- The lousy thing is that without the power of demonic essence, I can't smell Alira, I can't find her traces! I can hardly even feel the magic background. Time is wasted... until I get to Chaos, she'll be far away.
- Do you think she'll come back?
The Archarrion nodded.
- Alira's not the type to retreat. And she has waited too long... But at least now I know who to look for.
- Well, now, there's something to be happy about! - I said.
The Archarrion leaned back, leaning against the wall, keeping his eyes on me.
- And what pisses me off the most is that as a human being, I can't break the blood flow. It's a futile fusion, here's the darkness!
I shuddered from the feelings inside me: animal rabies, tightly woven with unbearable desire ... And immediately the echo of his feelings faded in me. The Archarrion hid his emotions. But inside, there was a pulling, pulling shudder.
- I think I'll go... - I wasn't sure, I said. I wasn't drinking any tea.
- Sit down.
The archpriest didn't even raise his voice, but it sounded like a frank order that cannot be disobeyed. I plunged back in.
- You are afraid of me," he said slowly. - I can feel your fear every time I approach. Yes, you have reason to be afraid. But... it's so... terrible... it makes me... angry. - he clenched his teeth, looking at me.
I tried not to flinch and firmly meet that dark look.
- You're right," I said softly, "I have reason to be afraid of you. Also... I want to break that bond too. The merger. As soon as possible.
He nodded slowly.
- Yes. As soon as possible. - He did it again.
- What does it take to do that? - I started looking at dried bundles of herbs and bundles of onions hanging from the tributaries.
- The unfinished blood fusion can be severed as soon as I recover from the Source of Chaos.
- And is it unfinished? - I don't get it.
The archpriest pulled the mug, grabbed his fingers into the castle.
- If the merger is between adults, a man and a woman, he has three stages. Voluntary power and the blood of a man. The voluntary strength and the blood of a woman.
- And the third? - Without thinking, I asked. And she got blinded. Because the Archharrion answered with such a hungry look that everything became clear and without words.
- Closeness, Vetriana. The third stage.
I ate my lip. And he looked at my lips. My cheeks were full of nodules.
- By the Eternal Forest our roads will part," he said firmly, "I hope they will answer you. And I need to get back to Chaos.
- Of course you do," I nodded without looking at him.
- Chickenpox, are you... upset? - He came a little forward looking at me.
I looked into the dark abyss and smiled.
- No," I said, "I just want some tea.
And I turned around, looking for the handmaiden with my eyes. Ksenia was coming down the stairs, yawning, and my beast of air, who had been freed from the order, was rushing through the pub, swelling dust.
The girlfriend cheerfully plunged next to her, screamed at the whole hall, demanding breakfast and complaining loudly about the cold. Shyder came down, cursing quietly. The shrimp jumped into the hall, loudly calling a sleepy servant and cursing the sluggish girl. The barking of dogs and the squeaking of the roadside came down from the street. Grim men in tulips fell into the pub, stomping and shaking off the snow, and demanded food as well.
And one day it became noisy, fussy and crowded.
The morning began, and it was time for us to get on the road.
* * *
The next day was barely in my memory. Same northern landscapes again, black and white trees, snowy tracks. By midday we left, though not on the road, but on a more bypassed road and occasionally overtaken by wagons and riders. The body after yesterday's race was mercilessly whining and protesting, and it did not get easier.
We had lunch in the inn of a small village with meat and usual porridge, eating slices of warm bread. The landlady looked at us with curiosity, but she did not ask.
The Archarrion hardly spoke to us, but Lord Darrell was cheerful and cheerful and entertained Xenia and me with stories and stories. It's true, I didn't listen carefully, thinking of mine. When I finished lunch and thanked the hostess, I got up from the bench and put a hood over my hair.
- Where are you going? - I asked Xenya.
- You can stretch your legs," I smiled. "Finish your meal, I'm not far away.
The village, smaller than the White Mill and even the Wasteland, stretches out on the shore of a snowy lake. I slowly walked along it, hiding my face from gusts of wind. The weather was spoiling, and my companions were worried it would keep us on our way. If a blizzard starts, we'll have to sit in this village until the elements calm down.
I looked at the dark clouds hanging over my head and went faster. The houses ended at the edge of the sleeping field behind which the forest stood. I walked between them, climbing further into the snowdrift and barely pulling out my legs.
I stopped. I sighed. I listened.
The cloud was angry, dissatisfied with a swollen belly above my head. A snow swirl was emerging in her heavy gut, and she was about to fall to the quiet ground. I reached out to her and held the power that was raging inside her. "Not now, sweetheart," I asked without words, "not now... Let us through."
The clouds aren't happy, they're wrapped up.
I closed my eyes. What memory do I need? Maybe my acquaintance with Xenia? Or the warm smile of Avdotya? No... that's not it... The cloud was disobedient, ducked, angry...
Maybe the blue-eyed Guardian? No, it hurts too much... The ice cold blew right away, the ground was frightened quiet.
In front of the inner gaze, a picture appeared: mossy boulders and a green dragon, blaming the paw... I smiled. It's warm.
A gust of wind came, picked up the cloud, shoved it into the lead side. She weaved displeased, but obeyed, swam majestically, touching the tops of pines to breed a snow storm in the west... Away from our path.
I looked gratefully at her and sat in the snow, right on the folds of a fur coat.
The air beast licked her palm and gently pushed me sideways. It wrapped around a whirlwind, swept the snow from the ground, and pulled me with it. I did not understand, I stayed in the snowdrift. Then the naughty man quietly snuck to the roots of centuries-old oaks, broke through the snow, knocked down a pile of lying leaves, quietly crept up ... And wrapped around me a yellow whirl ... he threw the leaves in the air, piled up my legs, drugged me with aroma ...
I smiled. And the prankster got excited, jumped like a zealous horse! He tore off his handkerchief, scattered his braids, mixed up his strands...
And I was already laughing at the voice of an air hooligan. And then, tired, I lay down at my feet, pushed a stream of air into my palm.
When he calmed down completely, I even wondered if I could see the outline of a long body with a smoky tail and an elongated face... But was it true, or was the prankster wind just drawing a fleeting shadow?
- Do you have a name? - I asked.
- Name... name... name... tree tops sprouted.
- What's your name?
- Name... name... name... - the lake came up.
- I'll call you Echo," I thought, I said, "no, not like that. Echo! Echo.
The beast of air is quiet. It froze, lurking... and then it swept up my hair, blew hot air on my cheeks like a kiss... and I laughed again. I liked the name of the beast. For a while we were still hanging out in a snowdrift, and it would have looked strange to an outside observer: a girl in a gray dress, blushing up over the snow and laughing at the fool. But I liked Echo, too, and there were no outside observers at the edge of the forest.
Or was there?
I listened to myself.
Yes. Somewhere around here. But no matter how I turned my head, I never saw Archarrion.
* * *
By the end of day three,
we felt the Hell approaching.
First, the landscape had changed and it was much warmer. The age-old pine forests had disappeared, replaced by deciduous forests and stunted groves. Snow drifts gave way to mud and slush, sometimes overlapping with empty land sprinkled with an uneven layer of grey ashes. It was too warm in the fur coat at first, and then unbearably hot, so I took it off and rolled it up in my saddlebag. Xenah and Lord Darrell did the same, and the Archarrion didn't seem to be frozen at all, and he wore his cloak only to avoid causing people to look at him perplexed. And he took it off as soon as we passed through the last settlement.
Second, within forty versts, evictions, even small ones, had disappeared. The land at the border was dead, barren, so there was no one willing to settle here. That's scary. Only in the distance, at the very Devil's side, one could see a watchtower, where strict guards of the border were on duty.
Even horses, which ran so fast across the snowy track, were walking reluctantly and sluggishly now, turning their faces away, and sobbing quietly.
I leveled with the companions who overtook me, and we stopped.
- We'll have to ask the guards to sleep over," Shader sighed.
- Yeah, well... How do we explain to them what we left here? At the border with the Devil?
- Let's say we're lost, shall we? - Xenia suggested.
The men looked skeptical.
- Yeah, or we could get lost here!
Ksenya's in a fit of fire. It's really hard to get lost here. There are only two ways to get to the Hell or the Hell.
- The guards are serious people," Shaider said thoughtfully... They're not ordinary caretakers... They won't believe you. They'll start checking, they'll start asking questions. Or they'll decide it's better to hold us off and send us to the station... They'll let us go later, but we'll only lose an abyss of time. It's better not to get in touch with them. What do you think? Rion?
The archduke's a little frowned, looking at the forest behind our back.
It wasn't the first time I'd looked around, catching that suspicious look behind our backs.
- I think we'll have to stop in the woods," he said.
Xenia and I looked around a bit frightened.
- Like in the forest? - My friend didn't believe it.
- I hope in silence," said the Archarrion, who frowned and touched the reins, directing his stallion to a rare forest. We were hesitant, but had no choice and reached out to him.
* * *
As it turned out, it wasn't a big deal in this forest. Low trees and rare bald shrubs grew here, while the ground was covered with dry leaves and lying moss. It smelled of forest and sometimes pulled standing rotten water, probably, somewhere behind the glade stretching wetlands.
I listened, touched the slightly damp bark with my hand. The living tree responded with a power current, and my fingers were shaken.
An ordinary forest, like ours in Riverstein, is as old as the fall, not snowy.
They wouldn't go deep into the thicket, they'd settle down near the edge, on the edge. While Ksenia and I were kneading the shaky legs after the saddle, the men managed to find dry deadwood and lay a fire. We spun around, wanting to help but not knowing how.
- We need to look for drinking water," Shaider said as he rolled up his shirt sleeves, "it wouldn't hurt to get the horses drunk and fill the flasks.
- Xenya and I are going," I was glad to be able to help, "I know where there's a spring. It's not far away and the water is good, clean.
- How do you know?
I shrugged my shoulders.
Ksenka firmly shut the knife behind her belt and headed for the forest.
- Chickenpox, are you coming? I won't find a spring without you!
I ran after her and I was scared when the Archarrion appeared nearby. And silently came with me.
- Er... I spilled it, - Rion... we can do it ourselves, honestly! We'll get some water, and we'll fill the horses and the flask! It's not hard for us!
He nodded.
- That's good. Dial it up. I'm gonna stand right here.
- Don't stand next to me! - I exclaimed and blushed. Well, don't explain to him that after a long ride in the saddle, girls have certain needs!
The demon snorting mockingly. Holy elders! Got it! I heard... Oh, shame...
- There's nobody there! - almost desperately, I said, definitely not! I know...
The Archpriest looked me in the eyes and nodded slowly.
- Okay, go. But if anything scares you... I won't be far away.
I smiled joyfully and ran into the thick of the forest. Next to me, Echo was rushing, spreading his pretty leaves. The spring was where the forest had told me to, a thin trickle out of a sundewed boulder and gathering in the rocks by a small cold lake. Ksenia and I washed with pleasure and, taking off our dresses, refreshed ourselves. Then we dressed up and tucked our hems behind our waist so that they wouldn't get in the way, and began to fill our flasks and wines with fresh water.
Echo was running around us, occasionally hitting the water with an air paw from time to time, which caused the lake to ripple and above it was handed out a savory "Plug! Xenya and I were having a lot of fun, and my girlfriend was already used to my air beast tricks, and only laughed when we were eating cold drops.
When we flashed, we moved towards the trees and hunted harmoniously, when the Archarrion was separated from one of them by a shadow.
- You said you would wait by the fire!
- Didn't I? I said I wouldn't be far.
I looked at him outraged, he didn't even lead with his eyebrow. Cold dark eyes were looking closely at the forest. I looked around, too.
- Is there something wrong?
He turned his eyes on us and shook his shoulders a little irritably.
- Come on, let's go. We must rest in front of the Devil.
And go ahead. Didn't even offer to help us carry the full flasks! Ksenka and I had an outrageous look, a friend rolled her eyes. And I was surprised to look around. The Archharrion who had just stood nearby had disappeared, disappeared into the forest. Right, if I hadn't known that he couldn't open the crossing, I would have been sure that he had done exactly that. So easily and quietly he slipped under the hay of the trees without disturbing a single branch or a single fallen leaf.
It was only by blood that I could feel his presence somewhere nearby, but I could not see with my eyes.
When we sighed, we dragged the flasks to the edge.
* * *
We dined with cold provisions, drinking hot herbalist of young spruce cones, juniper twigs and sour berries found in the woods. Ksenia and I settled down on a dry strap, carefully prepared for us by Shider and wrapped in capes. The lord himself settled down next to us, threw dry twigs into the fire and entertained us with conversation.
The archharrion sat in the shade, behind the trembling light of the fire, leaning his back against the trunk of the aspen. He did not participate in the conversation and sat perfectly still as if he were dozing off, but I knew for sure that the demon was awake. And I guess he wasn't going to. I thought I'd never seen him sleep at all... or even just woke up... Maybe demons aren't sleeping. Hmm... what do they do at night, then?
The archpriest had a clear smile.
Oh! What is that?
I began to focus on the clearing. A cheerful fire licks the bottom of the pot, and the boiling herbalist smells sharp and delicious. The circle of the world trembles like a living one, crawling from rock to rock. The trees rustle with branches and sleepily listen to the travelers who are wandering under their hay. Xenia looks at Lord Darrell in every eye, smiling. He thoughtfully crumbles dry twigs in his hands, nods his thoughts scattered...
A slight rustle in the thick of the trees I rather did not hear, I felt. The trees just whispered a little louder, the forest shadow shifted a little, Echo was a little worried.
At the same moment Archarrion was on his feet, clutching both of his blades in the palms of his hand, and silently dissolved into the
forest. I jumped on my feet. Then Lord Darrell and Xenia... Shyder pulled his sword out of the sheath and turned, blocking us.
The sound of a deaf blow came out of the shadows as if something heavy had fallen on the moss, then screamed, sobbed... a strange hissing... and an angry horse rust. Spider listened in astonishment.
- I don't understand..." he said, "it's... it's... Kairos!
It's true! Out of the shade of the forest, like a black ghost, a stallion came forward, looked around and burst into a frankly furious rust! And he slaughtered it angrily with his hoof!
- Kairos! - the lord rushed to his horse, picked up the fallen reins. Something struck again in the forest, smelled, and the Archarrion dragged Daniel into the circle of light... Daniel!
- Mon sol cher! - Xenia couldn't help herself.
- Danila! - I exclaimed, how did you get here?
The guy looked at a demon looking at him cold and rubbed his broken lip.
- I followed you... from Riverstein himself... And why hit him immediately?
- Hit? Be glad you're even alive!
- I'm glad... I'm glad... he moved away from the Archharrion. And he also moved away. Under the guy's eye, the blue was slowly pouring...
- What are you doing here, Xenia said nicely?
- Why did I leave Kairos for you? - did the lord outraged you to ride him around the kingdom?
The Archarrion has put blades in his back sheath. They entered silently, not even a rustle sounded, but Daniela shuddered like a convict in a scaffold. And raised his desperate eyes on us.
- I want to go with you... Take it, huh?
- Oh, that's nothing! Why aren't you sitting in the Wastelands? - A snort from Ksenka.
- I can help, - glumly, with his head down and not looking at anyone, Danila fell out, - I do not want ... in the Wastelands! Take it... huh?
Lord Darrell squinted, shook his head.
- Danila, how do you not understand? It's not like we're going on a fun walk! And I'm going to have to answer for you, too...
- You don't have to answer for me! - I'm a grown-up now! I'm responsible for myself! I'm gonna settle in the back, you won't even notice me! I'm out... from the wastelands in the footsteps! And if a chago happens to a horse, I'll fall down there, or a beast will jump, you don't worry, keep going! I'll go on my own sometime, slowly...
The Wind of the North Page 36