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Time Of Traitors 23
- Well, you kids are noisy! came a hoarse voice as they touched the bumpy bark. Shuna whimpered and trembled.- Quiet, everything is fine, - Vassa put his hand on her shoulder and began to rummage through the bag. - Take this!He raised the dark bottle higher and it immediately disappeared into the leaves.- Only one?!- How much do you need? Vassa was surprised. - Always been alone!“But there are two of you,” he chuckled. So you need two. A bottle is also put for a girlfriend.We didn't agree on that! - the wolf cub was indignant.- Correctly. You didn't say you'd bring a girlfriend. So next time bring two. Or three if you bring her back!“Okay, okay, yours took it,” Vassa surrendered. - We will go.- Go, go, doves. Or maybe she should have a cup of tea herself? She's kinda pale.“Normal,” Vassa grabbed the girl by the hand and stepped on the suspension bridge with which the trunk of the Sacred Ref was entangled. Shuna jumped down onto the creaking boards after him, but, unable to s
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And she left. The girl took a closer look, and the feather bed is full of reptiles. Then the featherbed prayed that the girl would take her out of the house and shake out of her all the lice and other infection of the old woman. The maiden obeyed the plea and carried the feather bed out onto the porch.Hear the earth around him humming. How the drums beat. Like inhuman singing from under the bowels is heard.“A beautiful girl,” came the voice of the old women from the kingdom of the underworld. “Has my feather bed not warmed up yet?”“No, I’m warming, grandmother, I’m warming,” said the girl, and she herself shook the feather bed from the porch. Then plague lice crawled out of it and ran away in all directions.Again the drums rumble and sing for the whole Forest for a hundred throats.“A beautiful girl,” the earth thundered in the voice of an old woman. “Is my featherbed still warm?”“No, I try, grandmother, I warm it as best I can,” said the girl, and she shook the feather bed from
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He approached the screen and carefully peered behind the heavy curtain. Behind him it was too dark to see at least something, and the cub, spitting on caution and Shuna's half-strangled plea, darted into the darkness. He had to move by feel, but soon he caught sight of a tiny cinder, which somehow drove away the stubborn darkness. The closer he got to the tiny candle, the more his heart drummed and his armpits sweated. How will she receive it? How will you meet? And suddenly, she is sleeping peacefully, and he will only scare her with his pale physiognomy?Already closer - and now the torn bed turns white in front of him. May be? Maybe ... - he blinked, trying to look out in the dark for a memorable fluffy skin and already preparing to be frightened by the menacing look of the enchantress, crawling at her feet and begging for forgiveness. Then something grumbled, stirred, and finally squeaked nearby, forcing him to shudder with fear. And he really almost died of fear when he saw befor
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Khalsa shuddered at these words, his face darkened and hardened even more. The father twitched his cheekbone and continued:“I did this because I saw in the Pied Piper a brave warrior who would fight for what was dear to him. Isn't that what our ancestors bequeathed to us? Isn't that why we lived by the law all these years? The law that the ancestors received from the d'ahs themselves. Valor is the highest quality for a man, the second quality is selflessness. A true rok'hee is fearless in battle against an enemy that has attacked his home. A true rok'hee will not leave a person in the woods, especially if he is a good and honest person. And a real rok'hi will not go to poison the helpless, if he gave him shelter and food.- Don't confuse us, Musa! Asa didn't back down. “He came to our village only to bring us only grief. A good person will not endanger others if he himself is to blame. Rather die. And for this puppy, the women and children of the Rock'hee must die.- Dirty, waste! sh
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The environment is dark and very warm. Vikta was lying under a duvet in her bedroom, and this story with a stone and a brother turned out to be just a terrible dream. Already on the threshold of the realm of dreams, a fleeting desire came to take a step back - to return to sweet dreams, away from troubles: books, stoves, scrolls, pebbles, stupid training and abel Ro's screeching whip - everything is unimportant and not worth it to take your head off the soft , sweaty pillows.An unpleasant tingle spread in his chest, which was given to his fingertips. A strange feeling did not leave her, as if her legs and arms were something distant and almost impalpable, as if she were hung up by strings, like a doll. Nitsiri blinked, licked her dried lips with the same dry and alien tongue - as if she had walked a cracked dick on a wooden block and only made it worse. I tried to take a breath to drive away the unpleasant heaviness in my throat. Nothing. The air entered the lungs in a thin stream an
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She turned her head and looked closely at the body on the right, but could not see anything not only because of the darkness, but also because of the dense layer of white caps that covered the entire body from head to toe. Looks like an old timer. I wonder how long he has been lying here, and what his insides have turned into?Exhausted, she continued to follow the journey of the flashlight, which again danced in the darkness, highlighting one well-kept garden after another. Stepping closer and closer to the one that would upset him more than the others. Then for a moment it seemed to her that something moved in her head, and she immediately moved towards this old, trampled fire of her talent. She plunged into the cold ashes and penetrated deeper, dying with all her heart, she wanted to feel at least a phantom of warmth. A little effort and she will keep him on the threshold, beyond which death patiently awaits. It cost her a few moments before the light touched her skin, promising to
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Forgetting to breathe, Vikta shifted her weight onto the foot she had already carried over the threshold and took a second unsteady step. Everything was quiet, only some unpleasant ringing seemed to be heard somewhere on the verge of hearing. She had already plunged under the plank ceiling when the panic needle pricked her back again. Nitsiri turned to the forest, already expecting to see a disgusting black face poking out from behind the bushes and licking its toothy mouth. But no, the forest froze and waited for something.She carefully closed the door behind her, caught her breath with difficulty, and, moving along the wall, crossed the passage. The vile ringing became more tangible, with every step she felt with her whole skin how something plaintively rings from the side of the door opposite, as if someone is hitting the anvil with a small hammer. Vikta approached and gently, with the very pads of her fingers, gave the door to herself.There was a slight creaking sound that sound
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He walked away from the hut almost by touch, cursing to himself that he had wasted time on ridiculous tales. He again did not find any path, so he had to tear wounds through a windbreak. By this time, the stars were already winking overhead, the forest breathed deafeningly with the singing of crickets and night birds. Fortunately, lights soon loomed in the impenetrable darkness. A few hundred more steps and he heard singing.In the light of the lanterns, a dense web of bridges, stairs, houses intertwined in a network of ropes and a dark rustling cover stretched out. High refs, woven by life and song, merged into one thundering mass, flaring up with all the shades of a holiday at a dizzying height. Long-drawn-out cries flew into the air, the whistle of pipes rose and the beat of drums rumbled. Bonfires were burning, ringing tambourines were dancing.Life was in full swing somewhere high under the crowns, it was a different forest, into which Cres had no entrance. The lights are closer,
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- Time Of Traitors
Epilogue
Cres rose with an effort. All of his muscles were curled into one tight knot and were reluctantly relaxing now. The wind roared in the head and in the corners of the hut. He raised his head and only then saw the second dog-head dying on the floor in a foul-smelling puddle. And above him, Leshy's eyes burn with primal malice, illuminated from within by some kind of silvery sheen. In the dim light, the herbalist looked less and less human.- What are you standing for? Grab your grandma and tick!He said, turned on his heels and, as if nothing had happened, went to the door, wiping his bloody palms on his trousers.Cres threw off his stupor, felt for the half-dead Ada and climbed out the window. Vassa followed him.“I’m already tired of sharpening laces with you, wanderer! shouted outside. - If you don't want it to be good, we'll be bad!Footsteps thundered. Closer and closer.“Wait, what if he still has my shava?” - whispered somewhere very close. Cres recognized that voice: it was Golg
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- Are you serious?! The messenger is already over a hundred, and I have nine winters and one summer! - Vassa could not stand it and shook all over. - A good defender - he could not even kill that bastard who killed his father in front of everyone. You protected your mother, now you are responsible for her!“Shut up,” said Kres, unwinding the whip in front of Vassa. - You do not understand anything.– I understand everything! Father is gone now, and there is no one to protect mother. You are a coward who only cares about himself!- And this is what the one who climbed into the house with a knife, where the defenseless girl is sleeping, is telling me?“She is not defenseless,” Vassa gritted his teeth in an attempt to hold back tears. - That's all she is. She is to blame! Because of her, Yuvasa died, because of her, rats attack us. She bewitched everyone - Khalsa, father, mother, Messenger, and especially you! You talk about her all the time.- How are you concerned about this? I am sitt
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Khalsa and Musa were burned after sunset, right on top of the Sacred Tree. Kisha herself brought the torch to the feet of both, loudly and distinctly uttered all the necessary praises and appeals to the d'ahs, and did not leave the raging flame until the bones of the warriors turned to ashes. Her children were surrounded by monotonously howling former Khalsa dog-heads - they crowded in a circle, wiping their tears and shifting from foot to foot, because they had nowhere else to go. Vassa soon disappeared somewhere, and Cres did not see the wolf cub all night, which seemed to him too long.Keisha collected the ashes left from both fallen warriors, without anyone's help she climbed onto a branch of the Sacred Ref and scattered the ashes in the wind.Cres wanted so badly to drop everything and run to the Skin House, where he left Ada in the care of an eccentric he barely knew. What's wrong with her now? Did this Leshy offend her? He sent Ieassa and Shuna to them - to find out what and ho
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Vassa screamed terribly, as he had never screamed in his life. But his cry was quickly drowned out by the outburst of indignation that exploded in the audience. The circle of d'ahs has not seen such a disgrace in many winters and years. To the cries of indignation, he, not remembering himself, rushed across the sand to his already dead father.- Fool, come back! - belatedly exclaimed, but it was too late.A blade flashed in Vassa's hand. Baring his teeth, Asa raised his hand with the sword, covered in the blood of his father.It rumbled as if a huge leather string had been torn. The knife fell out of the fingers of the wolf cub, buried in the sand. Vassa ripped open the bloody mass of sand with his face. The crowd sighed in one breath, exhaled, choked on their own cry, when Vassa was abruptly dragged back, away from the blade, which only missed his head by a finger.Going through all the curses with which Senches filled his brain over the past twenty-eight winters, Cres quickly pulled
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The people still rejoiced, but somehow out of tune. Certainly not such a reception was expected by the newly-minted d'aher.“Before you name him d'ahger,” a small old man in a flowery robe kept shouting from the crowd. – Is there anyone among you who dares to challenge the right of Asa?!"The D'ahs have spoken," Asa declared, not looking at anyone. Then he dropped his shield and suddenly met the eyes of the Messenger, who was trying to put his foot on the sacred sand. It felt like a fire was going to ignite between them. The old man finally twitched his cheek, looked away and took a deep breath.- Of course have! - sounded over Vassa's ear. Too close, and the wolf cub turned its head in disbelief, not believing its ears. The crowd seemed to rush to the side. She darted in one impulse, trying to find out who dared to challenge the one who had just killed Khalsa himself.Musa stepped out of the crowd and froze with his arms outstretched.- Here I am, Musa, the son of Barik, I want to ch
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The sun was looming in the pre-morning haze and slightly outlined the black refs, slightly powdered with snow, and people were already flocking to the top of the Heart-House, heading straight for the temple, where preparations for the sacred duel were already in full swing. The people lined up along the edges of the sand circle, right under the wooden faces of the d'ahs, carefully watching each villager. When Vassa and his family climbed to the upper platform and stood directly under a huge statue with a bear's head, snowflakes were flying in the air, it was fresh and quiet. The cub shuddered and began to rub his palms. The day promised clear and frosty.My father closed his eyes and whispered something silently. Prayed, I guess. Noticing the attentive look of his son, Musa smiled and tousled his hair. The mother whispered something to the father, and the smile instantly faded from his face.“I told him not to twist the tail,” muttered Musa. “But he never leaves the d'hanka.It only m
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The pebble rolled across her palm like an apple on a saucer. His eye beckoned and frightened at the same time. A light yellowish glow emanated from it, and if it becomes even brighter, then you can naturally fall into it and get stuck there forever.Give him blood to drink and urgently! If they don't hurry, then Sareth's torment in Barandarud will go down the drain.“Mine was better,” Vikta said, handing it back to her brother. She grimaced and said it more out of spite. Her ears were stuffed and for a moment the light faded in her eyes, as soon as the little thing fell into her hands. It was just breathtaking. Brother's Philosopher's Stone was strong. Very strong.Sareth didn't answer, didn't even raise his head, didn't make a single move to take his jewel."He's yours," he replied, poking his wand at the fire.Victa thought she had misheard.“Take it,” she said, handing him the stone.Is he yours, deaf or what? he muttered.- Like this? she couldn't believe her ears. - I already loo
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“I remember the darkness,” Sareth was saying. “And some prickly creatures. I remember how they purred contentedly and pinched me painfully, as if I were a calf that they go to slaughter. Abomination - I do not want to remember! I know you might think I'm crazy..."No, I don't think so," she cut him off. - This is true. The Khamer saved you."Saved" and "Khamers" in one sentence. She couldn't help but smile bitterly.- The ones that Ryzhek spoke about ? Looks like Les is really a wonderful place.“I'm already fed up with these miracles of his,” Vikta turned away. “We were supposed to spend a week here at the most and return home, and everything stretched out almost ... Senches knows how long! And the end of all this promises to be not at all happy, as in your stupid fairy tales. Well, that's why, it happened to you? Where did you go, fool? What have you achieved?“I don’t know,” Sareth grimaced, as if from a headache. - I haven't checked yet.– Yes, what are you talking about? Vikta ex
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Akai left them almost at the exit. Victa hooted as the weight of a heavy body rested on her frail shoulders. She clenched her teeth and tried to take a step, and flopped to the ground.“What a clumsy you are, Vikta. - Complained her escort. “Better drag him by the armpits.” It's too heavy for you to carry in your arms.Vikta, puffing from the effort, did as the underground inhabitant advised. In the same way, she once dragged the dead Apol out of the cave in order to give the Khamer for the profit. There was still nothing to be seen around, but she felt that gradually her eyes began to pick out separate outlines from the environment. Akai was here too, although she couldn't see anything clear beyond a vague black spot. And only once in the emerging light two menacing eyes seemed to flash."Don't get distracted and don't look at me," he advised her. Vikta immediately lowered her eyes to the ground, and continued to drag the man to the surface. Akai didn't say another word, didn't even
