at my face. "You scream like a beast driven into a corner!" he growled and moved towards me.
Damn, I wish someone would effectively jump out of the bushes right now, stand up for me, and do all the dirty work, I thought with longing. But there were no saviors on the horizon. The man was getting closer and closer.
"Oh no, I'm being killed!" I theatrically put my hand to my forehead and collapsed to the ground.
But the blow did not follow. In that same instant, as if plunging into warm water, I went deep underground and quickly slipped through the earth. I stuck my head out right behind him.
"I'm here!" He turned sharply and slashed with his axe with all his might. I dived back into the ground and popped out a meter away from him. "Missed! Now aim more to the left." A swing! "Missed again! Come on, go on!" I found myself behind him again. After about the thirtieth miss, Ladon yelled in fury: "FIGHT, RUNAWAY COWARD!"
I completely emerged from the ground, laughing openly: "Aha-ha-ha! You're the only one fighting here. And I'm entertaining myself!"
His face was contorted by a grimace of pure hatred. He rushed at me with a roar, threw his axe on the run, and began to draw his sword from its scabbard on the go. Alright, let him have some fun with my projection, I decided.
I instantly created a projection in my place, threw an illusion of invisibility over myself, and calmly stepped aside. My projection stood, smiling foolishly and waving pleasantly. The heavy axe whistled through it like through smoke. Ladon himself flew in right after, falling right through the ghost with all his weight.
"I'm telling you, man, we are on completely different levels," my hologram said.
Then the projection began to multiply. Two, three, ten, fifty copies in a couple of seconds! They jumped high and formed a huge living dome right above the bewildered warrior.
"We are on completely different levels!" half a hundred of my voices pronounced in chorus, creating an eerie echo.
"It's kind of even offensive for me to defeat you. My reputation will be hopelessly ruined if all I do is fight and defeat weaklings like you!"
I stood in invisibility and carefully looked at the crowd. But WHY were the people around not even surprised?! Do they see this every day or something? Hundreds of armed mercenaries just stood and watched this magical show absolutely calmly. No screams, no panic. Strange...
Ladon, meanwhile, rushed at the projection again with a shout and passed through it again. He swung his sword for about five minutes, trying to chop the air, until he finally ran out of steam. He breathed heavily and took a step back.
"FIGHT! I AM READY TO DIE LIKE A WARRIOR!"
SNAP. I dispelled all the projections and dropped the invisibility from myself. I was simply sitting on the grass again, propping my cheek with my hand.
"Ready to die like a warrior?" I asked again. "What is that even like? What does it mean 'to die like a warrior'?"
He thought for just a second.
"To die with honor! Without fear! Realizing that the opponent is stronger than you, but still rushing into battle!"
I slowly repeated his words, tasting them: "Rushing into battle, realizing that the opponent is stronger? Knowing that there is not a single chance? Isn't this a sign of an acute lack of intell..."
I wanted to insult him, but the words stuck in my throat. Well, whatever, I myself had felt something similar once.
"Man, what is honor to you? Do you live only to die spectacularly by someone else's hand?"
I fell silent, immersed in my own thoughts. How many such proud, stubborn "warriors" had I met over my thousands of years? Many. But at the same time, there were so few of them. Maybe this species was becoming increasingly rare precisely because they met with me too often? Or would they have died by someone else's blade anyway, blindly following their ideals?
I don't want to fall into cruelty, I pulled myself up, looking at the heavily breathing Ladon. I need to control myself.
I smiled as sincerely as I could in this situation. "Man, let's not be enemies. You won't defeat me anyway, and you understand it perfectly well yourself. So why fight and die meaninglessly? Let's have you come to my wedding safe and sound instead, have a fun time. Maybe you'll become a teacher with us. There are few such stubborn warriors as you on Mount Slick, you'll climb the career ladder quickly. Just keep in mind: all the local beauties are mine, so look for a woman for yourself."
"What are you even talking about?" Ladon was taken aback, lowering his sword.
"What do you mean what about?! Oh, I know! They say that the Lants have the best beer, and we have an alliance with them. There will be so much beer at my wedding that you could drown in it! And to fight with me... you'll always have time for that there."
Probably for a whole minute the giant stood motionless, digesting this absurd turn. Then he slowly raised his sword and forcefully ran the blade along the entire length of his forearm, leaving a deep, bleeding cut.
"This scar will be a reminder to me," he said sternly. "I agree."
"Oh, good!" I rejoiced. But I immediately noticed that the crowd of mercenaries surrounding us did not share Ladon's enthusiasm. No one lowered their weapons. "Do I really have to show how tough I am?" I asked myself with a sigh.
"LET'S DO THIS!" I addressed the crowd loudly. "Whoever wants to fight me—stand on that side. And those who want to come to my wedding—move to the other!"
They looked at each other in bewilderment, made some noise, and began to move reluctantly. The result turned out to be depressing: only five decided to go to the wedding. But on the other side, clutching their weapons and glaring at me angrily, lined up about a hundred and thirty people.
"I've seen enough," a ringing voice sounded. A young guy stepped out of the hostile crowd, confidently twirling a small magical staff in his hand. An old man, a middle-aged man, and a girl with blades stepped forward after him. A classic group.
"You've gotten arrogant, demon," the mage guy stated haughtily. "Let this world become cleaner with your death!"
"Oh-ho-ho!" I even jumped in place from anticipation. "You are adventurers, right?! I haven't seen you in a long time, a very long time! Maybe you even have a good story? Will you tell it?"
"You talk too much for a dead man," the guy cut off. He raised his staff, the crystal on which began to glow brightly. "God, give me strength to administer the judgment of god! GIVE ME STRENGTH to cleanse this world!.."
He continued to loudly recite his spell, and I just stood and watched. A fiery disk formed around his staff, from which ten beams flew out, gathering to twist into something powerful. While the magic was flying, I lazily analyzed their tactics: Looks like the girl is a close-combat fighter. Her task is to delay the opponent at any cost, because this kid takes too long to cast. And who is the old man? Their master? Alright. If I show them my power, they'll just back off.
I raised my hand. SNAP.
The guy's magical staff simply exploded into small splinters, and all his fire magic instantly dispersed in smoke.
"Kid, if you cast for so long in a real battle, then... that's sad."
The girl, realizing that the spell had been disrupted, rushed at me with a scream. "You're offending me, people. Well, seriously."
SNAP.
The big toes on both of the running girl's feet twisted outwards with a nasty crunch. She collapsed to the ground with a painful groan before reaching me. The others twitched, but I just casually waved my hand. The master-grandfather flew to the side like a rag doll and crashed into the trunk of a tree with a dull thud.
The mage kid, looking at this instantaneous rout, took a step back in terror. Fear. Such a sweet, fear of despair.
"Ha-ha-ha..." a low laugh escaped my chest on its own. I bared my teeth and looked right at him. My eye began to rapidly fill with an absolutely black color. The aura crawled along the grass like a black fog.
A hundred and thirty people in a panic took a few steps back. They raised their muskets, crossbows, and swords, aiming everything at me. I felt it. I felt the terror in every one of them. This fear... so sweet, alluring. I want it. I want it. I WANT IT!
POOF! BANG! Bullets flew at me. Someone even shot a bow out of fear. Seriously? An arrow? I wanted to fully enjoy their terror.
SNAP.
The entire crowd dropped their weapons at once and clutched their throats. They fell to the ground, writhing and turning blue, vainly trying to take at least one breath. The air simply ceased to exist for them. I looked at this convulsing mass and suddenly felt bored.
"Aw man, this isn't interesting," I drew out disappointedly.
SNAP.
The invisible grip disappeared. The mercenaries collapsed into the grass, coughing convulsively and greedily gulping air. One of them, standing on all fours, raised his head and looked at me with such malice that I couldn't resist and looked right into his eyes. A second... and his head simply exploded in a bloody fountain.
"AHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Now this is fun!" I laughed sincerely.
Seeing the decapitated corpse, the rest finally broke. They jumped to their feet and rushed in all directions with crazed screams, trying to escape into the saving thicket. "Need to help nature," I whispered affectionately.
The trees around the clearing instantly came alive. Their branches, like giant arms, darted forward, grabbing the fugitives. The wood began to sprout right into them. CR-R-RUNCH! First, the sharp branches slowly pierced the skin, pinning the people to the trunks, and then the living roots began to spread deep inside their bodies, tearing the flesh from the inside. The forest resounded with inhuman screams of pain and despair.
I rapturously watched this bloody garden, when suddenly... BANG! A deafening crack. Someone broke out of... with a powerful jerk.