City of inheritance

Solution

 

- It concerns you first of all! barked the head of the Great Council.

Aesir Tmania pursed his lips in displeasure.

“Everything about this puppy has nothing to do with me anymore. The renunciation was carried out according to the rules and officially recognized by the council ...

- Sit, I said! the kindest and noblest Darine Atana practically growled. “Liiran, sit down too, don’t be so bright,” she snapped at the young leader of the unsuccessful group, who was shifting uncertainly near the door. Sit wherever you want, even on the floor. Everyone should listen to Koyan very carefully, because in the near future you will have to repeat these words several hundred times, so that all those involved and simply overly curious understand and realize. Clear? Esir, if you move again and try to open your mouth, I am not responsible for myself. Goyang, we are listening to your report.

The white-haired head of the rangers sighed heavily and nodded to some of his thoughts.

“As you already know, yesterday the tower recorded an incredibly powerful burst of pure fire-type power,” he began in a tired voice. - Fixed too close to the city. Next to the Gray Giant.

Exactly. Again the Gray-haired Giant. How Liiran didn't like that. I didn't like it very much. An outburst for which they decided on an incredibly costly temporary portal. And Liiran Vue's group is almost there. And Khiyat with his bouquet and suspicious stains. And his clear footprints, which led in the opposite direction from the performed ritual. Which, it would seem, excludes his opportunity to visit the scene. And the accursed accumulator of yellow clay, no one knows whose and it is not clear how it got into the river. Even those looking into the essence of things did not find the slightest trace of the owner, too much time had passed, and the flowing water did not contribute to their preservation. The only thing they were sure of was that this little thing did not linger in anyone's hands for a long time, otherwise the traces would not have disappeared so easily.

“The first thing we sent home was a group that happened to be there,” the tracker said mournfully, looking anywhere but at the audience. As if he was guilty of something. - Then we went to study the place of release. I can congratulate all of us. Damin Karad finally finished the game, he ran into the enemy too tough.

- What? someone asked confused.

Apparently, the name of one of the collectors did not go well with him with the ability to meet the enemy too tough.

Koyan sighed again and cast a dissatisfied glance around those present.

“We went out into the clearing,” the story continued. - A completely burnt out glade, down to a living layer of soil. In the clearing they found a body mutilated by fire, which our adherents of the direction of life identified as Damina Karada. We also found traces of an unknown person, presumably a man, there. Footprints that clearly indicated that another body was taken out of the ashes, which we never found. But found this.

Goyang showed off some small, shiny contraption.

- This thing was lying in the center of the clearing, on some miraculously preserved patch of grass. In addition to it, there was a lot of blood, a piece of white cloth and again traces of an unknown man, - the tracker turned the find and hung it on his little finger, since the long cord allowed. - Now in order. This thing - an amulet for a suicide bomber, - shook the shiny contraption. - Actually, initially it was a protection, similar tattoos were made by the people of Gaed, who were afraid of hunters for victims for rituals. They very often gave birth to people with the gift of life, and the best victim still needs to be looked for. Such a tattoo ensured that whoever tried to bring its owner as a gift of death would not himself escape the same fate. Amulet is something else. An amulet is something that, unlike a tattoo, acts at a fairly large distance from the place of sacrifice and requires a little more money. I consulted with several experts, and they all agreed that in order to charge this particular amulet, it was necessary to have at least three years in reserve. That's if you count all the necessary breaks. Exactly three years. Not less. Otherwise, this amulet would simply explode in the hands.

“Great powers and their elements,” someone said.

Liiran was in complete agreement with him. Only a complete idiot is unable to calculate the answer to such a simple equation. Six months in the city. Two and a half in training. And all the while knowing that you will die very, very soon. How could he? And how did he feel after everything that happened in the city after his escape?

- Now on. The amulet was made by craftsman Etke Sien according to sketches and commissioned by Ladai Tmaniya. The master actually didn't even know what he was doing. The boy brought him materials, a drawing and indicated the date by which the amulet should be ready. The master considered this an ornament that would be given to someone on their birthday. Where Ladai found this drawing and how he learned what it was in general, it was not possible to find out. It was not possible to find out where his body had gone, but the fact that they do not live with such blood loss was recognized by everyone who was not lucky enough to visit that clearing. The identity of the stranger could not be ascertained. With whom Ladai communicated closely enough and whom he trusted enough to ask to take his body from the clearing, it was not possible to find out. What kind of hardship carried the accursed collector to the Gray Giant, it was not possible to find out, but there is a suspicion that he needed a place with intersecting water veins. He could not return to the places of the previous rites, they were waiting for him there, and someone caring somehow gave him information about a suitable place near our city. That's it. It turns out that almost immortal, truly strong ones are not so difficult to kill. The main thing is to pick up and be ready for anything.

Liiran chuckled. No, Koyan formulated not quite correctly. You don't have to be ready for everything. We had to prepare for death.

And yet, on the accursed mountain at the same time there was Khiyat, who for three hours was collecting a smelly bouquet on a tiny ledge on the side of the mountain opposite to that clearing. And he had a large stain on his pants, which by the time the time portal appeared, he had almost completely washed off in a cold stream, carefully pretending to try to cheer up, kneeling in the water.

Khiyat. Admitted idiot. Who could not stand Ladai. Incredible. Nobody really believes. Liiran could hardly believe it himself, although he managed to smell the burning smell before he knew about the burnt clearing.

Should anyone be talking about this? At least until something more convincing turns up than a stain on his pants, which Khiyat must have already burned or lost to the ends?

Liiran looked around and decided not to. There will be a lot of problems. And to achieve something from Khiyat? What about the meaning? Well, they will drag him to the Hall of Truth, well, they will interrogate him. Under a stone that does not allow you to lie. And even if it turns out that he was in that clearing, what will change from this? Suspicious pigeons will be shot? Or will they forbid him to approach the water, which could well tell that a person unpleasant to him appeared on the mountain?

Nothing will change. It will only add problems. So Liiran decided to keep his guesses to himself. Why spoil the life of the living because of the dead?

Aesir Tmania sat pale to blue. He kept the dignity of the house, they say. He did not even try to find an excuse for his own son, as any other father would have done in his place. Liiran could offer a dozen perfectly acceptable excuses. And daddy Ladai simply crossed him out of the family, as if throwing garbage. Now he will have to look for excuses for himself. After all, he betrayed trust and faith, about which Esir Tmania spoke so pathetically during his renunciation, not Ladai at all.

Esir's ex-wife, Molina, looked at the formidable head of the clan with such hatred that Liiran would probably have jumped out the window by now. And after all, Ladai is not even her son, just a child whom she raised from the age of five. Ladai's mother died almost at the same time as the last guardian of the city. Due to an accident.

Liiran, trying to remain calm, sat out until the moment when the ex-wife and the current boss stopped yelling at Esir Tmania in unison. He patiently listened to Koyan's conclusions. Somehow I refrained from telling here and now about the smell of burning, the stain on my knee and the yellow clay, for which I went to the village of Khiyat. Then he calmly ignored the instructions and demands of the head of the council. And only after that, without looking at the road, he rushed off in search of his group. Because, even if he decided that it does not concern anyone, he himself should have at least made sure of something. Or try to be sure.

He searched for a long time, maybe half an hour. By the time I found it, someone had already told them the latest news. Marika sat and mournfully repeated on one note that this does not happen in reality, that this is a scenario for a theatrical tragedy. And she asked herself, what would she say to her mother now? Moreover, no one dared to ask her mother to Ladai.

Doran and Kalar pressed Dean into a corner and told him something, periodically demonstrating their fists. Tiyan stared out the window, nibbling cookies in a circle, and was surprisingly similar to a hamster. And Khiyat was slowly and thoughtfully looking for something in his backpack.

The commander of the group rushed to Khiyat in the first place.

- You! - barked in the face. - What did you do with him?

- With whom? the subordinate asked distantly, without stopping rummaging among the rubbish in the backpack.

“Where are you, damned idiot, buried Ladai?!

Everyone stared at Liiran. Who is dumbfounded, who is surprised. Everyone except Hiyat. He didn't even bother to raise his head.

“I didn’t bury him,” the waterman said very quietly.

- What?!

Lies, impudently lies. There are not so many coincidences at once.

Take it and give it a good shake. Or slap in the face.

“I swear by my element,” said Khiyat, and finally straightened up. There was anger mixed with confusion on his face. — I didn't bury Ladai.

The bastard swore. Such oaths are not scattered. Such an oath is impossible not to believe. Element, she is touchy.

- What did you do with him? Liiran asked the next question.

- Nothing! Khiyat shrugged his shoulders in annoyance. “I didn’t bury him, didn’t feed him to wild animals, and didn’t throw him into the abyss!” Satisfied?!

— And where did he go?!

Why do you think I know the answer to this question? Am I supposed to know all the answers to your stupid questions? Why would? Why don't you search Dorana's body under her skirt. Today she has a long, wide one, she suddenly hid it.

- What?! Dorana couldn't believe her ears.

Or in Tiyan's stomach. He eats everything. Especially when you think about it. Look scary.

Tiyan chuckled for some reason. As if he really once tried to eat a corpse.

- Or on, dig in a backpack. There you can find a lot of unexpected things, as it turned out.

Khiyat handed Liiran his backpack and rushed to the exit.

- Got it! he barked at last, after which he slammed the door loudly.

"He's kind of nervous," Tiyan said and took the next cookie out of his pocket.

Dorana smiled uncertainly.

Trying to follow Hiyat was just stupid. Liiran understood this almost immediately. Moreover, the water worker somehow managed to disappear near the park surrounding the empty house of the guardians of the city. Maybe he noticed surveillance and dived into a bush that had grown wildly over so many years. Or climb a tree. You won’t go looking for him now, aukaya. At night, in a neglected park. Greater idiocy is hard to imagine.

Liiran smiled at his thoughts, gave up on surveillance and went home.

Well its all. After all, the missing body is not his problem at all. And Hiyat began to behave strangely long before he became Liiran Vue's subordinate. Moreover, judging by what task the messenger brought from the kindest and noblest, at the moment, the newly minted presenter should be primarily concerned about the upcoming coming-of-age exam and exactly how to get his subordinates to come to it on time.

For some reason, it seemed that the combination of "Hiyat and exam" would be the most problematic. This lunatic probably won't even remember him. Not to mention the preparation and desire to pass the maze on the first try. He is not interested in it.

“Tell me,” Ladai demanded gloomily, frightening with an eye glowing in the dark.

Khiyat shook his head, sat down in a chair across from his friend and tried to collect his thoughts. It was impossible to turn on the light. The light in the window would definitely draw everyone's attention to the house, which supposedly did not let anyone in. And sitting in the dark was uncomfortable. First of all, because of Ladai's yellow eye.

“In general, they brought me a letter,” said Khiyat, deciding not to think about what could not be done anyway. - More precisely, such a plump bundle in the skin, with a bunch of protections wound around it from attempts to open it by strangers, and an imprint of a child's hand, as it turned out, mine. They handed me this bundle, did not explain anything, they only advised me to open it in a secluded place, away from prying eyes. Well, I opened it in the attic. He put his palm on the print, and it turned around.

- It?

— Message, mental. Then I had a headache for almost two days, and some fragments missed by my imperfect mind still surface at the most inopportune moment. In general, I suspect that over time, depending on what I will do next, something else will appear that I do not need to know at the moment. Or maybe it won't show up. I don't even know which is worse.

“Fun,” Ladai appreciated.

“Yeah, you’re laughing. You better listen. In general, it all started with the fact that my dad met my mom ...

“Yeah,” Ladai said thoughtfully. “Usually that’s how it all starts. And fairy tales for little ones, and dramas for adults, and comedies for those who like to laugh.

Khiyat snorted unhappily, but decided to continue the story. Ladai's bad mood is understandable. They didn't let me die. Although there is a place to live, it is not yet clear why.

“Do you know that initially the guardian cities were both rulers and protectors, and almost gods all rolled into one?” Khiyat asked.

- Uh-huh, I know. I, unlike you, did not sleep in history lessons. And then the empire on the mainland collapsed safely, life became more or less peaceful, and they turned to some researchers, some teachers, some trained guards, some simply pretended to be a symbol, only occasionally rushing to the Council House to tell what kind of city - he senses danger.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Khiyat grumbled. - Submit them. The first, as you said "symbol", was given a choice - either he quietly and peacefully goes to live out his life in a house in the park, or he is immediately killed and his son is raised together in the way they need. It turned out to be almost impossible to leave his city, so he resigned himself, convincing the children that he himself was tired of ruling, the councils, they say, understand better. Although, who knows, maybe they actually understood better. He was a warrior and did not allow trade with the mainland, only with other islands. And they sold the same iron too expensive, because they themselves did not have enough. The great-great-grandson of this warrior, just during the attack of the United Maritime Kingdoms, tried to regain some of the power, and he even succeeded, and his daughter again lost everything. The granddaughter of this daughter acted smarter, she simply became the head of the Council of the Great and bequeathed to achieve the same to her descendants. That's it. And now the most interesting. Do you know why she did it? Do not think, not for the sake of yourself and your own greatness.

- And for what? asked Ladai, who did not want to play a guessing game at all.

“In order to fully feel the city, absolutely correctly manage the defense, rejuvenate it and strengthen it, it’s not enough to just be a person attuned to this city. It is necessary that the townspeople be ready to obey at any moment, you understand? They are also part of the city.

"I understand," Laday nodded.

“Here,” breathed Khiyat, who had long wanted to share this knowledge with someone. - And what should I do now?

“You probably don’t want to run away, hide and wait for the moment when the city, having lost all hope, begins to reconfigure for someone else…”

“I don’t want to,” Khiyat shook his head. “Being a guardian is such a feeling. It's like... It's like the wings have grown. And if you escape, those wings will have to be mercilessly cut off.

- Clear. Did you feel your wings only when you opened the message?

- Yes. It's like a wall has disappeared.

- Yeah. Apparently, dad protected you so that you wouldn’t accidentally let it out when you were small and unintelligent. Left you the choice. I wonder why? Especially given the wings.

“I just started talking. It's about my mom. He would not be allowed to marry her, she would simply not be allowed into the city. As I understand it, he had to make incredible efforts just to run to her on dates. How to secretly get married in this situation, he never figured out, although he tried. And when I was born, Dela went to protect me and my mother and was late. She almost pulled me out of a burning house and killed someone there. Then she barely escaped.

“Yeah,” Ladai said thoughtfully. - What's wrong with your mom?

- It's the same with her. It's just that her grandmother was a priestess at the temple of the Lifebringers. In the northern one, which is now destroyed, allegedly because the priestesses began to worship death.

- Did they start?

- How to say...

Have you started or not?

- OK. Khiyat sighed and began to look at the floor. “I told you about the blood. So, any priestess from such a temple can cure the hopelessly ill and raise the almost dead to his feet. Understand? But not always, if a person has gone over the edge, then everything can’t be helped.

“Yeah, maybe, but for some reason they don’t do anything like that,” Ladai said. And they certainly have their reasons. Pay for action or something.

They are doing it in secret. Previously, they practiced openly, went around the cities and were called friends of death. Like, they can persuade a girlfriend to wait. It was still in the Empire. And then they began to be killed, accused of paying hundreds of others for one saved life, and it is because of this that fires and epidemics happen.

- Nonsense! Ladai typed.

— Yes, I know. The fact is that the survivors hid, and then appeared under a different name and began to behave much more carefully. My great-grandmother was not so lucky. Some of the power gatherers either realized that the girlfriends of death live in the temples of the Bringers of Life, or decided that there, in the northern temple, only one girl manifested this gift...

And he came to take it away.

- Yes. But the priestesses did not surrender to his mercy and even managed to beat him and put him to flight. However, little remains of the temple. So they dispersed in all directions, hid. And my great-grandmother apparently was not lucky, and she was found.

- And she? Ladai asked with interest.

- She died, beautifully and convincingly. The poor fellow had to chase first her daughter, and then her granddaughter.

- Clear. With such a biography, your mother would definitely not be allowed into the city, and she apparently also killed herself. Only one thing confuses me, why did the collector leave you in a burning house?

“So I’m a boy,” said Khiyat.

- And what?

“And priestesses are always women. He probably thought that this power is not transmitted to men.

- Is it transmitted?

- Certainly. Only weaker and paired with another force, like mine with water.

Why didn't anyone see these men?

Hiyat smiled broadly.

- How can I tell you ... The reasons are different. Some dressed up as women. Some acted as guards in the presence of the priestesses. And some masked their power with the one they had in a pair, portrayed wandering magicians, mercenary warriors, circus performers, merchants. Unfortunately, women could not do this, and they very rarely left churches.

“Understood,” Laday said. “It means that the sons of the priestesses are those mysterious providers of information about the big world, from whom the enlightened virgins learn the latest news. Soothsayers. Don't they drag men to their sisters? From somewhere, after all, new priestesses must be taken.

“Who knows,” Khiyat replied indifferently and shrugged his shoulders. Other people's problems were not interesting to him. Here to deal with their own. — My mother did not approach the temples. She would have been found there too quickly. And what her mother told her is clearly not everything that an adult friend of death needs to know.

- Clear.

Ladai got up and walked around the room as if during the day, making Hiyat suspect that his yellow eye allows him to see well in the dark. Then he stopped at the window.

"So you're not going to run away from your fate?" asked distantly.

“No,” Khiyat answered firmly.

“And will you try to climb as high as possible?”

- Do I have a choice?

"Looks like it doesn't," Ladai agreed. - Great. I am in your army.

- What?! – Khiyat was surprised, not thinking about any army.

- Just one more thing...

Ladai again walked around the room, stopping at one of the cupboards. He slammed something metal on metal.

- What are you doing? Khiyat jumped up.

It seemed to him that his friend was about to cut his own throat. The fireman twitched in a strange way, rustled something, and then came close to the waterman.

“Here,” Hiyatu handed a long braid that looked like a dead snake in the dark. - Burn it somewhere. I also renounce his house. From now on, I don't owe him anything.

- Did you cut your hair?

- No pity. Ladai waved it lightly. “Why wear the badge of a clan to which you no longer belong?” Yes, and ... You know, but it turns out to be heavy. Or is my brain too light?

Hyatt chuckled. At least the bad fireman changed his mind about dying, and thanks for that. I changed my mind, it seems. And this is already good.

“And also…” Ladai walked back and forth and stopped in front of Khiyat. - What are you going to do now?

In response, he received a shrug, which he apparently considered.

“You don’t have a plan,” Ladai said thoughtfully. - Yes, and with the reputation will have to do something.

Hiat shrugged again. He didn't want to make any plans. Yes, and the reputation is quite satisfied. For some reason, I did not want to attract everyone's attention to my person. And then torn between duty and feelings. First you need to understand what you are, and then climb further.

“And also...” Ladai again walked around the room. “Don’t be offended, but your parents didn’t seem to be friends with the head. Dad for the most part.

“Look at yours,” Khiyat snapped.

“My just a follower of traditions and a bastard,” Ladai waved him off again. "He wouldn't have approached your mother at all." Because it's a shame. A girl without family or tribe, whose ancestors only knew how to kill themselves...

Hiat snorted.

Yes, I know he's wrong. It's just that your dad obviously didn't think so either. After all, he was the last and only guardian of the city. I could at least try to dictate my terms.

“I doubt anything would come of it,” said Khiyat. And he didn't even lie. - I don’t know what to do with myself, and you are “conditions”.

“Will you keep the secret of your birth until you finally lock it up?” Ladai asked mockingly.

- Yes! Khiyat barked stubbornly.

“Well, as you know,” the friend did not argue. - Maybe it's right. For you. There will be time to look around and do something about your damned reputation.

Hiat chuckled. Found something to cling to. Tactician and strategist.

The city is such a responsibility. It would be better to think about how to deal with this responsibility. Or at least figured out how he would live on. And most importantly, where? Apparently, he is not going to resurrect and spit under the feet of his dad. And bezvylazno sit in this house? It's possible to go crazy.

On the other hand, problems are best dealt with as they come. And while they seem to be gone, you need to be grateful for that. It doesn't matter to whom.