NEW WORLD

2

He began to wear the artifact from the age of fourteen, after which another miracle happened. In dreams, Tant saw a city in the rocks, and someone's voice repeated a word similar to the name: "Mirai". There also appeared a door with skulls, which was described in the diaries of the Nismant Christabel, who came to this city along with the people of Baron Rainier.

- Find an ancient city. Open the mysterious door. Looks like some kind of fairy tale, - the old man said with a smile. “I think you've been lucky twice. First, I dug up the memory of Mirai, enclosed in a stone, and then Christabel's diaries.

- And the door? Why wasn't it opened when the city was robbed?

“ Renier was a petty merchant from Crag Feron. He just wanted to get rich, but there was enough good here. Plus, the door is creepy. It remains to be seen what powers are hidden behind it.

Tant caught the hint in the accountant's words. The old man knew a little more than the rest about the expedition and expressed his opinion, even when he was not asked.

“ The day of the last light will happen by the will of Nismass. The door has nothing to do with it, - said Tant, hiding the amulet. “I once told a dream to Thorgrim, and he said that the tide cannot be diverted by a wall of sand. Poetic?

“ Your abbot is right. You are still young, Lord Tantabas. Now I'm sixty-two. For me, the last light may come any day.

– And what?

“ It’s right for old people to be afraid of death, but when young people tremble at the sight of a skull, it’s stupid. Mark my words. If you think bad things, bad things will happen.

Ravian patted his shoulder thoughtfully. Tanta was always annoyed by this trait of his character. The old people loved to teach the young, but he himself was no longer young. In the spring he turned twenty-nine.

“ Old man, I will soon begin to regret telling you about the dream. Too bad I don't have any friends besides you and Thorgrim.

What about Wistan?

Tantus nodded and looked down at his hand, as white as the surface of the moon. The sun, unlike the night luminary, was merciless, warming his skin so much that blisters began to appear on it. A strange illness drove away from him almost all the brothers in the order. Had it not been for the intercession of Abbot Thorgrim, he might have remained a layman altogether. Only these three, not counting the little Kord, treated him with warmth; Wistan also because he was an eccentric. Nismant lived in the library and knew everything about the creators. They might have gone here together if the abbot had not sent a bookman to Gotford to take the place of the alms-gatherer.

" It's a pity Wistan isn't with us," Tant sighed ruefully. I need his advice more than ever.

- So follow him. They won't notice.

The old man nodded towards the high wall, from behind which came the sound of laughter and the strumming of a lute. The rest of the companions rested by the fires in the camp nearby. Tant touched a leather sash with eight sheaths. Each contained an enchanted stone. In Gamelan they were called "bols". Any practitioner who had a sufficient supply of strength could work miracles with their help. Some caused fiery flashes, others could freeze something, there were those that awakened the dead, but the most useful ones were able to move in space. The main condition for such "jumps" was a charmed object - a "lighthouse", hidden at the place of arrival. A month ago, he made one such stone right here, burying a lighthouse in the garden near the manor.

“ You can move to Gotford. Clap and already there. Invite Wistan here.

“ It will take a lot of strength, and I need them here. He smiled and whispered in his ear. “I buried a beacon in the slums, next to Gonther's tower. I'll be there out of thin air. Imagine what beggars will think when they see my pale face.

Ravian burst out laughing, but quickly fell silent as the sound of slapping came from below. An orange dot flashed on one of the streets. Soon his first assistant Holden appeared at the foot. In the hands of the breathless young man was a torch. Sandals thudded against the stone slabs. Having crossed the square with the sagging mansions, the henchman in a scarlet half-robe went up to them along the steps carved into the rock.

- Master Tantabas! he breathed, pulling up the slipped peplum. “I found a secret mechanism. All as you said! Right there!

He pointed to a nearby slope, where stood a towered fortress with the remains of a gate.

– Are you sure?

- There was no secret staircase, but I had to turn the rings on the walls. Then there was a rumble from below. I went down to the sanctuary and checked everything. Door opened.

Tanta swayed. If only everything was that simple. They had inspected the bastion at the beginning of autumn, but this morning he dreamed of moonlight flowing from the cellars like water into the temple. It is incredible that the door mechanism was placed so high, but the creators, apparently, counted on this.

- It's high time. We’ve been waiting for a bite for a month already,” Kord’s displeased voice was heard from the garden.

The shaggy boy finished meditating and stepped over the fence, tightening the belt on his jacket along the way. Together they looked up at the bastion, and then at the stepped pediment of the sanctuary below. The fortress above was built of shale, whitened by the moonlight. The basalt bulk below, on the other hand, remained black and inhospitable.

- Gather everyone! Tante commanded. - We're going down!

“ Yller and Sebastian are already there. I met them in the sacristy under the sanctuary,” Holden said, running towards the camp.

“ What are those fools doing there at this hour?”

- Looking for treasures. I probably shouldn't have told them about the door. Both went there.

Tante clutched his head.

- Fools! This Sebastian is always on his mind. If he wasn't from the south, I wouldn't have taken him!

“ Only such a tyrant could ride a witch,” the old man concluded with a grin.

While the companions stuffed the bales, Tant read the midnight prayer. The fiery lord Nismass, whom the Nismant served, supported life in the world of people with the help of the sun and protected them from darkness. He gave him the strength to find this place. Everything was his will. Thus spoke Abbot Thorgrim and Prior Alvin, the most holy men on the island. Tant believed them and did not understand only one thing - for which Nismass sent him a solar disease. Why did he accept a Nismanta who is afraid of his greatest creation?

- Let it be. All your will and your light everywhere,” he whispered, putting both palms to his forehead.

When Ravian and Kord finished packing, Tant was already outside with the others. Many were impatient to go down. The skinny yeoman's eyes sparkled especially brightly. Rick was their guide, slippery as a leech but reliable. More than once he had to lead people to the north and gut the burial caves. The rest Tant took as porters, including three kenovian minions.

Rick and now went ahead. Following the guide, they descended into a stunted square at the foot and headed towards the temple square. Nine lights floated briefly among the remains of houses and soon crossed the arched bridge under the outpost. The black temple towered above them in three stepped tiers, and even higher the moon filled the gorge with a marble glow.

Along a wide corridor they entered the prayer hall. The temple seemed spacious at the entrance, but the tunnels narrowed below. Having descended the stairs to the fourth tier, they lined up in a chain.

From the depths, the voices of Üller and Sebastian gradually began to be heard.

Descending even deeper, Tant let Rick go ahead, and he himself took out a fire whirlwind bola. For a month they did not find a single cadaver in the city, but anything could be waiting outside the door.

On the fifth tier, the narrowest and most musty, Kord tugged at the sleeve of his robe.

“ Hey Master Tant. Do you think they'll accept me? I'm a rogue.

– What? he asked, letting Holden walk past.

- Will be accepted as news. I am learning to control my breathing. I can meditate, but so what? Kord complained, running the torch across the wall. I am the son of a fisherman and a knitter. My parents are stupid. Do you think I'm better?

“ Nismants are not by birthright, Kord. You're twelve and you're a capable guy. The time will come when I will introduce you to the abbot.

- And then I will study until gray hair? Maybe I should follow the path?

Tant looked at him in confusion, not understanding how the boy knew about this. Recently, one of the brothers did just that. Likir was a gifted but cruel young man. At twenty-two, he was tired of studying, and he demanded to expel himself from the monastery. It was a dangerous ritual in which not only the spiritual, but also the physical strength of the future nismant was tested. Together with him, three brothers joined the “path of practice”. It is not known what happened in the wilderness, but Likir returned alone, and there was too much scarlet on his scarlet half-robe. On the same day, the young man's memory was erased, and in the morning he was initiated into nismant.

“ You yourself told me about the path,” reminded the fisherman’s son. – Can I also go through it and become a practitioner? We will become equal and we will search for treasures together.

And forget to think! - Tant stopped the boy and pressed his hand against the wall. “Do you understand me, Kord? The path of practice is suicide, and I need you alive.

- Do you need me?

The scruffy youth smiled ingratiatingly, but his eyes wandered uneasily.

“ We have a lot of passion in the port about kenovia. They say you sacrifice children there.

- Nonsense! Nismant will not offend a child, - Tant said, and added wryly, - but we will make an exception for you. Now don't distract me. There may be traps ahead.

They came to the iron gates. The right gate was open. Everyone except Ravian and Kord followed the guide. Tant paused too, examining the texture of the gate. Each section was divided into seven parts and looked like a rack on which skulls lined up instead of books. Tant ran his fingers over one of them. Fifteen years had passed since he had first seen that door in his dream, and now it was open.

There was a deafening roar from below. Tantus took off from his seat, feeling in his gut that the southerners had done something bad, and he was not mistaken. A series of steep steps led him to a pillared transmission hall.