***
Unexpectedly for everyone, Yar approached and embraced these burly teenage lefars, immediately entering the Magic Constructor. Discouraged, they didn’t know how to behave. With reverence, the lefars froze like idols. For them, this incomprehensible shaman was a living legend, almost a god.
Yar envisaged everything, having prepared in advance. He replaced their stunted sources with worthy ones, filling them with energy almost at their full capacity.
“Excellent.” The new formations worked smoothly, and the protuberances were harmonious, slightly beyond the contours of the bodies. However, the wired paths were frail—they looked like thin string. Yar hadn’t expected that they would be so bad.
He habitually took away all the negativity and fears from the auras of the young lefars. They calmed down and slept after the First Sower had touched them. Yar worked for a long time, and he even tired a little. It wasn’t anything difficult, but it was more than a little monotonous.
When he finished, he took a deep breath and relaxed a little, looking with pleasure at how these manipulations affected their capacities.
“Impressive. The Dark World has given us a lot.” Then Yar taught the lefars healing and even several combat spells to help protect themselves.
He managed to admire his work: the sources functioned smoothly, and their work had already affected the aura of both— it grew significantly, becoming more saturated, bright.
“Well, I hope your parents will be happy, as well as you.” When he observed their power and beauty, a controversial idea occurred to him. However, their sources had become even stronger than their parents’. This was wrong. The experimenter’s insane thirst inspired him to take further action. He had thought about a doubler for the lefars’ sources for a long time.
When Yar eventually stepped back, only a few moments had passed for everyone around him. The Shadows continued, as if charmed, to pour through the portal like a terrible, silent stream.
But many of the lefars now noted how the Mentor’s children flashed brightly for a moment and then remained standing like statues. The head of the Tes Recus School and his wife immediately understood what was happening—they had been operating magic for more than ten years. Tria Ars almost choked with admiration when she saw the surprisingly powerful sources of her kids. She and the Mentor said almost unanimously, “Thank you, Ayur,” and bowed.
Yar stepped toward them and opened his arms, and the friends embraced. He found the strength in himself and said in a low voice, “My dears, we are friends, first of all. Never think about subordination with me. Now wait a few seconds, I have a gift for you.”
The energy channels of both adult lefars were beautiful, Yar increased them a little more, making them more direct where it was necessary. Then, he built up magical knots at the base of the claws on their front paws.
Perhaps, they will now be able to use them as power weapons. I need to tell them to work on this. His thoughts were flashing through his head like lightning.
The installation of a backup for the source of magic did not take much time. However, the laying of the power harness that connected both sources lasted long and took a lot of power. Yar even began to feel nauseous — the first sign that he was approaching the edge of his capabilities.
Okay, I need to finish. It’s time to go home.
Yar looked on from afar; he really wanted to swear defiantly in satisfaction of the work he had done and shout ‘Great, I’ve managed it!’
When Yar came out of the Constructor, he was a little unsteady on his feet. The last rows of Shadows were entering the portal at that moment. Tegen Ree and Tria Ars looked at each other with a degree of dizziness, seemingly forgetting everything.
“ I wonder what messages they have received ,” Yar thought, going to the edge of the portal. Turning around, he said,
“Friends, don’t be afraid for your children. They will wake from their stupor in about two hours’ time. I didn’t know how well they endured pain, so I insured and ‘froze’ them. Also, pay attention to the power units on your paws. Try to reproduce a power weapon in your favorite form. You can do so now.”
Yar breathed in the air of Tyrr deeply and then shouted for all those lefars who were present, “Goodbye, lefars! Wait for the first group to finish studying in the Dark World and prepare your students. Those who follow in our footsteps …”
He could still hear the lefars’ goodbye shouts as he was swallowed by the portal.
Chapter 6. Homecoming!
Y ar never considered himself sentimental, but now he found himself deeply touched.
“Oh, my God! This is my sky, my sun, and my land!” He sighed with a full chest, closing his eyes and exposing his face to the rays of the rising sun with pleasure. “ Wonderful !”
Yar was standing, his arms outstretched, looking into the clear summer sky. Huge flocks of winged swifts were circling above him like a living tornado. It seemed that nature itself welcomed Yar home. He heard the joyful voices of the mellorns, the tender songs of frosty primroses, and the cheerful noise of the huge oaks of the Pulkovo Forest.
“I’m at home! I’m glad to see you, too!” Yar shouted and laughed.
The dwarf interrupted his euphoria, his thundering voice right in Yar’s ear saying, “I really want to go to the mountains. I feel they are near, moreover, the dragons need to find a good place for themselves.”
“Okay, I don’t mind, but be careful.” Yar waved his hand, and for some reason, he felt a strong desire to follow the dragons. He thoughtfully looked at their soaring. Yes, and that’s right, this place doesn’t really suit the dragons, except on the edge of Pulkovo Heights, though ...
He immediately mentally cursed, his attention drawn to the Shadows distributed along the edge of the forest. They were kneeling and crying silently. “Damn, what’s happened?” Yar was scared. He’d already known how to find Uyu Elsi in this huge crowd. He saw her right away—her brother and she were always in his line of sight and wore a high hairstyle with a very bright green ribbon woven into it. Yar did not know what it meant, but it helped him to find her immediately. Yar ran toward Uyu Elsi.
“What’s wrong, Uyu?!” he asked her with genuine anxiety; he was shocked at arriving to such a sight. The elf jumped up and quickly bowed several times; she was shaking with sobs. Yar hugged Uyu close, approvingly stroking her back and gorgeous hair.
Heck, what am I thinking about? Yar was angry with himself—he shouldn’t be thinking about how damn nice it was to hold the most attractive elf in his arms.
Most likely, Uyu felt something, and she immediately stopped crying. Her speech was confused and she was still sobbing, but she smiled beautifully, like the moon coming out from behind the clouds. “Sorry, Master. Your mellorns are talking to us, they greet us, Shadows, and your swifts, and primroses …”
She burst into tears again.
She could hardly speak because of her sobbing, but Yar could understand that, the forest had accepted them, but according to the Shadows’ point of view, this was impossible.
Yar, of course, could hold the elf—this standard of beauty, grace and sexuality–in his arms for a thousand years. But there was a lack of time. The countdown greedily guzzled the hours allotted for the quest.
Yar, almost without thinking, could not restrain himself any longer and kissed the elf then stepped back. Uyu’s single look and her mysterious smile could inspire Yar to collect the stars in order to decorate her with them.
Yar sighed. He had to cope with all these negative emotions and feelings, as he couldn’t bear to hear the cry anymore. There was a lot of energy — unexpectedly so —and it would be enough to turn the entire lowland into flames, right up to the Gulf of Finland. Another countdown started.
Thoughts flew through Yar Dark’s head. There are too many counters. So what shall I do? Will it be Armageddon or fireworks for the whole world? Maybe something else, brand new?
However, there wasn’t a single lasting thought in his hea
d, except to hug Uyu and kiss her endlessly. Yar even got angry at his inexplicable windiness. Could it be the magic that has affected me?
He looked at his hand and the brightly glowing mark of the First Sower, and the thought of feeding the mellorns with energy arose spontaneously. Why not? I can only try.
Yar rushed to the magical trees. Embracing the nearest, he felt not only these trees that were sacred for the elves but almost all the plants in the forest, and this sensation was exciting. He felt everything: how they grew, how they longed for sun and rain, how they bowed to the wind, and even how they fought against pests and were friends with mycelium.
“Grow, strengthen,” Yar whispered while the huge mercurial energy ball that was hanging over him in the form of a satellite was penetrating his sources. He thought that these two experienced reactors seemed to howl with the strain, having immediately increased, and a wide column of emerald light hit through Yar’s arm that had already turned green to the elbow.
For some reason it became painful — very painful. Unbearably so — and then suddenly it went. He could feel help coming from the Shadows. Yar couldn’t turn around because the process was unstoppable, but he was sure they were Shadows. Some kind of silent guttural song flowed around him over high hills covered with oaks, ash trees and maples. It was almost as old as the planet itself.
The Shadows of the Moon quietly sang harmoniously and slid between the trunks of the Pulkovo Forest. They gently touched each tree, each flower and blade of grass, each bird, each butterfly and dragonfly. The Shadows had a tender word and a greeting for all of them: peace, beauty, unity.
Suddenly, something incomprehensible to the elves, Yar, and the forest itself happened. The earth and the air seemed to wake up from a millennial-long sleep, remembering ancient, magical, long-forgotten information.
The forest had changed: huge roots intertwined like anacondas, indescribably beautiful plants and flowers blossomed, and myriads of colorful bugs, butterflies, and dragonflies flew into the air. The mysterious, magical—and dangerous for an alien—forest appeared on the Pulkovo Heights.
Chapter 7. The Untouchables
T his was impossible to be prepared for. When he broke away from the mellorns and saw it, he had to blink and lean against a huge root sticking out the ground.
“Wow!” Yar couldn’t bring himself to look away from this magical performance. He did not even dare to blink. He could only joke nervously, so that he could somehow cheer up.
“Hey, sanity, where are you going?! Well, okay, goodbye then …” Yar spoke in a dazed voice, rubbing his forehead, as if this could somehow help him. For the first time, he wanted both to cry and laugh, as he had this unusual, pressing duality of sensations. Time seemed to have stopped for him.
He would like to admire this wonderful miracle — a fairy forest—until the evening. The constantly clicking countdown though wasn’t the only irritating thing preventing him from doing so. He could also hear something rustling, ringing spasmodically — as if someone was trying to move through the terrible interference in the air. Yar shook his head a couple of times.
It helped, and the ringing was gone. He finally broke away from this magical delusion, and he slammed his palm across a tree root admiringly.
“Wow, really, Forest? Now we are going to need to rename the clan the ‘Reckless Midnighters’.” Yar looked up; it turned out he still had something else to be surprised at.
Having become huge, the mellorns had dragged the observatory building on their trunks to the upper part, to the delight of the swifts—their enthusiastic trills sounded from everywhere. Though the oddest change was that the observatory had turned into something magical.
“Oh, now I have my own wizard tower,” Yar said in awe with his head up. He really wanted to go up there to see the observatory from the inside, but something prevented him from doing so. An almost perceptible anxiety. That and the fact that the subtle ringing noise in the ears had appeared again. Yar had to repeat the shaking of his head.
At the same time, he thought, Maybe I need to go further. I’m pressed for time, and my anxiety is growing. That’s right, we have a great mission, but I’m having fun here. I still need to free the guys from the meat corral before darkness and find a photo of Richmond Park in London at Pulkovo Airport.
“Swifts!” Yar called for his assistants, and immediately a tornado of sharp-winged birds appeared over him—a couple of them resting on his shoulder. He could not resist and lifted a hand to stroke them. “I need the current image of Pulkovo Airport.” Several birds from the flock immediately flew away in the right direction.
Now, the Shadows.
Yar had only to look at Uyu and Leil Elsi for the Shadows to freeze in a low bow.
“Master?” It was noticeable that they wanted to say a lot, but they didn’t dare to.
I will find it out later. The main thing now is to carry out our plans, Yar encouraged himself.
“Look,” he said while quickly reproducing the scheme of Pulkovo Airport in the air. Yar had had it since they burned down the camp of the dark elf princess. Yar looked at his ‘art’ with a smile, What a primitive picture! No, it won’t work! He destroyed the scheme. It’s easier to create a new scheme than to attempt to fix this one.
The Shadows looked at him, not understanding why Yar was currently silent.
He spoke finally. “Leil, Uyu, we’re going to have to fight in an hour’s time. We’ll have a full-scale military operation at night, so let a thousand of our best soldiers have a rest. I going to call this unit ‘The Untouchables’. I want to now see all the representatives of this elite thousand.”
“But, we don’t have such a unit, Master,” Uyu answered almost stammering.
“Assign worthy warriors, then. I’m going to wait for you here. You have ten minutes. Moreover, I assign you as my alternates. Leil, you are the commander. Uyu, you’re the spymaster and saboteur. Quick. Carry out the order!” Yar barked in a military way. The Shadows seemed to dissolve.
So, we have started...
Suddenly, he seemed to hear the collective voice of the swifts.
“Leader, the airport is below us. We are sending you a picture!”
“Wow.” Yar exhaled contentedly. Everything is so clear and understandable. Great!
Most importantly, he saw the airport clearly, as if he were there, maneuvering inside the ascending airflows.
“Sharp Wing, take it higher,” Yar pointed out, the image almost immediately changing to how it should be. At the same time, Yar quickly fixed the image and moved it right under his feet. This day was full of impressions. Each time, it seemed like Yar could not be more surprised, but it still happened. Of course, Yar didn’t clap or shout in joy. The Shadows hurried over to him. Yar wished they could believe that everything always turned out easy and simple. The small copy of the airport with all the surrounding areas was now lying under their feet.
It seems that the layout has a scale of around one to a hundred, Yar suggested, looking at the smallest details with genuine interest. It seemed that an extremely realistic map caused adorable puppy-eyed delight in the elves. Uyu couldn’t help squeaking like a child, and the rest seemed to be barely holding back. No wonder! They could even see the expression of the elves’ faces or the snouts of the demons on the layout.
However, the Pulkovo Forest helped the Shadows to transform! They ceased to be silent death messengers, Yaroslav noted happily, glancing at the Shadows that stood near to him.
“Stand up!” he ordered.
The elves jumped from their knees, staring at their Master, at their Mission.
“Well, that’s better! Now, let’s all sit in a circle. This here is the place for our operation.” He pointed out the exact copy of Pulkovo Airport.
The Shadows quickly surrounded the layout. Yar liked the warriors that had been selected. There were even two elf-girls among them. He noted though that judging by how Uyu fought, he could assume the highest level for the elf-girls’ abilitie
s. One unusual feature attracted Yar’s attention though. It was alarming and even puzzling—both girls were well-armed. The pretty green-eyed elves had two short swords behind their backs and a lot of small throwing knives on their person. Their personal weapons were permeated with magic so much that they could blind anyone if they peered more closely.
Well, okay… I guess I will deal with everything gradually.
Then Yar spoke. “What do you think?”
The beautiful Uyu was the first who decided to express her opinion. “I say, Master. That this is an open place. There is a single safe way in from the east. Judging by the tents of the elves, there are no more than twenty of them present. They belong to the White Branch clan — they are simple warrior guards. There are also a little more than a thousand beasts there. The rebirth reference points are most likely in the center of the camp. There are no high elves that we should be afraid of; usually, according to protocol, their place of rebirth should be tied to the castle of the local governor. That’s all, Master Yar.”
“Why do you think that there is not a single high elf present?” Yar asked. Uyu bowed elegantly, with the grace of a prima ballerina.
Warlike beauty, Yaroslav admired mentally.
“Master, it’s simple. There is no high elf standard in the location.”
“Got it. Thanks, Uyu. Now, I’ll give you an introduction to the mission. We have two goals. The first one is to rescue people from slavery.” He went to the center of the model and pointed to the corrals, which turned green. “I am especially interested in people from here.” Yar pointed to a very tiny corral.
“There are future members of our clan there,” he added. “As for the second goal, I can’t bear this awful place being so near to our forest. It must be destroyed, as well as all the light elves and beasts, too.” Having finished, Yar immediately felt discord and an oppressive silence.
“What’s the matter?” he asked calmly. “Tell me honestly, what is wrong?”
Dark Legacy Page 3
