World Of The Fallen Dragon

4

Thobius' wand was the most common, forged from enchanted bronze, with a twisted handle and a heavy massive knob, it looked like a heavy mace. No magic stones, no special inscriptions, just a layer of gilding on the knob and twelve spikes around its rim.

- More than once or twice I had to use it as just a heavy club. The gray mage patted his wand on the hilt. - Never regretted it.

Marin took his wand and hung it on his belt.

“And your companions, char Tobius, who are they?” I do not feel in them, so to speak, sparks of life.

— Man-made servants. The most reliable.

- I completely agree with you.

Days succeeded one another, wizards and monks wandered along the forest roads, occasionally delved into the thicket, questioning rare travelers who had to turn off the wide roads and go deeper into the jungle.

Once the wagon got stuck on the muddy bank of the river, and no matter how powerful Brother Horace pushed it from behind, it was not possible to get the wagon. Brother Olveh answered the offer to help with a polite refusal. Then Tobius reminded the Petrian that the Word of the Smith speaks of pride and those who succumb to it. The monk, after thinking a little, accepted the offer and stepped aside - there is no way to repent before the Lord while others are working. Using telekinesis, Tobius alone lifted both the wagon and horses low into the air, carried them to firmer ground and carefully set them down.

“You are quite good at the power of thought, enchantment Tobius.

- Trained on millstones.

The wizards were a little ahead of their companions and were walking along a gentle hill at the side of the road.

“Do you know that it is impossible to cast spells inside a magic wagon, char Maren?”

- Weird question. All magicians know this. The necromancer looked at the van crawling below and twitched his cheek nervously.

But outside it is possible. The van does not spread an anti-magic field around it.

- What are your thoughts?

“The Church is equipping the magic wagons with materials that interfere with the free flow of astral forces. Kerberite [A metal that has the ability to remove magical gifts from wizards when in contact with the body.], most likely - it does not produce overwhelming radiation. Of course, one could assume that it's not materials that have a negative effect on magic, but church blessings placed on the wagon, but in this case, the approach of the magic wagon would be visible to all magic bearers for five leagues [Measure of length. Grogan League (obsolete) - 1208 steps; Wesgerreich League - 974 steps.] district. She would burn for us with holiness, like a dying phoenix in the night, and all the sorcerers unclean inside would have time to hide in their lairs.

- Completely. But how will these observations help you?

“Conclusions, char Maren, one must be able to draw conclusions. Have you ever heard of deposits of kerberite in the Westerreich?

- Never. Everyone knows that it is mined by dwarves in the bowels of the Dragonspine.

— Yes, where its deposits are rich, as well as anamkar [ Anamkar   is a special breed of stones that look like marble. These stones spread an aura around them that suppresses the flow of magical energy.] veins. And I heard that there are still rich deposits on the islands of Arimsada. But in Westerreich, kerberite and anamkar are worth more than gold. The dwarves themselves value them highly - not only are the materials very durable, but kerberite also increases their natural immunity to magic. Even the Church does not have such resources to buy kerberite for all its needs.

The necromancer made some calculations in his mind.

“Char Thobius, did you come up with the idea of ​​the existence of kerberite mines at the disposal of the Holy See after helping the monks pull their wagon from the river?” You have an amazing imagination.

- My conjectures and loot are not worth breaking, although I will not forget about them. Let's go quickly, the good brothers are well ahead of us.

The morning of the sixth day was difficult. The wizards were pretty exhausted on the road, and the fact that the time they had measured was rapidly coming to an end did not raise morale either.

"I'd give a lot for a good bat," Maren said to Thobius as the gray mage washed up. - Years of sitting in comfort and calm have made me softer. Aren't you tired?

Tobius didn't say that it was just a pleasant stroll compared to the time he had to gallop through the centuries-old forest, hiding from dozens of species of carnivores, angry spirits and bloodthirsty savages.

It was nearing noon, and everything went according to the already hackneyed order - the monks rode in their damned wagon, choosing the path and the next village, the magicians moved at a distance, exchanging words. The bully and the Reaper followed the master silently and relentlessly.

“I found it,” whispered Marin, standing up suddenly, “I found it!”

The Petrian rose to his feet and turned to the necromancer.

“The body of a woman on a forest path…” Marin stared blindly at one point. “Now I’ll fly closer… yes, that’s it!” Four hours from here! Unfortunate gutted ...

He pointed to the southwest, right at the edge of the forest.

“You won’t get through in a wagon, you have to dismount.”

We will unharness the horses. Brother Horace, please take care of it. Char Maren, do you see the killer?

“There is no one else there, only a corpse!”

“I suppose,” said Tobius, “I should fly there immediately!” Char Maren, can you convey the image?

The necromancer touched Tobius' temple, and he winced at the sight before him. Along with this, the gray magician received all the necessary landmarks to get to the place.

- I'll be waiting for you there! Hurry up! Ruffian, Reaper, follow the Maren charm!

He crouched slightly and pushed himself up into the air. The flight over the dense forest took ten minutes at most - I still had to stray a bit, scaring away flocks of small birds. The trees, as if by an unkind agreement, hung over the right place and hid it with their crowns, so that Tobius could simply fly past if he did not know where to look.

Trying not to catch his cloak on the branches, the gray magician went down to a thin, barely noticeable path, winding between the roots of the forest giants. He looked at the body from a distance, breathed in the moist and lively air of the forest, and resolutely moved towards the victim. At the same time, Tobius tightly gripped the wand in his hand and followed the surroundings with True Sight. There was no trace of magic anywhere. The wizard squatted down and carefully examined the body, then cast Elven Feet on himself and walked along the path in both directions, moving away from the place for several hundred steps [ Step  - the old, but still used Grogan measure of length, is 80 centimeters.]. The forest fell silent, its voices became more wary: the animals sensed the danger that spread through the air along with the smell of blood. The smell would soon attract bears, wolves, or worse.

- Are you soon? the magician turned to a raven sitting motionless on an ash branch.

The dead bird nodded slowly.

By the time the sound of hooves hitting the ground was heard in the forest, the gray magician had already completed all the rituals and sat in the shade of an old plane tree. Two of his companions, rushing after the horses on their own legs, stopped abruptly near the owner, dousing him with a dusty breeze. The necromancer jumped down from the saddle he shared with Brother Horace and approached the body. He asked the bearers of the Lord's purity not to approach yet and began to study the remains, moving his hand over them, whispering the necessary words.

“It looks like a typical village commoner from the clothes,” Tobius muttered softly as Maren performed his rituals. “Apparently she was picking brushwood and mushrooms—there is a bunch of brushwood lying around. She walked in the morning, the ground was still soft from the first dew, and her footprints were well preserved. They stretch from south to north, therefore, if there are no settlements in the south, she has already returned home.

"Did you touch the body, enchant Thobius?" the necromancer asked.

- Didn't.

- This is good. Marin put his hand under the back of the woman's head, lifted the body and pulled out from under it a basket, small and broken. Then the necromancer plucked a couple of petals from a woolen dress and sucked in a loud breath over a long and even slit from throat to navel. From the outside, it looked ugly.