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Time Of Traitors 73
Vigil in a cold house, filled with rattling muddy dreams and the radiance of a stone, walking around a huge empty city for no one knows where and why, hiking in a grove, catching worms eventually merged into a routine, since the change of day and night did not exist here in principle, and soon he no longer perceive time as such. What was “yesterday”, what was “now”, what “tomorrow” awaits him and why he, like a mouse, crawls from house to house and feels its corners, no longer opening his eyes, as if he himself turned into a worm. And what is he looking for in this city, in which he already knows every nook and cranny? After all, he still had his decrepit talent - what else did existence steal?In the sky, the huge star cover was still silent, regularly covered by a giant body, from which he tried to crawl as far as possible into the darkness and surrender to the sweet radiance and pour it over until he lost all feelings, to complete unconsciousness, winding up more thoughts, regrets
Time Of Traitors 74
You just need a rope and a higher branch. Are you growing your hair out for this? Something has not been cut for a long time. He became almost indistinguishable from his sister.And what's with her? Don't tell me you've completely forgotten her pretty face. Was it she who warned the foolish boy not to stick his nose into a hole from which he could not pull it out? What a sad tale. Drink it to me.You are sitting here like a greedy pirate with a whole chest of gold coins on a desert island, and you can only stare at them, put pieces of iron in your mouth, suck and lick them, throw yourself at seagulls. Yes, they are round and cool. Imagine what you can do with them if ... Here they are useless, you can at least throw them into the sea, and watch how they sink one coin after another, gleaming in the sun. Maybe it will even be better for you: your suffering will end a little faster, and you will immediately accept your fate.And your fate is a rope and a branch in a grove. Move faster, s
Time Of Traitors 75
Sareth climbed upstairs literally crawling. Having rounded several houses, I ran under a high arch, behind which a narrow path rose like a snake uphill, closer to the towers, surrounded on both sides by fortress battlements. The unlucky cat also headed there, as if into a trap; Sareth also had to trudge there.The ground beneath their feet was already shaking, as if a real earthquake was about to begin.The kitten ran upstairs, and it seemed that nothing could stop him. Sareth raced in long leaps, leaving all weariness and pain behind his jingling heels. It is terrible to say what he will do with this stupid animal when he does get to him.The path ran into another arch, longer and more massive than the previous one. There was a hole between the stones where an iron grate should have been, but now there was no trace of it. The walls were hidden by an impenetrable shadow, Sareth flew over this section without stopping, and found himself on a stone platform, from which the entire plenti
Time Of Traitors 76
The first voice that broke through the storm of silence was Asa's:"It's a witch's stone!" he shouted. The crowd, with bated breath, turned to what turned out to be capable of returning the meaning of existence to it. Asa held a black stone with a red dot in the middle in his fingers. The core burned like it had never burned before.“She is no d'hanka. It's a witch! Khalsa warmed the witch!D'ahger whirled around, facing his c'hul like a child facing adults who had caught him over a strangled kitten.- No! he shouted. - No! You remember yourself, you heard her speak! How accurate were her words! She saw the future and worked miracles! I told you that you should not torment her for any reason, but you! You! You killed her! The D'ahs will remember this!The people made a noise, aroused their indignation. But somehow timidly at first, but the hubbub gradually got stronger, became threatening and stronger. Khalsa rushed at full speed to Ada and began to beat her on the cheeks, but in vain
Time Of Traitors 77
“As you know,” the interlocutor nodded. “And it’s better not to refuse names, Pied Piper. In the North, in general, names are given for a causeand not for beautiful eyes. The boy grew up, learned to walk tolerably and move his tongue - if you please, demonstrate what you are good for. You probably don't speak their dialect very well and don't know what the names of rok'hee mean? Here is your friend Musa. He was small, he liked to wander through the forests alone, and he encouraged his friends to be heroic. How many times his father tore the skin from him for such tricks, but he is still there. He killed one silly boy with his pranks, but it's a long and gloomy story. "Musa" means "rebellious" in the older Rok'hi language. That's what his father called him when he was wagging a twig on his ass, almost every evening. Now I see old Barik: he walks with his nose up, proud of his Harger.He pulled the sack around the corner and began to rummage through it. Vegetables, bread, cheese rolled
Time Of Traitors 78
A scarlet tablecloth floated in front of her. And even when Vikta blinked, she didn't disappear, it only got worse and brighter, clearer and scarier. It was blood that could not be washed away, like three eyes that were inflamed with tears. They were broken bodies that were devoured alive, and those who ate them laughed at their pleas and cries of horror. She could still see the face of that psoglavka whose hand she had never been able to touch. And the child that the nitsiri carried for so long through the forest and snow, lying on the ground like an abandoned log. Did she think the bag yelped when the female rok'hee dropped it to the ground, or was it just her frayed nerves playing tricks?She took out a pebble and brought it closer to her eyes. I didn’t see anything, blackness inside, blackness around. She had no doubt that the artifact was dead, and her eyes did not deceive her.Well, let. Think about it. Catch another wormhole. They are in the Forest, like roosters at the fair. E
Time Of Traitors 79
“Then where?” Victa asked helplessly, but the khamer silently continued to drag her further and further. She couldn't stop and almost ran after him. Where she got the strength to do this, she herself did not understand. But soon the wind whistled in her ears, and the invisible walls rushed around with some frightening speed. Vikta jerked her hand back with a squeak when her finger flew into some kind of cobblestone.“Don’t spread your arms, kralechka,” her companion chuckled. “And then you lose them.Vikta pressed her hand to her chest and tried not to think about what was happening around and how the khamer was moving so fast with her, and even in complete darkness. Soon their footsteps echoed with increasing intensity, and Nitsiri felt the space grow and grow above her head. It was no longer a narrow hole in which she came to herself after a terrible night. Although Vikta was like a blind woman in this kingdom of eternal darkness, the cold air and flying sounds from the ceiling told
Time Of Traitors 80
Vikta, beside herself with a sudden surge of fear, pressed herself into his skin and thought that she would not be able to stay on her back after his first jump. But, flattened on his back, she did not move back an inch, but to make sure, she squeezed her coarse hair even tighter in her hands. Feeling the work of huge, iron muscles with her whole body, Nitsiri involuntarily imagined what her new acquaintance was like and shuddered. No, Akai, if it was him, was definitely not human. Something four-legged and hairy was running under her.Before she even had time to marvel that, it turns out, just huge spaces were dug underground, hidden by eternal darkness, as their sudden run began to slow down and very soon her guide froze in place.“Get down, we’ve arrived,” the monster said under her in Akai’s voice. Vikta obeyed - blindly lowered her legs and tried to find support under her, but her toe met only with emptiness. Then she gently slid over his skin, but the feet of the earth did not w
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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
- Time Of Traitors
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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
- Time Of Traitors
91
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
- Time Of Traitors
90
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
- Time Of Traitors
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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
- Time Of Traitors
88
“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
- Time Of Traitors
87
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
