Chapter 5. Fear of death
Fear is the most common emotion of the human mind, a defense mechanism to protect the physical body. Its main feature is considered to be protection, but fear undoubtedly works differently from the usual shield. If you can only defend yourself with a shield, then fear can become your weapon or even an enemy. You can force any person to do what you want with the help of fear. You have the ability to break his will and beliefs isn't that wonderful? However, there is a small catch. What do you think will happen if you overdo it? Imagine an oven, you put meat in it, add seasonings and are going to turn it off in an hour. You leave on business, but every time you approach the oven, it seems to you that the meat is not ready yet. And when the dish burns, it spreads a fetid aroma, a really unpleasant situation. Or let me explain even more simply, if you put an egg in the microwave and look at it, what will happen? The egg will fly apart and the microwave may fail. How sad it is. And now to the point, what do you think will happen to a person in this case? Will it be charred, explode, or something else will happen? I'm burning with impatience to find out.
An unpleasant smell, very strange and it disgusts me to breathe it, what is it? The smell of smoke and a pleasant warmth all over my body, I slowly opened my eyes and saw fire, a sea of fire. Wooden buildings and even the earth turned into a huge furnace, but my body felt no pain, only a pleasant warmth. I didn't understand anything, after I was attacked with wooden bows, I lost consciousness. And then everything is like in a fog, I don't remember anything. Trying to find at least some clues, I saw the charred corpse of a tall, adult man, and after that I couldn't take my eyes off him. Burnt black skin and a strange body posture, as if he suffered before his death. He had only half of his body left, guts and boiled blood bubbling right in the rest of his body. The empty eye sockets in his skull and his disfigured face were pointed in my direction and stubbornly looked ahead. His legs, or rather the remaining parts of his body, were charred and frozen in a strange pose.
Despite the fire surrounding me, I saw only this corpse of a man. I wanted not to look at him, and I wanted to turn away so as not to see it, but I couldn't. There was an unpleasant lump stuck in my throat, and it was disgusting, disgusting. His body slowly continued to burn and I didn't pay attention, I watched, feeling empty. Now it's clear to me what that smell was, the smell of human boiled blood and flesh. My eyes started to ripple because of the bright orange fire. The longer I kept watching, the weirder I felt, what kind of feeling was that? I can't understand it, but my legs refused to leave the place and I heard a crack, the crack of burning houses and fire, and the earth under my feet. Why? Why is death so cruel? This person may have a family, relatives and friends who care and love him why is he dead? I didn't feel any suffering because of his death.I just felt sorry for him. It became so sad, and all my thoughts flew away into the distance along with this black smoke. I didn't feel tired, but I was bitter and scared. The fear that I felt made me freeze and not move. The feeling of fear, despite my strength and abilities, I have never been so scared as I am now. Something in me cracked, broke.
With difficulty tearing off my gaze, emptiness reigned in my thoughts. I started watching the stupid blazing flame that avoids meeting my body. Like a fiery snake, he continued to dance around next to me. Looking up to the sky, I saw a black dot on the horizon slowly flying in my direction. I turned away and ran, what made me run fear? Feelings? It doesn't matter. My speed has increased many times and now I can see the blazing wooden buildings already from afar. If they gave me a coin for every question I asked, I would have enough for chocolate ice cream. I was far away from the burning buildings, but with my thoughts I was still surrounded by fire, looking at a silent, disfigured corpse.
A dragon rider in shining plate armor surveyed the area and wrote down: "Writes the royal dragon rider Drakor. It is the first day of my exploration in this area. Approaching my destination while everything is quiet. I see a burning area, the fire is slowly spreading, but it will soon die out on the plain. There are not enough plants here to spread fire, but judging by the fire, its source was definitely the fortress of the Avengers. I'll be closer in a day and I'll be able to tell you more information. The end of the report" Writing down on paper the report on the reconnaissance, the rider landed. He took off his helmet, ate before going to bed, and fell asleep on the back of his faithful comrade.
The man slowly put on his helmet protecting against gusts of air, having a snack before the flight, lifted the dragon into the air, continuing to enter the entries: "Writes the royal dragon rider Drakor. It is the second day of my exploration in this area. There are still a few kilometers left to the destination, I underestimated this fire, its propagation speed is much higher than that of a normal fire, my assumptions were correct that magic fire was used. Magic fire has a burning speed, much faster and it is difficult to extinguish it with water. Gorenje Bright orange flames and smoke can be seen even from the sky. The heat from the flame is not a problem for me, just in case I took a potion resistance to fire, fire is not a problem for me. It's getting hotter. The end of the report." Landing on the ground next to the river, the rider took off his helmet again, had a snack before going to bed, fell asleep on the back of his dragon
After waking up and checking the water for the presence of poison with a magic device, Drakor bathed in a warm river, putting on armor, scratching the chin of his fellow dragon, the royal horseman rejoiced that dragons are capable of not eating for months if they are full. Dragons need careful care, and their size is terrifying. One such is capable of destroying an entire castle and serves as a dangerous weapon in war. Therefore, dragon riders enjoyed special honor in the kingdom and were an example for children as brave heroes. Remembering this, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face and, rising into the air, he continued to write a report: "The royal dragon rider Drakor writes. It is the third day of my exploration in this area. I'm almost there, the heat in this place is incredible. I had to take off all my armor except the helmet in order not to fry in these conditions. I greatly underestimated this heat, and the dragon feels good, no wonder these creatures live next to the lava for them, such a temperature is only good. If we talk about the terrain, everything is ablaze with fire, even the earth itself, this place is like the fiery lands in the nest of fire salamanders. I can already see the buildings, what happened here? The end of the report" Descending to the ground, the rider without undressing, immediately fell asleep in the saddle from fatigue.
With an effort, rising, dissatisfied with the temperature, the royal rider lifted the dragon into the air, satisfied with the temperature, and continued to fill out the report: "Writes the royal dragon rider. It is the fourth day of my exploration in this area. I had to pour a fire resistance potion on my armor and body to avoid being fried here. This is enough for me for a day, I tried to inspect the area from the air, but because of the smoke it is impossible. I had to go down and reconnoitre on the ground. I was able to enter the fortress of the Avengers, there is no point in saying that everything is in magical fire. I started looking for clues and I managed to find the source of the fire. The cause of the magic fire and its spread across the territory, most likely, was a magic crystal. They are extremely rare and full of huge, magical power. Where did such a group of weirdos get such a dangerous magical weapon? I managed to find the presence of human footprints, but they are too unnatural, as if someone very heavy had passed. Too small a footprint does not look like beastmen, it looks more like a footprint from a person. I've been busy here until the evening, it's time to go back to the capital. The presence of the living is not detected. End of the report." Having finished writing his report with a heavy sigh, Drakor decided to report this to the capital, but first he decided to fly away and fly out in the morning after he had rested and gained strength for further travel.
I was running, I had a nervous shock and emotional trauma. I wanted to forget what I saw and shouted to myself in my thoughts. It was like an annoying song that you hear several times in your head, and you want to stop repeating it to yourself. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I have to find a safe place and calm down, everything will be fine. I see a cave, no it's too dark there, I won't go. After being in the dark for so long, I want to be in the air more, not in a dark place. It can be in a high tower with a beautiful sunset view or a castle near the sea with a beautiful view of the beach. I want to be where it is not dark and there is a warming sun. Did I start to be afraid of fire? No, of course not. While I was running and talking incoherent nonsense to myself, the sun suddenly darkened, and I saw a huge red dragon. He was flying majestically forward, and I accelerated sharply, traces of my rash actions began to appear on the ground. If you could see an overgrown lizard the size of a ten-story building flying over you, you wouldn't be laughing. Putting the facts together, it occurred to me that he decided to get rid of the remaining witness. And from the realization of what was happening, I was already far beyond the horizon so fast that I began to run.
Finally, I figured out this report as soon as possible-I would like to have a rest and return to the capital. These old men send me on such easy errands that even a simple messenger can handle them. Who do they think I am? As one of the main weapons of war, I have to work at the beck and call of annoying old men. Looking down, dragon rider Drakor noticed a strangely dressed man running from the fire. His clothes are like those of a dark academy magician, but why would a dark magician go to such a backwater? If you think about it, dark magicians do not disdain to use mean methods and they have a bad reputation. They're more like a bunch of idiots who use a spell on each other to find out the effect. Due to their thoughtless experiments and experiments, the influx of students in the dark academy is the lowest among all other institutions. There are rumors that anyone can now enter the dark academy, so everything is in decline there. And these footprints that he leaves after running are very similar to the footprints at the site of the fire. I should interrogate him and bring him to the capital as a witness or a criminal.
I started chasing him, but his speed is only increasing, most likely he is wearing an artifact to increase his movement speed, and the side effect is cracks on the ground. These dark magicians have invented a really interesting thing, but useless in urban conditions, so you can earn a big fine for damaging the road and they will have to be removed. I continued the chase and when he was already very close, he disappeared. I started searching the neighborhood and nothing. Teleport spell. That's why I hate magicians. They use this spell in the most dangerous cases, but it's not easy to get it right now. I need to find out more, I will ask for official permission in the capital for a pass to the dark academy. Maybe I can find out how they are connected with the Avengers and this magical fire.
When the dragon king rider landed and fell asleep, he was no longer seen alive, nor was his dragon. It was possible to find only his records before his death. The charred corpse of Drakor was found about a week later, they managed to recognize him only because of his armor, which fused with his skin, he died in terrible agony. There is no doubt about it. His dragon was also killed and found nearby. There was a small through hole in his skull, the dragon died almost instantly. This information about the death of the outstanding royal dragon rider Drakor was not distributed among the people and decided to keep a secret even from his comrades and allies. A secret investigation into his murder was decided to begin immediately.