A pair of stone slabs hovered in between them. They were between them, but I did not even know who they were guarding — Anrull or the guards.
“Papa?!” Roska’s ghostly voice echoed in my head in an alarming echo.
“All is well!”
“Serve me!” The skeleton did something I did not expect. His right hand darted forward and hit the center of the nearest star. “You were born to serve me forever! And your destiny is obedience!”
Struck by a terrible blow, the star trembled, sharply turned black, and then its rays lit up as a ghostly green.
“Mother…” I whispered, “Shit! Orbi-i-it!”
The remaining two stars scrolled around the axis, flashing with simultaneous energy rays. Their radiance flooded the air, dispelling the black-green aura. I was almost blinded, but I managed to notice another star behind Anrull, a guardian star. All three rushed forward, struck the skeleton — and having encased it and their blackened fellow in a triangle, closed their rays, which lit up bright red. The glow of the magic fire became dazzling, and then abruptly died away. I was left alone — well, with the trophies scattered everywhere.
With a crash, one of the hollow linen walls burst open, revealing an excellent panorama of piers and moored ships. On the foreground stood fifty people at least, all covered with auras, prepared with spells and powerful crossbows.
I sat down, picked up the kettle, poured some tea into the cracked cup, took a sip, and ran a hand over my chest, discovering that all my clothes had turned into dust. I looked at the Baroness standing in front of me, and asked:
“What did we stop for?”
One of the corners of the tent stopped smoking and caught fire. I took another sip. The tea was really good …
The Baroness always thought quickly. She gave several orders. Most of the players immediately dissipated. Several of them put out the fire — with my help, as soon as I came to my senses from the shock. I was far from a king and I was not the head of Sleepless. The Great Navigator was really an important figure, but not one who could freely spoil other people’s things. After all, I was not on watch now — now I was just Rosgard. At least I was justified by one thing this time – the true culprit of the accident was not me, but a bald genius with a mammoth.
We quickly coped with the fire, and collected the goods that were left — though some were hopelessly damaged during the battle between the God and the star-shaped guards. I briefly apologized, thanked everyone for the help, and sat back down.
“Would you like to offer an explanation?” Asked the Baroness, sinking down next to me. A bit further away sat the assistant in a new T-shirt with the motto: “mutual politeness is the key to success.”
I let out a long breath and collected my thoughts.
“Anrull saw the effect of “The Living Blood of the Greats” on me and it very much interested him. He held out his claw to my chest, intending to check something, but then the guards appeared and arranged a short party. Anrull could not verify anything, but gave the stars a fight — and it seemed to me that he treated them like his own dogs who dared to growl at their master. If you want, I will show you the video. This time I automatically pressed the record when the bony hand was coming toward me.”
“Show me,” instantly reacted to the BB.
Nodding, I clicked the settings and made the virtual screen visible to those present. The video began spectacularly: the terrible hand reaches out to me, Anrull’s half-hooded mouth gnashes against the background of his fangs …
A few minutes later the Baroness leaned back and thoughtfully crossed her arms over her chest:
“Wow…”
“Exactly.”
“Do you understand what that means?”
“That Anrull will return?”
“That, too. And it reminds me of the old saying about the lucky ones: they are favored by the stars. Heard such a phrase?”
“Well ...”
“In our case, this indicates that you are constantly being watched by several ancient guards. Constantly, Ross. Even now you were within their line of sight. Otherwise, they could not react to the threat and appear almost instantly. I counted four guards. And I can say that this was something unprecedented. And very interesting. I will switch to this question several of our best analysts and scouts. And I will force the game historians to shovel through every dusty manuscript to the last — all connected with the stars and Anrull. A storm is coming ...”
“Will you explain?” I was surprised at the girl’s statements. “Another mess…”
“Ros, you got the effect just before you went to Zar’Graad, right? And there were guardians-stars present, right?”
“Yes. I understand what you’re driving at — we were moving at full speed to the Lost Continent, and we are accompanied by disguised ancient guards.”
“The stars accompany you, Ros. And not us.”
“Let it be so. And the mainland is sealed with the magical barrier of the same Great Ones. And Anrull is one of their representatives — if you believe the words of Orbit.”
“Yes,” the face of the gypsy half-blood literally froze, the eyes expressing a storm of unconcealed feeling. “We are on the verge of something new, Ros. And I am afraid that there are powerful forces pursuing their own interests involved.”
“A couple of words in my defense — I think that the stars were not attracted to me, but to my status of the Great Navigator.”
“Very likely,” nodded the girl. “Do you understand what that means?”
“Mmm ... Are you talking about the “Living Blood of the Great”?”
“Right. If the whole thing has to do with the status of the Great Navi and his unique incantation removal spell … what does the “Living Blood” do? Somehow changes or strengthens your spell?”
“Something like an extra battery?” Suggested the previously silent assistant, and I immediately suspected that he was not just a sales representative or storekeeper. “An amplifier of already powerful magic?”
“But for what? Why reinforce the spell, if it can remove an ancient spell? Give the order to collect a dozen specialists — let them restore the command “Ten Peak”. They will cope with this. Maybe Orbit will find it interesting.”
“But three of them left with the group of analysts. They work in the field. They wanted some adrenaline.”
“And you get them back,” ordered the BB. ”Enough of their physical work. Let them shake off the dust from the brain gyrations.”
“Right.”
“Life never gets easier,” I remarked with a sigh.
“And so it is always, Ros. The higher the flight, the less oxygen.”
“Anrull shouted at the guards as disobedient dogs,” I recalled my recent words. ”If he is the Great — why did not the stars obey his will?”
“If he is the Great — he is the dead Great,” the Baroness singled out the word “dead” using intonation. “This is a skeleton. That was not a living being, but a rebel undead — no matter how powerful it was. Do the living want to serve the dead? For example — you work for a big important boss, fulfill all his whims and desires. But then he dies. A week later he appears in the form of a stinking spiteful zombie and demands a cup of hot blood with two tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon — would you run to get someone’s blood and warm it in a microwave, not to mention the sugar and cinnamon?”
“Nice description,” I chuckled. “Yeah … I would rather look for my hidden shotgun.”
“That’s the thing, too. We have very little information about Anrull. Scraps of rumors. Myths. Earlier on in the world of Valdira there was a rather vast dark order worshiping this deity. They hid in the most remote of places, musty marshes and forest thickets. They abducted travelers and traders, made horrors out of small villages, conducted terrible rituals, and preached something about the speedy return and accession of Anrull. But really, no one had time to learn anything. Because of the overly zealous priests and paladins performing tasks of
light churches with frenzied greed. The players killed them all. The Order ceased to exist.”
“I am tired of thinking,” I confessed. “Here are two spheres of orange and green. Not identified, but they can be valuable. Or maybe not. Maybe it is saliva of Anrull rabies.”
“We will need it,” the assistant assured me. “Is it a gift?”
“A gift,” I nodded. ”Compensation for the damage. For the torched tent and the worried nerves. But the rest is for sale only. Money to be divided into two parts. One part to me, and the other to Doc. And you must immediately put it on our accounts in the bank of Valdira.”
“Thank you for the gift,” the head of the Sleepless purred, taking the two spheres, reminiscent of a predatory cat. “Start calling lots. And we will buy them.”
“It is a new thing for me, but I will try … so, six small spheres of Anrull’s divine rage. The items are rather rare, but not unique. I will give them at a decent standard price. Discounts are not granted. Installments, or even a deferred payment, are possible.”
“We take it. With a reprieve. The Sleepless has a temporary problem with gold,” said the Baroness. “Especially on the old continent. We have spent so much in recent days that our financiers still cannot get all the accounting books together. Therefore, I have a big request for you — you must let me be in debt. Right now, I cannot transfer a single gold coin to any bank account — but I will undertake paying at least a part at the first opportunity. The same request applies to your queer and gifted doctor.”
“Gifted? Really? ...”
“Yes. A huge potential in his class. And not as a priest or herbalist, but a healer-magician. In these conditions, his potential is huge.”
“He does cope well,” I agreed. “He saved me many times. And the mammoth too. As for queer — I suppose you are talking about his choices in girls?”
“Yes — the exotic-gifted doctor. Will he trust me in debt?”
“Yes. If not, I will act as guarantor, although I doubt that he will doubt you. Tell someone — she stuck a knife in my back — people will believe it. And if you say — the Baroness did not return the money borrowed … unlikely to be believed.”
“Excellent. Continuing the sale ...”
“No discounts. Therefore, not a sale, but a limited availability of especially rare and almost unique items of increased value,” I corrected.
“You learn quickly, Ros.”
“Bone amulets. Twenty-nine pieces. Unidentified.”
“Twenty-nine …” the girl shook her head. “One smallest one is worth a thousand gold coins. This is if you sell it as an expendable material for alchemists — for bone-soaked bone going into special elixirs. If there is a chance to impose a blessing of the corresponding deity on it… then we are talking about three thousand gold coins at least. For the sale or purchase of such pieces in the bright cities — prison.”
“We count out two thousand,” I suggested diplomatically. “There is little chance Anrull will give a blessing.”
“Agreed.”
“I continue — twelve large bone amulets with the same pattern on each, but with a green edging and strange runes on the reverse side. And three amulets, almost the same but with only one difference — dull green stones inserted in the center. Emeralds, probably ...”
“My debt will be great,” summed up the Baroness. ”Three thousands and five thousands?”
“What about last three items for six thousands?”
“Five and a half thousands, destroyer.”
“Deal. Now the spheres … the cubic one ...”
“Cubic ?!”
“Cubic ...”
“Spheres?”
“Cubic … It is what is written. Anrull’s icy hatred. The cubes are really icy, you can put one in the refrigerator. Cold drinks all summer ...”
“A cocktail chilled with the hatred of an undead god? Never entered my head. Cubes are not unique, but very rare.”
“How much do they usually sell for?”
“You will like the amount ...”
“I am ready — whisper the cherished figures in my ear...”
I came out last out of the scorched and tattered tent. The gnome was in front of me, exhausted by the weight of two large boxes placed on top of each other. A little ahead, an elf was carrying the upper jaw of a giant Gikran above her head.
I had fulfilled the dream of any merchant-player — sold off my goods, and at very good prices. I could not complain about poverty before, but now I could be called VERY rich. At the same time, I learned that the Sleepless had temporary problems with cash. I was sure that I could sell this “commodity” to the Archs. Paradoxically, I was rich, and a boss, but I stood in a diaper. There was a bag on my shoulders, but it could not be mistaken for a piece of clothing. As I ran past the sales assistants, they threw me a pair of pants and a shirt, which I accepted with gratitude. Pockets were available, and I took some cash and went to the nearest shops. This time I was not interested in fishing hooks, but in shoes and clothes.
I was killing time waiting for Malice, who promised to be free soon, and to take a quick look at my achievements. I had something to brag about — during our wandering around An Gdar, I had gained six levels. And during the whole campaign, counting today — twenty-seven. Malice would specify where to put the points — in intellect or wisdom. And he wanted to talk to me about my character’s class, which was more than strange — all the deadlines given by the Magicians Guild of Algora had passed. I was an official support mage.
I also wanted to learn some fresh news about the dungeon. And what was more — the Baroness did not ask a single question about the ancient spell I had studied. This was so strange that one could not simply write off her forgetfulness. Overall, such a phrase sounds like mad talk: “forgetfulness of the Black Baroness”. Therefore, my conclusion — someone else would ask me about my new magic of the ancients. And I could already guess who …
My premonition did not deceive me.
His narrowed eyes filled with burning envy, piercing me through from a distance of several hundred meters. And those tensed shoulders, a head full of questions. Malice appeared. And the first thing he said to me was very clever and perfectly phrased:
“You! Her! And … oh! Well! And so …! And I?!”
“Drink some milk,” I hastily suggested, handing him a coconut with a straw already inserted.
“After all, we’re fighting friends!”
“So what?” I was surprised. “I should give you the magic of the Ancients?”
“Well! Or sell it ...”
“Well, fat chance,” I snorted, and leaned forward for a few seconds to the coconut, enjoying the taste.
“Ros, these are simple diamonds for you. I dedicated my life in order to become a fighting magician with a unique arsenal of spells! Eh!”
“And you have become, Malice. Let us not be modest — your name is heard everywhere. And you have two pictures hanging in the lobby of each hotel in Valdira.”
“Three!” my mentor corrected me. “Well? Tell me!”
“What were you talking about?”
“What kind of spell did you learn? Tell me … let me drown in spiteful envy … let me dissolve in fierce hatred ...”
“I cannot say,” I admitted with a sigh. “I am sorry. I will tell you right away — this was a request from Orbit. I think that the spell I learned came up as a piece in one of his mysterious games and tricks. And therefore the piece must remain secret until the hour “X”.”
“I do not understand!”
“I said – he asked me to keep a secret about the spell ...”
“Ros, are you delusional? I am your mentor!”
“Yes I know!” I growled, almost crushing the poor coconut. “I said the same — but the bald rogue asked me to keep the secret. And anyway, I was asked twice today and twice I had health problems. First, an ancient god appeared behind me. And now you are preparing to tear off my head and put an empty coconut in its place. By n
o fault of mine! Look for the bald elf!
“Look for the bald elf …” repeated the desperate one, wanting to know the secret. “Where is he? Give me a burning stake and a sharp torch! Where is he? Find the bald elf!”
Several beautiful dark-skinned girls gasped in fright of the howl of the warlord, and stumbled away. But before that they had been coming towards us…
“You will be the first to know the secret,” I poured the first bucket of water into the flaming fire of rage.
My attempt slightly damped the flames, but the fire had not yet died out.
“And if anything — you will be the first person I propose to redeem this spell,” I added creamy cream to the proposed cupcake. “This also applies to the “Aura of the Greats.” And do not forget, mentor — I did get you a bottle with an addition to mana. And even gave you another, mysterious bottle … who knows what’s in it.”
“A plus to physical damage by seven percent for a day,” the slightly calmed wizard hid nothing. “Whisper now runs after me like an obedient dog ready to clean my dirty boots. And I am still thinking ...”
“Do not tell him, please, that I gave you that bottle,” I asked hopefully.
“Okay … But how I humiliate him now … if he finds out about the source of his pain and mental suffering ...”
“Take it as a gift,” I handed Malice a tiny bubble, the size of a little finger, and filled with a sky-blue liquid. A divine thing. Replenishing five thousand points of mana.
“Wh-a-a-a,” the magician blossomed, cleverly taking the generous gift. “Are there any more?”
“Two,” I confessed. ”But I keep them with me. Just in case.”
“And rightly so. If they are not useful, and after the campaign, you decide to sell them — I will buy!”
“ Agreed.”
This was necessary— I first made an extremely generous gift, and then I made another equally expensive offering, so that no one soul would know that it was I who presented the first gift. And so, the second gift hid the first gift … oh my head …. I had to distract myself.
“Any new news about An Gdar?”
“Oh! Yes! The ocean! I will tell you brief summaries, and then chat about your specialization. Listen!”
The Way of the Clan 9 Page 11