Tense muscles, reduced by an uncomfortable posture, responded with sharp pain, blood, as if with needles, making its way through the veins until it bypassed all the limbs entirely, establishing normal circulation. Almost moaning, Claude restrained himself, he would not bring them joy from the pain he experienced. And his hands were already twisted behind his back, not allowing him to move away properly, things were no better for his comrades. Alita's light groan did not pity anyone, there were quite a few beautiful women in these casemates. It was not even hidden from her comrades what greasy looks the men threw at her, but they did not succumb to charm. Another chance to break free failed. Claude didn't know why Alita's charm didn't make the same impression on the guards as it did on him. Perhaps they had protection from this kind of influence, because they constantly dealt with non-humans, and perhaps love for Rolk, so influenced her herself, that a woman was not ready to charm othe
Claude now really did not care, his body ached and was almost not felt by him. With each oozing drop of blood, he felt how his muscles stiffened, how a nasty cold creeped up, threatening to cool his hot heart, which was still stubbornly beating against everyone and everything. He had never been afraid of death, but serving the emperor was even worse. Deiza screamed from somewhere on the side, the executioner took up a new victim. And for some reason, her cries turned out to be more painful for him than anything he had to endure himself. The heart trembled treacherously, from the anticipation of new cries, and the envoy of the emperor had already taken a step away from him. It had to be decided. Oh, how he did not want to accept their conditions, agreeing to them, he lost not only freedom, he sold his soul to the devil that was hiding in the human form of the emperor. But he could no longer listen to her crying.- Stop! - Claude shouted a little louder than a whisper, wanting to stop t
- As you have already been told, you are entering the service of the emperor, there is one thing that he wants to entrust to you, and only for this reason such as you have been spared life.- They could not cripple at the same time.“You, nonhuman, all nonhumans must die. It's a sin to complain about you, so everything heals quickly. And besides, you would hardly have agreed so easily. You nonhumans have no concept of honor and responsibility to the ruler.“A ruler who destroys people like me?”- And he does it right. But now is not about that. Here you go, now it's yours.With these words, she pulled out of her pocket a small strap with a pendant in the form of a star with five rays in a halo of sparks that were extinguished in the water. Without giving him a chance to protest, narrow palms, hardened from private swordsmanship, snapped the lock around his neck. A narrow pendant tightly gripped the throat, breath stopped, from the outburst of indignation quickly grew into anger. This
- What did you do there? the guy threw angrily, hoping to distract her from contemplating his face, since he had nothing else to hide with.- Wind. hat. Carried away. I wanted to get it and broke it, - the girl stammeringly answered.- It's good that everything worked out.Catching his breath, Claude stood up, standing a head taller than Naina, and already turned around to leave. Bathing was forgotten. What will happen now?! Have you seen him?! Did you know about him?“Claude… you?! - she said excitedly, the fear that gripped her began to gradually let go of her victim, and she even decided to grab him by the sleeve, stopping him. - Thanks. Hand...your hand.- Nothing, everything will pass. I went. Claude muttered and rushed back into the thickets of the forest, trying to reach the house as soon as possible. Feeling how the palm goes numb, covered with sticky blood, terrible drops falling to the ground. He ran through the thickets without looking at the road, without even noticing how
As Leatrix announced to him that as soon as he could walk, she would present him to the emperor and then he would hear his task, and until then he was left in the dark about what he might need from him.When Claude was able to confidently stand on his feet, another two weeks passed, during which time he managed to get stronger and relax, looking forward to the opportunity to get up from this already disgusted bed. Despite the time spent together, he was never able to talk to Berkhard, and he did not become closer to Leatrice either. The woman continued to perceive him as a forced evil, not worthy of her attention. His hands itched, and his body languished from forced inactivity. His active nature was eager to do at least something, but he was not allowed, and when asked to free his hands, he was advised not to be arrogant. When Berkhard allowed him to get up, Claude almost jumped for joy, but was forced to sink onto the bed with a groan, muscles that had barely fused over time refused
— Claude! - a joyful cry reached the ear and he was almost knocked down by two happy teenagers, clasping the taken aback mercenary from both sides.The cane, which fell out of his hands, fell with a ringing thud on the parquet, where it remained lying.- Alive. Daisyra muttered happily, rubbing tears down her face, although, as the young man noticed, her hands were also bandaged, but they obeyed her better than his. This pleased, so the executioner did not work hard on her, he managed to do it.- Alive, kitty. - Ronk joyfully embraced him, holding under the elbow, staggering Claude, whose legs still let him down, unable to withstand the weight of two happy children. - You look shabby.- I feel the same way. - Claude did not argue, he decided not to mention the bandages that braided his entire body.“We were worried,” Alita, waiting for her turn, kissed him, slowly releasing him from her embrace.He was squeezed and hugged, and Claude stood and happily looked at his fri
When they finally set out on a campaign, everyone perked up for a long time looking forward to this event. The horses proudly walked, carrying riders, and Nel moved especially briskly, delighted with the long-awaited meeting with the owner.Their small detachment moved slowly through the streets of the capital, led by Claude and Leatrice, slightly protruding forward. Then there were Caer with Daisyra and a girl they did not know, the envoy of the emperor. In general, it was a strange person who avoided Claude and Daisy, and now and then throwing frightened, wary glances in their direction. She looked no more than twenty-two years old, but Claude could have been mistaken, since the woman was very petite, and the huge glasses that covered half of her face, because of the wide rim, which big blue eyes looked out, only knocked down. Thick blond hair fell in a thick braid on her back, and even the taken ones reached her waist. She was dressed in a simple way, in a field jacket and trousers
- We'd love to meet you. The man chuckled sarcastically as he stirred the fire. The hood was lowered, revealing his cat eyes to everyone present.Are you all nonhumans? Ayana suddenly decided on the question, not taking her frightened gaze off Claude's face.- Not at all. Rolk and Kaer, ordinary people.- But why? ... - she did not have time to finish her thought, interrupted by Caer.- We are friends! - the guy shouted, indignant at such a division and not yet accustomed to this side of life. To which the girl only threw a strange indescribable look at him, clearly remaining unconvinced.“Now that we are more or less familiar, Leatrice, can you tell me where we are heading and why exactly?”“You don't need to know that.- If I ask, then it is necessary. I have to imagine what we are looking for and where, in order to understand what danger may await us.To which Leata thoughtfully turned the blade of grass and threw it into the fire, looked at Claude.“We are heading to the south of
The Rancia empire prospered. Those terrible times when the Ransians fearfully expected the birth of their own children are far behind. With the accession to the throne of the new emperor Claude re Tigras the First and Empress Daisyre re Tigras, the people stopped living in fear and excitement. Now every Ransian, human or not, had the same right to life and happiness. The persecution of non-humans stopped, because the ruling family also did not belong to the human race, mixed marriages began to appear more often, and cities grew. Life became calmer, now the imperials were not afraid to travel between cities, risking being in the mouth of some monster. All creatures, of course, did not disappear, but as a result of a number of innovations introduced by Claude from the experience of his mercenary life, they greatly facilitate the fight against these creatures, forced them to go away from human habitation or hide deep in their holes. Man again became the dominant race on the planet, and e
- Oh, those boys. Alita purred as she slid off her man's lap and sat down on Claude's bed. “In general, sweetheart, when we burst into the hall, we only made it to the finale, when you, with completely wild eyes, rushed towards the door until you stretched out on the floor, not having reached us a few steps. And then Alexander quickly stepped forward, ordering that you be lifted and taken to the imperial chambers and called for a doctor, and then he explained to everyone present that according to some ancient law, I don’t know where he dug it up, you become the next emperor, taking the place of the deposed you ruler. We didn't even believe what we heard. You are Claude and the emperor. It sounded kind of unbelievable. And to be honest, they also managed to catch this cold, so they thought it was the result of a fever. But as it turned out, no, they heard right and you were really glorified as the future emperor. He cleverly organized everything here. So even the few dissatisfied witne
- Infections... It's people like me that you call an infection?- Yes. To be honest, I even liked you a little, not often non-humans managed to hide from my eye for so long, and your stupid principles ... naive, frankly childish, but noble, made me smile. However, the fact that you are a monster cannot be changed and you have no other destiny than to die.“It’s like seeing which one of us is a monster.— Ha! Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?“Appearance says nothing about a person. Yes, my eyes and ears are different from human, but there is much less blood on my hands than on yours.- What are you talking about. Turn around. All these people could live if not for you.“My fault for their death is no less than the one who set them on me. At least I was only defending myself, not sending them to their deaths.They died because they were doing their duty.Or because they were left with no choice.This conversation did not lead them anywhere, without bringing clarity or sat
And now only three of them remained, the horses carried the tired mercenaries forward, whipping dust into the air and crumbling the age-old stone into the sand. Two hot streams of steam escaped the air from the wide, nervously quivering nostrils of the driven horses. No one believed that they would catch up with the warrior, only hoping that the emperor would not realize his terrifying plan immediately upon the arrival of his assistant. On the horizon in front of them rose the towers of San Pen, brightening up the dull landscape with each kilometer growing higher and higher, delighting and frightening at the same time. Claude did not know what awaited them in the capital, for the first time he did not have at least some slightly thought-out plan, only one desire to be in time, not to be late, to stop. Inside, everything was shrinking from a bad premonition, but the guy drove away uninvited thoughts. You should never take on a job with a gloomy attitude to its failure, otherwise, every
Leata's voice broke through her rage-clouded consciousness. "Finally!" the guy exhaled, looking at the best thing to do in order to retreat without consequences for his health and life. It was not far to go, the creatures had already almost pressed him to the failure, from which the mercenary was separated by several steps, he needed only a couple of three seconds to get the coveted vial and jump over to the other side. Taking a step back, he seized the sword more comfortably and threw the dagger at the creature closest to him, slashing the blade across the entire expanse available to him and forcing the creatures to retreat a couple of steps. Here are his seconds. Rushing back, he removed the blade with one hand, and with the other he felt for the coveted cork. Which is specially marked so as not to be confused with others. The previous experience of using this remedy in the battle with sectroses taught him decently, but there was no time to sip drop by drop. Let it be what will be.
Aiyana, hurry up. Something is not happening.- One more second. Here it is! - the girl purred enthusiastically, pressing the lever near the capsule, and completely not noticing what was happening around.- We have no time. It's time to go.- Not! Until I find it, I won't leave.- Crap! Is it worth your life?- Yes!Discouraged by the answer, the mercenary fell silent for a few seconds. That's devotion! She could be admired if he and his comrades of life did not depend on her.Tell me what to look for! - finally, unable to stand it, he grunted, finally entering the room and feeling the cold enveloping from all sides.- You don't know the language.But I can see. I'll find it by sight. Show me or we'll all stay here.She did not argue further, obediently showing what symbols she had to find. There were few of them, at most four, of which one was a letter, and the rest resembled modern numbers. It was not even a name, but rather a code. He moved along the nearest shelving unit, running
At Leata's remark, Claude only shook his head, as they approached the ruins, Leatrice became more and more irritable and angry. He did not know what was eating her, most likely she was also afraid. After a quick bite, they hit the road. The sounds that accompanied their breakfast didn't help their appetite, and neither did their conversation. In anticipation of a meeting with the owners of these voices, people unanimously grew gloomy, but walked, carefully looking around. It gradually began to get light around, mischievous rays gently ran across the grass, reflected in drops of dew, flashed on people's weapons, playfully looking into their eyes and blossomed with a gloomy rainbow, reflected from the surface of the lake. The one that Leata called the "Lake of the Dead". For what it received such a name, no one knew, but the assumptions were different. Maybe the ancients drowned their dead in it, or maybe this is due to some mysterious story, since the lake was no different from its cou
- What the hell! cried Claude with a loud splash as he went under the water. The turbulent river picked up its prey with the joy of a small child who discovered in his power a toy he had long desired. The big man was twisted and twisted, sometimes hitting the side of the shell. Water clogged in his mouth, nose, forcing him to spit, smearing haze before his eyes. You can't give up! Claude remembered that he was not alone in the water, but he did not have time to really see the creature that had so cleverly discounted him. However, this did not give a reason to underestimate her. Ripping up the water with powerful strokes, he forced himself to swim up. Thank the Gods, he did not have time to take aside. The shell, like a native, clung to him, dragging him along, trying in vain to pull him under him. The body already almost did not obey him, bound by a terrible cold. Pushing off from the surface of the water, Claude desperately jumped up in an unsuccessful attempt to grab the edge, feeli
— Falcon. Daisyra prompted, following his gaze. For her, this distance was not a problem. - Beautiful.- Yes. And lonely.- How are you!- What did you get?“This is how we met you in that tavern.- When it was. Seems like another life.- Yes. And I'm glad we met.- And I.They had a strange conversation, they seemed to be talking and at the same time not. Pictures of their meeting floated before his eyes, taken apart by the words of the girl, and seeing himself, he looked and did not recognize. Now he was no longer the same person. Claude has changed. Becoming somehow something ... more integral, but still in his chest did not want to melt a tight lump that appeared there in childhood, as if not allowing him to free himself from the cage created by himself.- For me, he is not alone, but strong. Rolk muttered thoughtfully.— Who are you talking about? Caer joined in, also following his eyes sparkling in the rays of the sun, following the bird circling above them.- About both.“We wi