Chapter 15.

"Will we go today?"

Mez'A'Shib might not have to ask that - the three days it had taken the kobold to make the potion seemed like an eternity. Does it take much for boys to pack for a quest? In all times and lands much less than a day, especially if the adventure is very exciting! And when difficulties and dangers stopped them?

No one expressed fear or resignation, only Naar-Tam wondered if they would need the flasks since they weren't likely to be on the expedition long enough to be thirsty. It would be nice to get a kerosene lamp somewhere, Tim pondered - it must be very dark there, and his orange-skinned friend's magic might not be enough to travel there and back. But if he started to ask about, it would immediately be clear where they are going. The idea of collecting luminous moss in a glass vial of some sort seemed more perspective at that moment. Several test tubes with corks they borrowed from the kobold under the pretext of gathering of ingredients which can't be placed in a pocket. Scraping moss off the walls was not too much fun - it would take a long time to get enough of it. And then you have to wash your hands very carefully - the tiny particles of moss stained your skin in the corresponding colors. In addition, the glow gradually weakened - deprived of the roots moss withered and ceased to emit light. Because of this it would be pointless to store up such luminaries; three of them were made only when they heard the news that the neutralizer was ready and they could go into the dungeon at any time.

But first, of course, they had to wait for night without catching someone's eye on the way to the goal: many of their classmates learned to sneak dodging the ghosts and hiding in various places. Mez'A'Shib told about his walking around the school in the previous night: when seeing the ghosts he tried to hide under the stairs, he was kicked out of there by indignant cries of two light elves. It had to cast on them Veil of Dark and run away strongly risking to get caught by the ghosts. Fortunately, Ri-Bo found a way out.

"Let's go early and wait for the night in the place not far from the dungeon."

"What place exactly do you mean?"

"The disciplinary cells! I purposely went to see them today: there is nobody there including guard."

"That's before we'll have classes again."

In those days they had no classes - they were given time for meditation and self-training. Of course, most of the pupils preferred not to use that time for meditation and self-training.

"Never mind, Master Aerg will quickly fix that."

"It's lucky for us that Pulsok has calmed down a bit. Otherwise all the cells would be occupied by now, and some would have two or three sitting in them."

Indeed, after a couple of punishments in solitary confinement, the goblin was no longer fond of it, preferring to send to community service. Really, what was the point of letting troublemakers idle around when the school was in constant need of manpower? Therefore no one was surprised now to see a classmate with a broom, mop, or rag in his hands. Of course, a couple of elementals could do the cleaning faster and better, but where was the educational aspect then?

The disciplinary cells, located at the very end of the tunnel leading to the service quarters, were indeed empty. Of the eight cells (four on each side), six were locked with iron bars and two were open. The friends took up residence in one of the last and, to pass the time, played 'Elves and Orcs'. Mez'A'Shib, who had managed to get somewhere two pieces of chalk, taught them this game, resembling noughts-and-crosses but more sophisticated. Soon the walls and even part of the floor were covered in diamonds and stars. The game was so fascinating that they almost forgot the main purpose of their stay here. Good thing each of the cells was equipped with a clock - probably so that the prisoner could know at any moment how long he had left to stay here. And so, not long after the purple eye lit up to herald nightfall, Mez'A'Shib put the chalk aside.

"It's time for me to go on scouting. Stay here and try not to make any noise."

He threw Veil of Dark over himself and slipped out the door.

They had to wait for him to return for at least twenty minutes. Ri-Bo even doubted that the drow was afraid of something and had simply run away, leaving them behind. Naar-Tam protested heatedly that the dark elf was not the type to abandon his friends. Unless he was captured, Tim added, but neither Ri-Bo nor Naar-Tam believed that - anyone could have been captured, but not him!

The appearance of Mez'A'Shib resolved their doubts.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. At first the ghosts circled back and forth, then the dwarves decided to rearrange the furniture in one of the rooms. But it's quiet now, so we can go."

A minute later they were at the door with the arrow pointing down. Tim's heart was pounding desperately in his chest; judging by rapid breathing of his friends, the others were just as worried. Mez'A'Shib took hold of the door handle after a moment, pulling it gingerly toward him. The door was unlocked - as if it invited to go inside.

"You ready? Remember, as soon as we cross the threshold we'll become outlaws. And then we'll not get away with trivial matters like cleaning of the school territory or dish washing. We can simply be kicked out of the school. Or we'll be placed in the same disciplinary cells for a week or two."

"We came here not for turning back at the last moment!" Ri-Bo declared proudly.

"Well, go then."

From the pocket of his uniform Mez'A'Shib took out a vial with pinkish opalescent liquid.

"The kobold said it should be enough for the whole night. Now we check this."

Cautiously taking out the cork with sharp movement he splashed out the liquid right in front of him. The contents of the vial spread about the floor changing its color and forming a pattern resembling a giant starfish. Rays of the starfish reached the opposite walls.

"Aha! That's it! It is enough to step on one of the 'rays', and your goose is cooked. Fortunately, now we can see the trap. And although it must be deactivated let's try not to step on it."

Moving along the walls and carefully overstepping the 'rays' they passed the trap and found themselves in a dark corridor. The corridor led them to another door that unlike the first one was locked, and not with ordinary bolt that may be easily unlocked by pushing it back, but with a big padlock that cannot be unlocked without a key.

"Hmm, I would not like to smash in the door…"

"But why the kobold didn't say about the second door?"

"May be he simply didn't know about it."

"What's his meaning to give us the potion if we could not enter the catacombs?"

Mez'A'Shib looked around.

"Probably if we have a metal rod nearby I would try to break open the lock."

"Do any of you accidentally master the magic of metal?" Naar-Tam joked sadly.

"It seems the time for bringing to bear my gift! May be it will work!" Ri-Bo exclaimed.

A golden cloud began to form between his palms, and a second later it was streaming toward the keyhole, stretching out into a tube at the same time. Some of it reached inside the lock, and the rest outside formed a key shaped like an ancient Egyptian ankh. When everything was ready, the tilfing made a motion as if turning a faucet with his hand, and the shackle of the "key" turned as well. With a click, the lock opened.

"It worked, though!"

"And you happen to have a very valuable gift! At Merzeran it would quickly find an application!"

At the Earth too, Tim thought, though the consequences for such craftsmen could be very unfortunate. But there was no time to speculate on the subject (and no time to warn Ri-Bo not to show his gift to just anyone) because Naar-Tam had already opened the door and was inside; there was nothing left to do but follow him.

They found themselves in a small cave. Contrary to Tim's fears it was light enough here: not only Mez'A'Shib but also his friends could orientate themselves without problem. Naar-Tam therefore didn't light the torch and Tim put back in his pocket test tube with the moss. The way went further through the tunnel to the left of them. But primarily their attention was attracted by the inscription on the right:

'If you dared to come here, you may leave your name on the wall'

Under it and on both sides of the inscription there were dozens if not hundreds names. Some of them had faded over time and became almost indistinguishable; the others, in contrast, that had been made not so long ago, were quite readable.

"Wow!" Ri-Bo marveled. "How many people were here before us?"

"You really thought we'll be the first?" Naar-Tam laughed. "We are not even in the top twenty!"

"Good if in the top hundred," Tim added exploring list of the names. He didn't meet a single one resembling terrestrial. He hadn't counted on that, though.

"But in our class we are the first! I think it is the good reason to imprint our names! Mez, where is your chalk?"

"I left it in the cell."

"No problem," Naar-Tam was not upset at all. "There are a lot of small stones around, may be one of them will be suitable. Here, for example, a piece with pointed edge! For sure it already had been used for this purpose long before we came here!"

So, picking up the piece, he painstakingly scratched their names on the wall. Mez'A'Shib, for his part, surveyed the tunnel that led to the depths of the dungeon; Tim followed him. Ri-Bo took advantage of the moment to collect crystals that were in sight and then together with Naar-Tam hurried to go after their friends.

The tunnel soon led them to a fork in the road. Three roads led from here in three different directions. At the crossroads was a mossy boulder with writing on its front:

'If you're brave, go ahead.

If strong, turn left.

If nimble, turn right.

If smart, go back.'

"I don't think any of us think we're stupid, but I see no reason to go back yet," Mez'A'Shib summed up as he read the inscription.

"But why do you have to be strong to go left?" Naar-Tam wondered.

"And why do you need dexterity to go to the right?" Ri-Bo echoed him.

"I don't think we can solve all the riddles of the dungeon in one night," said Tim, sadly.

"It means the only way for us, ahead," Mez'A'Shib concluded. "And don't forget to pick up the crystals: we must pay off the kobold, otherwise he'll find other assistants."

And they continued on their way. The tunnel sloped and became progressively narrower, so that they had to walk one after another, sometimes ducking to avoid hitting the ceiling with their heads. But at last the torment was over, and they found themselves inside another cave. In the center of it there was a circle made of stones, inside which there were embers covered with ashes. Apparently, someone had once made a fire here. I wonder why, thought Tim - it wasn't cold in the cave at all. Nevertheless, the mysterious someone had also taken care to store fuel for the future: there were several bunches of dry branches lying by the wall to the left. Perhaps he intended to come here again sometime, though the choice of picnic place was more than strange.

At that moment, however, they had a much more serious problem to deal with: the only way out of the cave was back to the fork.

"Is it really a dead end?" Ri-Bo almost cried in frustration.

"It couldn't be! The signpost should have said so!" Naar-Tam tried to remain optimistic.

"He owes you nothing," Mez'A'Shib grimaced. "I don't know how old those inscriptions are and most things can change. For instance, an earthquake causes some of the tunnels to fall in and then others appear instead."

"It doesn't look like there's been an earthquake here."

"What if we just can't see the passageway? What if one of the walls is an illusion?"

"It's not hard to check. Especially if you have a specialist in the removal of illusions. Isn't there one among us? For some reason, that's what I thought. We'll have to do it manually."

The drow and the tilfing went around the cave, probing the walls, but without success.

"It looks like whoever wrote that you have to be brave to come here was just kidding. We'll have to go back and choose between strength and agility."

No, it's not as simple as seems, the thought crossed Tim's mind. Feeling of incorrectly solved problem didn't leave him. The circle for the fire and the fuel nearby... it seemed that one of the computer games had a similar quest. Either way, they wouldn't lose anything if they tried.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Ri-Bo called out to him as Tim grabbed one of the bunches and dragged it toward the circle.

"This is no time to sit by the fire!" with a hint of judgment Mez'A'Shib said.

"I'll be quick! Xeroblinz exlelloto!"

However, the sparks failed to ignite the wood: either it had time to get a little damp, or the spell was too weak.

"Naar, could you build a fire?"

"I suppose so, but why?"

"You'll see. Unless I'm wrong, of course."

Naar-Tam was slightly surprised but complied. The flames eagerly began to devour the branches, forcing the darkness to retreat. And on the wall opposite the entrance, an inscription suddenly lit up:

'Minus the first tier.

Welcome, brave ones!'

Then part of the wall slid back, moving gently to the side, just as it had when they had used the secret passage from the kobold lab.

"Hooray!"

"How did you guess to light the fire?" Ri-Bo was perplexed. "That never would have occurred to me!"

"It was intuitive. I just happened to think that might be the clue."

"There are lots of secret passages in and around our houses, but they're usually opened by levers or springs, sometimes by magic. I've never seen anything like it," Mez'A'Shib avowed.

"And if I lit a torch, would it work?" Naar-Tam asked.

"I doubt it. Why else would there be a fire? But we'll check next time! Now let's go, otherwise I'm afraid the door will close when the flames go out!"

They found themselves in a spacious hall, much larger than ones of the upper levels. It was a little darker here than in the caves, but still bright enough not to use the lights available to them. Symmetrical rows of columns on the both sides of them went off into the distance; the hall was so large that they couldn't discern where it ends, so they decided to walk around the perimeter of the hall. Behind the columns, against the walls, they found pedestals. On these were statues of strange creatures, like giant furry spiders on their hind legs with large eyes. The insectoids, as Tim called them, were evidently intelligent: many of them were dressed in something like overalls, some even held tools in their front paws, like a hammer, a ruler, or a miniature pickaxe.

Their friends looked at the statues with wonder. None of them had ever heard of such creatures before.

"It looks like the tunnels weren't built by dwarves at all," Tim summed up.

"I think so now, too," Mez'A'Shib agreed. "I had some doubts when I arrived at the school, but I couldn't imagine anyone else doing this kind of work except dwarves."

"That's strange, no one mentioned them. I'll have to find out more about the history of the school."

"Good idea! Especially if we can find a list of graduates of the school. It would be interesting to see who of the drowes studied here. May be I know someone of them."

"Why go far, you'll find it at the entrance to the dungeon. Now with our names," Naar-Tam needled him.

"I'm guessing not everyone has been in the dungeons and some may not have wanted to leave their names. If Pulsok accidentally will decide to drop in here and find that list (for a moment a fear appeared on Naar-Tam's face, but he could gain control of himself), well, you can guess what happens next."

"Hey, let's not think about sad things, let's collect the crystals! There's plenty of them!" the tilfing intervened.

And indeed, the kobold was right: there were crystals at almost every turn. By the time they made their way around the hall, their pockets were full. Naar-Tam was even lucky enough to find a piece of mosaic with a hexagonal gold coin in it.

"As far as I know, no one else has such a symbol, - Mez'A'Shib glanced at his find." It must be very valuable.

"The rarer they are, the harder it will be to collect the pattern."

"But the reward should be greater. Therefore, do not lose, suddenly such will be found again!"

After that the only thing left for them was to examine the center of the hall, where a large square slab of black granite attracted their attention immediately. But they could not look at it more closely: on approaching the feeling of unreasonable fear appeared. It seemed to Tim that the slab was a tombstone which was about to open, and a terrible dead man would crawl out from inside and attack them. The visions of his companions were no less terrifying: Mez'A'Shib thought an earthquake had begun and that the ceiling was about to fall on their heads and bury them alive; Ri-Bo thought stone "spiders" were alive and about to devour them; Naar-Tam thought all the lights were going out one by one, including his hastily created torch, and they were doomed to wander in darkness until the end of their lives.

As they moved farther away, they were relieved to find that the fear was gone.

"It seems that the slab is surrounded by a Horror Sphere," Tim suggested, remembering Master Ven'A'Sash's lesson.

"Something like that," Mez'A'Shib agreed. "Pity we don't have a mag- detector with us. It could tell if there's magic nearby and the kind of it."

"Great!" Naar-Tam admired. "With such a device any trap isn't a problem for us. Can we get it in the school?"

"Most likely, but not easily. In Merzeran only very powerful magicians have mag-detectors. And they don't give you one without very good reason."

"Well, fine," Ri-Bo wasn't the least bit upset. "We'll make it ourselves. But there's nothing more to do in the hall, so where to next?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, we don't have much of a choice. Of the five passages leading out of here, two are bricked up, and the third is sealed off by an iron grate. We'll have to choose between the remaining two."

"In that case, let's take a look at the one that's closer!"

So they turned in the direction of the passage on the left side of the entrance to the hall. But when they had walked about thirty meters they found that they could go no farther because the tunnel was strewn with stones from top to bottom.

"There must have been a landslide here," said Mez'A'Shib with a sigh.

"Nonsense, we'll take it apart now!"

Naar-Tam and Tim grabbed for the nearest boulder. But no matter how hard they tried, they could not move it.

"It's no use," the drow commented on their efforts. "It would take a crew of workmen with tools to move it. And no one knows how long it will take even for them. Especially if the collapse was deliberate."

They had to go back into the hall. But before they reached the entrance to the only tunnel that remained accessible, Naar-Tam suddenly stopped.

"Did you hear that?"

"What exactly?" his friends turned to him in surprise.

"There's someone calling for help!"

They stopped, listening. Now Tim could hear the moans and cries coming from the depths of the tunnel.

"We must hurry to help!" Naar-Tam was alarmed. He did not hesitate to rush forward as quickly as he could.

Mez'A'Shib's face suddenly changed.

"Stop! Or you'll be in trouble!!"

That didn't work, he had to chase after him. He finally managed to catch up the peirot and held him in place by grabbing his arm. Tim and Ri-Bo followed.

"Why did you stop me?"

"Because there's nobody there but us! That's the call of the hinkhu, the evil spirit of the dungeons. If you answer it, you'll be in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Depends on the situation. Let's go a little further and see, but watch out!"

So they followed Mez'A'Shib, treading carefully and constantly looking around. The wails of pity grew stronger and stronger, but the friends tried not to react to them. Making about twenty steps the drow stopped.

"Aha! I was right! Do you see it?"

They were on the edge of a precipice that was very wide and deep, and the light of the torch lit by Naar-Tam could not reach the bottom or the other side of it. Ri-Bo picked up a small stone and threw it down, but only a few seconds later they heard the deafening sound of it hitting the stone.

"Wow! What a depth!"

"Do you see where you would have ended up if you had kept running?"

"But who is this hinkhu? Why does he do that?"

"According to the legends of our people, the souls of those who found their death in the dungeon and were not properly buried turn into hinkhus. The hinkhus are jealous of the living and hate them, so they seek to destroy them. I've never met a hinkhu myself, but I've heard a lot about them."

"Thank you, you saved me! You are a true friend!" Naar-Tam exclaimed eagerly. "I am indebted to you!"

"Perhaps one day you will help me out of my trouble. And since there is no further way, there is nothing more for us to do here."

"Wait, what is that?" Ri-Bo leaned over and picked up what appeared to be a wand.

"Was its owner walking into a trap set by an evil spirit?"

"It might have been. That's not something we can verify just now, as you know."

They stood in silence at the edge of the precipice, staring vainly into the void. You'd need a searchlight here, many times more powerful than their torch.

"Maybe we'll come back here again when we have a rope ladder with us. For now we can only sympathize with the poor fellow who believed the howls of the hinkhu."

"By the way, have you noticed? You don't hear the yelling anymore!"

"Naturally, because we figured out the deception. And we won't fall for it again."

"We should make a warning sign!" Naar-Tam got worried. "Otherwise someone else might fall into the trap!"

"It's no use," Mez'A'Shib shook his head. "Hinkhu could appear anywhere. A warning sign should be placed at the entrance to the dungeon."

"Like there's tricks and traps everywhere, you'd better not come here at all!" Ri-Bo cheered. "Or they'll take all the crystals and we won't get anything!"

"Everyone knows that dungeons are dangerous," Tim pointed out. "But that didn't stop us. What makes you think the others would do otherwise?"

"But what if someone will be prudent enough?"

At talking they didn't notice how they were back in the hall.

"We'll have to find a lever to raise that grate, that's all we can do," Mez'A'Shib suggested with a sigh.

"It seems to me, in order to move forward we should solve the riddle of the slab," Tim objected.

"But we can't even get close to it!"

"What if I can?"

"I don't think so."

"I'll do it," Tim gritted his teeth and promised resolutely. He wasn't sure of that, but he couldn't back out now, his pride wouldn't allow it. So, ignoring the appeals to be prudent and to try other ways first, he walked steadily straight to the slab. Fear returned: the hall appeared to him as a gigantic crypt, draped in the corners with cobwebs and illuminated by a dim greenish-blue light streaming from the wall lamps. But the worst awaited him, Tim suddenly felt like the very creature buried centuries ago, but not completely dead. His dream was interrupted by the appearance of those obnoxious boys, always sticking their noses where they weren't asked... so warm and delicious it was impossible to resist. In a little while they would become his dinner... it had been a long time since he had had to enjoy the taste of fresh flesh...

At the price of tremendous effort Tim moved towards the goal; every new step came to him with an increasing difficulty. Cold sweat flooded his eyes, the top of uniform was soaking wet. In a minute the tombstone will be thrown aside and the dead man would be free… he must not let that happen! If he is too late, his friends will die!

Desperate determination gave him the strength to overcome the distance remaining to the target. And as soon as he touched the slab, his fear disappeared. Sighing with relief Tim mockingly looked at incredulous faces of his friends.

"Well, what did you get scared of? Just do not give in to your feelings and you'll be fine!"

Who of boys in such a situation would want to expose himself as a coward before his buddies? And so soon they all joined Tim, just as relieved when their terrors were behind them.

"There's finally a place to sit down and rest!" Ri-Bo cheerfully exclaimed as he jumped onto the slab.

A muffled creaking sound came from somewhere below and made him jump back down. The frightened boys scattered in different directions. But no harm had come of it: the slab moved smoothly to the left, opening a passage downward.

"That's where to go next!"

They waited a bit (what if it wanted to go back down?) before they started their descent. A stone staircase led them to a glass door with an inscription:

'Minus the second tier.

Never come up here alone!'

"Clearly," commented Ri-Bo cheerfully. "Otherwise you'll die of boredom here!"

An absolute darkness reigned behind the door; neither Mez'A'Shib's eyes nor Naar-Tam's torch could tell what awaits them further.

"It's strange," the drow said sadly. "At home, even in total darkness, I could make out the shape of things. Well, you wait here, and I'll see what I can find out. Perhaps it will get brighter from here."

Low shuffling of retiring steps sometime had come from the darkness and then they heard 'Ouch!' and the sound of fallen body.

"Mez, are you all right?" Naar-Tam was alarmed. "Wait, I'm coming to help!"

"But don't run, or you'll fall too! There's a cliff! Luckily it's not too deep, I'm only bruised! Move carefully until you get to the edge, and then jump or go down! And don't be afraid, it's bright here!"

One by one they followed the advice. The height of the jump was a good two meters, so Tim lost his footing and lay down on the floor. Naar-Tam landed next to him in the same way, but Ri-Bo preferred to climb down carefully, clinging to the edge of the precipice before letting go of his hands.

It really was bright in here - brighter than the upstairs hall, like the cave with names on the wall. And the amazing thing was that from here they could see the door they had just passed through!

"Astonishing! One-way visibility!" Naar-Tam exclaimed enthusiastically. "I've never heard of such a thing! I'm sure there must have been magic involved!"

"Naturally. Otherwise I would have been able to see something. It was as if my eyes were tied with a black bandage."

It's a lot like tinted car windows, Tim thought. Inside you can see what's going on outside (in a slightly darkened view though), but no one can see you from inside.

Then dark blue spots on the floor caught their attention. Their chain led to a wall on which a liquid of the same color had been scrawled:

THIS SCHOOL... IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK...

Tim's notes on his classmates.

1) Elves. Seven boys (Eliavin, Faelinn, Taeron, Elsingor, Gillmir, Fingor, Namitil) and four girls (Eliavel, Iwiel, Parial, Yumial). They are kind and cheerful, though sometimes they can be mistrustful and even a little arrogant. They like to discuss lofty topics, tell and listen to different funny stories. But their friendship will be offered only to those who are considered worthy of the name "friend".

2)Dark elves (drowes). Two boys (Mez'A'Shib, Zur'U'Fes) and five girls (Gan'I'Tar, Shin'Ye'Heth, Nhel'Yu'Min, Kakh'I'Geg, Dem'O'Sut). Cunning, insidious, consider themselves to be above all the others. Frankly, there's no desire to communicate with them. Mez is the only pleasant exception (how he managed to deal with dirt and not get dirty is still a mystery to me).

3)Anzimars. Three boys (Germeht, Hindag, Kunfor) and two girls (Drega, Virda). An amazing example of combining doll-like looks with a black soul. So incredible, as if an angel descended from heaven would give you a good kick in the ass instead of helping you in a difficult moment (at least with wise advice). It is better to stay away from them.

4)Peirots. Three boys (Naar-Tam, Ruum-Fib, Heen-Lun) and two girls (Tiis-Mir, Gook-Luk). Friendly, sociable (sometimes even too much), a real soul of the company. Cannot stand loneliness, do not like to think about boring and complicated things. Always come to the rescue, just call.

5)Yusmes. Two boys (Patpako and Alkitmi) and three girls (Xitati, Selkise, Jaamite). Calm, thoughtful, often distracted. In contrast to the Peyrots they are better for sharing sadness than joy. But you can always count on their compassion.

6)Lycoses. Two boys (Yantau, Ivliar) and two girls (Meikli, Sitmis). Aside from their ability to turn into animals, they are not much different from terrestrial boys and girls. Perhaps my judgment is superficial, since I don't know much about them yet.

7)Orcs. Three boys (Gmuruk, Shugiz, Urgrot) and one girl (Rumara). Naive, simple-minded, nothing to fool them around. But if the deception will be revealed, beware of their anger, they can easily punch you in the eye. As to dueling, just give them a reason. But you should not expect any tricks on their part.

8)Tilfings. One boy (Ri-Bo) and two girls (Za-Zu, Zhu-Fi). Carefree, mischievous, loves adventure. In conversation they can brag or make up an entire story. Fortunately, they rarely use deliberate deception for their own purposes, only for self-protection. However, white lie isn't rare thing and on Earth too, is it?

9)Gaarshes. One boy (Ashshaat) and two girls (Shiimaa, Miinash). They are not very sociable, they don't seek anyone's company and don't be the first to talk. But if you ask them something, they will definitely answer. Perhaps they are just very shy. It would be nice at an opportunity to inquire my neighbor from the twenty-sixth room about the dragons.

10)Gorgons. Two girls (Chilajt, Mikpir). Since I only talked to Chilajt, I can't say anything definite. If they're all like her, then great. Too bad no boys of their race were invited to school. What if they don't have boyfriends at all? In the myths of ancient Greece there were three female gorgonians, but there were no men at all. But those are myths, and logically they should be.

11) And I'm the only one from Earth...

Approximate correspondence of the local clock (at maximum eye luminosity) to Earth time:

Mazarine eye – midnight.

Blue eye – 01:36 a.m.

Azure eye – 03:12 a.m.

Turquoise eye – 04:48 a.m.

Rifle-green eye – 06:24 a.m. (end of night).

Green eye – 08:00 a.m.

Light-green – 09:36 a.m.

Smaragdine eye – 11:12 a.m.

Citron eye – 12:48 p.m.

Yellow-orange eye – 02:24 p.m.

Orange eye – 04:00 p.m.

Pink eye – 05:36 p.m.

Scarlet eye – 07:12 p.m.

Crimson eye – 08:48 p.m.

Violet eye – 10:24 p.m. (beginning of night).

TO BE CONTINUED...