by Paul Kite
“You’ve everything thought out?” The wizard smiled.
“Of course... Except for the traps.”
“What traps?” surprised, Lsaeros inquired.
“Ordinary ... and not quite ordinary. All the secret passages leading beyond the territory of the monastery are crammed with traps.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to sacrifice a few drops of my own blood,” the wizard mumbled with displeasure. “I hope there aren’t too many traps.”
I didn’t ask what he meant by that.
The temple was empty, except for five dead people, among whom were both guards and monks. The double-leaf doors were completely gone, someone destroyed them together with a part of the wall. Fumes and soot were everywhere. Complete devastation reigned in the temple. Only the statue of Airnas remained intact and undisturbed. As if the man, who’d caused chaos there, tried to get around it, so as not to arouse the wrath of the patron-god.
“Someone had a lot of fun here,” I whistled in surprise.
“The door leading to the basement’s there,” I pointed at the corner of the wall next to the stairs.
The wizard removed the blocking trash that had formed after the attack on the temple. He opened the door, peered into the darkness, and then let me go first. I was carrying the girl in my arms who hadn’t regained consciousness yet.
As it turned out, Lsaeros wasn’t joking when he spoke about donating a few drops of blood. I carefully took out the scroll with a firefly and activated it before going deep into the pitch black tunnel that led away from the monastery. Then the wizard took the lead. He drew three runes on his palm and sang a rather short chant in an unknown language. A small scarlet cloud of mist appeared near us. Created from the wizard’s flesh, it was as if collected from the smallest droplets of water. However, it was blood, not water, and it gave the cloud its reddish hue.
“Rean karlok sar,” the wizard pointed to the end of the corridor, and the cloud moved forward obediently. “Let’s wait. All traps without exception should be activated by my live bait.”
Lsaeros crouched on the floor. I took out one of the most expensive healing scrolls from my inventory and tried to help the girl, but it didn’t work. The scroll flashed after activation obediently, but the girl’s body still remained emaciated and crippled.“It won’t work,” the wizard said quietly. You need special potions created only by Ardal alchemists for her healing ... Or someone’s life. A strong and healthy person like that butcher.
“The Blood magic,” I muttered, rather as a statement, than a question.
“Yeah,” Lsaeros nodded. “The damned monks never even considered it. Although, that’s understandable. Blood magic’s sunk into oblivion many centuries ago, along with the sinrims. If you want to, we can go back and look for a person near the temple. A wounded one’ll also work for the ritual.”
“Nope! We’ll deal with this as soon as we get out of the forest.”
“Only from the forest?” The wizard asked again. “But how are we going to get off the island? Or…” he thought for a moment, and then, leaping up from his crouch started to walk in circles nervously. “Hell! Damn you, Zorkhan! You son of a cave goblin and a marsh toad! Who have you sent to my rescue?!”
“Me,” I interrupted his monologue. “Yes, we’ll get off this island! It’s possible to sail by boat from one of the villages, and if necessary, we can capture a ship in Havrtol.”
“A ship...” the wizard repeated after me, finally stopping his pacing in the narrow tunnel. “A ship’s a good idea. I need to restore my strength somewhere ... So, I’ll choose the ship myself. It’s necessary that it can easily reach the Orcs Wastelands...”
“Hey, hey! To be honest, I just said the first thing that came to my mind. We won’t be able to cope with a ship alone! I have no idea how to sail. We won’t be able to do it without a crew! And anyway, why do we need to sail to the Wastelands? We must return to the Dark Forest, to the Shadow Guild.”
“The crew is not a problem,” the wizard waved his hand. “I’ll agree to meet with Zorkhan only once I’ve restored all the magic power that I had before Ardal. The Orcs Wastelands will help me in my recovery. One of the divine sources of the purest magical energy is in the middle of Gran-al-Hron lake. It’ll help me refill my inner source. Moreover, I’m going to purify my blood completely from the poison that the monks gave me.”
“But ...” I tried to argue.
It wasn’t my plan to delay Lsaeros’s return to the guild. I didn’t need extra problems with this rather dangerous and cunning master of the Shadows. I wanted to get rid of the archmage quickly, archmage being his full title, and get freedom ... or wrest it from the Zorkhan together with his heart, if he dared to break his word!
“Stop!” The wizard spoke ominously. “If you are smart, you’ll help me. Or do you hope to surrender me to that damn Zorkhan as quickly as possible?”
“No, but he can find out my location himself at any time,” I decided to tell him about my slavery collar and the story of my appearance in the Shadow guild. However, I kept silent prudently about many important things, and especially that my blood could help in opening the barrier of Ilian.
“Ah, it’s nonsense. I can’t take off your collar, but I can block it without any problems. Zorkhan won’t be able to use it. If you, of course, trust me?” The wizard looked at me expectantly and added, “And then, when we meet, I think he will not be able to refuse me a small request — to give freedom to the one who pulled me out of imprisonment.”
I thought about it for a while, weighing all the pros and cons, and then nodded decisively in agreement.
The wizard smiled earnestly, and then waved toward the tunnel,
“Come on! The traps have already been cleared.”
The secret passage brought us into the heart of a dense and pathless forest. Lsaeros gazed at the terrain right in front of us, and then looked at the sky beginning to brighten.
“Dawn!” the wizard whispered. “Thank you, boy,” he put his hand on my shoulder.
At the same moment, a quiet chime of bells rang in my head.
Task: Open the passage in the magic barrier of the Ilian ridge
Part 1: Release Archmage Lsaeros from the prison of the Ardal monastery is accomplished.
Reputation with NPS Lsaeros increased to "Respect"
Received a new level.
Received a new level.
Re…
I leveled up ten levels! I didn’t have the time to truly appreciate the bounty of the task, as another quite obvious system message appeared.
Available task: Open the passage in the magic barrier of the Ilian ridge
Part 2: Help Archmage Lsaeros leave Harith-Hodor Island.
Reward after performing the whole task chain: Unknown.
Refusal to complete: Unknown. Reputation with the entire race of dark elves will drop to "Hate"
Accept Refuse?
Chapter 13
I accepted the next task in the chain without delay, but I did not manage to distribute the points I received. Fearing a fast pursuit, we decided to get away from the secret passage to the Ardal monastery immediately.
There I was again wading through that extremely dangerous forest. Only now I was carrying an unconscious girl in my hands, and a weak, almost useless wizard was walking behind me. I wasn’t sure whether this was his first time in the forest, but it didn’t matter. Without magic, he was no good to me, but at least he had my dagger. Although, that dagger was useless against high-level monsters if a person did not know how to use it. In such a situation, not a dagger, but a sword or an ax would be more helpful. A strong crossbow with magical bolts would also be in handy.
“Maybe you can carry her?” I decided to turn to the wizard. “It’ll be better if I keep my sword at the ready.”
“Well, yes,” Lsaeros nodded in agreement. “Sure. You’re right. I’m afraid I’m not much different from her right now. Except I can walk on my own.”
The wizard put
the dagger under his shirt belt and took the girl from me carefully.
“By the way,” he said thoughtfully, peering into her face, “doesn’t she remind you of anyone?”
“No,” I answered, pulling my sword out from the inventory.
“But she seems familiar.”
“We don’t have much time for reflection,” I said, as I was not interested in identifying that poor thing right now. I just hoped the unknown person would burn down that damned monastery to the ground. “We need to think about where to go next. It’s dangerous to move through the forest, and along the road.”
“Do you know where the nearest town is? Let’s walk along the shore,” the wizard suggested, and I completely agreed with him.
We decided not to return to Garlon’s settlement. After all, I could be recognized in this guise. We headed to another town, where the chieftain was a certain Lanwan. Looking at the map, I estimated the approximate distance, and as it turned out, the exit from the tunnel was not very far from the shore, like the settlement itself. It was good that there was at least some opportunity to navigate since the fog that settled while Cleto, Garlon and I got to Fadlas has dissipated. It also took some time for the monk and me to reach Ardal through the forest.
We reached the coastline of the island without delay, and without encountering a single monster, which was a miracle in itself. After the incident with the caravan, I was afraid that we would encounter the beasts at every turn. I assumed that we would have to fight hard for our lives. But our journey was more like a pleasant walk to the sea. The shore was also clean and peaceful; I looked around carefully. If things were different, we could have had some rest, cooked delicacies and swam in the refreshing water.
“The settlement is over there,” I pointed out the direction.
We hurriedly walked along the soft, warm sand at a distance of a couple of yards from the surprisingly smooth sea surface. It was completely calm; there was not a single wave.
“You promised to tell me about the Blood magic,” I broke the lingering silence.
“Right now?” the wizard asked, puzzled. He, like me, did not forget to check around for possible danger. “By the way, you never introduced yourself, boy.”
“I’m Kraven. As for the magic, why not? It’s a long walk.”
“OK, Kraven,” Lsaeros agreed. “I’ve already mentioned that the Blood Magic is ancient runic witchcraft that only the very first and oldest genus of the dawn elves knew. This witchcraft was one of the main reasons for the bloody and brutal war. Alas, I possess only a small part of the knowledge in this domain. I devoted many years to studying the secrets of runic sorcery of the sinrims. I was ready to pay however much money it took and go anywhere to get documents from that era: books and scrolls.
Unfortunately, they were all in such a terrible state that it was difficult to read the words. I was able to make out some of the writing and put my knowledge into practice. Thank all gods that I remained alive after the huge number of my insane experiments.
You already saw some of the skills that I learned. Using the life force of another rational creature, I can completely cure myself, whatever the limitations. Moreover, I can force other people to obey me if I can make them drink even a drop of my blood. We’ll do this with some of the crew on the ship we commandeer as soon as we get to Fadlas. I can perform a blood oath ritual that will give me complete control; nearly the same as your collar, but much, much stronger. I can create a kind of half-dead, irrational creature, like the cloud in the tunnel, using my power. This helps me not only to avoid traps that react to humanlike creatures but also in the search for an enemy or use as a spy.
I am connected inextricably with my creation and this allows me to spy or eavesdrop to obtain the necessary information. True, this isn’t quite a correct definition, because they don’t have organs of sight and hearing, but … it does not matter … So, I got a little off the topic,” the wizard realized. “What was I talking about? Oh, yes! The war of the three races of the elves. Sinrims were very powerful! And if their light brethren didn’t particularly care for mysterious knowledge, the dark elves were… quite the opposite. Anyway, no one from the ancient clans was going to share the science of runic sorcery. Then the ruler of the Dark Forest, the son of Derolighler of the Shadow guild, enlisted the support of his beloved father and instructed his people to steal one of the children of the Sinrim ruler and find out all that was required through torture. By the way, are you aware that Derolighler isn’t exactly a name, it’s rather the title of the head of the Shadows? It was eventually turned into a proper name.”
“Yes,” I replied. “I also know about the Derolighler’s son. But I didn’t know all this you said about magic.” Indeed, it was amazing how much Lsaeros knew about that era.
“Hmm,” the wizard narrowed his eyes. “Well…” he looked at me in a strange and suspicious way. “Luck smiled on them one day when the ruler of the dark elves got…” Lsaeros paused for a moment, “the youngest daughter of the dawn elves’ ruler. You can imagine all the torture and cruelty to which she was subjected. However, they didn’t find out anything. You see, what’s genuine about Blood magic is that you can kill yourself at your own will at almost any time. And not just kill, but also punish your enemies. Well, the girl was eager to live; she really wanted to survive. She hoped for a quick rescue from captivity with the help of her father, who, of course, almost immediately found out where she was. Of course, the sinrim ruler ignored all the customary laws and violated the border between the states. He brought a part of his large army with him. But the ruler was late. His daughter, unable to withstand the torture, destroyed herself, taking more than a dozen dark elves along with her to the other world. All in all, everyone who was within a radius of a hundred yards, died. The place itself has become a kind of analog of the Cursed Lands. Thus began the Great War of the three branches of a single elven tree - an ancient and almost immortal race.”
“I know about the War and its outcome,” I said, while the archmage paused for a moment, adjusting the girl’s body. “You can move on and tell me about the barrier of Ilian.”
Lsaeros nodded and continued.
“The barrier of Ilian is based on Blood magic, like all the monsters that hang around it. And, by the way, those monsters came straight from the Cursed Lands. I can’t imagine how they could subdue them. I also tried to tame one of the monsters,” the wizard complained bitterly. “But we’re completely different. I figured out how to create a gap in the barrier for a short time and bypass its impenetrable protection. All you need is a drop of blood of a dawn elf. The blood of a descendant of the Han-Wial genus, the half-breed of a sinrim and a man who stayed here after the war will also work.”
Yeah, I was one of them. But it was better that he didn’t know that for the time being.
Lsaeros continued to talk about how he figured it out, what kind of work it took, and so on… I was more of a listener than an interlocutor in that conversation, but time slipped away quickly. We soon arrived at Lanwan’s settlement, who was a famous competitor of Garlon.
I wondered how he was back in his settlement, my temporary, unintentional master. He was probably in despair at the loss of the caravan and a huge amount of money. I was generally indifferent to the chieftain’s fate. I didn’t feel sorry for him. But Cleto, the manager, was a very good man. The old man came with us in vain. then. He shouldn’t have accompanied the caravan but stayed at home. He would have been alive and well.
A tall wooden fence surrounded the whole settlement completely. There was no moat, which was amazing. However, we had to walk around the entire village to find the gate leading inside. We stopped a few dozen steps from the gate, hiding in the underbrush. I suggested to the wizard that he change his clothes there. He looked like some vagabond pervert in those clothes, not a normal person. We also covered the girl with his shirt, or rather the investigator’s shirt, but that wasn’t important. Her own clothes were too torn. At the same time, we worked out the s
tory of our appearance at the gate, because I was the only person with documents.
We agreed on a story that Lsaeros and the girl were father and daughter. The caravan was sent to Ardal monastery from Garlon’s village a few days ago. It was almost true because there really was a caravan. I supposed the guards would know about the trip. But forest animals attacked the caravan. Only the man and the girl survived. Maybe someone else had survived, but of course, no one knew. They escaped from the terrible monster called mol-dor, which was similar to a bear. Then they got lost and barely managed to fight off the wolves. The girl was badly injured and lost consciousness, and her father received only a couple of wounds. For this purpose I gave him my old work clothes, the very ones in which I arrived on the island. I smeared my blood over them, for which I had to cut my arm. I did the same with the girl’s clothes, adding a lot of blood stains. So, finally, they stumbled upon me purely by chance when I was picking mushrooms and berries in the forest. All three of us again survived the attack of forest monsters and were able to escape from them safely. Then we reached the settlement, wounded and having lost some of the weapons. I was sorry to spoil my clothes, but I had to do that to make the story more believable.
We came to the wide-open gate, and I took the first step forward. The wizard followed me with the child in his arms. Almost immediately, three guards appeared and blocked our way. We looked very suspicious, especially me.
However, everything was decided pretty quickly. Although the story, of course, was questionable, the guards were completely satisfied. The wizard also looked reliable, claiming that he was a local resident, and was born in Fadlas. Lsaeros improvised, despite the fact that we didn’t discuss this, and mentioned a couple of names in support of his words. We were quickly allowed to enter the settlement. On top of that, the guards informed us where to find a doctor and the cheapest tavern to stay for a couple of days.
