Velda apparently decided to take revenge herself, because, as Liiran did not expect or fear, he was never called to the kindest and wisest woman for a well-deserved scolding.Ladai successfully passed his exam, and there was no need to think about it anymore. What could not but rejoice. Redhead misunderstanding and without revenge continued to cause trouble. She was almost bitten by dogs when she tried to enter someone's yard to smell the flowers, and the girl then went bankrupt for a long time that she would order to burn these huts and drive out all the dogs.Then she wanted to see the fish market. From there, she jumped out holding her nose and promising terrible punishments to the sellers, for which someone poured water over her with fish giblets and husks. Who doused it remains unclear. They splashed through the fence, behind which the pourer was not visible. And the sellers and fishermen did not see anyone and did not know anything. They did not like the insults of the red upsta
The night was good. A bright black sky with a scattering of stars, like a silk scarf with sparks that my father brought to my mother from the mainland. The moon, like a thin sickle-boat, floated among the stars. The night flowers smelled stupefyingly—large white and blue bells suspended from thin stalks that sagged under their weight. As these flowers are called, Dorana could not remember, although her mother said.The grass rustled in the wind. The insects chirped, chirped and chirped. White moths hung in clusters from the branches of a blooming crowberry. This tree has flowers, of course, inconspicuous, greenish and small, but they smell in such a way that people want to try them. Especially at night.And among this splendor she crept - Dorana. Stumbling over fragments of branches hiding in the grass, which have been promised to my mother for years by my father and brothers. Feeling awkward and redundant.It also seemed to her that no one was waiting for her in the garden, that she
Dorana failed to return quietly and imperceptibly. However, the guys did not succeed either, and it was worse for them. The girl even sincerely thanked Hiyat that he did not go into details when he invited her to visit the ghosts. Because they didn't ask her. More precisely, he didn’t ask - an irritated uncle, some kind of assistant to Darine Atana in the sixth dozen. He found out that the girl was simply invited, and she agreed to go, without specifying the details of where and why. He called Dorana a fool and switched to the guys. He questioned them for a long time and about everything. Starting with who told them about the necessary woman, and ending with why they went to the ghosts without telling anyone about it?The boys took turns answering. Calmly answered, wordy and confused.Khiyat claimed that he dreamed of a huge snake and warned that it was impossible to go to the ruins of the temple without a woman. Dorana's assistant nodded, looked at the purple stone hanging on a strin
For some reason, the white snake Hiyatu was not happy. And, not too happy. The statement of the guardian that the defense of the city has weakened, and everyone who is not lazy go there, she ignored. Attempts to jump on the snake body and yell could not be ignored, so she hissed that it was too early and threw Hiyata out of her world. The only thing left for the guy was to sit on the floor and blink in surprise.I had to return to the house of the guardian, to listen to her grumbling about the unrestrained and ungrateful boys who do not value their own health. But she fed Del these boys delicious homemade food, and all her punishment was washing dishes. Khiyat did not even immediately understand that the same assistant to Darine Atana demanded punishment.The night passed surprisingly calmly, part of the morning too, and then a small messenger bird appeared with the news that a red-haired candidate for guardianship was waiting for Ladai and Khiyat. Not only waiting for them, of course
Dorana finally slept. For the first time since the storage candidates arrived in the city. The messenger birds did not fly. Mom, who opened the door to the messenger, did not wake up. Even Velda did not demand yesterday that they gather in the morning near the guest house to listen to another speech about how she will become a great guardian and remake everything in the city.Fine.The girl stretched, got out from under the covers and looked around. The room was bright, too bright, so that the day had long since arrived. And Dorana slept off, probably for six months, no less. She didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. I didn’t even want to eat, drink and put myself in order. Unfortunately, sleep too.Dorana looked behind the curtain, making sure that the day outside the window was in full swing. She walked across the room and stopped at the bookshelf.- Why not? she asked herself and pulled out a book with a green cover.The girl didn't have any questions. So she decided to just r
Dorana woke up from the fact that someone knocked on her window.The girl lay down a little, hoping that it seemed or that the sound was a dream. But the knock was repeated. Persistent such knock, rhythmic.Dorana sat down and listened.There was another knock on the window.“All right,” said the girl. - Persuaded, I get up.She armed herself with a slipper, made sure that the amulet ring was in place and went to kill the crazy one who knocks on other people's windows at night.The moon shone outside the window. It was big and yellow, like a head of cheese. And against its background, a human head and a hand raised for the next knock were blackened like a stencil.— Eek! Dorana said in surprise.She still hoped it was a tree knocking on the window. Branch. True, the girl did not remember any trees growing close to the window, but you never know, suddenly they are there, and the fact that they are not there was just a dream. There are dreams that seem more real than real reality itself
I wonder what he can be thanked for in such a situation? For doing a favor and surviving?- Why? - Khiyat asked in a strange way. Because I have to.- Must? The girl couldn't believe her ears. What and to whom do you owe? After all, you are not the one who keeps!Khiyat hatched on her like a talking dog.- Not keeping? Dorana asked, slowly realizing that no one but those who keep guards can do anything with the defense of the city. Even their relatives can't without special permission. And all sorts of strangers… — Khiyat?- It happened. Let's go from here.That's the whole answer. A real man.“But you will explain everything to me when we leave!” Doran set the condition.“Good,” Khiyat did not resist.The hardest part was getting Hiyat out of the bush. At first, the girl tried to lead him, then she spat, grabbed her armpits and dragged him, not listening to his comments. Then things got easier. The guy knew exactly where he needed to go, said where to turn and promised that at the en
Khiyat was lying on the floor. Eyes closed, arms outstretched, bliss on face.Liiran and Dorana sat in chairs. They sat with their feet without even taking off their shoes. Instinct kicked in as the floor lit up and strange patterns crawled across it. Neither he nor she wanted to accidentally step on something like that. You never know how it will react. This is Hiyata, it heals, but it can do with them exactly the opposite.They were frankly afraid to talk, it seemed that they would violate some kind of sacrament, or attract some kind of dirty trick with a loud sound. And what is there to talk about? It is better to wait until Khiyat gets up and finally tells what kind of nonsense is going on in the city, and why the candidates for the guardians have come to the fore. With these candidates, nothing is clear at all. Liiran, for example, studied well enough to know that any more or less close blood relative of a carnivore feels the presence of someone who has a similar gift nearby. Eve
Toen boredly looked at the ceiling. A white and smooth ceiling, for some reason similar to a frozen and snow-covered lake.In general, Toen liked to lie there and do nothing. Always liked it. He just didn't want to admit it to himself for a long time. There were a lot of people around who aspired to something, wanted to achieve something, were going to grow above themselves and make great discoveries. And here he is - wanting to wallow on the beach and watch the surf lick the shore. It's stupid. And unworthy of a man.Therefore, Toen gritted his teeth and began to achieve everything in a row and in spite of everything. For a while it was even interesting. Then it stopped being interesting, but pride in oneself appeared. By that time, he had left almost all his acquaintances far behind. Then he rolled by inertia for some time, until one day he thought: why is it needed? Toen never found an answer to this question. Therefore, he quit his job and, without saying goodbye to anyone, went t
Dorana managed to relax and get bored again when the guy sitting next to her naturally jumped up, froze in a strange position with bulging eyes, and then collapsed into her seat and began to think about something diligently, judging by the expression on her face. The girl was even afraid to ask why all these gestures. Suddenly it dawned on him, and right now he is inventing a recipe for eternal youth. And she will kill, and he will forget everything.Ladai's expression became at first gloomy, and then frankly gloomy. He stood up, leaned against the railing, and stared at something for a long time. Then he again returned to his place and froze in a relaxed pose, putting his hands on his knees.“Yes,” he said at last. - Do you have a shield?Dorana nodded and showed Ladai the bracelets. He scowled at them, touched them with his fingertip, and nodded.- Do you know how to sculpt birds?The girl shook her head negatively.- Badly. Liiran must be warned, they are two balconies from us, als
A huge white snake and a man sitting on its head watched what was happening in the city that was dear to them. At night, they observed when most of the townspeople were asleep, and a minority was engaged in those things that are not customary to do in the light of day. Or for which they did not have enough time during the day.What was interesting to the snake and man began quite recently. In one of the oldest houses in the city, the light came on in almost all the windows. Shadows darted across the rooms. Weapons began to jingle, then human voices began to rustle. Quietly, but both the man and the snake, if desired, could hear what these people are saying. They just didn't want to.Noise in this house for a long time. Then the armed people began to disperse in small groups in order to gather around the House of Soviets and hide.The man smiled and whispered:- She was always reinsured and knew how to convince. Note that there are very few guards there, mostly people from older famili
The retelling of the conversation with the red-haired Wayne did not take much time. Then Atana told Toen in person how Khiyat confessed that he was the guardian of the cities and how those present reacted to this. I did not forget to mention that Teika, apparently from a great mind, did not come up with anything better than trying to enter the house of the keepers. For some reason, he decided that since the house has an owner, then the door there will be open. As a result, having tried to use force and influence the elements, he got back and now lay in the hospital near that very house. With a complex fracture of the leg, he was lying around, a dislocated shoulder and a blue bruise, in some places peeled off his back. Yeah, lying around was uncomfortable for him, and painkillers didn’t help much in this matter.But the brave adviser managed to share the news about Hiyata with everyone who was not lucky enough to get close enough to him. And now various rumors were circulating around t
“A strong bastard,” Toen repeated, when the assistants finally left the head of the council alone, and various sympathizers stopped breaking into the house, wanting to personally make sure that she was not hurt.Atana saw everyone off with the words that she needed to rest and think that the trackers were dealing with the incident at the training ground, that everyone could offer their help and be sent to distant places by the already dissatisfied Koyan. Nobody wanted to be sent, so those who wanted to understand and help quickly ended.Atana, with a sense of accomplishment, locked the door and went into the kitchen to prepare soothing tea. And there was Toen sitting at the table, who wanted to talk.“You see,” he said, “we didn’t even notice him right away. His rustling of pebbles underfoot gave away. Almost perfect invisibility. If you don’t know where to look, you won’t even notice a slight tremor in the air. But we noticed. They waited for him to stop, and behaved very stupidly. W
On an island surrounded by rocks sticking out of the water, like those very dragon fangs, Taladat got with the help of a portal stone. To be honest, he was afraid to the last that Toen, who was gnawing his pipe, had calculated something incorrectly, made a mistake somewhere, and the portal would not open to an island at all. At best, in the open sea. At worst, in a cluster of rocks, from which, according to rumors, it is generally impossible to get out. But I had to take the risk. And, oddly enough, it was worth it. Some bad person set up a whole warehouse on the island, building a wooden hut and protecting it from all possible and impossible dangers, including time. And another bad, but obviously talented person managed to crack the protection against penetration and not bring down all the others. He also hung a signal above the door, which Taladat fiddled with for a very long time before he forced her to ignore him.“Deeds,” Taladath said, once inside the building.No, these were no
Neti Larka was pretty, considered talented and was sure that she was smart and charming. And everything would have been just fine, but, unfortunately, she was unlucky too often. And now, instead of being in the same trio with someone worthy of her person, she discovered the fool Aika Vila and some strange guy. Aika generally seemed to be chasing her. Last time they were also in the same trio and Neti did not receive the chain due to the fact that she spent most of her time arguing with this fool. And how not to argue with her if she does not understand elementary things? For example, the fact that someone smart should be in command, and not a loud-mouthed girl who skipped half the lessons at school. To be honest, Neti did not understand at all how Aika could be allowed to take the exam. What if she gets a chain? Because of some stupid accident. Then there will be no trouble with her at all.“The main thing is not to waste time arguing again,” Neti muttered and looked at the guy.He st
Atana listened to Darine's report very attentively. So attentively, without interrupting or even asking again, that Taladat very soon suspected some kind of trick.“Why didn’t you tell me about fortune-telling right away?” she finally asked the question when Toen finished his story.“They wanted to check, search,” he said, somehow not very confidently, and smiled sadly. Looks like I know what you're going to say now.— Goonies! she said eagerly. "Why are you even looking for someone?" More precisely, why do you need such a complicated and dangerous way to look for someone whom I can point a finger at without spending a moment on reflection ?!- Can? Taladat was genuinely surprised.- Do you seriously think that in our city there are many relatives of your ward, whose mother died, father is unknown, uncle sits on the council, and they themselves run away from responsibility? Or do you think these relatives have many children who have thrown themselves under the wing of their grandmothe
Failed to get drunk.Kalar was just finishing his second beer, and Khiyat was dozing over the remnants of the first, as if some unfamiliar uncle appeared in the pub where the company was sitting, cursed the owner for no reason and ordered the applicants for silver chains to get out. Dean, already angry for no reason at all, answered the uncle's claims, and they quarreled merrily until the guards came and kicked everyone out of the establishment, including the owner. On the street it turned out that the owner of the piteyny was an idiot and was breaking someone's plans. The guards are still big idiots, because they did not recognize their native authorities, who the guests of the city generally considered to be some kind of extraneous uncle, climbing into their own affairs.On the other hand, the commanders of the guards called the group of Liiran Vue almost geniuses and began to assure that they would definitely receive the chains. These assurances shocked even Kalar, and Dean looked