The gates were thrown open, revealing a simple, dirty and deserted street in the city of thieves. The road leading to the entrance, was strewn with hoof and shoe prints, marking the invisible presence of an army of people who had entered inside.
The line that separated the outer and inner worlds, with its foundations, rules and dangers, hurt the eyes, causing a feeling of anxiety.
A small detachment of reinforcements was setting up camp on the hill. The soldiers were nervous, trying to escape into the inner world, doing their usual things. The field kitchen was put into operation and the aromas of hot food were in the area.
The captain of the squad sat at the table and emptied a life-giving set of flasks, which should have been enough for the entire journey, treatment of wounds and a couple of tricks with spitting out streams of fire. But the alcohol quickly evaporated; in two days, he and his squad drained half of all supplies. Even a barrel of wine, reserved for celebrating the victory, was empty, rolled down, and remained lying in a dirty puddle.
The long march became even more grueling when a squad of heroes found them. The saint led with an iron hand; soft orders should have been executed yesterday. And so, having reached the final point, they discovered desolation. The mountain of supplies brought by the main forces remained lying at the gates of the city. Everyone else was gone.
There were no fortifications built or food distribution. Inspecting the area only gave rise to more rumors. There was no hint of magic that could move the squad. People, animals, disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was as if everyone lined up and went inside the city, hiding in the depths of its tangled streets and alleys.
They set up camp as far away as possible, fearing something. At night the alarm sounded, the sentries, peacefully peering into the darkness of the night, shook off their drowsiness when the camp was filled with screams. Heart-rending screams came from the tents. The sleepers screamed and squirmed until they were awakened by force. Then they opened their eyes and burst out. A few hours later, they were calmed down. No one could say what happened.
But as soon as someone fell asleep, history repeated itself and they had to be woken up again. Only huge portions of alcohol and smoking herbs promised a good night. Even then, waking up at sunrise, everyone was exhausted to the limit. Fear settled in their souls.
Experienced warriors, ready to lay down their heads on the battlefield, became nervous, every creak and knock made their bodies tremble. The captain felt desertion approaching and decided to share his supplies with everyone, hoping to hold out for a few more days.
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El was sitting on a box near the gate and her gaze wandered over the buildings. There was complete silence in the city, except for the creaking of doors and windows moving in time with the wind. Not noticing anything unusual, she blew clouds of smoke from her mouth and swung her metal leg.
Several attempts to look deeper, using holy magic or the powers of the boy magician, were unsuccessful. The spells worked as they should, but the picture was always the same. All the same dilapidated houses, gloomy nooks, and not a single sign of life. It was as if this city had been abandoned many centuries ago.
Bor was sitting nearby on the ground.
- “Something is wrong” - he spoke.
- "Yes? You are sure? I didn’t even notice!” – The Saint commented sarcastically.
- “No, with the city itself. I was here many years ago, but the buildings, the location of the houses, everything has changed” - He stood up and dusted off his pants - “It’s as if someone demolished everything old and built the same old houses, but in a different order... No matter how many times I look, I can’t say exactly what has changed, but I’m absolutely sure that everything was different here before”
He pointed his finger at one of the nearby buildings - “Look, there was a tavern where I played dice. It is still there, but somehow different. Maybe they added extra windows or they moved the door? Damn, I can't remember"
- "It doesn't matter. One way or another, we will have to go inside and to find a Gil” - The Saint knocked the pipe out with a few blows on her prosthesis and headed towards the camp. Bohr followed her - “But damned soldiers... Not a drop of masculinity. Everyone refused to follow us.”
- “And what’s our plan?”
- “We’ll use force” - A not kind smile played on her childish face.
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Those who had completed the blessing ritual gathered near the gate. Their faces were filled with pride. After all, they were the ones chosen by the Goddess to save the world. The soldiers checked their weapons, tightened the belts on their armor and kissed the amulets that the Saint gave them as confirmation of their chosenness. The captain gave out the last orders, simply glowing with happiness.
- “Is this really legal?” – Zee asked in a whisper , approaching his Teacher.
- “The city is too big for four of us to search it. These idiots knew where they were going and now is not the time to give up” - El turned around and looked him in the eyes - “And where did you get the courage to challenge my decisions? Maybe you also want to go through the ritual? Maybe then you will become a diligent student and use magic correctly?”
- “I beg your pardon...” - Zee answered and quietly retreated away from the Teacher.
The weeks of training were much harder than he expected. El turned out to be even harsher towards the student than towards her enemies. Endless lessons were divided into two parts.
The first was mind control. A soft and pliable mind directed magic, like a stream of water, giving it the desired form, changing its very essence, to achieve the desired result. Here Zee showed some success, creating more and more complex forms. For the first few days, he was proud of the results, until it was time for the second part.
The magician's mind must have the highest level of concentration, nothing from the outside should distract him from the process of creation. People don't think when they move. Walking, hand movements, everything works automatically. Musicians achieve something similar by learning new instruments and bringing their skills to perfection. The only difference they didn't being hit with a huge hammer.
Like an artist locked in a cage with a hungry tiger trying to paint a portrait of that tiger, Zee found it a little difficult. His bones were breaking, his flesh was covered with bruises and wounds. Several times, he even lost limbs. But he was healed, again and again. Forcing you to adapt to the battle, squeezing out your last strength. At these moments, the soft flow of mana turned into a tsunami, washing away everything in its path. The saint easily stopped his attacking spells with a slight gesture of her hand and continued her attack.
By the time of his arrival, he was awarded the title of magician-jester, whom wealthy people could invite to the birthday of their offspring, being sure that no more than one or two guests would burn or evaporate.
- “Stop chilling, scum! Let's go!” – El shouted loudly, standing on the box.
The captain took up her order. The soldiers lined up and crossed the line of peace.
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A silent town, In depth of night,
Welcome stranger, dear.
Just lay your head, or take a drink,
I swear, you'll never leave.
The sound of a flute floated through the night streets. The sad melody echoed through the empty streets, as if surrounding the squad from all sides. Goosebumps ran across their skin, and their heads searched for the source of the music. It turned out to be the silhouette of a boy sitting on the roof.
The last note came out false, the child laughed and disappeared into the dark opening of the attic.
Soon the music started playing again, but much further, moving towards the center of the city.
Now the streets were filled with the sounds of footsteps and the clanking of metal.
Slowly, they moved forward, holding their torches high and looking through every window, behind every drawer, searching for signs of life. But no matter how hard they tried, the city looked abandoned. Layers of many years of dust rose in clouds from their feet, scattering into particles that glittered in the light of the full moon.
The saint was gnawing on her finger, completely ignoring her surroundings.
- “Damn, it’s not right, it’s not right at all...” - She muttered to herself
- “Are you okay?” – Zee asked, coming closer to her back. He experiencing internal tension, growing with every second.
As soon as they stepped through the gates, they found themselves in the city at night. The gates disappeared, replaced by stonework, and the buildings changed places again. The blazing sun of a good start to the day gave way to a shining moon. He was ready to swear that he had never seen such a moon even on his home world. Having never paid attention to the size of the local night star, only now it dawned on him that here in the sky the moon was significantly smaller. And sometimes one could see another small satellite behind it. Here, the stone giant, like a heavenly eye, looked at the entire city, watching tiny people like ants. If only there were other people here...
- “Don't interfere!” - Without turning around she said – “No, stop! Use a path finding spell. Come on, it should be on the menu”
“Yes, just a minute” - Zee answered and waved his hand in a familiar gesture. Several seconds passed. He repeated the movement. No effect – “What the?”
The saint beat the air with two fingers, but nothing happened. Their abilities have disappeared.
- “Try to create magic! Faster!”
Zee hesitated, but when he came to his senses, he quickly summoned a small source of light.
- “So the magic works, we haven’t lost our powers completely, but we’ve lost the ability to use some of Airia’s gifts. I can't open a map of this area. Before entering here, I knew exactly what was happening inside the city. The location of each house, but now everything is different” - The Saint gave a sign to the detachment to stop and called the captain – “We need to strengthen one of the houses, we don’t know what awaits us ahead, but we may need shelter, since the exit is gone”
- “Will be done, Saint!” – His face did not shine with happiness, but the captain did not argue. Just one more minute in this city, and he was ready to start screaming, calling for his mother and all the Gods to get him out of here. And if you don’t get down to business now, you might lose your mind.
The soldiers put some of the supplies up a small mountain, starting to explore the nearest houses, breaking into groups.
Bor and Zwei approached the Saint and spoke almost simultaneously.
- “I can’t find a single trace that anyone was here” – Zwei stated directly and briefly.
- “You should be wary of that kid” - Bohr said.
- “Is it possible to hide traces for so much... Kid?” – El stopped and asked.
- “Yeah, he’s definitely not a human” - Bor scratched his beard, looking at the sky – “I won’t say exactly how it works, but I can even smell monsters. As if in a certain direction, there is something alive. Experienced killers can hide this, perhaps a couple of magicians. But this kid... Nothing came from him at all. Just emptiness”
Zee added, modestly inserting himself into the conversation.
- “I tried to use teleportation and nothing worked. And the light sources... They are dimmer, no matter how much effort I’m put in”
- “So we’re stuck in some city that won’t let us get out easily, limits our abilities, and won’t even be able to properly illuminate the surroundings? Hah” – Bohr grinned. Having thrown off his reverie, he came into a lively mood – “To be honest, I love horror. And here they did a really good job, I once read...”
- “Does anyone have any ideas on how to get out of here or break the spell?” – The saint interrupted his sayings.
There was silence. Everyone searched their heads for an answer, but the ideas were either too stupid or too obvious. Zee opened his mouth, but stopped.
- “What?” – Looking into his eyes, El asked.
- “No, it’s stupid”
- “Speak! Stop wasting my time!” – she shouted
- “Usually in the novels I've read, these spells have a heart. It seems to support the barrier. If you destroy it, you can get out”
They were interrupted by the squad captain, who ran around the corner with a pale face. His eyes widened in horror, and beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
- “They're gone!”
- “Who is?”
- “That's it, all the soldiers who went home!” – He squeezed out, dropping to his knees. El waved her hand and rushed towards the nearest building, Zwei followed.
Stopping at the threshold, she directed the sphere of color into the house. Nothing unusual. Next to the long-extinguished fireplace, there were several chairs and a small table. All the furniture was covered with a layer of dust.
- “Did anyone see what happened?! Or heard strange sounds! “- She turned around and shouted from the low porch, addressing the remaining soldiers, who began to murmur among themselves. Everyone was silent. – “Crap…”
“Wait, I have an idea” - Zwei turned to her. She picked up a stone from the road and threw it into the house.
- “What are you doing?” – El asked, looking at the motionless object lying on the wooden floor of the room.
- “Close eyes. Just do it!”
The saint obeyed.
After a few moments of darkness, they looked inside the house. The stone disappeared.
There wasn't even a trace left in the dust.
- “Look closely, part of the footprint from the boot that entered the house is preserved outside. But there's nothing inside. If no one saw them disappear or heard anything strange, then no one looked at them at that moment”
Taking a deep breath, El went down from the porch, walked up to the exhausted captain and grabbed him by the collar.
- “Your soldiers are on the verge of mutiny, hold them back! Break everything, but light a fire and post a guard. Everyone must watch each other, every second! Don't even blink!” - Shaking man’s heavy body, she shouted - “Is the order clear, soldier?”
Years of drill have taken their toll. The old warrior stood up and, not quite understanding what was happening, gathered the soldiers around him.
- “What should we do now?” – Asked Bor, plans were not his strong suit. He couldn't even hold his drink until the next one arrived. Everything at once was his motto. When he had a drink, of course.
- “They are of no use, I’m afraid if we move in a large detachment, someone will disappear. There is nothing left, we go to the city center. Since our archmage knows how to get out of here, let's follow his plan. I don’t have anything else” – Emphasizing the word “archmage”, she went forward.
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Several hours passed, and the journey seemed endless. The central square seemed to be moving away from them. At some point, tired of wandering, Zwei set fire to an arrow and fired it towards the main square. The arrow shot up into the sky and disappeared. A few moments later, they saw a flash behind them. The arrow hit the sign of one establishment, causing it to swing and make a creaking sound.
- “This damn labyrinth is endless! As soon as we turn into a back street, we find ourselves even further from the square! And if you go in a straight line, the path increases! What the fuck? I'm sick of walking in circles! I hate fucking magic!” – El screamed, banging her prosthesis on the stone road.
- “It looks like we’ll have to go into the house” - Bor said just as carelessly, plunging everyone into the abyss of silence. They all thought about it. It seems the houses were some kind of portals in this city. But no one wanted to check this fact.
Looking around, Bor chose one of the shops that looked the most cultured, although this word was hardly applicable to this city. He opened the door and invited the company to come forward. When they found themselves in a spacious hall lined with empty shop windows, Bohr closed the door. Waiting ensued. Long and painful. The room remained the same, illuminated by the dim light of the spell. Outside the window, the sign with the arrow stuck in it was still swinging. Bohr suggested turning off the lights, maybe the local magic doesn’t really like the magic of the Gods? After some bickering, El released the magic and the light faded.
The heroes stood in a circle, looking at each other's silhouettes. A minute passed. Another.
- “Nothing is happening” - Zee said, as a rumble was heard from the left. Bohr fell to the floor with a strange sound.
Zee stepped aside and summoned the light. With a painful blow to the eyes, it illuminated the room. The magician closed his eyes, not believing the picture that flashed before his eyes. His friend's head lay on the floor, separate from his body, with his face buried in a dirty rug.
He got used to the light and looked at the floor again.
A scarecrow, assembled from pieces of furniture, torn clothes and straw, lay in Bor's place. He looked around and saw stuffed animals of other heroes standing in the same poses as their prototypes. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, but he was glad that they were just dolls. Until one of the dolls started moving behind him.
Before he could even yell, Zee turned around and threw a stream of fire. The flame engulfed the scarecrow, but did not stop it. Silently, it advanced on him, reaching out its flaming hands to his face.
Deciding not to delve into the intentions of this creature, the magician rushed to the door and jumped out into the street. At least that's what he expected.
