City of the Dead

by Vasily Mahanenko

Suddenly, Valia’s warm lips touched Tailyn’s cheek.

  “Thank you for everything,” she whispered as she praised the god that it was dark. She’d never been so crimson in her entire life than in that moment when awaiting the couple’s confirmation changed to awaiting confirmation by Tailyn Vlashich.

  You need to complete the betrothal process with Valia Levor. If you agree to become her betrothed (until 18 years of age, at which point you can decline), kiss your chosen one. If you do not wish to become her betrothed, inform her now. The process will be aborted.

  You will decline by default. Time to make your decision: 60 seconds.

  Tailyn’s eyes turned into two giant saucers. But he couldn’t leap to his feet—both Valia and the closed sleeping bag were keeping him from that. And so, he just whispered to her in shock.

  “Do you know what I just read?”

  “Yes…” Valia’s gaze dropped. “Together. For life. Bound by one chain. Or a rope, doesn’t matter. You know my decision, although my parents are going to kill me. It’s up to you.”

  Tailyn knew exactly what he needed to do. Valia was a beautiful girl. Enchantingly beautiful. She was the kind of girl who made you want to be better than you are.

  Closing her eyes, she awaited Tailyn’s decision, both afraid and expectant. The untrained country bumpkin had captured her heart so completely that everything her teachers and nannies had drilled into her was gone. Overwhelmed by emotions and carried away by the moment, she still didn’t regret her spontaneous decision. Even if the boy decided not to—

  Tailyn’s lips touched Valia’s cheek, and she heard his whisper.

  “Together. For life. And we’ll see who kills who.”

  You are betrothed to Valia Levor.

  Until your 18th birthday, you are considered betrothed to each other. Nothing and nobody in this world can do anything about your union, though you will have to take the vow again to create a family once you’re of age.

  There was an awkward pause. Neither Tailyn nor Valia knew what to do next, though that was when the god stepped in the way it always did.

  Mission complete: City of the Dead. You flooded the city, cutting off access to One’s tomb and the sacrificial stones. A decision was made to dispose of them. Both One and the City of the Dead were removed from your world, and you earned a worthy reward:

  ***

  Enhancement +3 (13).

  You receive OGM-III.

  You receive OHM-III.

  Status change: combat complete.

  “We did it!” Valia squealed happily and hugged Tailyn. The latter hugged her back, the awkwardness gone in an instant. Betrothed? So be it. Over the coming eight years, that was just a nice little anecdote in their status tables—nobody was making them spend the rest of their lives together.

  After climbing out of the sleeping bag, Valia wanted to feel her usual embarrassment standing undressed in front of the boy, but she couldn’t. It felt somehow natural, and she brushed away that thought as she pulled out her reward. Having just gotten to level thirteen, she couldn’t wait to try on the new armor, bask in the OGM-III’s parameters, and forget all about the nightmare Tailyn had bought her.

  The boy was thrilled, too. While he knew all about the OGM-III and didn’t find anything new in the description, the headgear surprised him. First of all, there was the way it looked—no longer was it a chamber pot. Instead, it was a helmet not unlike the ones the baron’s guards war. It was just lighter, more comfortable, and much better looking.

  OHM-III. Description: rare item. Outdoor headgear for mages that lets them survive the hardships of life outside their tower. Integrates with the owner’s cards (no need to blow directly on them). Along with OGM-III, forms a hermetic seal with an oxygen supply that lasts magic attack minutes. Can regenerate when less than 50% of the surface area is damaged. Built-in area scanner (up to 100 meters). Includes mimicry and can adjust to look like any headgear you’ve worn previously. Shield level: +80 * (level + Enhancement); mana level: +120 * (level + Enhancement); magic attack: +10 * (level + Enhancement); Intellect +1; Mysticism +1. All parameters increased by 3 for each 10 levels the wearer reaches.

  For the first time since they’d known each other, Valia surpassed Tailyn. The biggest reason for that was the fact that she’d gotten to level thirteen, which boosted the parameters for the outfit and headgear. Tailyn, for his part, was thrilled by the scanner, which let them see in the dark just as well as during the day.

  “Keep swimming?” The boy stuck the suits they didn’t need in his inventory, tied one end of the rope around himself, and held the other out to the girl.

  “Let’s do it,” she replied. “I owe Dort a very private conversation…”

  They were able to climb out of the river half an hour later. The scanner warned them ahead of time about turns, keeping them both safe from banging into the sides. And when the sun burst out overhead, Tailyn couldn’t help coming to the surface to look around with a grin on his face at the ruins on all sides. He knew where they were. He’d been there several times, in fact. There was a loach over there, another over there, one more…

  Tugging on the rope, the boy signaled to Valia to swim up.

  “Culmart is right over there! It’s a five-hour walk.”

  The boy was overjoyed—he was on his way home. But jumping ahead as if carried onward by a pair of wings, he suddenly noticed how oddly the farmers were behaving. They were all glowering, none of them replied when he greeted them, and some even turned away. A few kilometers away from the city, Tailyn saw a boy he knew drop what he was doing and dash off toward the town as if there were a group of lixes hot on his trail.

  And as soon as they actually arrived, they found the road blocked by Motar. The guard captain’s faced boded nothing good.

  “Surround them!” the mustachioed man ordered, and Tailyn’s stomach sank. One of the guards pointing a spear at him was Georn. Not long before, Tailyn had saved his life, and he certainly wasn’t expecting the treatment he was getting—instead of giving the boy an apologetic look that said he was just following orders, he looked at Tailyn with undisguised enmity. It was like the boy had made himself an enemy of the entire town.

  “Follow me!” Motar barked before heading toward the square. Pikes jabbed the children’s backs, and they were forced after him.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” the girl asked with her hermetic seal on. Nobody besides Tailyn could hear her.

  “No,” he replied after turning his own seal on. “It’s strange, everyone’s so angry. They’re looking at us like we’re animals.”

  “Okay, let’s wait and see. Don’t do anything—just let me do the talking. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Tailyn was only too happy to let Valia handle the negotiations. She was clearly better equipped for that than he was.

  The square was crowded, all except a small open space in the center where the procession was awaited. Tailyn couldn’t help walking a little faster when he saw Dort—the little bastard was standing next to his father and discussing something with him.

  “Halt!” Motar barked. “Master Isor, the criminals are here!”

  “What is the accusation?” Valia asked loudly. A murmur ran through the crowd; Isor turned red with rage.

  “Silence! Nobody invited you to speak. Dort, tell us once again what you told me and the city. Let’s remind the people how much pain this sponger brought down on them.”

  The boy took a few steps forward, basking in the attention.

  “Tailyn Vlashich can speak with lixes. And not just with any lixes—with green lixes in particular. The kind that attacked our town. I’m a witness, Valanil is a witness, even Eighty-Five is a witness. Everyone knows! And when could he have learned their tongue? Only when he was betraying us in exchange for these baubles. Look at him! Where do you think he got a suit like that? I’ll tell you—it was payment for bringing those monsters right here, into our homes. It was Tailyn who gave them the coordinates. It was Tailyn who let them
break into our town and carry away your children and sisters. He let the lixes torture them. I was there, and I saw with my own eyes—they just about bled me dry! And that girl with him is his accomplice.”

  “I’ll burn him where he stands.” Tailyn didn’t even notice when he activated his cards, but he did notice the pikes jabbed at him from every direction.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” Motar growled angrily. “We’ll send you straight off to the god even without a verdict!”

  The boy couldn’t have cared less about the pikes—it would have taken the guards quite a while to break through his shield even if they really did their best. But he didn’t want to hurt them. Something absurd was going on, some kind of misunderstanding. It wasn’t possible that everyone believed Dort.

  The crowd began to buzz, stirred up by the boy’s speech. Curses were hurled at Tailyn, not to mention threats and calls to tear him to pieces on the spot. And as the crowd pressed in against them, the circle of guards was forced closer in as everyone wanted to do away with the source of all their woe. Tailyn involuntarily pulled up his wave of fire. It was a last resort, but if they kept pushing…

  “Silence, all of you!” boomed an unusually strong girl’s voice, and the angry mob instantly fell silent, backs bending instinctively before a highborn. Even the guards lowered their spears. “My name is Valia Levor, daughter of the Duke of Carlian. I accuse Dort Barka of lies and slander. Tailyn Vlashich is innocent of all the charges leveled against him, and I accuse Dort Barka of betraying us, leaving us to be eaten by the lixes. I accuse Dort Barka of being complicit in the death of Twenty-Five. And by the right bestowed on me by birth, I demand divine intervention on each of these points. May the god decide who is right, and who is guilty!”

  Complete silence reigned in the square. The people had stopped breathing, afraid of accidentally angering the god, because if the girl was who she said she was…

  The town shook when the air began to speak.

  “You have been heard, Valia Levor. I recognize your right to intervention!”

  The temple door opened, and the statue responsible for justice walked slowly out. Everyone in the square fell to their knees. Never before had there been divine intervention in Culmart, most of the people there not even knowing such a thing was possible.

  The statue went over to Valia and Tailyn, the guards already nowhere to be found. And after a long and pregnant pause while the god evaluated the degree to which it wanted to be involved, its incarnation boomed its decision.

  “A determination has been made for each point. First! Tailyn Vlashich had nothing to do with the appearance of the lixes in Culmart. To the contrary, his actions saved many lives. Dort Barka only leveled his accusations with the intent of gaining revenge and because he had no wish to return Tailyn’s property. The verdict is that the property is to be returned, and Dort is to be punished. The punishment for petty crimes is determined by the city elder.”

  There was a pause, and the crowd gasped as Dort’s clothing disappeared. He was left standing before them in nothing but his white underwear. At the same moment, the OGM-II and Booster-III found their way into Tailyn’s inventory.

  “Second! Dort Barka did not betray Valia Levor and Tailyn Vlashich by leaving through the portal to Culmart. The only responsibility of children below the age of sixteen is to survive. They are to survive at any cost in order to benefit society and pay the tax. With that in mind, Dort was not obliged to wait while a wounded Tailyn got up and made it to the portal. He was only obliged to save his own life. The verdict is that Dort is found not guilty, and Valia is to be punished. The punishment will be determined later.”

  The crowd murmured approvingly. From a despicable thief, Dort had turned into a hero, having done everything by the book. Even the god said so.

  “Third! Dort Barka ordered the girl to check the remote terminal, understandably assuming it was a trap. The girl could have declined—Dort neither threatened nor blackmailed her. Instead, she obeyed and was killed. Dort is blameless in the matter as suspicion is not the same as knowledge. The verdict is that Dort is found not guilty, and Valia is to be punished. The punishment will be determined later.”

  It was Valia’s turn to gasp. She hadn’t been expecting the verdicts to go against her.

  “Valia Levor, two of your three accusations were mistaken. There is but one punishment for divine intervention in mistaken accusations, and it is death. The sentence will be carried out this evening.”

  The crowd buzzed approvingly. Not only was Dort a hero, but a highborn was going to be executed—it was practically a holiday. However, that wasn’t the end of the divine intervention.

  “Tailyn Vlashich, your actions have freed up significant resources for me as I no longer need to support an enormous layer of ancient constructions. And while you already received one reward, you have been given the right to one request. Simply make it, and if it is considered appropriate given the extent of your contribution, it will be granted.”

  “I already have it!” Tailyn yelled. “I want to save Valia’s life. Don’t execute her!”

  There was a pause. The statue was processing the request, and the crowd murmured unhappily—they’d been looking forward to the spectacle. Finally, the god replied.

  “A determination has been made! Tailyn Vlashich, your request is excessive, but your betrothal makes it possible to grant it. Valia Levor, you are to return home. Your father has been informed of your new punishment and will see to it that it is carried out. Isor Barka, send Valia Levor to Baron Equire, who has been given a mission to accompany the young duchess to her family home. The divine intervention is complete!”

  The statue wheeled around and headed slowly back to the temple.

  “Mistress,” Motar said as he came over to Valia. The guard’s face was plastered with embarrassment, but he couldn’t help obeying the will of the god, especially given that it had deigned to appear in person. “Allow me to accompany you.”

  “Give me a minute.” The girl turned and hugged Tailyn in front of the entire crowd, after which she whispered in his ear. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Here, take this. My parents gave me this book when I completed my initiation.”

  A thick copy of The Mage’s Encyclopedia appeared in Tailyn’s hands.

  “I’ll see you in a year and a half at the academy, and you can give it back then. Please read it. Easy questions can’t throw you for a loop, so go through and learn everything before you get to the academy. And… Thank you! For everything. Again.”

  “Together?” Tailyn asked, even finding the strength to smile.

  “For life,” Valia replied. She smiled, too—she was going to handle the punishment and her parents’ fury at her betrothal. Sure, she was going to have a rough time of it, but she would eventually get to the academy and see the boy. No, not the boy. Her boy. Yes, that was much better.

  “I’m ready.” Valia pulled herself away from Tailyn and turned toward Motar. “Lead away.”

  Epilogue

  TAILYN SPENT his eleventh birthday quietly and surrounded by his usual circle. Motar brought him a delicious pie his wife had made, Tekhor had new training swords for him, and Valanil’s gift was several shield restoration flasks. They sat, they ate, and Tailyn told for the umpteenth time the story of the City of the Dead, after which they began what the boy called his daily torture sessions. The three of them were teaching him how to survive without cards. Leaping and jumping, Tailyn learned how to fence, use a pike, handle a shield, wield a knife, and even use alchemical potions. The latter training was all about what was best to use in which cases, why fire was a potent weapon against some creatures and powerless against others, and much more. Almost a year had passed since the moment the god made its will known to the people, but everyone still stayed away from Tailyn. Nobody liked upstarts.

  “Tailyn, Master Isor wants to see you!” yelled a breathless messenger. Distracted by the interruption, the boy caught a painful strike in the ribs from a dull sword. T
he lessons were held without his mage’s outfit, and Tailyn’s personal shield was long since gone. Small wonder given how heartless his teachers were, Valanil in particular.

  The surprised boy headed off toward the palace. Isor did his best to avoid Tailyn, even putting him at the opposite end of the hall for official receptions. And Dort had left the city the very next day after the god’s determination, though nobody knew where Isor had sent him. Valia’s father had sent an agent to come look over Tailyn. What he thought, Tailyn didn’t know, but nobody else showed up on behalf of the duke. That’s when the training had started, leaving no time to think about anything else. At least, with one exception: his constant preoccupation was when he was going to get to sleep.

  And then, there was the summons from Isor. It was unexpected. Mysterious. What did he need?

  The city elder wasn’t alone in his office. Next to him was an unpleasant character with a hood pulled down to cover his face, and Tailyn had already seen a cloak like his. It had been worn by a man who’d tried to kill him. The crystal fence.