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Time Of Traitors 58
When he and Khalsa appeared in the courtyard, where a dozen dog-heads were honing their combat skills, the training was immediately cut short. Those present at the appearance of d'ahger moved to a respectful distance and bowed respectfully as one. The only ones that did not move were tall wooden idols, trowels carved from solid trunks, but not as cyclopean in size as the one on which they were now located. Large, dirty red patches marked the sand under each of the wooden slabs, adorned with bizarre features. Menacing eyes followed Kres every step as he and Khalsa walked along a path flanked by poles dug into the ground, at the top of each sticking out the head of a wolf, a bear, a rok'hee, and some other fanged creature. There were also freshly killed rat and human skulls,Train in the very center of a gloomy temple? It was quite in the spirit of rock'hi.Once again the metal rang out from all directions as the rok'hee tried to make up for lost time.“That's all,” Khalsa grunted, look
Time Of Traitors 59
That "you" the boy did not finish, but allowed himself further. Cres, grinning impudently, ran after him. Vassa moved so easily and noiselessly through the forest that Kres felt like a drunken barefoot in a shop with crystal. Now he tried to step as softly as possible and once again not to disturb the bushes, which were here in abundance. He did not take his eyes off the distant branches, expecting to see a “nest” with a vigilant sentinel on each.- Pied Piper!- What? - Cres almost ran into him, the kid stopped so abruptly.- Quiet you! - the boy pulled him by the jacket and whispered in his ear. - Over there in that tree...Vassa squatted down, and they crawled a couple of steps to the side. Then the wolf cub gently lowered a branch of a thorny bush and stuck out a finger in the direction of a sweeping giant. Cres narrowed his eyes and peered painfully into the cloud of gray leaves that the boy pointed to, but he could not understand what Vassa was pointing to. He never complained a
Time Of Traitors 60
The first sign of the close refuge of the forest witch was a human face. It was half buried in the ground and emerged from the soft, swampy soil with a long, crooked nose and magnificent mustaches. Kres at first took him for an ugly stone and wanted to sit right on it, but in time he noticed a huge, evil eye staring at the sky.- And why is it so? Kres asked, looking at the buried giant.- He was rude, probably. So they dug up uncle.“Poor fellow… How much longer?”No, we're almost there. Maybe at least now tell me why you go to Bolotikha?Cres looked doubtfully at the gigantic face, but still allowed himself to sit down on the very tip of his nose. Vassa preferred to settle down on a fallen tree.– Khalsa needs women to stop going to the swamp. And no one went. Never.- You mean never?- In direct.- Are you going?- Yeah. Remove the curse of the Swamp.Vassa immediately haggard and turned pale. It seemed that a sudden gust of wind would blow the boy away. He sat with his eyes fixed
Time Of Traitors 61
- No, it's not like that. I don't care what Ada is or isn't capable of. Her… powers are news to me. In general, it seems to me that this is some kind of wild misunderstanding, and Khalsa is simply trying to strengthen his authority in the village. And to save the only son who is overcome by your curse.- Well, yes, this is undesirable ... - the grandmother stirred her bones. - And you are ready to kill this child, just to annoy Khalsa?“I don't care about Khalsa and his problems. I need my Ada.- Is that love? And just only?"That's my business," Kres grimaced.“No, it’s mine now,” the witch grinned. “I am a curious soul. Especially with regard to the echo of bygone days and those who once offended me.- Did I offend you?- You are not. But behind your back, I feel the hand of those who did everything so that I met my old age in a stinking swamp, using local savages.“If you mean that I supposedly carry out the will of the abels, then no,” Cres shook his head. “I am as much an exile f
Time Of Traitors 62
And once the exhausted insolent decided to get the final word from her. Late in the evening, when the rok'hee perched in the trees to spend another day singing, he caught her somewhere in a secluded place and led her away from prying eyes to sort everything out. He waited, his eyes fixed on hers. And she refused him, said terrible for any proud man - " no" , once and for all. Perhaps carefully so as not to inflame his humiliated feelings, or perhaps, as always, brazenly and with laughter, as she used to refuse everyone else who tried to possess her. But this time the dog did not run away with his tail between his legs. Oh, not the one, this harger was just to forgive the offense of the one that he was not destined to take possession and make his own. Shouting and begging, wallowing at your feet and promising moreLarger gifts were not in his nature. But to take everything that resists his desires - yes, Khalsa still knows how to do it very well. And he committed the most terrible at
Time Of Traitors 63
Luke easily moved away from his seat and opened a black hole, in the depths of which anything could be.Cres wondered if he should jump blindly and if there was some surprise waiting for him there, like a hungry monster that the grandmother keeps on a chain. Involuntarily, a fabulous image of a dead man came to mind, who was in a hurry to have fun with the sleeping "beauty". Bolotikha noticed his doubts:- What do you think? Get down, it’s not high up there,” she waved at him. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t be scratching my tongue here all evening. Killing a person is not easy.Cres smiled bitterly, dangled his legs into the hatch and tried to feel at least something there. Finally, his toe rested on a rotten step. The candle was still useless, so we had to descend almost blindly. Already plunging into musty darkness, he expected with every creaking step that the hatch would slam over his head, and the ominous laughter of the accursed old woman would blow out the candle.But no,
Time Of Traitors 64
“Senses…” Vikta whispered under her breath, washing the crying baby in the water. “What have I done, Senches.Then she wrapped him back in diapers, which would be nice to wash, but nowhere. Gray clouds covered the sky, snow fell and fell, bent a dense network of branches, covered the ground layer by layer, and the child still did not calm down, although quite a long time had passed since the moment Vikta pulled him out of the ground - it must be soon noon.She understood him perfectly. She would now fall to the ground and would howl with pleasure in her voice.His head was pounding from this incessant squeak. There was a feeling that some kind of machine was brought inside the baby, and it would not stop until the entire charge was released. But for some reason it didn’t end, and the kid, taking a breath for a short time, again burst into an indefatigable yell.“Maybe I should feed you…?” Vikta suggested, glancing doubtfully at her thinner bag. What does she have left? Two slices of c
Time Of Traitors 65
She opened her eyes. Outside her lair was nothing but darkness and swirling snowflakes. It seemed that if she pulled her hand out now, it would freeze and uproot it in order to carry it into this ruthless blackness, where it would be swallowed up by the belly of one of those disgusting creatures that fill the most remote places. And what if she pulls the baby out into the open? Will the spirits be satisfied with this offering?..The wind howled and howled, long and viciously. It scourged the forest with its freezing breath, leaving nothing but a blizzard in its wake. Vikta closed her eyes and saw how the trees were uprooted and dragged somewhere beyond the horizon. And in their place is a vast icy desert, bound by eternal frost and darkness. Who will walk on it? Silent, hunched creatures who will continue to search for the one who made the world this way. And they won't stop until they've dug up every inch of this deformed land. Until they dig into every snowdrift and into every hole,
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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
