The pale early spring sun gently warmed the back and - what was even more important - dried the road. Therefore, it lay easily under the horse's hooves, passing hill after hill and copse after copse. The road heals, captivates and promises - and most often keeps its word.
While admiring the scenery, Iantar still did not forget to cast a careful glance around the surroundings - to see if any evil spirits were scurrying around. Nothing was scurrying around. Therefore, nothing prevented the enchantress from enjoying the even pace of a well-trained horse, the freshness of the wind and solitude. Over the past year, she had grown immeasurably tired of being misunderstood - even silently. And now she was glad that there wasn't even a slave next to her, because she didn't want to have any conversations other than business or casual ones in taverns and markets, and uncomfortable silence in company was even worse.
So, the path lay northwest, beyond the sea. Beyond the sea, on the island, lies the unfamiliar country of the Tevirrians - tribes related to the Kilheinicans. During the Kilheinican War, the Candorian army had already managed to batter them somewhat - for their connections with Kilheinica. Although the Candorians did not particularly consolidate this success - at first, the conquest of Kilheinica was more important, then the civil war broke out... And even further than Tevirra, there is supposedly an even more mysterious country of elves, if it exists at all. Iantar was familiar with many elves in Candoria and its provinces, but all of them had lived there for many generations. And the merchants' tales were a rather unreliable source - since a fiery overseas tale is good at driving up the price of overseas goods, even if these goods are not very different from those that can be bought from local elves. In any case, the Source of Power could also be in the land of the elves.
Iantar scratched her nose, mentally digging through the scant information about the Sources, once obtained from rare scrolls. According to legends, a sign of the presence of a Source of power nearby was an atypically large accumulation of monsters near it. "Hmm... Well, these weirdos won't all come out at once," the girl thought. "They still have competition among themselves... I'll have to ask the locals overseas - and on the continent, just in case - what and how unusual things happened in the vicinity. And the most promising forest will need to be carefully combed. But of course, I shouldn't ask about the Source openly. Rumors spread quickly and cheerfully through the taverns; the last thing I need is competitors crowding into the right forest. And you can only scoop from the Source once."
Streams of smoke from the chimneys appeared behind the trees - the village where the enchantress's task awaited her was very close.
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***
Looking around furtively, the fair-haired boy climbed over the fence that separated the yard from the village street. He did not notice his father anywhere and was very happy about it. This meant that nothing would stop him from leaving the dreary chopping of wood and paying a visit to two pretty sisters who lived three houses away. Having pulled down his shirt, which was too smart for a weekday, the boy took a bag of nuts from his pants pocket and walked jauntily along the road. But he had not yet gone half the way when the clatter of hooves behind him prompted him to turn around with curiosity.
On an excellent horse - the kind you could only see with chieftains and their retinues when they occasionally visited, and also with the Candorians in the last war - a girl with long golden-red hair was riding leisurely. Her slender figure was covered in elven clothing, her face was attractive, but it was not her features that attracted attention most, but her lively, curious gaze. Before the guy could guess who she was, the girl herself addressed him:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYs5eRqITy
"Good man, who can I talk to here about a contract on a monster?"6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QZpWi1JyO
"Ah, an enchantress!" the boy exclaimed happily. "Well, speak with our headman. He's already shaken off... ahem, collected the money for the fee from everyone. Let me show you the way."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3vmBKaZ2L
"If it’s not too much trouble," Iantar responded politely, getting off her horse and leading it behind her. "And what kind of monster do you have here?"6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mvx8JwoTs
"Well, some kind of nasty shit is wandering around the cemetery," the interlocutor readily explained, "It has a gray muzzle, and claws - wow! It scares people... some of them." The guy rubbed the back of his head. "That is, it’s not that there’s such a big problem, but the help of a master wouldn’t hurt us..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYsAIQNpSj
"Look at him, he don't see much of a problem!" someone from behind was indignant. Two people turned around - a gray-haired middle-aged man in dusty clothes looked at the guy with displeasure. And under his gaze, the guy noticeably became sadder. "Our herbalist barely escaped that beast... Kailan, you idiot, why are you hanging around doing nothing again? You're already nineteen, when will you grow up?"6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbbJT2B3XK
"Kailan told me important things about the local monster," Iantar interceded diplomatically.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslcnmubM9N
"And you, my dear, are an enchantress, I see?" the man asked, turning to the girl and changing his tone to a friendly one. Iantar nodded. "Let me take you to our headman."
All three of them reached the headman's house, which was very close. The older man knocked on the door, but the owner did not answer.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIJOL8mCp2
"Kailan, run to the field, quickly, he must be there," the father commanded, and the boy reluctantly went to search.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfsca8ZCBy
"Speaking of growing up," Iantar said softly when Kailan was out of sight. "A person grows up not with age, but when he has something to protect."
The man looked at her a little confused, but did not argue.
Iantar stood leaning against the porch railing and wondered if she herself should have once upon a time defended... something that wasn't worth it. This question has been haunting her for three years. And it probably won't leave her anytime soon.
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***
A large shard of the moon hung in the sky, illuminating the surroundings quite well. Standing behind a tree, Iantar glanced at the cemetery and peered into its far corner. A couple of humanoid figures were slowly moving near the graves - two, three?.. The enchantress crept closer between the tombstones.
Two men were digging in a dug grave, working with shovels. A small lantern stood on the tombstone, casting a dim light on the workers.
"I have such a bad feeling, Lorcan..." one of them, a skinny short guy, started to say.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2XZiIxX8T
"You always have some kind of bad feeling, even in such good places," his comrade, a tall, big troll, interrupted him. "Don't fool around, just dig."
"Grave robbers," Iantar realized, stood up and called out to them quietly:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIQhSWudgK
"Hey, guys."
The robbers jerked sharply and stared at her.
"Now, step aside," the enchantress suggested softly.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvrqOG4YpW
"Or what?" the troll asked boldly, noticing that it was a girl, and she was here alone.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLDqD04yDU
Iantar silently pointed her finger behind him.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSU3eYAxfs
"Ha-ha, and you think I'm..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDGhdNbb1G
An earthy hand with finger-length claws slowly grabbed the speaker by the shoulder.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7wYiTBFsa
"Aaah!" they both screamed, and the skinny guy tore between the rows of graves, and the troll, continuing to scream, tried to break free from the ghoul's grip. The robber and the monster grappled and fell near the dug grave.
Iantar jumped closer and raised her hand to strike with the element, but was careful not to hit the troll and simply gave the ghoul a kick. The earthy face turned to her, the monster's grip weakened slightly, and the troll, breaking free, quickly crawled away somewhere. And then Iantar thrust a powerful ball of fire straight into the ghoul's mouth.
Coughing fire, the ghoul recoiled, and the enchantress briskly jumped over the tombstone, increasing the distance between them. The ghoul braced himself for a jump, and just as he was about to leap, Iantar threw a powerful stream of water under his paws. The ghoul flapped its limbs and fell awkwardly to the ground, and the enchantress threw a powerful blast of air at it...
And it only slightly hit the monster.
Almost all the force of the blow went into the ground, the earth hummed and shook.
Iantar had no more magic.
And the slightly concussed ghoul, staggering, was almost on all fours.
Iantar grabbed the shovel lying nearby and hit the ghoul's skinny, crooked neck with all her might. There was a crunching sound.
Leaning on the shovel and watching the ghoul fall to the ground and fall apart, then crumble into dust, Iantar heard the stunned voice of the troll from the dug grave:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0SDENlrtu
"This... what, was it possible?!"6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEU7U9qAkIj
"It was," Iantar grumbled. She looked around and called out to the second gravedigger: "Hey, little one, I see you, come out from behind the tree! And both of you get to work."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDVK1cYPrl
"What work?" the troll asked, climbing out of the grave.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaDZF79Ooh
The enchantress handed him a shovel and pointed to a wide silver container decorated with engravings lying near the grave:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefSQFtSzGU
"Put this pot back in its place..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJajYwRnJG
"This is not a pot," said the small robber, approaching, "this is a sacred cup, left as a gift to God..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM39HQq151o
"So, put the sacred cup back in its place and bury everything as it was."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDTaYiQL7d
"You think it's wrong to rob graves?" the troll began. "But do the gods really need..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmUx6EyhRE
"It doesn't matter to me. But the cemetery where I work must be in order, okay? That's great, now get to work."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwr3zomylk
"But maybe we should, well, kinda, share?" the little lad suggested, but, looking at Iantar’s face, he quickly picked up another shovel.
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***
"Thank you for your work, honorable enchantress," smiling politely, the elder handed Iantar two small gold coins promised for her efforts.
Having checked them with her teeth, the enchantress replied:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BiSTjbVQr
"Thank you too. And keep an eye on the cemetery, today I chased away two grave thieves."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgkVTbN4uZ
"Oh, the damned ones!.." the elder was furious. "If you meet any more of these, my dear lady, drag them to us immediately. We will..."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRYKUilUXT
"I don't catch people," answered Iantar, clearly adding a Candorian accent to her speech. "And let me remind you: according to the laws of Candoria, only a monetary fine is imposed for grave robbery."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VhtBTcU8R
The elder looked at her gloomily, but only nodded, and Iantar said goodbye coldly.
Coming out onto the porch, the enchantress looked at the coins. On the shiny, not yet worn surface was minted the arrogant profile of the Kilheinican leader, who had united all of Kilheinica in the war against Candoria. Having found himself under siege in a large city with his army at the end of the war, he had driven out all the locals to save provisions. Perhaps that was partly why he had lost?..
Iantar put the coin in her purse and jumped on her horse.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtvGoVZanG
