Strong hands dragged them inside the tower through the hole in the resin nose. While Thobius was rising, the soldiers unsuccessfully tried to unhook the merchant and his daughter from the rope.- Glad you made it. The rest will be completed by our arrows.The room with the bulky lifting mechanism became crowded when Walton Galli, nicknamed Rod, son and heir of Freigar Galli, Duke of Karebekland, entered a large part of the space. It was a giant, nearly eight feet tall, brushing its plume against the ceiling. His shoulders and arms were just right for his height, and even the tall Tobius felt small as he tilted his head up to see the slits of his closed helmet. Lord Walton's body was covered from head to toe in heavy steel armor. Like all the rulers of the western outskirts of Riven, the Galli adhered to old customs, trusted swords, but not swords, wore full armor instead of cuirasses and lightweight shells, called themselves knights, and not just nobles, feudal lords, and not aristocr
— Tobius Mole, Master of Riven Academy.“Oh, we are all masters here! Well, except for Lando! Khales, the most sociable of those present, laughed shortly. - Guilt? Elya? Slivovitz? Beer? It's a great beer, I swear! The best beer I've ever had, from the breweries of Trontholp Brewers himself! "Oak barrel"!"No," Tobius snapped. — What exactly are you doing?“Well… uh… now we’re eating…”Why aren't you on the walls?- What are we to do there? said Hales Troubadour.- Don't know. be present? Inspire? Trying to convince the people that the mages of Riven are not a bunch of wry-armed cowards that tremble in their towers while lords, warriors and monks confront the bastards from the Savage Land...There was an awkward pause.“The thread of the conversation has gone somewhere in the wrong direction,” the Giant chuckled. “The young man is somewhat agitated…“The young man is a master with a staff, the same as you, so be careful with notes of condescension in your voice, enchantment Godern,” T
“Are there many Zulans?”“An army of several thousand heads, and they're not moving anywhere, defending this primitive fortress, this dracula-studded hill,” Talbot repeated wearily.- And a large detachment will be detected when trying to get closer?— Yes, definitely. The likes of flying lizards patrol the skies, while racing beast lizards and small flocks have the scent of bloodhounds—they will quickly detect too many people. In addition, the enemy flooded the surrounding forests with this muck, foragers drive and beat the beast in order to feed the army besieging us, so that even in the thicket itself I had to constantly hide."And magic won't help us?"- Of course not! ' Wrathful waved him off irritably. “Even here in Tephraska, it is very difficult to use it, but the closer to this ill-fated hill, the harder it is!”How close were you able to get to him?“Um… about a thousand steps.” It was impossible to go any further, my head was pounding with pain!Then I don't see the problem
The burden of trifling spells grew heavier, but the master was stubborn and did not leave his post. For a moment, Tobius felt he was being watched. He instantly checked the weaving of the "eye pipe", found no violations of the contour and looked around hesitantly. They really looked at him, and the beholder ... was extremely uncommon. He was a magician, no doubt, but a magician who wore polished steel [Extremely unusual for a magician, since steel, along with metals such as iron, zinc, tin and lead, is a magic-repellent metal. Mages prefer to work with copper, bronze, cast iron and brass, which absorb, conduct and hold magical energy well.]. A tall, lean man in leather robes heavily sewn with steel plates, a closed helmet with a smooth face shield and a raincoat, which consisted of steel leaf-shaped blades, somewhat reminiscent of fluffed up horny scales. The gray mage could see the steel wizard's left arm - it was undoubtedly a prosthesis, made in the form of bare bones, shining with
For prisoners cut off from the outside world, time flows differently, it stretches unbearably slowly, like molasses. Only for wizards, this circumstance does not play a special role, because each of them has several very useful features, such as, for example, an internal chronometer. The wizard always knows how much time has passed and how much is left, day behind the walls or night, where is north and where is south. However, it is still unknown why, with all these most useful properties, magicians so often manage to be late or come too early?However, Talbot the Angry came just in time. The sun was barely below the horizon when a tall, lean old man strode down the corridor to Thobius' cell and began opening the doors.— Char Talbot?“Time is short, no questions.Chains and Estrian gloves fell to the floor, and Tobius almost ran after the elder mage, relieved to feel his strength returning to him. They walked past the jailer, frozen like a statue with glazed eyes, and climbed the nar
They ate silently and with concentration, and only insipid vegetable food without a strong smell. Talbot explained that on the third day of his first sortie, he had to run for several hours from a pack of small animal lizards chasing him, until he guessed to throw all the jerky out of the bag.“I expected to see you with a party,” Ser Richard said as they sat down in the semi-darkness, well fed and tired.- It's pointless. You can’t lead a detachment through the forest, except perhaps by beaten paths, but barbarians also use them, and what is a detachment capable of against that horde that you and I saw on the hill? You say zulans don't go to the thicket?- One-eyed - no. They drive on roads, but among the trees they are crowded. But small freaks feel good here. They are engaged in foraging, hunting, dragging venison and poultry to their owners. And I'm looking for them.Have you killed many?“Three hundred in all the time of the war,” Hoss said, without a hint of smugness or pride. “
Tobius raised his right hand to his face and marveled at how much thinner it had been compared to his left. The skin on his long fingers was stretched, the nails were almost black. To the touch and color, the hand resembled a prosthesis carved from bog oak. At the same time, the limb obeyed perfectly, all the fingers were bent, nothing hurt, did not fester, only the sensitivity practically did not recover, which caused some problems. Something stuck inside after being bitten by the shadow, and what it was, Tobius certainly wanted to find out. He was faced with an unknown kind of sorcery, and who knows when the bite will still remind of itself?Occasionally letting his eyes rest, but maintaining concentration, the wizard continued to carry out his patrol. In the heavy night stuffiness, the soul prayed for a gust of cool wind. Before, he could even have asked the few spring breeze spirits that hovered around idle during those summer months to help him, but not now that every spell came
The forest knight looked around and without thinking twice began to climb the thick trunk, clinging to the strong bark with hand hooks. The oak tree was too tall, even its lower branches were much taller than a man, so Ser Richard had to pant for a high vantage point.“You know, I thought that civilized magicians couldn’t,” he panted, finally reaching a branch strong enough to sit on, “be where the pagans make their temples.“You know very little about magic, Ser Richard. In other words, you are a layman.Tobius blissfully basked in the center of a magical whirlwind of energy, pure as the icy water of mountain springs, which filled his head that had stopped hurting with the smell of forest needles, resin, fresh rain, damp earth, moss and rotten leaves. He enjoyed getting rid of a heavy burden, blissful under the trills of birds, the chirping of crickets and the buzz of beetles flying back and forth.- I have not been to the south, but I was taught that there, even in countries loyal t
After Tobius Moth entered the Academy grounds in front of hundreds of wizards, everything went awry. After some time, many heard through the Astral the appeal of Tobius, in which he denounced the archmage Shivarius the Polyhedron, calling him a renegade, guilty of the war with the Zulans and sabotage of the Academy. After that, hours passed before the barrier that kept the magicians out of the campus began to lose stability, and they began to diligently hit it with all available spells, despite the constant interference in the form of the air element. In the end, the barrier was broken through, and, having risen to the top of the main tower, the magicians found the rulers of the Academy there in full force, alive and unharmed.The guilt of Shivarius the Polyhedron was confirmed by the words of the stewards, and the wizards of the Academy were ordered to immediately begin the search for the missing traitor. But neither Archmage Shivarius nor Magister Tobius could be found. They weren't
As the Polyhedron and the Free Gyenjoylin battled, Tobius chose the moment tensely. It was not easy, because, unlike himself, Shivarius effortlessly parried and counterattacked the magical creature. He was fast, deadly, masterfully interspersed with sword and staff strikes with magical attacks, pushing the gyanjoilin and lashing him with energy chains that appeared here and there from the air. Shivarius knew plenty of ways to inflict pain and injury on a creature that could disintegrate in smoke and reunite. The moment came, and Thobius did not miss it, dishonorably hitting the archmage in the back with the Ice Drill. The impaled renegade fell to the ground, and the Gyenjoylin immediately struck his chest with his blade. But instead of dying, Shivarius turned into a flock of asps that flew up to the ceiling, merged together, recreating the unharmed body of the wizard, and he collapsed on the back of the gyenjoilin's neck, plunging his sword into his unsteady flesh. Crying terribly, th
And Chaos."I'll tell you what, boy, let me out!" Let me out and I'll kill Shivarius! I swear I'll finish off this nasty bastard, I'll pop him like a stinky pimple and then lick the contents! Don't hesitate, I will! Of course, I'll kill you too, but at least your death will be quick... maybe... I don't know, I haven't decided yet! But you can believe me, I will make Shivarius suffer for a long time!“I came here for nothing.- No, wait, wait, let me out ... no, just loosen the fetters a little! Even a nobody like you can do it, come on, give me a little chance, buddy! Let's!- Never!— Like this, right? And you have no other choice! You can’t do it yourself, boy, the task is not up to you!I was hoping for advice!- What advice?! Do you hear yourself?! What advice were you hoping to hear, slug?! Do you think there is some workaround? Do you think there is a way for a nonentity like you to bring down a colossus like Shivarius?! You live in the real world, motherfucker! In real - not in
— Eishubeihwan.“Master wishes to give me a new name?” the gyenjoylin asked in a leaden voice.- The owner wants to give you this polyhedron. Take it somewhere where no one will see it, throw it as many times as you like - and put the fallen signs into your new name. By doing this, you will become your own master.The tiny wooden craft was in a wide palm, and the gyenjoylin stared at this priceless gift in disbelief.- Can't be…“I am an honest wizard and I keep my word.“Oaths given in the name of the Mage of Mages do not have to be kept before those whom he commanded to rule.“I have always fulfilled my oaths, to whom I gave them, to the king or the goldsmith,” replied the gray master.Gyenjoylin hid the ball in his belt and, materializing the sheath, hid the blade in it.“Shivarius will kill you if he catches you. Hide somewhere else... I don't know how you could beat him."Even with your help?" Tobius slid along the edge of the abyss. - I do not intend to change my decision, altho
The danger was warned by a sharp gust of wind, which was nowhere to be expected in a room devoid of windows or a second exit. Tobius jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by lightning. Directly under the ceiling, on huge bright wings, a giant butterfly soared, fanned by a halo of iridescent glow. This beautiful creature would become an appropriate guest in innocent children's dreams, if fireballs, lightning and deadly ice arrows did not rain down from its delightful wings, from which the wizard had to leave insane zigzags.He blocked part of the attacks, diligently answered, attacked, maneuvered, defended himself, attacked again, but the butterfly flew quickly, beat accurately and accurately and did not know fatigue. It was Bambaleska, one of Pongemonius' beasts, summoned to Valemar by Shivarius the Polyhedron. Saturated with her master's magic like nectar, she set up an ambush near the ipspiroch and patiently waited for the stupid young wizard to reach for the artifact. Fightin
Tobius tossed all three blueprints forward, energized them, and trapped the spirit in a triangular trap. Boards with luminous lines revolved around the pascantes, held together only occasionally by discharges of magical power running between them. Thobius cast a banishing spell, using the sharp knob of his staff to draw a polysyllabic drawing in the air with a septagram at its base. Pascantes pounded with his fists on the barrier that stopped him; He tore through the Gray Wall fairly quickly, but the second trick really gave him trouble. The revolving blueprints contracted as Thobius cast the spell, and the gray magister had only to “squeeze” a little to throw the pascantes somewhere in the area of the Arimead archipelago, when the spirit nevertheless split one of the typesetting wooden plates and freed itself.The magic system could not exist with less than three reference coordinates. The next blow knocked the spirit out of Tobius, he flew off into the open interior of the cabinet
— Open it, there is a lot of interesting things in this book, but the most important thing for you is now on the flyleaf. Come on, open it up and try to read it.Thobius obeyed, opening a sheet of the thinnest parchment, which had yellowed with time, and saw on it an even line drawn in blue, barely distinguishable ink. On a hunch, he touched the badges, pouring a drop of his magic into them, and they shone as if filled with blue flames.Jassar... Ansafarus? Something quivered in Tobius's soul and exploded.“I remember what it was like to hold for the first time something that Jassar himself once held before me. And not just holding on. He created this book, created the matter of which it is composed, inscribed everything in it, from the first to the last character. It's Jassar's book, Tobius. I went through the arms of death and great torment to get to it, entered the Wild Land with a dozen faithful, experienced, proven associates, friends whom I loved like brothers and sisters ... an
"What does that mean, charm?!" - the officer shouted, trying to block the screams of the indignant crowd.“It’s just that sometimes people need a little help to be human.But no one heard him. The guard held back the indignant, flying from everywhere, but rotten vegetables and insulting words did not reach; the irritated city fathers hurriedly retreated, accompanied by guards - they, too, could have been punished for a disrupted performance, although they were not to blame for anything. Tobius, on the other hand, looked around carefully and thought - people deliberately save rotten meat until better times, so that later they can throw it at someone, or some quick-witted hawkers go through the crowd and sell spoiled food for everyone, before some drunkard is wrapped in pads and it will be possible to use the sufferer's face as a target?The magician struck the ground with his staff, and his voice sounded like thunder, reaching the ears of all those gathered:It was my prisoner! I fough
He walked around the building, as he had done on his first visit. The walls of the inn were protected by prayers that warded off not only evil, but magic itself as it is. It was impossible to get inside, but Tobius was not used to looking at the world from the height of a chicken perch, he looked wide and far, like a soaring eagle. Mainly because he had a flexible, inquisitive mind, but the ability to fly also helped.Soaring on the Wings of an Eagle, the wizard climbed to the very top of the tower, to where Marin had an office. Having looked into the windows that had not been washed for a long time and making sure that the holy grace does not protect them, the gray master broke several glasses and got inside.Despite the fragments that scattered on the floor, the former office did not begin to seem any more dirty; a mess, mixed with desolation, already reigned inside. There was no doubt that someone, most likely experienced "sniffers" of Investments, climbed the premises far and wide