I stood up a little, watching the moonlight so beautifully tangled in the branches of the trees...
The grey wolf was lying on a glade, under a young oak tree, sadly laying his face on crossed paws. The wolf's sensitive ears heard me from afar, and he jumped up, noticed, blowing up the leaves with his paws. And he froze when I came out from behind the trees.
- Jared," I called quietly, "I don't understand you very well.
The wolf looked at me clearly. Immediately his back arced, his muzzle bent, his wool began to shreds and disappear, his claws pulled in... After a few moments, a man was already standing in the clearing. I blushed, and without looking, I gave him my cloak. There were no pants under the skin of a wolf.
He closed down embarrassedly. Then he looked carefully in my face and sighed.
- You didn't change your mind, did you?
I shook my head.
- I couldn't stay, even if I really wanted to, Jared. My friend's in trouble, she needs help. That's what worries me the most right now.
He gave me a sad nod.
- But I want to help. Tell me, do you know exactly what the scheets were doing? You know, the ones that heard? Just because I can communicate with your forest isn't going to help him, because there's nothing special I can't hear... Maybe I need some action? Rituals? Well, at least you should know something!
- I'm sorry, Vetriana. When I was born, there were no more hearers in my forest. I only know about them from stories. And the others are no more than I am. Our ancestors simply bequeathed to keep such people safe, no more hides, because without a hearer, the forest will perish," he thought, recalling, "they also said that the hearers keep their balance.
- Balance of what?
He was upset with his hands.
- I wonder how I can help your forest if you know nothing? - I got angry, okay... Have you heard of the Southern Limits? And the Linden Blossom, where the Dryads live? They say they have similar problems there.
- We heard today when this... nervous one of yours was talking.
I sneaked a smile.
- He's not nervous, he's an archimagist. We were eavesdropping, so...
- It's just that wolves have very good hearing," said Jared. And he smiled. Then he got sad again, but the pack had nowhere to go. There's a Wolf's Den to the west, but we don't get along very well with the locals. And they are unlikely to tolerate another pack on their land. We can go even further, to the big water, but... We're not going. This is our home.
I nodded. Yes, now I know what home is. It's the place you want to go back to. And the place I'm willing to fight for.
- Maybe you should listen sometime, huh? - Hoping to ask the guy who's holding my cloak. I squeezed on the fabric that had already changed, but I didn't say anything. Jared looked me in the eye. Listen to me. Can't you see what's going on with the forest?
I didn't really believe it would work, but I sat down on the ground and closed my eyes. Jared sat down quietly next to me.
- I can give you a hug to make you comfortable," he suggested. I frowned.
- Okay, okay, I just offered! - and thoughtfully added," though I liked looking at you at the spring... Our females are not like that. Our food and helper somehow... And no one has that kind of suit... Mostly gray or black... And you're so thin and light... yeah... interesting... And you smell delicious...
- Jared!
- Okay, I'm not talking! - He put his hands up, what did I say? Grant says that human girls love to be told how beautiful they are!
- Jared, have you never seen people before? - All of a sudden, I get it.
- Why didn't you see that? I have, of course I have. But not very close. And the girls are weird enough to see me yelling and going somewhere...
- Jared... - Trying not to laugh, I asked, - how did you get to them? In the skin of a wolf? Or without your clothes on?
He got drunk and turned away.
- Do you think we're wild at all? It was okay for me to go out with them. In my pants. Only people are afraid of us. They're yelling at the whole forest.
- Really, what are they, - I mumbled, - all, do not distract. I'll listen to them.
And the young wolf froze, froze...
- And don't look at me," I said without opening my eyes. He snorted a little and moved away.
I listened. I picked up on sounds like beads on a thread: paw rustles... bird screams... breathing... Voices of swamp spirits... Tree currents. Wolves... Many wolves... An old predator looks at the moon... A young wolf has given birth to wolves and her soul fills with tenderness... Grey sentries stand at the border of their land... Hunting... Breathing... Loving... Suffering. Live...
I reached the Source and listened to the voice of the stone. Where to find the answer? From the Source, the threads of the Force... They are pale and yellow, floating in the air, tangling trees with an invisible web, lost in fallen leaves...
I opened my eyes and shook my head in response to Jared's silent question. And yet...
- You know," I said slowly, "I'll try to get back to you. I'll try to get back to you later. When I can...
The young wolf rode through the woods like a young goat. I sighed. And who keeps pulling my tongue? What if I don't come back? Or come back, but I can't hear anything? I don't understand?
But at least I have to try. And I can't even leave the pack without this ghostly hope.
- I'll wait for you! - Joyfully said the guy, finally stopped.
- You know, Jared, you need to find yourself a female! - I hummed, and don't walk away, I'm coming.
Jared touched my hand, wanted to say something, but I shook my head and walked down the path.
When I got back, Shyder was sitting under a tree and jumped up when he saw me.
- Tomorrow I'll teach Danila how to make a two-way shield," he said. The cheeks were obviously cheeky," he said, "so that not only wouldn't anyone come in, but they wouldn't come out!
And, defiantly turning away, I lay down on the blanket. I smiled at him in the back and ate, stumbling upon Xenia's attentive gaze. It seems that of all our company, only Danila slept tonight.
The Archbishop wasn't at the clearing.
In the morning, my forgotten cloak was hanging on a dry branch near the parking lot. And even almost clean.
* * *
By the night of the next day, we had reached the overlapping point. It was a place near the river, by the fallen trunk of a willow. Scientist, I immediately noticed the brown mold covering the trunk and saw the tangle of Power from above.
I did not have to wait long, almost immediately wolves came to the clearing. Three: The Leader, Jared and another, unknown. And I was glad that they were in human form and in pants, because if they had thought about flipping over here, there wouldn't be enough coats for everyone ... The leader ignored the frowning glances, looked at me, smiled widely. Though, to be honest, the smile made his scarred face even scarier. But I smiled politely in return. Eh, at least they were smart enough not to say anything in front of my companions... unnecessary. And not to mention my nightly promise. Because from the look on their faces, Jared already blew my words all over the Wolf Trail!
But Grant didn't seem to be the leader for nothing. He stopped smiling, and he never showed his attitude again. He nodded quietly, saying hello, and pulled a bump out of his waist bag... a bump!
- Where's the key? - I didn't get it, Daniel. And he was embarrassed by our ridiculous looks.
- Everyone is clever," he said, offended. "How do I know? I thought the key should be golden, like dwarves... Not a fir cone!
The leader grinned and threw the key in his hand.
- What are you pulling, Grant? Open it.
The leader looked thoughtfully at the Dark One, pretending to be something. And yet he said.
- Perhaps you should know... - I was a little tense, but that's not what I was talking about, - at the border of the Wolf's Trail, the sentries smelled the horsemen. There were four of them. Two women and two men. They s
eem to be ordinary travelers, but... men have no scent. Completely... And they also have a traveling thread...
- Who are you tied to? - The Archharrion abruptly asked.
- On the Vetriana.
- Groh sol mia chur! Here's the viper... - Through his teeth, Shider scolded. I looked at him in a bizarre way.
- What kind of thread? What does that mean?
But I didn't get an answer. The Archarrion looked the Leader in the eye.
- Did they set foot on the Path? - Grant moved a little, like he didn't want to look a demon in the eye.
- No, they didn't. I think it was the men. We won't miss creatures that don't smell anything. To wolves, the smell is the essence, and these... If the smell is hidden, then the intentions are not pure. And the pathway has worried us. Do you know them?
- Yes, I do.
- Friends?
- Enemies.
Grant nodded.
- That's what I thought, - he looked at his silent companions, - they went around, the nearest overlapping in the north, on the edge of the Dwoozero. We can hold them off.
- It won't work," said Shaider and Archarrion nodded angrily, "if they've got a pathway, they've got a portal, too... Short, yes. But you won't even be able to get there before they leave... What do men look like?
- They look like men. Although, the sentries didn't understand from the look. They're wearing capes, hooded faces. And no smell at all, I told you.
- What's going on? - I couldn't stand it.
- Alira's got a track thread..." Spider answered, "it's a trail where you can find a certain person. And make a short portal to navigate his path. The trail is yours, Vetriana. She probably has a strand of your hair.
I touched my head confused. And I wondered why I had one strand shorter than the others, constantly falling out of the braid...
- Well," said Archharrion indifferently, "then we won't have to catch Alir. She'll come herself.
Lord Darrell's eyes narrowed and he looked intensely at the demon.
- I hope you're not going to make a priestess bait out of the Vetra?
The Archarrion shrugged his shoulders and turned his back.
- Where did the men come from? - Did Xenia thoughtfully stretch out - or did this snake of Selenia always have accomplices?
- Let's meet and ask," Danila said in a moody manner. He and Xenia looked at each other, and it seemed to be the first time they had agreed.
- Open the intersection, Grant," said Archharrion, "we must go. And...thanks for the warning.
The leader nodded and drew a circle. Jared smiled at me and whispered "I'll be waiting..." with only his lips. I, too, smiled diligently without noticing the dissatisfied views of Archharrion and Shaider.
* * *
We jumped out of the intersection right under the cold pouring rain. The transition from a sunny forest to an empty, clayey road and the streams of water pouring over the spruce was so unexpected that we moaned and scolded in a very coordinated manner. I moaned, everyone else fought. I pulled up my hood and tried to see something behind the swaddling rain.
I could see a wide tramway in front of me between the cleaned fields. It smelled like wet ground, rain, sharp leaves and smoke. Somewhere behind the fields there was a river pulled by peat, mud and fish.
- Look out!!!! - screamed from the side, and a wagon came out of the void, loaded with bouncing bales and harnessed with a heavy horse, with shaggy legs and black shaggy mane. The charioteer, a little man in a shoddy piece of casing, giggled at us from under his hat, and quilted the mare.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! - he yelled, and the wagon rushed past, sprinkling lumps of liquid mud on Daniel's hesitant.
- Let's get out of here, there are several exit points! - Shyder screamed, and we hurried the horses. And on time. A squad of massive, narrow-minded men with guns hanging out of the intersection. They carefully examined the terrain with their eyes deeply planted and turned sharply, drowning smoothly in the rut, splashing dirt and paying no attention to the cold rain.
- Where are we? - knocking his teeth, Daniel asked.
- Overlapping by the Eastern Treatise. Let's go, it's dark to get to the house, I don't want to spend the night in this rain! - said the Archharrion and we have obediently pulled the reins to guide our horses.
One hour later we were soaked, no matter how hard we tried to hide under our cloaks. But they were more protective of the cold winter cold than the autumn bread we had plunged into. And we were soaked to the very furry insides, hanging on us with useless rags. I looked at the clouds, hoping to disperse the rain, but when I saw a solid gray diaper, I realized that it was useless. It's only a waste of power.
And I tried to distract myself by looking at the neighborhood, the ones I could see from under the hood, and random travelers. Most of the time, there were wagonloads of all sorts of things and canvasses... Ferocious carriages were chasing their horses and not looking at us. Once a rider on a long, ghostly stallion, like the moonlight, swept by. Red eyes and fangs shone under the black hood. Danila couldn't help herself, wrapped his head in the sacred half-moon.
Sometimes we overtook the hikers - skinny high figures wrapped in dirty hoodies and hung with strange amulets. Their heads were uncovered and their feet were barefoot. And nobody was very ceremonial with them on the rut, it's good if they let themselves have a hard way around, or even sneak out, exposing their bare feet to streams of liquid dirt. But the hikers did not react to it, a strange smile froze on their faces, and the gaze looked into nowhere, distinguishing there something that was inaccessible to others. I held the horse, riding around those who said that.
Other travelers had also passed by several times, but they were all tied up in cloaks, so I couldn't see them. And I myself tried not to lift my head too high so that the rain wouldn't splash in my face.
As I extended so that my teeth began to knock, we finally saw a stone wall and an arched gate in front of us, into which a stream of frozen travelers entered. Beneath the arch stood a stocky shaved guard, with a flat face and a lower jaw protruding forward. His ears were tightly pressed against his head, and his nose wide, with his nostrils twisted.
- Half-blood," Lord Darrell whispered to me, "somewhere in his lineage the orcs marked.
The guard measured us with the suspicious look of the little dark eyes.
- Peace to the travelers who came to Dark Dahl," he said, "is the purpose of the visit?
- By way of passage," said Lord Darrell.
- Three honeycombs," said the half-orc, and whispered loudly, "and I'll tell you in one more time where the best pub is, and where the good travellers can have a great time ... having fun!
I already wanted to smile gladly, but then the guard smiled and added:
- There's even driads...
The Xenia behind my back stuttered angrily. Spider shook his head and threw three bears at the disappointed guard. He cleverly caught them in the air.
- No nasty things to fix, no fights, no women to force. And magic not to use," the guard reportage, almost frowned, glancing at the Archarion, noticed the handles of acanar and decided not to get in touch. And he turned to the next travelers.
We entered the city.
* * *
Dark Dahl was quite like an ordinary human city. The houses were mostly made of dark stone or wood, which is probably why they got their name. Or so it was named because of the weather conditions, the heavy rain here was common.
The streets of the town are narrow, winding like a hare trail. The central ones are lined with the same dark stone, and the rest are just trampled ground. Waste ditches along the streets smelled of standing water and feces, and in general, the city seemed to be a rather dirty place. There were almost no citizens on the streets, and the bad weather drove everyone under the roofs. Only occasionally dark figures ran, and a couple of covered carriages drove by.
But the mere thought that today I would eat hot food and sleep on a real bed tried me on with the unsightly city.
And most of all I dreamed of a cough with warm water, which you can climb into the whole, and not come out for a century until my teeth stop knocking, and the body - shake.
Fortunately, a suitable pub with a simple name "Food and Bunk" was found almost immediately. Lord Darrell meticulously examined the two-storey building, appreciated the stern bouncer at the entrance and rather clean mica windows and looked at the Archarrion. He nodded. We were relieved to breathe. The strength and desire to look for something else was gone.
The boy servant spore picked up the reins of our horses, and we went inside. Harcevnia was quite ordinary and not crowded, which suited us well. The master correctly appreciated our prolific view and first of all took us upstairs to the rooms. Ksenia and I were placed in the same room, the men moved down the hall.
The only thing I regretted was that Ehhoe let go outside. It's just that I only had one dress, and I'm wearing a wet one, and I don't think I can dry it quickly. But I decided not to think about it, because while we were looking around, a servant came with a bucket of hot water. He wasn't young anymore, and he shrouded, filling us with a spoon and remembering us with the evil word of the mayor.
- And what's wrong with him? - I was curious, handing out a small coin to the servant. He looked suspicious, but the coin, which disappeared instantly in his pocket, fertilized him.
- So forbade magic... ahem, ahem... such! He's just like that, and now we have to carry water in buckets... And it used to be so good! I poured it myself! And the bad guys burned themselves, and everything else... Just pay the local magician on time, and everything... Eh...
- Why did you say no? It's convenient when the water itself...
- You bastard because! - They didn't share anything with the chief magician, so our mayor forbade magic at all... And we're suffering! Ugh!
- It's a pity," I was upset, "I would like to see the water pour itself. Tell me, where can you buy a dress? Ours are completely worn out on the road.
The servant looked obliquely at Xenin's hem, hanging with fringe. He hummed it.
- So I'll send my wife to you," he said, "she has something suitable and you can choose!
The Wind of the North Page 45