Читать книгу: «Element. Flame of Elisar», страница 2

The Beast

That day…

I was on my way back from the fortress that belonged to an extremely powerful man, of a disgusting appearance and the worst temper you could ever imagine.

Well, of course, I was talking to him with a broad and happy smile on my face, and

agreed with all his silly remarks, nodding all the time yet deep down inside burning with the desire to get out of there as soon as I could.

Finally, taking a hefty fee for the elixirs I had delivered, I dropped in a small local market to buy some bread and milk, and left the place. The Sun was about to set, and half way through I stopped to have a bite. I stepped off the path leading to Karun and sat down on a small rock.

The tame Sun was sending its rays down bringing some dim light to the mountains whose snowcaps created the feeling of a surreal picture once painted by an unknown artist and stuck to the horizon…

I was sitting there admiring the landscape and listening to the mountain river roaring nearby. That was a place I often stopped at since it was one of the most beautiful places in the area, offering a perfect view of the entire Falls Valley. And that fresh mountain air… I filled my lungs with it and smiled thus enjoying the chill and the view of the reluctantly setting sun.

But in a couple of moments I got some completely different feeling, something strange and uncomfortable. As if feeling somebody’s gaze, I jumped up to look around and find the source of that discomfort. What was it?

The strange feeling was growing, and then, out of sudden, I realized it was perfect silence around, as if all sounds of this world had been turned off at a clap. I could hear neither the sound of grasshoppers jumping all over the grass nor the chirping of birds that were arguing furiously a moment ago about whose song was better…

Then I decided it was time to go on, put quickly all the remaining food into my bag, and rose up about to move… And there I froze, with my heart sinking into my boots.

There, right in front of me, was standing a creature looking at me point-blank. It didn’t take more than an instant to become aware I could expect nothing good from it. It was all black as ink, quite tall – the size of a decent horse, with a long muzzle resembling that of a horse, too; its entire body was covered with a strange pattern, as if carved with some sharp tool. Two large burning eyes, huge nostrils gulping air in, fangs the size of my index, and some strange long shoots looking like a lion’s mane, which were moving in the air as though trying to feel something invisible and intangible…

I backed away, thinking frantically what I could do, and seeing more and more clearly that I was in a trap. The ugly monster cut me off from the only escape way… the only way, to be exact… Now in front of myself I could see a path, with the monster standing on it; a rock to the right of it, and an abyss to the left, while the way back was shut with impenetrable bushes…

That’s it, a thought flashed through my mind… I had no weapon to fight with, and the

only advantage I had was my fast speed. I moved to the right, trying to slip between the monster and the rock, and applying a maximum of acceleration to this. Some hope of that! This beast rushed across, not a tiny bit slower than me. I barely managed to bounce back, totally discouraged and even feeling a little offended.

Until that day, I had remained perfectly sure that I was the only one who could move so fast. Yes, high self-esteem is abundant in me! And then it was something that might cost me my life.

Meanwhile, the beast was not in a hurry to attack, still pulling in the air with its huge nostrils, which produced a lot of noise. And only the tentacles on its neck started moving faster. I was at a loss about that, and then, as if reading my thoughts, it jumped forward, leaving me with no choice but the only thing I could do – rush through the bushes! Those plants that might seem so lovely at first sight, with all those small beautiful flowers, proved to have huge thorns, which were now ripping off my clothes together with my skin. But I was only gaining speed as I could still hear the deafening crack and crash of branches behind…

A stroke in the back, and then pain… I screamed and slowed down a little, but getting myself back together I rushed on. The burning pain in the back was unbearable. The beast gave a crazy roar and I could hear the crackling behind getting closer – it was catching up.

I was running down the hill, still wondering what I was to do in case it did get me, and I had to admit it was just a matter of time… And at that point I felt a blow that threw me to the stone ridge. My eyes dimmed and pain pierced through my entire body, which cut my breath. I gasped, and could feel the air wheezing somewhere inside.

Must be broken ribs, I thought barely paying any attention. There was some terrible noise in my head, I opened my eyes and pressed myself into the ground… The monster was approaching smoothly, and its disgusting tentacles stretched forward. That terrible view must have made my life instinct work up to its fullest. My mind got clearer instantly even though my head was still full of noise…

But wait… this noise… It must be something else… It’s water… Waterfall! No time to waste!

I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it right into the beast’s eyes. Then I chased it with a large stone, and rushed toward the noisy water. I could hear a crazy howl behind, full of ugly menace – the stone must have found the target. The pain sent flashes through my whole body, and I was out of breath again, yet running, for my life literally, and it was my last chance to survive, shrinking inevitably second after second. And as I ran up to the cliff edge, I looked up

praying and asking for a safe landing (or safe splash, to be exact), and jumped off. As I was falling into the fast and raging river that seemed more like an eternal hollow, I heard a terrifying wail, full of fury and hatred of the prey that had just escaped. And then it was the water that covered me and the world around went all dark…

Everything after that was in a fog – some vague images and voices that sounded familiar from time to time, my own moans, torch light in the dark, and pain that was subsiding only to come back in a new wave.

I woke up in my room, and my mind cleared up in an instant, as if someone had turned it on. I saw Nargara standing in front of me with a cup in her hands, and Elcha sitting on a chair a little away. And then I felt a disgusting bitter taste on my lips which came with a very peculiar smell, the smell you would never mistake for anything else – mours decoction.

Mours was a little plant looking like moss, which could be found deep into caves. This meant that my family had to take pains searching through all the known or, actually, unknown caves in the area. The thing was that the decoction had one very important property – it was a surefire remedy to bring someone unconscious round. Besides, it also meant that they had already tried everything else and my case could not be worse…

“Ricka!” my sister rushed to hug me as she could help crying. I moaned as pain filled my chest.

“Elcha! Are you crazy? She got all her ribs broken!” Nargara shouted. But I also could hear relief in her voice.

“Is it that hopeless?” I asked trying to get up.

“Stay there,” Nargara’s said in a voice that left me no choice but obey. Then she came up to me smiled sadly, and only that moment I could see how exhausted she looked. She had to try beyond her best, I guess, to get me back at least, let alone talking… Much beyond her best…

Nargara was a beautiful woman – black braided hair down to her waist, large light-brown eyes, high cheek bones and a perfectly straight nose – the features typical of nobility rather than of a local witch. She never looked her age and for someone from outside she might look like a woman around thirty. The only part that would give away her age was the eyes. They radiated with so much wisdom and sound judgment that you would see immediately she was someone who had seen a lot of what the World could offer. And not that World alone, maybe…

And now the eyes were full of tears.

“What was that, Ricka? Do you remember?” she asked taking a sit on my bed.

“What beast was that?” Elcha jumped in rubbing her running nose.

“How do you know it was a beast?” I was surprised.

“Oh, you should see your own back. The wounds are worse than awful! Mammy could see right away those were from some huge claws! Did that ambush you? I think you would have escaped otherwise, wouldn’t you? I know you can be real fast,” my sister was rattling away as she sat next to Mammy.

“Elcha!” Nargara warned her in a menacing pitch. “Don’t be running ahead of the hounds! You are getting her exhausted with your chit-chat!”

Elcha had to shut her mouth and put on some injured look pursing her lips, and only her eyes revealed how impatient she was to hear my story.

The Witch’s eyes were equally inquisitive, by the way, so I started.

“I don’t even know what creature was it! Had never met before! I just stopped at the River Hill to have a quick bite, and here it was. Looking at me first, with its swelling nostrils, and then rushed… All I could do was run through the bushes… And my back, yes, it hit quite badly just when it was catching up. Fast beast, indeed! I would never believe an animal could move so fast! You told me it is so rare, and I have never met anyone like that in our area… And the strange tentacles, you know, like a lion’s mane, and moving like snakes, as if…”

“What?!” Nargara jumped up, all pale and her eyes full of horror.

I fell silent as her reaction frightened me. Why was she so scared?

Nargara always was very balanced, and I had never seen any trace of fear on her face. But back then she was scared, and I could tell she was scared a lot. A cold shiver ran down my back. Elcha was silent too, and terrified.

“Tell me more! And what sort of tentacles?” she asked getting her composure back.

“Well, it was all black, with a horse-like muzzle, large, and the skin was very peculiar, as if decorated with some pattern. And the tentacles moving on the back of the neck. Looked like they were trying the air around.”

And even though Mammy tried to keep her face calm, I could see her hands were trembling.

“Was it alone?” she asked in a dry voice.

“Yeah. Do you know what species it was?” I dared to ask.

“That was not an animal” she was definitely hiding something as she took her empty gaze away. “And, Ricka, you can’t even imagine how lucky you were.”

She sat back on the bed and I could feel some kind of tension in her movements. Or she was just tired. As I did not understand it, I went on scrutinizing her face and waiting for

explanation, but next moment she changed the subject.

“We spent about a day looking for you. The Sun had set and you were not to be seen. First I sent a message to Gorhar, and the answer came that you left the Fortress long before. Then I took Elcha, Truvle, Yoos and a couple other men asking them to help me comb through the way from the Fortress to Karun. And it had not been before the next morning, at break of light, that Truvle noticed some footprints. We followed them and came out to the cliff, and the place was all in blood…” she paused, apparently appalled at the picture that her verbal recollection brought back to her mind, and then continued, “Yoos said that the prints led to the waterfall, and then disappeared, so we decided to move along the river. And after a while Truvle found you… When he brought you in his arms, my heart stopped…” she fell silent again and brushed a tear from her cheek, which left a wet path on it. Elcha was sobbing, too. And I got some ugly tension turning into a feeling of emptiness, which began to spread through my body. Even the thought of what they had to experience there, at the river, and that I could see them never again, made my heart shrink in pain.

“We thought you were dead, but Uncle Truvle could feel your pulse – just a thread, but it was there. And then we got all these decoctions, just forcing them down into you, in smallest drops, for almost two weeks.” Elcha said as she wiping his face with a sleeve.

“Forgive me, Ricka, my fault!” Nargarra said in a squeezed voice, “We shouldn’t have relied on your speed…”

“Oh, come on. I’m still here! And where did you find the mours? Yuck!” I smiled and made a wry face as I looked at the bowl Nargara had in her hands.

“You’ve been in bed for nearly three weeks. The wounds skinned over in around ten days but you remained unconscious, so I had to turn to some radical measures,” Nargara smiled, too, and then added in a tough tone, “but don’t even think about getting up just yet! The bones will be knitting wrong and then you’ll remain twisted forever!”

“And nobody will marry you,” Elcha laughed through tears.

I smiled, and it was a sincere smile as my heart felt relieved a bit.

“By the way, Sorren came again; nearly broke the door asking to see you, but Mammy wouldn’t let him in anyway. She told to come again as soon as you are up, and he promised to come with his folks to propose to you.”

“Again!… Please, tell me this is a joke!” I moaned pulling the blanket over my head. As I looked out of the shelter I added, “Why not tell him I did not survive?”

That made everyone laugh.

The Birthday Gift

I stayed another three weeks in bed, strict supervision over me. All that time, Nargara made me drink all sorts of potions. I had never taken so much bitter and smelly stuff in my life. However, it all worked, so my fractured bones were getting better rather quickly. By the third week my patience was exhausted and no matter how hard they tried to keep me in bed, I got up for the first time.

And when the pain in the ribs subsided, Nargara said our family business proved rather dangerous a venture, so I should know how to protect myself, and then told me to go to Yoos to study some hand-fight. On top of that, she made all sorts of protective amulets, so with each step I made my travel bag now clinked as it was full of flasks containing rather dangerous liquids called proudly Battle Elixirs. And every time I opened my bag I gave all those things a suspicious look – no, not that I feared for my life. I was rather anxious not to mix them all up and give one of them to a customer – and then, instead of getting healthier and younger, one of them would turn into a handful of ashes.

Nargara laughed as I told her about my fears, yet, just in case, she tied different color ribbons to the bottles thus making it easier for me to tell which was which. And she also decided to place the elixirs for customers separately, in a special little birch box.

In other words, they did their best to have me armed as heavily as they could ever imagine, and Truvle tried to keep up…

They both were average size and turned out surprisingly light. The weapon looked like two claws – slightly elongated and bent at the ends. The blade splashed some bright patches of the Sun reflected from the intertwined light and dark metal. The butt had three little grooves, while the handle was bent up at tang, thus running away from the blade, which kept it fixed securely in the hand. Just another unbelievable piece of work by Honored Master Truvle.

I felt on top of the world! My own weapon! I just could not believe that I would be allowed having it. I wanted to scream and jump with joy. Even as a teenager, I could watch for hours, all fascinated, a piece of weapon – some truly murderous beauty – taking shape under the hammer. And now one of these masterpieces was mine! But then I noticed Truvle’s mocking

glance, full of irony, as if he was watching a child who was given a book and just enjoyed holding it never even realizing it could also be read.

“So, what’s the secret you put here for me?”

“You try and find it,” Truvle smiled and sat on the anvil.

I examined the blades. Nothing special at first sight… smooth blade, bent like a claw, a little rough handle…

No, it was always about some tiny details – Truvle loved them. The tang, the blunt side of the handle, had several gems, all red. Ruby. I pressed them a bit but nothing happened; then I tried to turn them – all in vain. Impatience was growing inside me. I turned the blades trying to have a better look from each side but that never brought me any closer to the secret. I was getting really angry – I pursed my lips and stared at the blacksmith who was definitely having great fun.

“Shall I help you?” he offered smiling at all thirty two.

“I will mana…,” and I felt a little bump under my thumb, pressing it automatically… Nothing! And then I swiped my index aside and it moved – the ring in the handle did move.

“Aha! Here you come!”

Snap! And something got in its place. I gave a triumphant scream. But at that moment the blades got out of the handle and dropped on the floor with a clink full of resentment. I was shocked, and stood there, not able to move, holding what remained from my beautiful blades.

And Truvle was laughing so hard I thought he would bust a gut. He laughed so that the floor was shaking, and his already red face got burgundy.

“I imagined this moment more than a dozen times while making these,” he moaned with laughter. “But you still went beyond my expectation!”

And he went on laughing wiping the tears streaming down his round face.

I could feel my face going crimson. Not with laughter, though, but anger. What the heck were his tricks?! Why the broken blades? Not funny!

“Okay, dear, just don’t get mad,” he seemed to be reading my mind. “A joke … a little one. And you have a closer look at the piece now.”

I looked down and saw the same two blades on the floor, yet this time I could see iron chains connecting the blades and the handles I was still holding pressed tightly in my hands. The chains were thin, thinner than my little finger.

“Well… And this is…?” I was still puzzled.

“Look here,” Truvle got up, came closer and took the handles. “You turn the ring to the right and the chains come out; turn left – they get in…”

Next moment I could hear a click and the chains, like two snakes, rushed back into the handle.

“Makes it some kind of a claw-tipped whip,” Truvle said turning one of the blades between his fingers.

“Well, it does look like something… er… sophisticated,” but how would I ever manage all this? The moment I try to use it I will kill myself, so the enemy won’t even have to attack,” I still had doubt whether I would ever learn how to use the weapon.

“Don’t worry. I have talked to Yoos. He will teach you. By the way, we designed these together. Yoos told me that you are no good in a close fight, not strong enough… So you will need a weapon to keep the enemy at bay. One of the advantages these blades offer is the surprise effect. The enemy will never even imagine you get him before he comes close enough. This is first. And second… Take the blade,” Truvle ordered quitting hold of one the chains. “What do you say now?”

I bent down and took the blade carefully. It was cold and smooth, with the pattern playing at the intersection of the two metals. As I was moving it in my hand, I could feel the gravity center change…

“Mercury inside?” I asked knowing already I hit the bull’s eye.

“Yes, a little cavity with mercury,” he smiled. “It will bring more precision to your attack.”

And then he struck the other blade into a wooden shield on the wall. The chain shot, and the claw gave a bang as it stuck into the wood. Given the way his face changed, he had definitely targeted a different part of the shield.

“Wow! Yeah! That’s what you call precision, huh?” I was sarcastic.

“Well, my hands are good for a different type of craft, but Yoos was really great with this stunt,” the blacksmith tried to explain even though very much confused. And then, as he gained more confidence, he added, “I think you will learn quickly!”

I couldn’t fully share his optimism, but of course, I was happy to get the gift.

“Who knows… Ok, we’ll see what we’ll see…”

When about to go back, I cast another glance at the bracelet with the blue topaz in the center again and asked, “And what happens to those who take it with no permission?”

“The effect is like that from the bite of a deep-bottom cobra,” Truvle’s voice reached me from the closet – he was producing something out of it.

I had a look full of respect at the seemingly innocent thing. Yes, that was a real protection

against a thief or an enemy. The deep-bottom cobra poison means a slow and painful death. It never kills the prey immediately but makes its flesh go rotten slowly. A Vernor is a vengeful weapon…

“What’s the name you put to it?” I could not get why but for some reason the gem stirred a lot of interest inside me. Just one glance was enough to send me burning with a desire to touch it… Even though I did not realize the reason behind it.

“I can’t say, Ricka,” Truvle apologized. “Not this time, please. It’s only the future owner and myself who can know the name. This is not a conventional Vernor. It has a magic artifact in it,” he pointed to the gem, “anyone who gets to know the name can take it and control the gem’s power. When the customer comes to pick it, I’ll have to drink the oblivion elixir to forget the name forever. That’s part of the client’s terms.”

I whistled in surprise. “Not a common order, I see.”

“Yes, I got quite a fee for it,” he said thoughtfully. “’I’m going to start a new shop somewhere closer to Karun. This one is too old, falling apart…”

I smiled here – this shop was built once as a little fortress and pulling it down would prove no easy job. Of course, he wanted to get closer to us to have more visitors than just customers. Besides, Truvle was a stubborn guy, so he still hoped to conquer the witch’s heart.

“Well, and I won’t have to run long ways then, so we’ll be here, just a stone’s throw away! I guess Nargara will love the idea,” I chuckled as I shoved the blades into the sheath, which I had on my belt, and which I had taken from the same box I got from Truvle.

He was a bit embarrassed and gave me a broad smile. “It’s a deal, then. I’ll get the shop somewhere close to your home and move there around fall. Ready to give me a hand choosing the place?”

“Sure! Any time you need”.

“Great!” he drew a sigh and rubbed his hands with relief.

“Truvle, I got to be going now. Want to get home before nightfall”.

“Of course, it’s time, yes… And this is for Elcha. I don’t want her to have her lips pursed seeing your blades and left with no treat from me.”

I took the boxes and put them into my worn-to-the-thread bag.

Coming out of the forge, I had a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, which was especially sweet after the smith’s heated workshop. Saying another Goodbye to Truvle and kissing him in his scrubby unshaven cheek, I moved back, gaining a decent speed as soon as a few seconds later. The world around was floating by, as usual, just zipping past me. When I

heard the blacksmith’s fading voice from behind “Take care, Ricka!” I once again waved my hand and speeded up.