Fortress of Hope

Chapter 2Chapter two.Path into the unknown.A bright ray of sunlight broke through closed eyelids. Opened my eyes. A familiar picture - a blue sky overhead, tree branches, a light lulling swaying of a stretcher. They're taking me somewhere again. Listened to feelings. The head began to hurt much less, the leg only slightly twitches. Raising his head, he saw the backs of two hefty warriors dragging a stretcher. - Good morning! I greeted loudly, trying to smile happily. In surprise, one of the porters in front twitched and unclenched his arms, the stretcher tilted, and I fell out of them safely. He only managed to notice the ground rapidly flying towards him and lost consciousness from a crushing collision ... darkness ... Oh. My poor head. I won't open my eyes yet. Something is bothering me. A familiar voice of a big man was heard nearby:“Why did you leave the stretcher, you sclerous brat?” BUT?! It looks like Ricard is having an educational conversation with a negligent porter

Chapter 4Chapter Four.In a new place.The first day in a new place turned out to be one of the most difficult for me - for the first time I tried to stand up and take a few steps. Prudent Ricard prepared a pair of homemade crutches for this occasion and now cackled at me like a mother hen, running from one side to the other. I refused his offer to lie down for another day, they say, they can handle it themselves, which caused a bunch of reproaches about my indiscretion and stupidity. Seeing that I was stubborn and could not be persuaded, the big man sighed contritely and, after a short absence, returned with crutches. Looks like he prepared ahead of time, doubting my prudence. And now, leaning on crutches, I was preparing to take the first step. Taking a cautious step, I shifted my weight onto my injured leg and listened to the sensations. Tolerable. I am not a walker for long distances, but so far this has not been required. From an unexpected thought that came to my mind, I laug

Chapter six.Work is in full swing. Problems are multiplying.Thanks to joint efforts, the place for the future fort was almost completely cleared: trees and shrubs were cut down, boulders and stone fragments were dumped into a huge pile. Now it is much easier to imagine the outlines and location of future buildings. Most of the people worked with their bare hands - from the tools there were about a dozen axes, heels of saws and the same number of hammers. But, despite this, the work was in full swing and subsided only with the onset of darkness. Now a dozen men, under the supervision of Drovin, were driving thick stakes into the ground, marking the contours of the protective wall. Only she could protect us from attack. That the attack would definitely happen, I had no doubt. After watching the work and exchanging a few words with Drovin, I went on. My leg buckled and, despite the protests of Ricard and Father Flatis, I got rid of the annoying crutch with great relief. He was still

Chapter eight.The first harbinger of trouble.The next morning was sunny and warm. Clear weather was overshadowed by only one incident - Leni broke loose. Shortly before that, I was just standing nearby and discussing with Drevin the question of the speedy construction of a canopy over the entrance to the cave, when I discovered that the master did not listen to me at all and, with his jaw hanging to the ground and glazed eyes, stared somewhere behind me. Intrigued, I turned around, and that's when it happened. A small figure fell off a sheer wall, frantically waving its arms and emitting a heart-rending cry, in an instant covered the distance to the ground and inelegantly crashed into it, raising a high fountain of mud. Glory to the Creator, this momentous event took place at a height of only fifteen cubits from the ground, and Leni escaped with a broken arm in two places, a bruised back and numerous scratches and abrasions. Lucky. Of course, we learned all this later, and at the

Chapter ten.Dark deeds of a bright church.Accompanied by the brothers of the masters, I examined the settlement - bursting with pride and consumed with impatience, Drevin and Drovin raised me at dawn to show me everything that had been done during our absence.And I, naively, hoped that I could sleep off for the whole last week. Where is there ... who would let me ... The first rays of the sun barely had time to break through the dense clouds and fall on the walls of the gorge when I was unceremoniously awakened. As usual, Ricard, who was sleeping next to him, opened one sleepy eye, grunted something impartial about the restless brothers, and, straightening the slipped blanket, continued to sleep. He certainly didn't want to wake up. With burning envy, I got up, groaning - the workload of the last days had an effect, my muscles ached mercilessly - I made my way to the stream, sprinkled ice water on my face, threw on a tattered leather jacket and waved a doomed hand to Drevin, showi