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Time Of Traitors 10
- Ai! Enough! Or I'll roast you!It was hard to tell from her contented appearance that the threat had tempered her ardor, but the bird was done with the "greetings". Sareth, scratching the stung place, cracked his spruce branches and sank into his seat.- Did you find it? He raised an eyebrow as he sheathed his blade. Alas, not everything in this life can be solved with a swing.The raven grunted in response, poked its feathered beak like it was in a pocket, and tossed a small black leather-bound notebook into Sareth's lap. He croaked again for warning and jabbed his beak at the cover - extremely persistently.“I know, I know, don’t croak…” Sareth muttered, turning the yellowish pages. The bird stared at him with its bright topaz eyes as the nitsiri entered phrase after phrase into his notebook.Decided to start as friendly as possible:Good evening. In the woods. Chimera is close. How is the weather?The answer was not long in coming:The clouds are gathering, - a threateningly dark
Time Of Traitors 11
When Cres woke up, a suffocating heat spread through his body. His head was splitting as if battle horns were being blown into the ears on both sides, and only the Senches and his wives knew when it would end, if it would end at all. Opening his eyelids with difficulty, Kres lay in one position for a long time, getting used to the hot twilight and to new sensations - there was not an inch of cold earth under him, and the hiss of the forest was not audible. Somewhere nearby, a door creaked, grunts and joyful fuss were heard. The smell was fierce.The white morning dawned slowly. A dim light gradually penetrated under the low ceiling of this foul-smelling lair. Heavy skins on the log walls, fragrant bundles of herbs and decorations of feathers and down. Cres felt fresh straw under him, raised himself a little, and before another red-hot needle twisted him, he still managed to make out a cradle and a smoldering hearth, and people sleeping side by side right on the floor.“Woke up… woke u
Time Of Traitors 12
“Asa, don’t start an old conversation…”- The conversation will continue until there are no unavenged men and women left in our village! Asa blurted out. - And all the shavs will not sit on a leash, as befits shavs.“In our house, the D'ah covenants are sacredly observed, Asa. You don't have to worry.“I can’t see something…” the Harger muttered and glared at the door, but did not try to enter. Vassa looked down at his belt, at the hilt of the dagger that he always had with him. But Asa's hand made no attempt to touch him. The father's hand also did not touch his own. Vassa sighed.“K'hul soon,” Musa said, conciliatory. - We will discuss all the issues there. On a cold head“If yours,” Asa grimaced. “The k'hul will make it this far.“Then the judgment of the d'ahs will be done,” Musa nodded. “But the southerner is strong. He killed a barefoot alone and lost a lot of blood. Neither you nor I can repeat this.- Yes. But that rat was the work of your harg. And not just Yuvasa, whom you p
Time Of Traitors 13
He paused, blowing smoke into the ceiling.- Where is she? Cres asked urgently. - Where is my woman?“With Khalsa,” the owner answered simply. She is always with him.- Do you know him? Take me to him.- Later.- Why?- Because it's necessary. What's your name, ferret?“The Pied Piper,” Cres said without much desire the first thing that came to mind.Is that what people call you for your craft?- They call me by different names. I do not mind.- My name is Musa. And you have nothing to go to Khalsa until you can at least move your legs like rock'hee, and not like a lousy shava. I'll take you myself. Khalsa wants to get to know you for a long time. Many people want.- Good. But why does this Khalsa need it, you know?Musa shrugged.- It's clear why. Khalsa, he is d'ahger .Chris didn't say much.“You mean… chief?”– D'ahger is d'ahger. Chosen by the d'ahami. And they pointed him to your woman as a d'hanka. You're in luck, ferret. Oh, lucky.“I was so lucky,” he muttered. Do you see her
Time Of Traitors 14
Now take care! Like this. Go ahead, you better not ask about who you just blocked the way - you still won't believe it. Don't turn around. An unfortunate accident - this happens once in a billion lives.You'd better not look around. Billions of different creatures from billions of different worlds are rummaging here, lost here out of stupidity or self-interest. Many have long lost the remnants of their former mind and wander aimlessly. Better not be like them, listen.Here we are closer. Now take a closer look. You can take a closer look at the Flower . See the dark spots on its leaves? Yes, you guessed it, there are many. So many. And it will get even bigger with time. From these leaves, swarms of various crazy creatures gather, which can no longer live in their home. Some run from leaf to leaf, looking for shelter, or answers to the riddle of how to fix the trouble that came to their home. Or how to save this house so that the local inhabitants do not suffer a bitter fate. All in va
Time Of Traitors 15
He did not believe what he saw in front of him when the snow-white contours of the fortress wall appeared between the trees. At first, Sareth thought that he was mistaken - hunger and nightmares still finished him off, and he was about to fall straight into the well of madness. Riding half-starving through an enchanted forest, drinking tasteless water and listening to a cat raging in a bag - and not such a dream.But the closer Blaska came to the strange mirage, the brighter the structure loomed - smooth and dazzling white, like ivory. The smooth surface stretched high towards the graying skies, as if serving as a support for them. Rows of strict, narrow loopholes ran in straight lines, dark holes looked unfriendly and menacing: just another moment and a whirlwind of arrows and stones would break out from there.The forest seemed afraid to come any closer to the foot of the wall, where not a sprout grew, as if every blade of grass had been plucked out by an overzealous gardener. The w
Time Of Traitors 16
He took out the last cracker from his bag, dried up, almost stone, put half in front of the cat, half he threw into his mouth. Breaking his teeth on him, he picked up the bag and poured a few crumbs into his palm, licked it off with his tongue. With an empty and miserable bag he covered the cat, who did not even think of touching the cracker. I completely forgot about the fire and simply, grimacing from the dull pain in each vertebra, leaned back on my back in order to somehow relax. Bruises and bruises sang a plaintive ballad about his ridiculous fall, which will have to listen to for a very long time. Although Sareth understood that he himself was to blame for his sores, he involuntarily connected the fall with the obstinate structure, which was in no hurry to part with the guest so easily.There was still a wall before my eyes and in my thoughts. Only she.Neither the noise of the breeze, nor the singing of birds, and even less human voices, could be heard from the silent battlemen
Time Of Traitors 17
His head was shaking, he was rocking like a boat on the waves. But he stubbornly took his couple of steps and crawled back to gain strength in order to try again after a while. And every day the legs obeyed better and better. Even the grandfather grunted approvingly at his efforts.When Cres was strong enough to feel more or less confident on his own two feet, he moved towards the exit from this stuffy hole, opened the door and almost collapsed from a sharp gust of wind. In front of the house was a small wooden platform with a rope fence up to the waist. And a sea of yellowing leaves.Already by some sixth sense, he realized that his eyes did not deceive him. Having driven the top of the head into the lintel, - now there will also be a bump! – he hesitantly approached the fence and looked down. A new gust of wind and an explosive rustle of leaves forced him to retreat.It turned out that the hut was conveniently located high in the branches of a giant ref, resembling a bee hive. It