Started with yet another test for the candidates in the storage day, it went pretty boring. Velda was quiet, tired, and somehow hurt. And so much so that the librarian who came to save Ladai from giggling at the same time returned her ability to talk. Surprisingly, the girl even thanked. Either the punishment had such an effect on her, or the general condition.Velda let those accompanying her go in the late afternoon, confessing that for some reason she was afraid to sit almost alone. She didn’t stop being scared, but she got tired of waiting for who knows what. So she decided that she would sleep. What wished to the group of Liirana Vue.The guys dispersed in all directions. Khiyat volunteered to escort Dorana to the house, without specifying which one, but he could not do it. From somewhere, a soaring Nich jumped out, grabbed the girl by the hand and, practically shouting something about the grandfather who had suddenly appeared, dragged her along. So Velda's wish came true. Khiyat
Family mattersOddly enough, no one touched Hiyata when he returned home. Ladai, looking out at the noise, grunted loudly, waved his hand and returned to his room. Dila was nowhere to be seen. Either she was sleeping so soundly and did not hear how the ward, falling asleep on the go, dropped the hanger and collided with a chair. Either she still hasn't returned from her mysterious job.No, Dila's job was ordinary. At first sight. She was an analyst, she was always studying and calculating something. But how this work is combined with the structuring of spells and why they often have to be structured at night, Khiyat did not understand. He even suspected that in fact the aunt had a man. But don't ask about it.The guy put the cat, taken out from under his shirt, in a chair, which he took with him, because there was nowhere else to put it. She was tame, but hardly homely - Lidzhes caught her when she, along with other stray diners, were brought out of the pitey by a skinny waiter.Khiya
Darine Atana sat at the table with her head in her hands and listened.She really wanted to cover her ears with her palms, drive out the speaker and go to bed. Maybe after that the world will again become familiar and understandable.“So we decided not to touch Saran and his brothers. The boys are right. Either we now catch him by the hand, or we have every chance to find such a guardian. He will be monitored around the clock. Rumors that will certainly go after the performance of Khiyat Dakka will be carefully warmed up. We will also prepare protective amulets and weapons. Because there is a small chance that this situation could turn into a conflict. It is not yet clear with whom, but if the surveillance yields results...The head of the council sat and understood that Iltar was right, as always. Calling out to someone with the blood of guardians of other cities was a very bad idea. And this wave really will not bring anything good. They created a problem for themselves, trying to s
The guys nodded in unison."I don't understand," Velda said. He shouldn't, but he does. How?“Maybe somehow,” Tiyan suggested and began to fumble in his pockets in search of food.He can't do anything on his own. Otherwise, the keepers would not be needed. The stones from which the city is built are unintelligent, they are not able to understand that the defense lacks energy, and cannot add it.- What if it's an amulet? Kalar asked.“The city itself is that amulet. Where have you seen amulets that charge themselves?“Nowhere,” Kalar admitted. “Even the accumulators need to be opened so that they draw in energy.“Here,” Velda typed in and said worriedly. “The protection here is either not the same as in other cities. Or the last custodian died much later than everyone thinks. Or not dead at all. Sitting somewhere... - the girl thought.“In the bushes,” Ladai prompted.Velda nodded.Sitting and giggling as he watches us call the city."He can't sit anywhere," Dean said irritably. “Every
About how the assault on the city by the dead ended, Liiran learned only a day later. Before that, he had heard scattered rumors and strange stories about some crazy people who chased these dead with swords. Liiran did not believe in the latter at all. And as it turned out, he was absolutely right.In fact, everything was simpler and not at all heroic. First, the bodies under the walls were thrown with barrels of tar. Then the firemen agreed, tuned in and created a circle, uniting their elements into a single whole. So it got scary. If the city's defenses were weakened, it is not known whether the walls would stand or not.Koyan, for allowing the firemen to do this, was almost killed by the kindest and wisest. The Pathfinder did not understand why they asked permission from him and, as it turned out, until the last moment he was sure that they were not serious.The remains of the corpses butted against the wall for some time, and then fell where they stood and did not move anymore. So
The head of the council of the city of Big Stone found a house on the mountain without any effort. Despite the fact that the person living in it stubbornly called himself a hermit, a wide path was trodden to its threshold. And the dwelling least of all resembled a cave laid down for hermits. Solid house, partly stone, partly wooden. It stands on a man-made ledge surrounded by huge pines. Even some fragrant greenery grew near the house itself. And along the path someone planted flowers.Hermits don't live like that. Atana knew exactly. She saw these hermits, at best, whiled away their days sharing a cave with a skinny, mangy goat, giving a mug of milk a day. And they ate from the garden and what they begged from good people, going down to the villages. And they were dressed in unwashed gray-brown rags.The owner of the hermit's house did not even remind. Good clothes, trimmed and without the obligatory shaggy beard.He sat on the threshold, smoking a pipe and looking at the sky.And he
Darine Atana, closing her eyes and trying to keep her face calm, looked at the raging Council of the Great. Wise men and women. Those who care about the good of the city and its inhabitants. This is necessary. Looking at them here and now, hardly anyone would suspect something like that.In principle, Atana could veto any of their decisions. For a maximum of a year, but I could. But does it make sense? Apparently - no. No point. Let them do what they want. They are worse. Especially to the smart guy who started it all. He, for sure, invested time, material wealth, and even reputation in his undertaking. True, the entertainer may not guess about the latter, especially if he considers himself the smartest.Atana chuckled softly.In the meantime, the advisers were shouting, negotiating and almost fighting. There were still more of those who agreed in advance, and they behaved more calmly. Therefore, it was easy to calculate them. But again, it's pointless. What will you present to them?
What is he doing? Dorana asked in a whisper, admiring enough of some crippled guy touching something invisible in front of him.“He is studying defense,” Khiyat replied.They watched the guy through the attic window, passing to each other an old magnifying tube, bought somewhere by Ladai. It’s impossible to make magic lenses, but sometimes you really want to see who is wandering along the fence.How long will he study it? the girl asked the next question. - If it takes a long time, they can start looking for me. I'm helping my mother, I just brought you food.“Who knows,” Khiyat said with a sigh.He and Ladai had been spending all their free time in the library for nearly two decades now. They studied maps of the island. Khiyat read aloud the diaries of the previous keepers, after which the guys looked at the genealogical tree drawn by someone on the flyleaf of a book on the history of the city. Why they needed it, the guys did not say. But Dorana suspected that they were going to loo