NEW WORLD

1

If you ask any navigator where in the world life is easier, he will point to the Equitanian archipelago. The islands in the south were deservedly called "safe haven". The last battles died down there hundreds of years ago, crafts flourished on the streets of the cities, ore was mined in the mountains, and crops were ripening in the fields. Even now, after centuries of prosperity and war with the Nikts, life in the south could be called a fairy tale, if not for one strange phenomenon.

Snow fell there every winter.

This happened for the first time seventy-nine years ago under Elingal X. Snow fell for a week, and then did not make itself felt for several years, after which it began to appear on the islands every winter. Peasants and miners quickly got used to it. In the mountains, it lay all year round, and in the east of Magoria it sometimes remained in the fields until late spring. Trivia and nothing more.

Only a few met winter snowfalls with alarm. There was something sinister about those heavenly feathers. Strange indeed, when white flakes fall among the palms and sandy lagoons as they circle and settle on the evergreen cliffs of Arkford and cover the vast plains from Erinlaw to Barnville.

Only the Nismantes knew that the heat was irretrievably flowing away from Gamelan. If before the frosts lasted no more than a month, now spring came to the south reluctantly and resembled an old woman, who every time finds it more and more difficult to wake up in the morning.

Tantabas became nismant three years ago. As a practitioner, he learned a lot about the world; he knew Equitania, where he lived, and every winter he saw snow, but there were no such snowdrifts in his memory. On a clear evening, he walked along a mountain path. Below was the Eastern Plain, more like a white sheet. At its other end, in the depths of Erinlyn Bay, there should have been Forklein, the second largest city on the island, but instead there were snow caps.

Wrapped in a woolen cloak, Tantabas looked out over the plain, feeling a growing sense of unease. The world around seemed to have died out, but the disappearance of the city and the people did not frighten him. Something else was brewing. He looked up and looked at the moon. A white disk with a deep gouge on its right edge froze in the void above Gamelan.

Every time he looked at the moon in winter, Tantabas wondered if snow could fall from there. Is it because the celestial globe is so white that it is made of ice? Thinking about it, he did not immediately notice a tiny crack that stretched over the rut. Tantabas screamed, realizing what was happening. The moon trembled and began to crumble. Dozens of cracks turned its surface into a web, but before the white ball completely cracked, fire broke out around it.

Tantabas swayed, feeling the ground move under his feet. The fragments of the moon continued to multiply, scattering in all directions. They sparkled and blazed, cutting the sky with fiery jets, and then a scarlet radiance was approaching. The firestorm was like a pre-sunset conflagration. In an instant, he filled the sky, bringing down a red-hot stone, fire and hot winds on the snow-covered edge.

Feeling the earth boiling, Tantabas covered his face with his hands in impotence and screamed.

Tant did not consider himself a sinner, but he was afraid of the wrath of the creator; even in his sleep, when he was visited by visions of the world fire. Rolling over on his side, he twitched his whole body and, without opening his eyelids, hit his forehead against the wall. The pain finally brought him to his senses. He lay in a warm mantle under a canopy, among the ruins, safe. He again had a terrible dream and again on a full moon. Everything is as usual, but not in Equitaine. He left his native island fourteen years ago.

Coming out of the abandoned manor, Tant went down to the ledge and looked around at the ruins below. Darkness reigned here day and night. The ancient city at the bottom of the gorge seemed to be deliberately hidden from the sun.

There was a heavy snoring behind him. Turning, he saw a shaggy head in the garden behind the stone fence.

“ Don't forget the rules, Kord. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth, ”Tant said with a smile. Do you meditate or do something else?

The boy stopped sniffling, but did not open his eyes.

Wrapped in a scarlet robe, Tant looked up at the moon. Its light gradually began to seep into the rock cavity, illuminating the ruins of the city. Many houses built of slate blocks turned white before our eyes. Only two-story manors and temples with figured windows remained black. They were carved into the slopes at different heights, and the approaches to them were connected by arched bridges.

The people who built this city were called “creators” for a reason. The ancients knew how to build luxurious buildings and did not spare the stone. It is not known only for what reason they decided to settle in such an ominous place. His closest associate Wistan believed that this policy was sacred. Perhaps that is why there were seven temples at once.

According to Wistan, six or eight similar cities were built on Mirkhold. This one looked small but rich, at least until the expedition of Baron Rainier found it three centuries ago. Their travel diaries said that the temples were bursting with gold and jade jewelry. Rainier, as befits any far-sighted Magore, rid the city of these riches.

“ Can't sleep, Tant? A strong voice came from behind.

Another far-sighted Magorian approached him. Wearing a worn brown purpuen over a woolen shirt, he looked like a rich man beaten up in the slums. Old man Ravian lived in a nearby manor, along with the rest of the squad. Tantus nodded, wrapping a corduroy hood around his neck.

“ I wonder how they lived here?”

“ Just like we do in Kenovia,” Tunt said. “Maybe even better. There is no wind. Floods are excluded. Dozens of water passages stretch into the abyss behind the wall. There is a mountain spring two miles to the east.

- And in winter?

Tant shuddered involuntarily, remembering the snow-covered plain from his dream.

“ The archives say that the empire of the creators disappeared a thousand years ago. At that time, it was hot here in winter. He paused for a moment and added, “Why do you think it snows in the south?”

– How do I know. You are the learned man, Tant. The stooping old man just waved his hand. - It's coming, so what? It's always cold in winter.

“ Ravian, buddy, I've been studying Mirkhold for three years. The island has always been warm. At the beginning of the Cycle, the Westmarians harvested a double crop here. It's such a rarity now. Alchemists cannot find some plants that used to be found everywhere. I think it's because of the cold. Maybe the time will come when the snow will not melt at all.

Did you have a dream again? Ravian looked at the moon. “Did you see the skull door?”

- No more. Probably because we found it. It's the second full moon since we've been out camping.

- All that remains is to open it. Maybe you'll stop dreaming about the firestorm too when...

- When will it be a short time before him?

The day of the last light he dreamed of for the third year in a row, and with this dream came another. He first saw him as a child, after a trip to the mines of Livercol. Then, in the ruins of the Welinkron Fort, he found a box with a double bottom, in which, in addition to coins, there was a golden disk.

Tant reached under the leather sash and pulled out an old find from the folds of his robe. Clamped in the center of the disk was a polished piece of amber, which became the death dungeon for the firewing beetle.

The door doesn't bother me. She is under our feet. But what happens when we open it? Why Mirai brought me here.

He turned the amulet towards the moon and it shone with an orange light. Like other magical things, this artifact endowed the owner with power. With him, he was given a lot of knowledge. He quickly wised up and achieved success in literacy. Parents in those years joked, they say, like a mouse, he bites into any page, and the amulet was called the “Letter Gnaw”.