2022-07-15 15:15:53
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THE OUTLAND 91
I never found out the correct name of the boat - in response to my question, the translator gave out some kind of furious word - a nightmare of a xenologist. Tya… Tlalo… Lta… In short, let there be a trimaran. Floats, net, mast and rudder, nothing more."Are you going to hit me in the head again?" I grumbled as I climbed into the net. The interpreter translated my words to the captain, who burst into a satisfied laugh.- He says that if the master insists, then please. But the location of the temple island is no secret, people flock there from all over the archipelago.- But, perhaps, the Amri village is a secret? I can probably get from the temple to the village.“Master can try. - The interpreter translated. - Right now. Where is the village?The captain gestured with his hand to one endless water to the horizon. - The northern channel reaches the daytime crossing in the widest part, there are no landmarks if you do not know them. Is that the stars and the position of the sun. -
THE OUTLAND 92
The spider wants me to achieve the same result, but at the same time not lose the ability to think on the battlefield. I suppose I will need a thinker just for the correct counteraction to various magical and priestly attacks.- Sir, wake up. - The old man called, slowly knocking out the receiver. “Temple Island is already on the horizon.- I didn't sleep. I replied, pulling myself out of my thoughts with difficulty. Scenes from the prophecy revolved in my head, Sabaf and Okama, Thomas' stasis and Rick's slippery earth. The answer lay on the surface, but no matter how hard I struggled, I could not get it.He turned in the direction where the translator had waved his hand - from the sunny side, a temple island was approaching, as if cut in half by a huge sword. The side closest to us was a gentle rise, overgrown with grass and trees, here and there you could see small buildings of a clearly religious persuasion on man-made terraces. And on the far side, separated by an abyss, stretched
THE OUTLAND 93
Two hours later, I was sitting in the guest quarters, washed to a creak, dressed in a good outfit, obviously gathering dust in a chest for every fireman, well-fed and angry.Why are you angry? Yes, damn it, for a whole host of reasons! You can start, for example, with an old translator who burst into my room with happy tears in his eyes:- Master, master! News has arrived from the village! - The old man ran up to me and hugged me with an amazing hug for such years - my ribs almost cracked.- Well, great. Wonderful. And why do I need to know? I asked carefully, making sure that there was a heavy, immovable table between us.- Sir, news from the granddaughter! Today the spirits have named a new number of the tribe - my number.— Eh… What?- I will become a great-grandfather! The old man announced happily.- Congratulations! And ... - He does not want to say that that red-skinned beauty who visited me just before sailing ...- Thank you, Mr. I thought it would not work, the lord needs so
THE OUTLAND 94
- Not. Everywhere only scattered references.- Well. I suppose this is because the truth is not very convenient for either the old or the new gods. You see, the younger gods know the power of the nameless, it is not a myth for them, but a real threat - as it once was for the older ones. And we are talking not only about the divine couple, who were driven out of the occupied lands, but also the elder seven as a whole.- Nameless? What side is he here?- So that it is not a name or some kind of title. The nameless one may not be a person at all, that's why he is nameless. This is the answer of the world if something goes very wrong. For example, if one scoops too much from the Font or the power of a sleeping person, if the natural order of things is violated, the nameless one appears.- Wait. But at the moment when the first gods appeared, there was no nameless one!- Did not have. Only everyone is silent that not seven people came to the Kupel, but six. The Nameless One appeared the mo
THE OUTLAND 95
Perhaps one of the nicest things about religion, from my point of view, is that going from a devout believer to an atheist is actually a breeze. It is enough just to stand before your god. When you know that the object of your prayers does not sit somewhere in the heights, controlling the fate of the whole world, but rather sits on the edge of the fountain and, waving his arms, arguing about something with another god, you involuntarily stop believing. For how to believe in something about the existence of which you know absolutely exactly, saw it with your own eyes, and so on.Complex issue. But it seems that the same Spider Astrix did not care about worship at all, he turned out to have other goals, other values. Ware, even before his sleep, preferred to raise children in a house on an island, and not pretend to be an evil uncle on a cloud. Yes, they should be like that, if you approach the issue with the utmost honesty. Thoroughly mundane, solid, once people, and now they have beco
THE OUTLAND 96
— And die at every meeting with Thomas and other avatars. Ware interrupted.- Why would you?“You spoke so confidently about your plans that for a second I even believed that you were fully aware of the consequences, ready to constantly run and hide.- Who are you hiding from? Why would?"The spider didn't tell you?"Astrix chuckled.“He’s been hinted at so many times today… I’m afraid if he doesn’t guess everything himself, I’ll be very disappointed in him.”Me too, my enemy.Both gods gave me a sympathetic look, and I felt like an idiot. Once again, it's time to start getting used to it.Yes, of course! Enemy! Okay, I'm sorry that I was a little tired, upset, plus I was shocked by the old man's statement that the Amri village would soon be replenished, and I was involved in this.But now it's time to start thinking! A blind priest, acolytes, in the end, Warcraft himself… They all knew, they saw the mark of the Enemy on me — another god, despite the fact that I didn’t praise Astrix a
THE OUTLAND 97
The old priest, beside himself with happiness, unmistakably found my shoulder and laid his withered palm:- My boy. My boy…” he repeated, looking past me and smiling. “I’ve been going to this for so long, I’ve been waiting for so long ... Will I really be present at the awakening of Warcraft!”“Well, well, father,” I embarrassedly looked away, although it was clear that there was no eye contact at all, “I came here for this, remember? “Yes, but the act of awakening is an act of good will. You yourself must call God to our world, home, no one has the right to force you. And you may not want to.— Yes, I understood everything.“Come, I will take you to your chambers so that you clear your thoughts and leave a letter to the executor.” - The old man let go of my shoulder and, turning around, trotted to the corridor leading to the guest wing.- Soul ... What?“Of course, there are far fewer servants of the couple now than fifty years ago, and we will not be able to hold a holiday worthy o
THE OUTLAND 98
"Rob, don't sleep! Now is your way out!"“The Stranger calls for Warcraft, we call for Warcraft!” The amazingly strong and clear voice of the blind priest easily interrupted both the muttering of the novices and even the hum of the wormhole. - Wake up!— The Stranger is calling. The hall immediately became crowded from the feeling of some irresistible force, similar to the one that crushed me to the ground under the gaze of the bone dragon. Psychic attack? - Wake up. I muttered.We are a slave, we have no name. We have always waited for the return of the one who will give us strength and purpose, arm us with knowledge and lead us forward, burn cities and build our temples on their ruins. We are a slave, we have no history.Somewhere I have already heard this."Rob, then everything is behind you," whispered in consciousness again."Vessel of the Void and Unbreakable Bonds. Did you know from the beginning?!""Of course I did, you bastard! Do you think you just got those abilities just
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Epilogue
And then ... Everything went - as it went. And may there always remain worlds where people are lonely, where it is dark, and icteric palms of maples fall from the sky. One day Avdeyka and his mother... Aunt? The devil will break his leg in their difficult relationship. One way or another, they will definitely get there. Maybe one day they will get to the chair where my reader is bent from loneliness. Who knows, the universe is merciful and loves its children. But it is not exactly. But it is known: today the very first seven testers-gods got up from sleep. Eduardo, Shelly, Alexey, Umbra, Erebus and Nyukta, Selina. Alive, absolutely. Skinny, of course, like a spring rook, but quite sane. Shelly even tried to pick up her son from the distributor, but she was quickly explained that he would definitely be better there. Astrix also did not go away, although he got out from under the dropper. From time to time he walks into other people's dreams, treats him to strange drinks and cigare
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Rob, hurry up! Astrix's voice called. We won't be able to hold him back for long!The scarlet bloody whip in the air was overwhelmed by several multi-colored energy flows at once, trembling with tension. The thaumaturge, gaping, stopped bombarding me with new spells for a change and stared at the doomsday reigning in the sky.Who are you boy? Why did you decide that to treat you the same way as everyone else is the greatest injustice? Where did the thoughts in your head come from that people should be connected by feelings and affections, and not by common interests?I understood what all this battle was about, what the road had led to until now. The boy remained alone all his life, believing that he was just very unlucky, and that somewhere there must be friendly hands, a warm smile and hope for tomorrow - you just need to look properly. About the fact that the world is dying of loneliness, he learned much later, becoming much older.A world that didn't need a boy. A world that aband
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- Un-life. Why don't you rein in your robbers then? - I almost believed it. Nearly. “The corruption is preparing for a massive raid on the lands of the living, which means…- I know. But I'm still an avatar, my abilities are limited. And I can't go anywhere from here. To become a goddess in the fullest sense of the word, I need...— Believers! I slapped my forehead. - Well, of course. Followers, believers, own church.“We can start with the first knights. So... How do you look... - She blushed, looked away. - Well…“Become one of those ugly strategists?— Rob! You are to blame for their appearance! You can look whatever you want!- Nevermind. But you yourself understand - there is some complexity. If I'm next to you on Limbo right now, it most likely means that I'm dead. And a corpse cannot be turned corrupted. An undead connecting rod - you can, but not with Filth.- It's true. But something has changed.- Yes?“You see, two people from the same account came into this world. And one
179
"I look into my eyes ... I'll touch my lips. And what to say when I'm gone?" - Asked guitar picks over the black Icelandic beach, and the night was surprisingly warm, not at all suitable for November in the northern latitudes of Limbo.Night again, beach again. Another terrible headache.“Rob, Rob…” Nervous, sensitive fingers stroked my head. “You never get used to the fact that the body is a weapon. Relaxed, believed in the brothers on opposite sides of the barricades. That's what I got. Did you get it?- I cant. I complained without opening my eyes. - I'm tired. Why do they keep killing me? We almost agreed, almost resolved the issue.“We haven’t decided, stupid Robushka. And they couldn't. Understand that from the point of view of Warcraft, it is he who overcomes fifty years of captivity, cut off from his loved one, overcomes obstacle after obstacle, trying to reunite the family. Or at least avenge their deaths. And when he wins, there will be a happy epilogue and everyone will be
178
He dissapeared."Spider, come on!" I pleaded.A silent prayer burst out of my chest and spread throughout the Oikumene, and when there was no space between me and the fury of the avenging god, a huge black sword, literally a millimeter above my head, was stopped by a blade of sand.“You should look for an opponent in size,” Astrix smiled white-toothed.So you helped him. Ware said slowly. "It's good that both of you are here!"- And what will you do? Ban me too?- Not.Ware waved his hand, and the glow of the font parted, releasing the already familiar crystal, which contained the powers of the defeated gods. Only this one was much larger, and not empty. Zhdan froze inside him with his mouth wide open from a tearing cry!- Oh, you're a creature. Spider said softly. “You do understand that after this you won’t leave here with your own feet?”- Don't care. I don't care at all! I will kill you both!The clapping of his hands fanned the blood around him, and the magician's body seemed to
177
Closed tightly, I almost completely stopped relying on the light, leaving only my new outlandish vision. It gave the picture with spots, intersecting lines, but the brain quickly adjusted itself, and from the flickering in front of the inner gaze, it independently completed a completely three-dimensional picture of the environment. The steps underfoot seemed new, almost untrodden, although the temple itself is definitely more than two thousand years old...However, this is logical. Only a couple of dozen people have walked this road. The senior pantheon came to the Font when it was still an ordinary cave in the mountain, and, of course, no staircase had yet been built. So consider it an untrodden path.Turn after turn, the levels went past - the sacrificial altar, administrative premises, the household unit, the barracks ... Soon, according to the sensations, the ground level also passed. This was told to me by my vision, since nothing has changed in all other parameters. There were n
176
The Christmas tree backed away, and I, sinfully squeezing past it in half, stared thoughtfully at my avatar. A savage Amri, a slave by birth, a pacifist by conviction - it was necessary to manage, in such and such a world, to get a lowered pain threshold! Laughter and sin, in general, are obviously cannon fodder, which usually does not survive even the first serious battle.But they survived. And they didn't even get scars. Unless, of course, do not count those inside. And, of course, a snowflake peeking out from under the undergarments. But this is not a scar, but rather a protective mark. Okay, good time to pull, it is already in short supply.- Hey, get up! I called.The spider said something about the reunion of soul and body. But damn, how to implement it? God somehow forgot to mention the technical details - either he really didn’t know, or for him such tricks are so in the order of things that they are not worth clarifying.No answer. Of course."Get up, motherfucker!" I shook
175
- What?! I barked. - What nonsense! Xolotl is alive, I personally...- Killed her? Astrix raised an eyebrow. “Finished off what little was left of her?”But you are all alive. You, Ware, other scumbags. What happened to Shelly?- She was already unstable at the time of digitization because of the child, you understand? One and a half consciousness, working out of tune. Technique then simply did not provide for such a situation ... And now, you yourself understand. Pregnancy is a vanishingly rare phenomenon these days.“But she gave birth in those two thousand years.- Both in real life and in virtual, yes. But in real life, the process of childbirth is simply the separation of one from the other without any sacrifice on the part of the psychostructure. In the virtual, everything turned out a little differently.And who did she give birth to? Gary?The spider chuckled.- Does not give you a dream of rest, I see. No, not Gary. Who cares. The main thing is that the rejection mechanism at
174
Agnis exhaled convulsively again, but said nothing.— In general, it all started with Haang as the very first. He went to the abyss, where he deposed the archangel. Now all the Filth is in his hands. They do not touch people yet, but they destroyed one cemetery. Guess which one.“The same thing, without the ankh!” I gasped. “So there is no longer any protection between humans and the Filth!”- Right. Khaang's troops catch all living things and turn them into Filth - they accumulate strength. As soon as they accumulate enough, they move on. We have no idea where, but it is clear now: Haang will not be the only corrupted god at the head of this army. Soon the rest will realize where the game is fatter, and against the seven demons, I'm afraid even I can't resist.- Good. What we can do?- Restore balance. Astrix shrugged. — Return the ankh to its homeland, restore the lich of the plundered cemetery. Even one lich can hold back the Filth indefinitely, and if he summons a bone dragon...-
