Бирюшев Руслан Рустамович
The knight, the dragon and the necromancer. Daert dilogy-1
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Аннотация:
The lands of the Daert Kingdom are covered in blood - the troops of the new king, supporters of the murdered queen, rebellious barons, separatists from the outskirts, nomads who invaded from the steppe are fighting each other. The armies of neighbors are hanging over the borders. But the nature mage Rosa Granchi does not know about all this - she has been conducting research in forest for a long time.Alas, when fate needs to put the right person in the right place, it does it easily. Rosa is destined to find herself in the very center of the conflict and be among the people whose actions will determine the outcome of the war...
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The knight, the dragon and the necromancer.
Part One. In an era of change.
"An old proverb says that it is misfortune to live in an age of change. For most people, this is certainly true. But there will always be those who turn the energy of change into strength. To give it form and direction, determining the course of history. I happen to be just such a person. I can't look into the annals of the future, but even now some people write that I have ridden the storm...".
Witch-Queen. "Memories", Volume One.
Chapter 1
Rose looked at the forest through the eyes of a bird. It wasn't easy, given that bird eyes are positioned differently from human eyes - and yet she enjoyed the sharpness of another's vision. She could make out every leaf in the crown, every vein in the bark, every gnat in the air. Her own eyes, weak even by human standards, did not allow such a thing. The forest rumbled in the wind, the tops of ancient, age-old trees swayed, but the ground was comparatively quiet. However, the bird was worried for some reason, and its excitement was transmitted to the girl. The invisible thread that connected the bird with the young sorceress could not transmit only the "picture" - Rosa felt at the same time how the breeze ruffled the feathers on its back, how its clawed paws stepped over the rough dry branch, how the air smelled of resin... A person unprepared would be completely confused by these sensations. But Rosa had been trained, and perfectly.
She was nineteen now, and for the past five years, the girl had been studying to be a nature mage at the Royal Academy, in the capital. The best place for a mage to learn her innate talent. Rosa's family had enough money not to send her to one of the free military schools that trained mages for the army - she chose her own speciality. She had never regretted it, though many considered nature magic to be too theoretical and therefore of little use. Rosa was madly fascinated by the lessons - after all, "forest" magic existed at the intersection of other disciplines. Studying it, the girl looked with one eye into healing, necromancy, and many other things. Nature mages learnt to understand the forest, desert, steppe, sea, mountains, sand and snow, animals and birds, fish and flowers. The mechanisms that connect it all together, and thus the laws by which the world itself works. And magic, among other things.
What Rose was doing now was not idle curiosity either. She had to share her body with the bird for her own project. Her studies at the Academy were coming to an end, and she had to think about the future. An interesting research done by a student might attract the attention of a mentor from among her senior colleagues. After all, a magician learns all his life, and the years at the Academy were only the very beginning of the journey.
Rosa had always been interested in the effects of magic on living things. The release of raw magical energy distorted flesh, creating people and animals into helpless piles of meat and bone at best and dangerous monsters at worst. But constant low-level exposure should have some effect, shouldn't it? Maybe even cause inherited changes. Few people were studying such issues - the girl had dug through the faculty library to make sure of that. She was not going to be one of the discoverers, but she had a chance to bring something new. Rosa prepared an expedition at her own expense and set off.
Long ago, in the days of the old empire, this forest was not so dense, and on its outskirts there was a portal station. A building packed with arches of magical portals - through them messengers, imperial officials and just rich people could instantly travel anywhere on the continent. When the empire split into small pieces, fighting with each other, the portals were abandoned, some were destroyed - they caused more harm than good. But before that, for centuries, the stations had been passing through themselves an insane amount of energy, fueling portal jumps. There was a reason they were forbidden to be built near cities. A malfunctioning portal could cause massive casualties, throwing raw magic thousands of feet around.
Not even the ruins of the local station remained - but the memory of it still lived in the forest. Rosa found confirmation of her theory as soon as she arrived. After setting up camp and getting a couple of rabbits for supper, she noticed a strange pattern on their white-grey skin. It was as if some joker had drawn nautical knots on their backs with white paint. For the next month the young sorceress prowled around the forest with a crossbow, catching new specimens of animals, and at the same time looking around with her magical vision. The forest was slowly waking up from its winter hibernation, and no magic could be felt in it. But the plumage of the birds she had caught was also different in colour from normal, and the partridges in the far walnut grove had one more feather in their wings than they should. Little discoveries delighted Rose. At night she stayed up and by the light of the lamp wrote down and sketched in the tent the oddities she found. After the external differences it was the turn of differences in behaviour. Here it was no longer necessary to chase the animals with a crossbow, but to observe their ordinary life from afar. Quickly tired of being stuck in the bushes for twenty-four hours, under the protection of charms, repelling human odour, the girl decided to try a more interesting method. She caught a greenfinch, a tiny forest bird, enchanted it and released it. Now every day the young sorceress spent a few hours in the wilderness, lying on a spread cloak, connecting her feelings with the feelings of the bird. She could not do it directly from the camp - the invisible thread had a limited length. Luckily, the greenfinch didn't fly far away. However, nothing interesting happened to her. Until today.
Rose could feel the bird's anxiety growing with each heartbeat, though she did not understand why. It seemed to be frightened by the cries of its feathered companions, louder and more frantic. Other birds, not only greenfinches, were also shouting. Winged shadows flashed in the sky - a whole flock came down from the branches. After them, the greenfinch flew off. Screaming loudly, the bird darted upwards, rising above the trees. For a second Rose saw something large, dark, clumsily moving below... And at the same instant the etheric thread burst.
- H-hah! - The girl sat up jerkily, clutching her chest. Inhaled convulsively. The bird's sensations were fading slowly, overlapping with Rose's own sensations. The girl quickly touched her face with the palm of her hand. Small, neat nose, high cheekbones, slightly weathered lips. No beak. No feathers. To be sure, she pulled a strand from behind her ear and held it up to her eyes. Wavy, badly brushed hair the colour of a crow's wing. Not feathers.
- Oh god... - Rosa took a breath, fixed her glasses, large, round, expensive silver-rimmed glasses that had slipped down to the tip of her nose. She looked round, resting her palms on the ground. There was peace and tranquillity all around. Only from afar came the sound of birds. But the girl already knew that the birds were noisy for a reason. She closed her eyes again, trusting her magical vision. She saw nothing but a faint flicker at her temples. But she heard something. The bird noise had died down, and a crackling sound came to Rose's ears. Just to the side where the greenfinch had seen a dark body moving between the trees. It was as if something was... breaking branches. Big, thick branches.
Strictly speaking, the girl should have rested after the sudden break in the etheric connection. Just lie on the cloak for a quarter of an hour, getting used to her own body. But she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. For the first time in years, the daytime forest frightened Rose. Something was wrong. She should get away and try to figure out what was going on from the outside.
She hurriedly drew her light crossbow, slipped her short cloak over her shoulders, and shook off her clothes. She wore a hunting costume - a short green jacket, black trousers with pockets, soft thigh-high boots, thick long gloves, a green beret decorated with a falcon's feather. She didn't have her usual belt with amulets and flasks - she had left most of her equipment at the camp, under the care of a maid.
- Paulette's probably worried by now, - Rosa said in a low voice, slipping her beret over her unruly, barely coiffed black curls. - Lunch was long gone.
The girl hurried towards the edge of the forest, moving almost silently. She knew how to walk in the forest. A mage of any speciality has non-magician mentors. A healer needs lessons in anatomy, a master of amulets needs the knowledge of a goldsmith. Nature mages were taught by a retired royal gamekeeper. And Rose was a diligent student.
- We need more rabbits, - the girl whispered under her breath, looking round as she went. - I'm sick of bird meat. When I catch a rabbit, we'll make a roast with Paulette. There are still some vegetables left.
She stopped for a moment at an ancient oak tree with a bifurcated trunk and squeezed her eyes shut. Again, nothing. Traces of magic in any form glow for a magician with multi-coloured fire even through lowered eyelids. But Rose could only see the enchanted temples of her own glasses, the dim lights on the sides of her head. Thanks to the enchantments, the glasses stayed on her face in any situation and were instantly cleaned of any dirt. It was hard to lose them, but the glow at the temples was sometimes distracting. However, the girl no longer doubted that the strange movement in the forest had nothing to do with magic. Leaving the oak behind, she picked up her pace.
The shriek came as Rose was approaching the edge of the forest. It was a high-pitched shriek of horror, but she recognised the voice of her maid.
- Paulette! - She ran headlong, jumping over roots and through bushes. When she emerged from behind the last trees, Rosa raised her crossbow and... stunned. Their small camp was full of people. Men in felt robes and fur hats, with white scarves hiding their faces, were busily engaged in robbery. Some were pulling things out of the tent, some were tying Rosa's mare to the saddle of their horse, and three were tearing the dress off Paulette, who was lying on the ground, and gagging her with her own scythe. "Steppe nomads!" flashed through the student's mind. "But where from?!". Rose had not been spotted yet, and she still had a chance to return to the forest, to hide in the thicket. Even if the raiders realised that there were two girls living in the camp, they would never find even a trace of the young sorceress. That thought, however, lingered in Rosa's mind for a second or two. Then the girl swallowed and pulled the trigger of the crossbow. A short arrow pierced the shoulder of the nomad holding Paulette by the neck. The man cried out, falling on his side, and his companions turned their heads in surprise.
- Paulie, run into the woods! - shouted Rosa, pulling the cocking lever. - Into the woods, Paulie! I'm right behind you!
It was a lie, of course. The girl realised that there was no way she could run away now, only divert more attention to herself. It turned out so well. The steppe horses were grazing untethered around the camp, and only two raiders immediately jumped into saddles, rushing towards Rosa. One of them was shaking his spear, the other was taking something off his bow at a gallop. The girl drew the bowstring, put in an arrow, and froze, spreading her legs wide, as at a drill. A moving rider is a difficult target. But no harder than a snipe. And if he's galloping right at you...
- Bdank! - The second arrow entered the steppe man with the spear exactly between his collarbones. Rose did not even have time to reach the third - the loop of the harness was caught on her shoulders. The killed bandit's partner rushed past the girl, pulling the rope - and a terrible jerk toppled the sorceress to the ground. The tightened noose pinned her arms to her sides. The crossbow fell into the grass, and Rose herself fell down beside it, hitting her elbow painfully. She was dragged a couple of steps, but then the raider must have let go of the harness.
- Ouch! - A sharp pain pierced her elbow and shoulders. The girl barely managed to roll over on her back before the other steppe men arrived. The young sorceress was surrounded by five men. One man laughingly kicked her in the thigh, another kicked her shoulder with his heel, and the others mumbled in their incomprehensible language as well as birds in the forest. Surprisingly, Rosa had never been truly afraid until now. She had been anxious and worried, but she had not been afraid or lost her head. Only now, finding herself helpless and unarmed, the girl was actually frightened. And she screamed at the top of her voice:
- Help! Help! Somebody!
Only the forest could hear it. And the forest responded with a deafening crackle. Even the nomads turned their heads at the sound, forgetting Rose. The crunch of breaking twigs grew, growing closer... And then a dragon burst out of the thicket. The green winged lizard, larger than a house, crushed a couple of young ash trees with its belly and stopped at the edge of the forest, looking at the people in front of it. He certainly didn't like this humans. With a roar, the dragon launched itself at the nomads, surrounded by a halo of splinters, leaves, and wood chips.
Rose, who had recovered the quickest, rolled to the side, away from the feet of her captors. The nomads rushed with shouts to the camp, where their horses were waiting for them. The lizard trotted past the girl, tumbling from side to side as it ran. She caught a glimpse of the leather harness and the white figure of the rider between its wings. Then she didn't care - wriggling her whole body, Rose managed to loosen the noose around her shoulders. Girl reached into the sheath on her right hip and pulled out a hunting knife. She slipped the blade under the rope, cut the harness, and quickly jumped to her feet. She cried out from the pain in her hip, almost fell to one knee, but managed to stand. Fortunately, no one paid any attention to her. There was a real massacre going on near the camp. The dragon trampled the nomads and their horses, beat them with its tail and wings, grabbed a man or a horse with its jaws and immediately threw them aside... The steppesmen did not try to fight - they were rushing back and forth, catching panic-stricken horses. Only one warrior, standing with his back to Rosa, drew his short bow with surprising equanimity and did not move from his place, as if waiting for something. "Aiming at the rider," the girl realised. - Waiting for the right moment....". In other circumstances Rose would have been horrified at the very thought of what she did next. But at that moment she was driven by pain, fear, and anger at the steppe men. Anger in the first place - the burning hatred simply pushed all other feelings aside, muted them. The pain in her hip had receded. The girl took a few silent sliding steps, approached the archer closely and, standing on tiptoe, drove her knife into his neck, right, from behind. The feeling of the blade entering the flesh was familiar to Rosa - she had many times killed wounded deer, skinned hares, chopped the heads off birds... Without giving herself time to think about the fact that it was not a deer she was cutting, she pulled the knife out and ran past the settling body. She hurried towards the ruined camp without looking back or listening to the wheezing behind her. Paulette lay where the nomads had left her, on her back, staring up at the sky with glazed eyes. A stab wound gaped in the maid's chest. Before rushing at Rosa, one of the steppes had pierced the first captive with a spear or a dagger. The young sorceress knelt down in front of Paulette's body, took off her glove, brought her fingers to maid lips, inexplicably hoping for something. Of course, there was no breath.
Rose sat over her companion's body as the dragon tore the last of the looters to bloody shreds. Hands and heads were flying in all directions. Three or four of the steppesmen managed to catch their horses and run away. One of them was thrown by a frightened horse right under the winged lizard's clutches, and the others soon disappeared from sight. The dragon flattened the unlucky rider with a paw, lay down on its belly and began to lick its claws with its long, thin tongue. The man slid down on its lowered wing to the ground. Holding his sword in his sling, the stranger walked briskly toward Rose. She found the strength to stand up, pulling on her glove. Her beret was left at the edge of the woods, along with her crossbow, and she brushed her short, shoulder-length hair back with the palm of her hand.
The dragon rider was a russet-haired young man in his twenties. He was draped in the white leather costume of a royal dragon knight, his belt buckle decorated with a crest unfamiliar to Rose. Almost running up to the girl, the knight asked excitedly:
- Mademoiselle, are you all right?
"The girls at the Academy joke about a knight on a white horse, but I was saved by a knight on a green dragon..." - Rose thought out of place. She nodded tiredly:
- Yes. Yes. I am.
Only now did the young man notice Paulette's body. Pale, he squeezed it out:
- Sorry, I didn't have time... I happened to hear the screams and decided to check it out. Or rather, my dragon did, and then I did. I had to...
- You should have, - Rose repeated slowly, looking the knight in the face.
- I'm sorry. Who was she?
- My maid.
- And you, mademoiselle?
- I... - Rose stammered. Tears suddenly sprang to her cheeks. Her throat spasmed. It was as if a tight string had burst in her chest. She fell to her knees and burst into tears, covering her face with her hands, dropping her glasses to the ground, shaking her whole body. The dazed knight first looked helplessly at the crying girl, then gently touched her shoulder:
- Well, well. You're safe now. Toad and I will protect you.
Seeing that it wasn't working, the young man bit his lip and suddenly... put his arms around Rose, pulling her tightly against his chest. He whispered in a voice she could barely hear:
- It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Everything is good. Everything is good. It's okay.
- Y-yes. - A minute or two later, Rose pulled herself together and gently pushed the knight away from her. He handed girl her glasses and helped her stand up. - Thank you, my lord.
- I'm sorry, I just have a lot of sisters, and I'm used to them crying... Oh, yes, I'm not... - The young man coughed embarrassedly. - I am Don Marius de Hvogbjorn, dragon knight. And you are?
- Rosa Granchi. - The girl sobbed convulsively and wiped her tear-wet gloves on her jacket.
- I knew at once that you were Iolian, from the Republic, - Don Marius smiled. - Black hair like that is rare in Daert. And your skin is so dark.
- I'm not... I mean, yes, I'm Iolian, but I'm not from the Republic. - Rose finally got her voice under control. She unhooked a flask of water from her belt, poured some directly onto the palm of her gloved hand, and rubbed her face. The touch of the glove's rough skin against her cheeks helped shake off the daze. - I was born in Daert. In the capital.
- What were you doing here, Donna Rosa? - The knight gently took the girl under her elbow and led her away from the maid's body, back to his dragon.
- I am not a donna, - the girl corrected him. - We are merchants. I'm... oh... I'm a mage. Worked here in the woods. Don, where are the nomads from? It's a week and a half on horseback to the steppe border.
- The Duc de Velonde has let several tribes of savages across the border to plunder the lands of Daert, - the knight explained glumly. - He hopes to weaken and delay the king's army, which is on its way to put down his rebellion.
- What king? - Rose stumbled on a flat spot and stopped. - Queen Octavia came to visit us at the Academy recently....
- How long have you been... in the forest, mademoiselle? - Don Marius asked softly, standing up beside her.
- A couple of months. Maybe three.
- Oh... - The young knight rubbed his forehead with the base of his palm. - Queen Octavia has been murdered by conspirators. The new king is Auguste the First, the former Duc de Veronne. Not everyone has accepted him. There is war in the kingdom, mademoiselle.
Rose lowered her head and covered her eyes with hand. She took a few deep breaths. Straightening up, she asked:
- What is your dragon's name, my lord? Did you say Toad, I believe?
- Uh... - The young man blushed. - She's Cornelia Severina the Sixth, but... Yes, you can call her Toad.
- May I touch her, my lord? - The girl spoke softly, looking at the knight's chin rather than into his eyes. - I need it now... I need it very much...
Chapter 2
There was no better way for Rosa to calm her nervous shivers than to hug a big, warm animal. Provided, of course, that the beast didn't mind. And the green dragoness didn't mind when the girl snuggled up to its scaly neck - it even squawked softly, like a giant rumbling cat. It seemed that Toad was very calm - the battle was barely over, and she had already calmed down. For a couple of minutes Rosa basked in the warm calm of the huge animal until Don Marius coughed behind her:
- Mademoiselle, I'm sorry, but we don't have much time. The nomads will be back soon.
- You think? - The girl reluctantly turned to the knight, still keeping her palm on the lizard's neck. - Even knowing there's a dragon here?
- I'm afraid the dragon is the reason they're coming back. - The young man bit his lip annoyingly. - There were only a dozen steppers here. They don't operate in such small groups. They are scouts. They'll tell their people about the skirmish, and we'll be hunted. There's a whole tribe nearby, and any steppe chief would lay down a third of his warriors for a trophy like a dragon skull. One hundred and fifty or two hundred riders with battle mages is too many even for Toad. We must leave now.
- Together? - Rose touched the frame of her glasses in confusion.
- Yes, - the knight nodded. - Let there be a chase, you'll be safer with me anyway. There are several tribes prowling the plain, bands of brigands, deserters... A lot of vile things have come out of their holes since the war began.
- But where are we going?
- To the southeast, - the young man answered without thinking. For some reason, he pointed in the direction with his hand. - I have a task... I'll drop you off at a major city along the way. Pack your bags.
- We must... we must take care of Paulette first. - Rosa overpowered herself and looked at the body of the maid lying by the campfire.
- We don't have much... Although, yes, you're right. - Don Marius rubbed the back of his head and immediately looked like an embarrassed boy. - I'll arrange it.
The funeral didn't take long. Toad dug the hole in no time with her mighty paws. The knight wrapped Paulette's body in the tent cloth and laid it at the bottom. While the dragoness filled the grave, Rose said a short prayer. Then, without wasting another second, she began to pack her bag. Fortunately, the magical equipment did not attract the attention of raiders - kits with herbs, flasks with infusions, small amulets and tools were in their places. Money, food, utensils, some weapons were missing. Horses disappeared too - there were three of them in the camp. In the end, apart from the magic tools, the girl packed only spare clothes, a bed, a piece of soap and a bag of salt. Don Marius did not hesitate to examine the tattered corpses of the steppes, and on one of them he found a purse with a silver crab emblem.
- Yours? - He asked Rosa, who was stuffing her camping bag with laundry.
- Yes, - the girl answered, casting a quick glance at the purse. - Thank you.
Running off to get her crossbow and beret, she informed the don that she was ready to move.
- The horses don't come back, - he sighed. - You'll have to climb on Toad's back. Wait a minute.
The knight was the first to climb up onto the dragon, using the harness straps as steps for a rope ladder. He hung down from the saddle and held out his hand. Rose climbed up, following his movements, and only at the end, out of pure politeness, touched the don's palm with her fingers. She had learnt to climb trees as a child, and Toad's harness was much more comfortable than the brittle, crooked branches. The long saddle was fastened at the base of the dragon's neck. Don Marius seated the girl behind him, fastened her to the saddle with straps, and took his seat. Somewhat embarrassed again, he muttered:
- Let's go.
The toad snorted or sneezed loudly and trotted off at a shaky trot.
They travelled first along the edge of the forest, then through the fields, from woodland to woodland, trying to stay less in the open. For the first half hour of the journey, the young men were silent. The dragon knight was thinking about something of his own, the young sorceress tried not to think about anything at all. It didn't work well. The faces of the nomads bent over Rosa and the bloody wound in the chest of the dead Paulette appeared in front of her eyes. Then the girl took off her glove, put her palm on the dragoness's broad back and whispered a spell. She didn't try to establish a full-fledged connection - she only touched the dragoness's mind with her own. She wanted to feel the calmness of a giant animal that knew no fears or worries, but instead she felt pain. Not too much, but Rose still flinched as if from a sudden prick. She strengthened the etheric link, tried to reach deeper into the lizard's skin to find the source of the pain, but Don Marius interrupted her.
- I'm sorry for your loss, mademoiselle, - the knight said, looking over his shoulder. Rose blinked and took her palm away from Toad's pelt. - Were you close? With your companion?
- Not really, - the girl shook her head. She mechanically pulled on her glove and adjusted her glasses. - Paulette served in our capital house. I didn't know her much. But she was a country girl, not a city girl. So of all the maids, I took her with me. She was diligent.
- And what were you doing here, mademoiselle? - Don Marius continued. He seemed to be trying to distract her from her heavy thoughts, and Rosa was grateful. The girl smiled faintly, and offered:
- This address, "Mademoiselle", is so long. Why don't you call me "Signora" since I'm Iolian? Even though I'm not from Iolia. It's shorter.
- Of course, Signora Rosa, - he agreed eagerly. - I'm just not used to talking to commoners. And you're not a servant. Are you a magician from the Academy?
- A fifth-year student, natural magic. A second-stage mage, - Rosa said, but she was quick to clarify: - Only formally. More like third.
Most mages were only able to put energy into form through tools. First, the mage created an amulet, then filled it with magic - the shell determined its properties. The highest levels, the first and second, were those mages who could work sorcery without tools, by force of will and word. Rosa's abilities were enough to light a candle with her gaze or lift a feather into the air without the aid of amulets. Nothing more.
- I've only ever met battle mages, - the young man admitted. - They're more soldiers than scientists. They're not interested in subtle matters. What does nature magic do? Do you study animals?
- And them, too. - Rose was glad to be having this conversation. She squirmed as she settled into the stiff leather saddle. - Nature magic studies the Mechanism of Life. Animals are part of it.
- I've heard something like that before. But from a priest, not a magician.
- It's a concept that mages and most churchmen believe in, - Rosa explained, feeling more and more confident. The girl was in her element. - God did not create life in a ready-made final form, but as a complex mechanism, constantly moving forward. Only the One Creator himself is perfect, and he created the Mechanism so that life would one day come to its perfection. How apes became men and ancient lizards became dragons is the work of the Mechanism. - She faltered. - About dragons... My lord, why aren't we flying? A dragon can lift two. Is there something wrong with Toad?
- I thought you would ask earlier... - the knight sighed heavily. - She and I fell into the river the other day. From a height. Toad hurt her leg and broke her wing. The bone has healed, but we can't put much weight on it.
Rosa thought for a while and touched Marius's shoulder:
- We have to stop.
- Absolutely not, signora. The camp is too close, we may be overtaken. Only if you can't bear it, then for a moment, no more.
- Not for me! - The girl burst out. - I can help Toad. She'll go faster.
- Really? - The young man turned to her. His gaze was filled with joy and disbelief. - Can you?
They turned to the walnut grove, where the dragoness lay down between the trees, almost touching them with her rounded sides. Obeying the rider's commands, Toad laid her head on her outstretched legs and spread her wings. Rose walked round the lizard, touched the dragon's bruised paw with her gloved hands. She pressed her bare cheek against it, using her magic. Yes, the joint was a source of pain. But only one, and not the strongest. Rose marked it in her mind and walked over to the wing. There were scuff marks on it, as if the bone had been fixed with a splint for a long time. She's wondered if Marius had made it himself, or if he'd brought a ready-made one with him. From these marks on the scales, it was not difficult to determine where the fracture had occurred. The girl probed the bone, creating an etheric link. She grimaced as the pain echoed in her head. She spoke without removing her hands from the wing:
- Paw's fine now, just sore. The wing is well fused, but it's still weak. Just as you said, milord. Give me my bag.
The young sorceress took out a couple of flasks, a thin silver pipe with a sharp end, and a leather jug from her bag. She poured the contents of the first flask into her hunting knife. After cleaning the blade, she carefully cut a couple of scales from Toad's wing and pierced its skin. All the while, Rose "drank" the dragon's pain, taking it for herself. It was unpleasant, but familiar - healers had learnt this technique from nature mages. If she spread the pain throughout her body, it would subside, turning into a nasty but harmless ache. And then it'll fade quickly. The knife's stab was probably no worse than a mosquito bite for the dragoness, but Rose didn't want to cause her the slightest discomfort. Into the resulting wound, the girl inserted a silver tube. She poured the liquid from the second flask into the vial, connected its to the tube, pushed the air from the tube into the vial with a spell, shook it, pushing the bubbles to the top....
- What are you doing, Signora Rosa? - The knight, who was watching her manipulations, asked uncertainly. - What is in this flask?
- Alchemical solution. - The student was so focused on her work that she didn't even glance in the young man's direction. - Includes calcium and half a dozen other substances. - "Powder made from human bones, for example," she added mentally. Marius shouldn't have known that. - If you put it into your bloodstream, you'll die in agony. Probably. Or lose a limb. But if I inject it into you, altering and directing it with magic as I'm doing now... your broken leg will heal in three days. Completely.
- Wow, - the young man breathed out. - Where did you get it?
- I took it for myself, - Rosa shrugged. She squeezed the vial, making sure the solution flowed evenly into the tube. - I didn't want to abandon the study in case of injury.
- Would you be able to... yourself...? - The knight swallowed and looked at the sorceress as if seeing her for the first time.
- I had once. - After emptying the vessel, the girl pulled out the tube and sealed the wound with healing clay, covering it with cut scales. - It's a human dose. But we're not fusing the bone, just strengthening it. In a week and a half, the wing will be as good as new. The pain will be gone even sooner.
- Signora, I... I don't know how to thank you.
- For what? - Rose looked up at the knight in surprise. - You saved my life, my lord. Let's wait for the clay to dry now and move on.
She sat down on the ground, her back against Toad's warm paw. The dragoness's breath warmed the back of her neck. It seemed that the young sorceress's "patient" had dozed off, no longer in pain. Don Marius, after some hesitation, sat down next to her.
- What happened to Daert, my lord? - Rose asked a question that bothered her less than it should have. - Who killed the queen? What's going on?
- It's a long story, signora, the young man said evasively, looking at the swaying crowns of walnuts. - Octavia was betrayed. The new king was involved in her death. Some of the queen's supporters rebelled against him. Others have seized the moment to their own advantage. The Duke of Velonda wants to leave the kingdom and become an independent ruler. He has conspired with the nomads. The remnants of the Queen's supporters have joined him.
Rose remembered Queen Octavia, who had visited their faculty only six months ago. The queen was the same age as Rosa - a tall black-haired beauty with bright blue eyes, wearing a black and gold man's suit, without a crown on her head... She smiled little but sincerely, listened attentively to the teachers, asked them useful questions and answered students' requests herself. Rose never dared to speak to her then, though she could have. And now the queen is dead.
- Is it all to do with your mission, my lord? - she asked.
- You don't need to know that. - Don Marius bit his lip again. Apparently he did that when he was nervous. - I'm travelling to the southeast on important business, that's all. Don't take offence, please. It'll be better for you.
Rose actually felt a pang of resentment, but she kept silent. The knight owed her nothing, but she owed him everything. It was foolish to pester her own saviour. Still, Don Marius was clearly in a mad rush to leave before Toad had fully recovered. What's driving him? And whose side is he on in the war that has begun? Keeping these questions to herself, she changed the subject:
- Hvogbjorn is not a Daert name, is it? Are you also a local foreigner like me?
- Almost, - the young man grinned. - I am descended from Olaf's companion. The first Hvogbjorn won the crown of Daert for Olaf and got the right to breed dragons from him. That was centuries ago, so we're almost native Daertans. Only one surname remained. And your family?
- Iolians. Only I was born in Daert. - Rose touched the silver crab-shaped brooch on her beret. It was used to fasten a ragged white and grey feather.
- Where are they now?
- Across the ocean. - The girl closed her eyes and leaned back on Toad's paw. - Daddy bought a ship and sailed for three years to the overseas colonies, and mom with him. They promised to come back three times richer than before. Praise the Creator.
- Yes, maybe things will be settled by the time they return, - Don Marius agreed. - And you make them happy by staying alive. When we get to the city, I will take a promise from you, signora.
- Staying at home?
- Or in the Academy office. Behind the fortress walls, anyway.
- Tempting, my lord. I will consider it.
By connecting herself to Toad with a strong ethereal thread, Rose could constantly feel her pain - and muffle it as best she could, taking some of it for herself. It was tiring, but the dragoness was cheerful and quicker. It was dusk when the travellers reached a large trade route and immediately encountered a column of refugees coming slowly from the south. There were about forty of them, with three carts. Old folk, women, children, only a few men. Only four horsemen in identical leather armour had weapons. The leader of the horsemen rode out to meet Toad, dismounted, bowed. He introduced himself to the young men who had descended from the dragon:
- Sergeant Bernard, milord. Commanding the guarding of the merchant convoy.
- Don Marius, dragon knight, - the young man introduced himself briefly, dropping his last name. - Master Rosa, a mage of the Academy.
Rose opened her mouth, about to clarify that she couldn't be called master yet, because she was just learning... and closed it without saying anything. These frightened people definitely wanted to see a knight and a mage, not a knight and a student.
- Are all these people with you? - Marius continued in a confident tone. The young dragon rider was transformed before her eyes; he held himself differently from the way he did when he was alone with the girl.
- Only two carts, charioteers and mounted men, my lord. - The sergeant straightened his back. - The others are from a few hamlets. The nomads are prowling everywhere, burning villages. The men have been taken by the king or the rebels. The women and children are afraid to stay. I decided to escort them out. We all wanted to hide in the town, but the closest one, Bitel, closed the gates. We walked for two days to Turvon, but they wouldn't let anyone in there either.
Marius and Rosa looked at each other. It seemed that the knight's plan to leave the girl under the protection of the city walls had broken down. The knight asked:
- Where are you going now?
- The peasants want to take refuge in the forests. - The warrior pointed his chin behind Marius's back. - They say there are impenetrable thickets there. We can hide out. The main thing is that there should be no nomads between the road and the forest. But since milord has come from that direction...
The young men exchanged glances again. The knight's confidence had left him, and now he seemed distressed and indecisive. Chewing his lips, Marius answered:
- I'm afraid, Sergeant, there are nomads out there. A lot of them.
- What shall we do, my lord? You're not going to leave us, are you?
- I... will think of something. - The young man turned his gaze from Rose to Toad. - We will think of something.
Chapter 3
Don Marius woke Rosa when a strip of water glimmered ahead. The sun was already rising, and she stretched, yawning sweetly. It seemed to her that after all she had experienced during the day she would not be able to sleep, but the dragoness's measured footsteps were warm on her back and lulling... And the young sorceress's nerves were stronger than she had suspected.
From their conversation with the sergeant they learnt that the refugees had been walking for a long time along the bank of the Clay River, a fairly wide river flowing southwards. Where the tract crossed the river, the wooden bridge, placed on the stone supports of an older stone bridge, had been burnt down by someone. The ferries were also all gone. But there were traces of an army that had travelled this way weeks ago. Unable to cross the river, the group turned north, towards the forests.
- I think King Auguste's army passed through there, - Bernard explained to his new companions.
- They could have destroyed the crossings themselves to cover their rear, - Marius suggested. - Or the nomads might have destroyed the crossings to prevent the king from quickly moving his forces inland. So if we took the route south, we could catch up with the king's forces.
- Last we heard, my lord, the king was encamped on the borders of Velonda's lands, against the main rebel forces, - the sergeant nodded. - He will be there for a long time.
- This is the way out. - The knight drummed his fingers on the hilt of his long sword. Before, the blade had been strapped to his saddle, but now the young man wore it at all times, Rosa thought, to look more solid in the eyes of the fugitives. - I have business in those parts. You'll have nothing to fear from the raiders when you're near the army... And I can leave master Rosa in safe custody there.
- It's only a matter of time, my lord. - The merchant guard was certainly not inclined to be subservient. His tone remained deferential, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. - To drag fifty women and old men and their belongings across a full-flowing river.
- It might not be possible with the luggage. - The warrior's insolence didn't hurt knight, or he didn't notice it. The young man's shrewdness caused Rosa some doubt. - We'll get the men across. My dragon was wounded in battle and can't fly. But it doesn't need to. Dragons are very good swimmers, sergeant.
- You want to... load people onto it? - Bernard looked at the lizard incredulously.
- On her, - Rosa corrected, deciding that the enigmatic silence going to the mage's image was not to be overdone. - Toa... Cornelia is a lady.
- She's won't lift them all in one sitting, - Marius said. - Are there any islands in the river, sergeant?
- Yes, we've seen a couple of big ones, my lord.
- You can point the way to the nearest one. We'll cross there, - the don decided. - First, we will take the people in batches to the island, and from there to the other side. But I must make two conditions.
- Yes, my lord.
- One. - The young man looked very serious and mature again, his voice sounded firm. Rose could hardly contain her smile. - We will set out at once, and go all night until we reach the shore. Make arrangements - put the children and the old men on carts and horses, and dismount yourselves. Secondly, the dragon will need a sacrifice on the riverbank.
- S... sacrafice? - The sergeant glanced warily at the peacefully slumbering Toad again. The green dragoness had a remarkable gift for falling asleep at any quiet moment.
- Yes, Sergeant, - Marius nodded gravely. - Toa... Ahem... Cornelia hadn't eaten in a long time.
In half an hour Rosa went round the refugees, quickly assessed their condition, and distributed all her stores of corn ointment. To a couple of stout old men who were walking behind the cart, she relieved the pain in their joints, which made her feel quite ill. When she found herself in Toad's hard saddle, the student immediately began to nod off, and soon she did not notice how she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
- You have slept well, signora, - Don Marius told her.
- Didn't snore? - The girl tried to smile at the knight more sincerely than she had done yesterday.
- No, of course not. And you don't seem to have nightmares.
- Mm-mm... - Rose lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes with the bend of her thumb. - When I was fifteen, I cut off a chicken's head...
- Erm... I'm sorry? - The young man even looked over his shoulder.
- It was an assignment, - the student hastened to clarify. - At the Academy. Anyway, that chicken kept me awake for a week. And then we were assigned to cut up a pig carcass and make a list of its innards. I never thought about the chicken again. Now I always sleep well, if I can sleep.
- Ahem... And there's our crossing, - the knight changed the subject awkwardly.
An oblong island, overgrown with mixed forest, divided the Clay River into two streams - narrower, but also faster. It was shaped like a giant's insole or sole, left exactly in the middle of the channel.
- We'll have another spurt and rest, - said the don, pulling Toad back. - On the other shore.
The refugees literally collapsed from exhaustion as soon as the dragon stopped. Sergeant Bernard, however, with shouts and slaps brought his men to their feet, along with a couple of younger peasants. They began to unload the carts. The horses were unharnessed, and the sergeant led the worst of them to Toad.
- Here is your... - the warrior grinned crookedly, - ...sacrifice, my lord.
- Thank you. - The knight took the mare by the reins. - We'll leave you for some time, you keep watch over the plain. If riders appear, sound the alarm. No matter how many or under what banner.
Marius led the two mounts down the bank, Rosa trailing behind.
- You shouldn't look either, signora... - the knight started, but the girl looked at him over her glasses:
- Milord, Toad recently bit a steppe dweller's head off in front of me. And another one's arm and a piece of torso.
- Yes, but she didn't eat them. - The young man coughed, blushing slightly. - And I thought maybe a horse was different. You like animals, don't you?
- Very much so. - Rose fixed her glasses, trying to keep a serious face. After a good night's sleep, the girl felt quite well, though her bruises were still sore. The young knight's clumsiness in communication amused her now, and the sorceress made an effort not to show it. - I love animals, so I know that predators eat meat. And they don't get it from a butcher's shop.
Don Marius stepped from foot to foot before giving Toad a command: "Eat!". The green dragoness knocked the stunted horse to the ground with a single swipe of her paw, snapping its neck so swiftly that the unfortunate horse didn't even have time to neigh.
- Interesting... - the knight stretched out, watching his giant pet rumblingly tear off the horse's hind leg. - I didn't like meat when I was a kid. Not at all. My sisters teased me about it. But after bonding with Toad, I grew to love it. All dragon knights like meat.
- The bonding is a bond of dragon blood, milord? - Rose perked up.
- Yeah. That's what we call the ritual amongst ourselves.
The ritual of the dragon bond mixed the dragon's blood with the blood of its rider, creating a bond between them similar to an etheric thread, but much stronger - and, interestingly, invisible to the magical eye. Beast and man understood each other almost without words. In addition, the lizard received a drop of human intelligence, and the rider a tiny bit of dragon power. The ritual was born in the old empire, when the current schools of magic did not yet exist, but it combined features of blood magic and nature magic. Rose had studied its history, but the ritual itself was not taught to nature mages. The girl asked cautiously:
- Milord... what else has changed about you?
- I don't know. - Don Marius shook his head. - Hadn't been paying attention. I don't think it's anything serious. Though... the bond does give the rider the traits of the dragon he's bonded to. Maybe I should have bonded with someone more fierce and determined.
However, the tenderness with which the knight looked at the breakfasting Toad suggested that he didn't need any other dragon.
The young sorceress crossed with the first batch of refugees. She sat on Toad's back, helping a couple of peasant women to hold the children clinging to their harness. After dropping them off on the islet, the dragoness returned to the water. Rose left the refugees behind and with her crossbow at the ready went deeper into the grove. The wooded island was empty. It was densely overgrown with deciduous trees, with occasional spruce trees among them. There were no signs of animals, but there were human footprints, very old ones. In the centre of the islet there was a square foundation of a house or tower. Maybe there had been a ferry station here during the old empire or soon after its collapse. Or a bridge, of which not even the piers remained. Either way, no threats or traces of magic. By the time Rosa returned, Toad had delivered a second group of fugitives and was already carrying a third, helping to pull a raft made from a partially dismantled cart. On the north bank the men, led by the sergeant, remained. Suddenly, a guard on watch shouted and swung his arms. The girl looked closely - and saw moving dots in the north. Her weak eyes could not distinguish the silhouettes, but it was clear that they were riders. The dots did not move for long, and almost immediately disappeared, moving towards the horizon. Scouts, then.
Marius heard the noise and turned round. The dragoness swam faster, literally tossing the raft onto the pebbles of the beach. People fell off her like peas, and Toad went into the water for the umpteenth time. Even Rosa could see that the animal was tired - she was being slightly swept away by the current, which had never caused the lizard any trouble before. But there was a new movement on the horizon. Something was approaching, kicking up sultans of dust. The men on the shore ran into the water, leading their agitated steeds. As soon as Toad approached, the men swarmed around her, clinging to her harness, clinging to her shiny emerald flanks. They didn't try to climb on the dragoness's back, just held on to her as they crossed the stream. One of the guards lost the reins of his horse, and it was swept away by the swift current. But the men, fortunately, all survived the rush across the river. Wet and panting, they fell to the ground, barely out of the water. The dust cloud was closing in, growing before their eyes ...
- Sergeant! - A knight jumped down from Toad and grabbed the exhausted guard by the shoulders, lifting him to his feet. - We need axes! We must fell trees, make a perimeter. Toad will help.
The peasants had the tools, but there was no one to wield them - even the soldiers of the merchant guards were exhausted. Marius himself took up the axe, and Rosa joined him, along with the sergeant and a stubborn old refugee. He was wheezing and panting, but he refused to lie idle on the grass. They lacked neither strength nor woodcutting skills, so the dragoness did most of the work - the men cut the trunk, and Toad felled it. Thanks to her help, three apple-trees, a young walnut and a spruce tree were laid before the nomads came to the northern bank of the Clay River. Not a whole tribe - a hundred horsemen, hardly more. But even a hundred mounted warriors were a problem. Screaming and howling like wolves, the nomads scurried along the shore, and some of them started to launch arrows at a gallop. They whistled harmlessly past, falling into the river or disappearing among the trees.
- Why... why aren't they going into the water? - Sergeant Bernard couldn't catch his breath, still clutching the axe with both hands. - The horses will swim across...
- They see that the dragon has more than the promised two men with it, and they don't know who else is on the island, - Don Marius replied, frowning. He stood beside Toad and kept his eyes on the riders galloping across the river. - You're wearing a helmet, and there's some sort of fortification on the shore - what if there's a military detachment here? Besides, if a dragon comes into the water to meet them, there'll be a massacre.
- Take the raft to the other side of the island, - Rosa advised the warrior. - We can use it to try to get the women and children across. They'll be swept away by the current, but they'll make it to shore, I hope.
- And you, master? Milord?
- We'll try to keep them distracted longer, - Don Marius shrugged simply. Rosa cocked her crossbow silently.
The raiders stopped thrashing about the beach. They lined up in chains of ten or twelve horsemen and fired volleys.
- Get back! - commanded the knight. - Into the forest, to the south bank!
He himself stayed near Toad, as did Rose. The dragoness spread her wings, covering the people from the arrows with her strong webbing. Deadly rain rustled down on the island, arrows drummed on Toad's skin. In front of Rosa's eyes, one arrow struck the green crown of a felled apple tree and... the young branches burst into flame as if doused with oil.
- Creator Almighty! - Don Marius shrieked. The flames splashed through another crown, blasting the young men with heat. The branches of a nearby fir tree burst into flames.
- It's... - Rose squeezed her eyes shut. But the fire remained - through her eyelids she could still see its golden tongues dancing in the air. - The arrows are enchanted! Incendiary!
- Toad, get back! - The young man slapped the lizard's paw.
The three of them retreated under the protection of the trees - alas, it could only help for a while. The steppe had few enchanted arrows, but here and there new fires were breaking out on the small island. Some of them threatened to merge to form a wall of flame.
- It's not good. - Marius bit his lip habitually. - We'll either burn, suffocate, or try to escape, and the nomads will cross without hindrance. If the Toad is loaded with passengers, she can't fight.
- I can see why the whole tribe isn't here. - Rose stroked the steel bow of her crossbow. - They have a good mage. And... I think he's here himself now. Wait here, Don.
- What? - The young man didn't understand. - Stop!
But the girl had already dived into the bushes. She lay on her stomach on the beach and, trying not to listen to the whistling of arrows, the crackling of flames, the howling of the steppe warriors, crawled as far as she could. Pressing herself into the damp earth, she closed her eyes, even covered them with the palm of her gloved hand. The world disappeared - what remained were coloured sparks in the darkness. Sources of magical energy. Rosa dismissed the glow of her glasses and the tongues of sorcerous flame at once. She stared into the distance. Moving specks of scarlet - not yet used arrows in the quivers of the nomads. Bronze tips, or maybe bone, or even stone - only iron and its "kin" cannot be enchanted. Magic is afraid of iron, retreats before it. You can't make a magic armour of steel or an enchanted sword of iron. It doesn't matter, though, if the arrow strikes the target with fire. But beyond the shore, further still... yes. What Rose was looking for was a cluster of lights. White, red, blue. A magician with amulets. The girl crawled backwards and suddenly stopped. The young sorceress was surprised to find that the arrow that had fallen from above had pierced the edge of her cloak, nailing the fabric to the ground.
- Oh... - Rose broke the shaft of the arrow and pulled her cloak off it. - Not a word to Don Marius...
- Are you all right, signora? - The knight asked excitedly when the girl returned to the protection of the forest. Echoing his anxiety, Toad sneezed and growled worriedly.
- Yes. - Rose shook off the flaps of her thighhigh boots, glad to herself that the young man had the courage not to rush after her. - The mage is here. Standing far behind the warriors.
- He commands them. - The knight clenched the hilt of his sword. - It was the steppe's custom - if most of the tribe was separated on a campaign, the mage would be in command.
- Without it, a hundred cavalrymen stand little chance against Toad, - Rose added. She hadn't been trained in strategy or warfare, but she'd seen a dragoness in battle. - Especially if they shot all the enchanted arrows into the island.
- We can't get him yet, - Don Marius said sadly, unclenching his fingers on the hilt. - If we go across the river, they'll shoot Toad from the shore with magic arrows and the people on her with ordinary ones. Maybe we should lie low and wait for the enemy to come to the island... Toad can bear a great heat, we can hide near the water....
- How about flying across the river and hitting the mage from above? - the girl suggested. - I'll show you where he is.
- A Toad can't fly, - the knight grumbled. - And I wouldn't take you into battle.
- A Toad can fly. - Rose took the young man's hand and looked into his face. - The wing will survive the short flight, I promise.
- She'll be in pain...
- It won't. - The girl squeezed the knight's palm. - I'll take care of it.
It must have been an impressive sight for the steppes - an emerald-green dragon soaring into the sky from behind a wall of fire and columns of smoke. She gritted her teeth and squinted, absorbing the pain of the huge creature. Her whole body ached, from teeth to toes, and sometimes the pain became sharp - in her arm, in her back, in her knee, repeating Toad's painful places. The girl tolerated it, not making a sound - her moan or shriek would surely throw Marius, who had barely agreed to take the sorceress with her.
It swept over the river, skirting the crowd of nomads, who had stopped firing, clearly dumbfounded by what had happened. They had been told that the dragon was somehow unable to fly. Rose saw the garland of lights against the black background again, and pointed her finger:
- Over there!
And opened her eyes. Grabbed her crossbow.
Toad was already swooping down on the target, a group of five men far behind the other warriors. They were on foot, and one of them was leading the horses - maybe it was more convenient for the mage. The steppes did not try to run, and that immediately alerted the girl. Their mage was going to fight the dragon somehow, but not one on one... The tallest of the nomads had a spark in his hand, so bright that Rosa could see it with her eyes open.
- Evade, Marius! - She elbowed the knight in the ribs. The young man didn't hesitate to shout the command. The Toad lay on the wing... and a moment later, a sprawling white lightning bolt struck the sky from the ground. If the don's pet hadn't manoeuvred sooner, it would have struck her in the chest. But the dragoness, unused to flying, was blinded by the flash, and suddenly lost control of herself. At the very ground, she spread her wings with a roar, slowed her flight, and slumped to the ground. The impact was so strong that Rosa dropped her crossbow and nearly bit off her tongue. All the girl's insides were shaken like scraps in a butcher's bag. The dragoness raised her head and let out a pitiful cry, and Rosa was flooded by a wave of pain that she could not fully absorb - she had to cut the connection to avoid losing consciousness.
- Toa-a-a-d! - Don Marius cried out. The young man's voice suddenly changed to a hissing roar. - R-r-shah!
The young sorceress stood still for a long heartbeat, watching the knight's face change - Don Marius's ears pressed against his head, his cheekbones sharpened, his eyes turned from grey to yellow... She knew in theory what a display of dragon blood looked like in a bonded knight, but she saw it for the first time. A moment in the power of another's blood cost a rider a month's life, and Academy students were never shown anything like this in lectures.
- R-r-ar! - The young man tore the straps that bound him to the saddle, jumped down, and ran towards the wizard's guards. They were less than a hundred paces away from the dragon.
Rose, too, freed herself from the straps, threw off her cloak, and slid down Toad's wing. The crossbow was not immediately in sight, so the girl hurried round the battlefield, crouching low, her palm on the sheath of her hunting knife. She saw Don Marius leap forward, crash his heels into the chest of one of the steppes, fall with him, and immediately jump up, swinging his sword at the curved blade of another... Then the girl focused on the mage. He was a tall, bald man, even by the standards of the Daertians, who wore neither cap nor shawl. His skull was covered with black tattoos, which apparently meant something to the steppes. The magician held in his outstretched hand a rod that looked like a bird's paw - wooden, with copper claws, decorated with feathers. Rose saw a whitish halo around it. A charged amulet. If it was similar to the one that had unleashed lightning on Toad, it was understandable why the nomad was delaying. A strike of that magnitude against Marius or Toad would sweep away his bodyguards along with his target. But if the knight kills all the warriors...
Rose had never tried to sneak up on a human, though Paulette always complained that her mistress walked silently and seemed to appear from under the ground. She'd always been good with animals, though. She should be good at it now. Bypassing the mage in an arc, running from tree to bush, from bush to stone, the girl found herself behind his back, sliding steps approached from behind, naked blade. She swung, thrusting the blade at his neck - as she had done then, with the nomad in the camp....
The mage turned round sharply and intercepted her hand with his own. He clenched her wrist so hard that Rose's fingers loosened and the knife fell to the ground.
- Ouch! - the girl shrieked more out of surprise. The Steppe mage grinned broadly, squeezed his fingers harder - Rosa's thin bones crunched. The young sorceress screamed at the top of her voice, her knees buckling against her will. The nomad seemed to be enjoying the spectacle - so he didn't interfere when the girl raised her trembling left hand to her face. Maybe he was expecting Rose to try to push him away or clamp her mouth shut to hold back a scream. Instead, the Academy student ripped the glove off her hand with her teeth. And grabbed her enemy by the earlobe with her bare fingers. And gave him all the pain she had taken from Toad, all the pain she was feeling right now. All at once, right in the head. A trained mage could withstand such a blow if he was ready for it. Steppe wasn't. He didn't even groan, just shuddered, and began to roll onto his back. Rose pulled her hand from his weakened grip and fell to her knees, shuddering too. She found a hunting knife under her feet and clutched the hilt in her left palm. She could feel her right arm only up to the elbow, her fingers numb and unmoving. The pain was gone, but she felt weak and dizzy. Hiccupping loudly, Rosa rolled the steppe mage over onto his back and placed the knife point against his chest, just in front of his heart. "I've already killed a man," she reminded herself, fighting the nausea. - Two, even. This one...is no better than them." Still, stabbing an enemy with a bow and stabbing an unarmed man lying passed out were different things. Or not? It doesn't matter. His death is necessary for others to live. Then it is necessary. If she had the power to take him prisoner and dictate terms to the warrior-steppers... But she doesn't.
Her right hand still wouldn't listen. Rosa pressed the hilt of the knife with her wrist, pressed her chest, feeling the blade pierce the steppe man's dressing gown, enter the flesh... She could not pull it out. Picking up the amulet, the young sorceress straightened up and looked around. The Toad was roaring, struggling to get to her feet. Don Marius was thrusting and thrusting his sword into the body of a steppe warrior at his feet, three more dead men were lying nearby. And from the river a dozen horsemen galloped towards them at full speed. A group of a dozen warriors had broken away from the others and were close behind. Rose spread her feet shoulder-width apart, as if shooting a crossbow, and raised her hand with the amulet. She touched the power that infused the wood and metal. A strong mage had charged the amulet for many days. The lightning the late steppe man had released was definitely not from this one - but it was the same. Rose sighed convulsively and recited the activation formula in full voice.
- Bzoom! - A blinding white discharge, branching and sprawling, burst from the copper claws of the "bird's paw", struck the ground in front of the steppe vanguard, sweeping away three horsemen, sweeping them to smoking shreds along with their horses. The others tightened their reins, shouting fearfully. Behind the girl, Toad roared, and the ground shook with the dragoness' footsteps. Even without turning round, the young sorceress knew that Marius's pet was running into the attack, gathering speed. The nomadic formation broke, a hundred riders jumped to the sides, ducking into the manes of their horses. Only the bravest of them launched arrows at the dragon - ordinary arrows, not enchanted ones.
- Huh. Oh. Done, - Rosa said to herself, dropping the empty amulet. Without any warning, a hot lump came to her throat, and she bent down in a fit of vomiting. She threw up on the steppe mage's corpse, but by an incredible effort of will she managed to wipe her lips with the edge of her glove before she began to fall. Rosa's last thought that day was almost joyful - she realised that she wasn't falling face down, and on clean grass. The impact with the ground finally knocked the girl unconscious.
Chapter 4
When Rosa opened her eyes, she saw a mishmash of white, blue and green spots above her. At first she was frightened, but other senses came to the rescue of her helpless vision. The rustling of leaves, the creaking of wood, the touch of the breeze on her face, the smell of grass. Rose was lying under the tree. Without her glasses, of course. That made the crown above her head and the sky, visible through the leaves, merge into a blurred three-colour panel. The young sorceress' head was resting on something soft, her bare feet were covered with a rough cloth - obviously not a blanket.
- Sir! Sir, she's awake! - exclaimed someone nearby. The voice belonged to one of the peasant women who had crossed the river with Rose on Toad's back, so that the girl finally calmed down. Feeling weak and stiff all over, she raised herself on her elbows and yawned. The objects at arm's length were already taking on a clear shape, and the student saw her things very close to her - belt with scabbard, glasses, gloves, jacket, boots, neatly placed heel to heel. Of course, the girl grabbed the glasses first. She pressed her lips together annoyingly. Her glasses had been taken off by a person who didn't know how to do it properly - there were fingerprints on the thin lenses. Rosf touched the right wishbone where she saw the magic glow - tapering transparent rings ran from the edges of the lenses to the centre, wiping away the imprints, shaking off dust and tiny lumps of earth, caught on the glass in the heat of battle.
- You're feeling better, I can see that. - A shadow fell on Rosa's hands. - I'm glad for you, master.
The girl hastily put on her glasses and raised her head. But Sergeant Bernard, who came up to her, knelt down on one knee in front of the young sorceress. Looking around, she realised that she was lying on a makeshift bed made of a rag bag, a piece of cloth as a mattress, and her own cloak as a bedspread. The river was babbling nearby, and Toad's green body could be seen by the bank. The dragoness seemed to be drinking.
- Does anything hurt, Madam Mage? - The sergeant asked sympathetically.
- All of it, to be honest. - To avoid upsetting the warrior, Rose tried to smile. - But I've had worse.
- Don Marius was torn between you and his dragon. - Bernard didn't smile back, but his eyes sparkled. - It was agreed that anyone could look after you, but only the rider could look after the dragon.
- Where are the others? - The girl reached for her jacket. She was uncomfortable sitting in front of a man she didn't know wearing only trousers and a thin blouse.
- The convoy has travelled further south on the road, - explained the merchant's guard. - We lost the wagons, but we took some captured horses. We are here with you, the dragon and the don, and a couple of refugee girls to look after you. For now, however, no nomads are to be seen beyond the river. The One will grant, and they will not appear. Lord rider says after such losses, the chief will look for another target to assert his authority. Away from us.
- That's good. - The gloves were damp and clean - they had recently been thoroughly washed to remove traces of vomit and dirt. The boots were almost shiny, too. Rose began to pull them on, fighting the dizziness. When the sergeant noticed her staggering, he held her by the shoulder. He said suddenly:
- Master Rosa, we couldn't see much from the islet, but Don Marius told us a lot. You're the bravest girl I've ever seen, I'll be damned.
- Thank you, Sergeant. - The young sorceress blushed against her will. However, her voice did not waver. With a touch of irony, the girl continued: - I'm just a magician. Do you know the magic's first rule?
- No, master.
- "You must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer", - Rose quoted, pulling up the cuffs of her gloves. Feeling the tight leather around her fingers, the weight of the boots on her feet, the scabbard at her hip, the young sorceress perked up a little. The dizziness and lethargy receded. - A mage controls great powers with his mind. He must always remain cool-headed. A coward will not graduate from the Academy.
"It's true, I haven't graduated from the Academy yet either", she added mentally in fairness.
- If I don't call Don Marus now, he'll feed me to the dragon, - the sergeant decided, rising. Rosa held out her hand to him: