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Time Of Traitors 37
The alchemist woke up in the middle of a windy, eerie night, when nature itself seemed to be seeking retribution for what had been happening in this distant and lonely place all these years.Vikta closed all possible openings in the hut, but the wind still rushed through the attic and sang mournfully in the cracks and corners. There hadn't been a thunderstorm yet, but for some reason Nitsiri longed for raindrops to pound on the roof. So she would be much calmer, and the nasty feeling that someone else would come into the house with the wind would disappear.In addition to the raging elements, another sound broke the silence.Cap-cap…The darkness was barely dispersed by two tallow candles. Both Vikta placed next to her, forming a small, trembling circle of light around her, the corners of the room were bathed in darkness. The face of the alchemist, swollen during the day, stood out from the darkness like the black and terrible muzzle of a troll from children's fairy tales, shadows cra
Time Of Traitors 38
Half asleep, she sat with a stone in her mouth and listened to the howl of the wind outside the window. The room was lit by only one candle, the second was just fuming to no avail. A black notebook, swollen with indignation, lay at hand, but the nitsiri was frankly afraid to look into it. And what is she supposed to see? Questions, questions, questions...And her restless heart was not up to her, around which, with each of its measured blows, the rings of suspicion were tightening tighter and tighter, turning into an obsession - to make sure that this scum is dead.Nitsiri kissed her jewel once more, slipped it into her pocket, and picked up the candle from the floor. The shadows immediately broke from their homes and joyfully jumped around the room, turning this cramped closet into a bizarre kaleidoscope. Closer, closer, closer, to the dead giant, until the light revealed a swollen, petrified face, overgrown with thick hair. The old man was definitely deader than dead. Not a single m
Time Of Traitors 39
Who will be the first to take a bite of it? - purred from the other side, forcing the heart to skip a beat and stop.“I am,” they squeaked from behind, when everything in Victa shrank in horror. “I didn’t get anything at all!- Yes wait. Seniors first.“The elders have already taken half of that animal for themselves. It must be a shame to eat so much!“Still young,” they all giggled at once. - Does not understand…Vikta sat neither alive nor dead, forgetting how to breathe, forgetting how to speak, feeling her clothes for the tenth time in search of loss. There was no stone anywhere...Then a prickly miniature paw poked her shoulder. Vikta shuddered, covered herself with a whole swarm of goosebumps and instantly lost her mind from fear. And the paw, meanwhile, unceremoniously felt it, moving from the bony to the softest places, as if choosing meat in the market.“Here, here, it’s good,” they breathed rot in her face. - Here it is especially horrroshno, nazhor-r-risto, fleshy.“But he
Time Of Traitors 40
He was roused from his half-asleep by an incomprehensible, but vaguely familiar sound. Maybe heard? The wind blew in the corners of the house, the deadwood crackled in the hearth, the children sniffed, the grandfather moaned to some of his dreams - nothing unusual, like so many nights before.When it happened again, Cres broke out in goosebumps and tried to convince himself for a while that it was just a nightmare. Although it would be naive to hope that they would just leave him alone, wouldn't it?Holding on to the wall, he got to his feet and walked towards the exit. On the way, he stepped on something, and it tipped over with a crash. Kres paid no attention to this unfortunate oversight and climbed out into the air, not forgetting to once again drive his head into the low lintel.Bosorki soared in an almost silent dance against the background of the loose sky. Lots of barefoot. One by one, they fell like a stone to the houses where the village was peacefully dozing.Before Cres co
Time Of Traitors 41
Most of the mushers were still hovering in the air, trying to pick up lone rok'hee who had not yet had time to join the rest, but quickly abandoned this futile activity, preferring to treat dogheads with new bombs. The savages routinely scattered, snarling with steel rain from bridges and branches. Everyone froze in anticipation that the enemy was about to make a new attempt to attack from a swoop, but the last bomb drivers spent on what else could be burned, and drove their pets away - to lick their wounds.Behind them they left columns of black smoke and an explosion of screams, where hatred mixed with jubilation.The defenders, wasting no time, set off to help the defenders of the Heart-House, but already at the foot of the main roar, everyone stopped dead in their tracks to look at the wounded bosorka, which was the only one to get out of the battle. She had about half a dozen arrows sticking out of her chest, and the horseman beat her with a whip and drove spurs into her bleeding
Time Of Traitors 42
The sun was already disappearing from my eyes, and the forest was plunged into an alarming darkness. Midnight birds sang, crickets and other living creatures chirped and rustled. Drums rumbled and voices rang out. Bonfires were lit.Like everything that was done in the community, the ritual burning of the remains foreshadowed the service of the d'ahs. Rok'hee, dressed in colorful robes and painted faces, walked around a huge couch of wooden rods on which rows of dead bodies were spread, and drew complex symbols on their whitish, lifeless foreheads. Who did not have foreheads, painted where necessary. Prayers flew into the black sky, drums beat.The assembled relatives and friends remained silent. They stood about a hundred paces from the sacrament being performed and did not disturb the course of complex and responsible work. Everyone who wanted to say goodbye, said goodbye a long time ago.Finally, everything was ready to escort the men and women to the d'ahs, and the dog-heads, one
Time Of Traitors 43
By the time he dug up the grave, it was well after midnight.His hands were trembling, and his back ached from the unbearable load. But he still had to drag everyone into the pit and cover the dead with earth ...Cres groped for a stump in the darkness and tried to sit up, no longer expecting to get up, let alone continue the overwork, which, nevertheless, he undertook to do in order to do at least something. But he was brazenly pulled out of his thoughts by a sharp gust of wind - the forest spoke, grumbled and moved. It seemed to Kres that even the earth was in motion. Many different rustles, chuckles and whispers reached his ears. He was surprised, but many of them walked from under his feet.- ... so ... so ... so, - the earth rattled, pulsated. Cres stood up and listened, inwardly growing cold and shrinking into a trembling ball from indistinguishable sounds. “…yaso…yaso…yaso…meat…meat…”He squeezed out some kind of doomed, plaintive groan, as if he were a lamb, on the trail of wh
Time Of Traitors 44
Already at home, Kisha, cursing, forcibly pulled off his shirt and began to change the bandages. The thin scar had parted slightly around the edges, blood slowly oozing from it. As if that wasn't enough, they counted half a dozen new cuts and bruises he'd received in the past 24 hours. And the pain slowly but stubbornly returned to the threshold, stretching, as if waking up after a long sleep.Long time no see, dear.Wrapped in new bandages, Kres climbed out into the air and watched the surviving male rok'hi flock to their huts. He also saw Musa. Psoglavets literally ran up the tree and easily climbed onto the platform.“Your father is wounded,” Cres told him.“I heard,” Musa muttered and disappeared into the house. Voices were heard from there, then everything was silent.Musa appeared again and silently disappeared into the night. Keisha followed, but immediately froze in the doorway, not daring to take a step further. Clutching the joint, biting her lips, her eyes followed the invi