Иван Жолудь - Shadows of Alletria. Child of Mountains

– You have a lot of books on this topic.

– Did you go through my stuff?"Huona asked, sounding even more surprised, interrupting her sister a little angrily.

– No, you just left one of the books on the kitchen table. So I took it to read.

– Damn it, I'm so absent-minded."It's good to be in the house," Huona said. Please don't forget to give it back to me." These are Trion's books.

– I know there's still half a book of his notes near the end. I didn't expect to understand anything from this book, but thanks to his notes, in which he deciphered almost the entire history of the Order, I was able to read the original.

– Have you read the whole book? How long did it take?

– Not for long, two days.– dozhivaya sweet blue berries sugar, answered the elf.

– There's also a thick volume! You've mastered a huge book in a couple of days… you barely had enough time for ten pages before that!

– It's never too late to start improving, especially since the book is very interesting.

– Well, you can't even argue with that.She confirmed Huon's sister's words.

The girls came to the cliff, the bridge over which led further on the way to the Amulets. Old and rotten logs were attached with frayed ancient ropes, which made it scary to step on the bridge even with one foot, let alone cross to the other bank. In the days of the Ancients, there were unprecedented beauties here, but only now only the ruins of unimaginable architecture remind of the greatness of the civilization of the first elves. In the old days, the water in the current cliff lapped like a huge and raging river, passing through the entire Gaela Range and falling in a high waterfall almost at the top of the Temple Peak. The river was crossed by a wide bridge built of dark stone, which the Ancients extracted from the very depths of mountain mines, for the construction of especially beautiful architectural monuments. On this bridge, at one time, caravans and scientific expeditions passed, the path of which ran through most of the lands of Alletria, not even skirting the territory of the Norgs, and all that remains of it now is a few pillars that did not collapse, resting on the bottom of a small river barely visible below, on which mosaics and sculptures based on ancient legends are carved, barely distinguishable and

When Huona had taken a step and made sure that the bridge was still in use, she took her sister's hand and walked cautiously across the river. The tree crumbled with each light step, and Zarri squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her older sister's hand tightly as she walked with her eyes closed, still afraid to open them and see the bridge falling with them. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and Huona held her little sister by both hands so that she could safely get off the bridge, and then went on along the wooded path.

– So, what does it look like?Zarri broke the silence."Does he really look like a dragon?" With fangs, animal eyes, and a tail?

– Don't-her-t, what are you.the girl said, laughing.– He's just an elf like everyone else, just more agile and has stronger magical abilities.

– What about the scales? Everyone said there were scaly growths on his hands…

– "It has no scales," Huona answered, laughing even louder, and each time surprised by the stories of the young novices.– He has extraordinary drawings on his hands that resemble scales. But I do not know where they come from.

– The books don't say anything about it?Zarri asked, wanting to know more about Trion.

– There is no exact information, except that most of the members of the Order had such drawings, only each one has its own meanings and patterns. I'll ask Trion about it, see if he can tell me anything about such rites in the Order.

– All right, all right. One last question for now. We're getting close to the Wards anyway.

– Indeed, because of the conversation, I didn't even notice that we had come a long way through the forest, " Huona added quietly, pleasantly surprised by the circumstances.

– How does he kiss?Zarri asked with a wide smile, her eyes darting to her older sister's face as quickly as possible.

" Zarri!Huona drawled, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.– What kind of questions?"

" Hee-hee –" the young prankster laughed loudly, straightening her curls in the wind."La-aa-bottom, I was joking. You don't have to answer, but tell me about his magical abilities, since they are so powerful.

– No one else has such magic, not the mountain elves, not the sun elves that Trion belongs to, or the Norg shamans. It has something to do with his father and being a member of the Order of the Five Talons. He has incredible fire and wind magic, which he can effortlessly combine to form even more powerful spells, and he can also talk to various draconids-wyverns, hydra, and, of course, dragons. He can also make contact with other monsters, I've already heard a couple of stories.

– It's amazing. I've never heard of elves talking to monsters before!Zarri said admiringly, already anticipating interesting stories from Trion himself.

– I doubt we'll ever hear any more. The rest of the order's priests are dead, so Trion is the last of the elves with such abilities.Huona breathed in frustration, realizing the position of her object of sighing

– Now I understand why the Elder is so protective of him. How does he even live in the casemate…?Zarri mused, not even waiting for a response from her sister.

– Everything was fine, but the last time we met, Kyte told me that Trion had been raving about the plot for more than a week, hearing the whispered conversations of the plotters who were planning an attack.Huona said suddenly

– What do you think of that?"Zarri asked, surprised by her older sister's response.

– I'm worried about him. Almost three years of living in an empty casemate, locked up and unable to leave his reservation… I just want to know that everything is fine with him-excitedly and sadly said the girl, and these words in her shining eyes flashed a light of fear-But I have not been allowed to enter the Monastery for several days.

– Okay, "Zarri said, running away from her sister, who was frozen in place," I've already learned a lot, now all I have to do is meet the Great Son of the Dragon in person.

Looking up, Huona saw five shining pillars of light rising high into the sky, as if resting on fluffy clouds. The girls were so engrossed in talking about Trion that they could easily have missed the right path leading to the top, to the very pillars of light that emanated from the Wards. Zarri, well ahead of the lagging Huona, was the first to climb to the Altar of Knight's Wards, through which the phylactery was to be filled. Placing the box in the center of the altar, the girl removed a pendant with a purple stone that shimmered like mother-of-pearl from her neck and, leaving it next to the phylactery, went to one of the wards. There were ancient runes scrawled on the stone wheel, which framed a small design that vaguely resembled wind currents moving towards the ancient altar. With a wave of her hands, Zarri let out a fairly powerful gust of air from her small palms, aimed at the runes of the amulet, from which they gradually acquired a glow, lighting up clockwise, one by one. The glow grew brighter, bursting out of the stone ward in slow, careful tongues of non-scalding blue flame. The stones on the box in the center of the altar table also began to twinkle, like stars in the night sky, which flickered on and off again, giving their light to the neighboring ones. When the box finally began to shimmer and warm steam began to flow from under the closed lid, Zarri went back to the table and put the pendant back around her neck. The box abruptly went out and once again stood calmly on the gray stone, the runes on the amulet also lost their radiance, until they did not lose their magic fire at all.

" All right, we can go back.Picking up the phylactery, Zarri said, calmly approaching her sister.

There was a soft flapping sound from the girl's back, like a cloth fluttering in the wind. Grabbing her sister's arm, Huona pulled the girl toward her, and then both of them froze for a moment in shock – a couple of meters away, at the very edge of the cliff, three huge lizards soared into the sky and, flying over the very heads of the elves, flew towards the Monastery.

– Who is it? Winged?Zarri asked, clutching at her older sister in bewilderment.

– No, did you see the webbing on his wings? The winged feet don't look like that. They were mountain wyverns.Huona replied, recovering from the unexpected encounter."Hurry, we need to get to the monastery as fast as possible, they're going there!"The girl shouted, pulling her sister after her.

****

With a single sweep of its powerful tail, an old wyvern with slightly frayed wings tore down the archway of the stone archway, covering several guards with it. The Templars swung their engraved blades, glittering in the sun, and charged at a pair of young animals that were rampaging around the main square. The lizards flew in circles around the garden, playfully clashing in battle with each other and did not even pay attention to the approaching opponents. When one of the elves finally gave the party away with his furious war cries, the wyverns scattered to either side of the garden and swooped down in a slicing maneuver, knocking the temple guards to the ground. The fallen elves were about to get up, but the merciless lizardmen landed on top of their immobilized enemies. Bones crunched under heavy paws, and even the heavy armor that the dwarves had forged especially for the Monastery's guards couldn't withstand the force of the blow. The poor devils died under the clawed paws of bloodthirsty lizards, without the ability to resist the monsters.

– Get down!"Kait shouted as Yuona ran up, spotting a flying clot of wyvern acid from afar.

–What's going on?"– trying to shout over the screams of the dying and the sounds of battle, the girl asked.– Why did they attack the Monastery?"

– We don't know.The guard shouted as he ran to safety."The lizards arrived so unexpectedly that we didn't have time to raise the alarm.

– Where is the Elder?Zarri asked, tapping into the conversation.– I don't see him on the battlefield.

– He is near the Monastery fighting off the alpha male of this pack with other guardians. Now is not the time to talk, I need to help the others, so find a place where these creatures can't reach you and keep your head down until everything calms down.The templar said in a commanding tone, already gaining on his squad

– Well, no way!Huona shouted angrily and resolutely – " I'll find the Elder, they might need help."

– Will you leave me alone with these winged monsters running around?– Looking into the eyes of her sister, Zarri asked – Well, no, I'll go with you too.

" Zarri is not safe," Huona drawled, trying to dissuade the young elf

–no. This is not up for discussion. I'm coming with you, period!– strictly answered the girl, catching up with her hurrying sister.

The lizards tore down everything they saw in their path, sometimes smashing down stone structures, sometimes spitting acid on monastery gardens and houses. There was chaos all around, noise, confusion, the screams of wounded or burned guards mingling with the clang of steel swords against the tough scales of wyverns, maintaining an unbearable atmosphere of madness around the bacchanal. The dying Templars crawled along the blood-soaked ground in the hope of escaping, but the lizards caught up with them and tossed the pain-stricken elves into the air, playing with the bodies of the guards as a cat plays with a trapped mouse. Most of the inhabitants of the monastery settled in houses that the monsters, for unknown reasons, did not attack, passing through each house in pursuit of warlike templars and monks. It seemed that the lizardmen were selective in their goals, attacking only warriors and magic-wielding monks, but what was driving the unexpected rampage of the dragons, who had previously lived peacefully in their caves, only occasionally attacking passing caravans, was still a mystery. The monks were lost in the chaos, torn by difficult elections that would have a lot of consequences. There were guards who were slowly losing their vitality and needed to be helped to heal the warrior's wounds, for which you would most likely pay with your own life if you didn't have time to escape from the wyvern that had overtaken you. Or you can just run away from the battlefield, letting the poor guy die in the clutches of ferocious monsters, for which you will reproach yourself for a long time, realizing the weight of your guilt. Of course, most of the priests, ignoring possible remorse, hurriedly left the danger zone, locking themselves in the Monastery, like cowardly rodents hiding in their burrows in case of danger.