Chapter 10

I returned to our temporary headquarters before lunch. By the way, now I had a relative idea of ​​what this mansion is. It was the guest estate of Count Voulard, so that his friends or simply important guests could live in comfort. Since the Order of the Swallow was very influential, and the count himself was loyal to Trilor, the mansion was given to Lady Katrina under a temporary monastery for the detachment.

Torig, meanwhile, volunteered for recruits in a small lesson in hand-to-hand combat. It looked very tempting from the side, but I was afraid that I would cripple someone with my increased physical strength, so I decided to abandon this activity. Instead of training, I decided to devote time to the basics of magic.

Hera was not in our "comor", so the first thing I did was slightly sip a flask of blood. The effect was instant. All muscles were immediately spasmodic, and everything was seized in the chest. Released as abruptly as it began. And now I already felt an unprecedented power in my whole body. It seemed that I could jump into a two-story house with one leap.

But how do I want ... more ...

I screwed the lid on time and removed the flask from my eyes. To switch his attention to something else, I took out a magic book, and from the very first lines I realized that it would be extremely difficult. The author of this manual completely lacked an artistic component, and it seemed that I was reading some kind of tedious manual. In principle, it was them, but how boring it is written ...

From what follows it follows that there are six levels of magic: the first is basic. It includes the basics of building weaving and the simplest spells that are not tied to one of the elements. The second to fifth are elemental steps. In the second, the magician begins to study the elements to which he has a predisposition. And only having mastered it properly, he can proceed to the development of the next. By the fifth step, the magician must be able to use all four elements. The sixth step does not bring anything new, it is only a qualitative complication of the fifth. That is, the magician of the sixth stage must masterfully master the four elements.

This is what "classic" magic looks like. But besides it there are still other branches about which not much has been written.

The first is the magic of Light. Usually it is possessed by paladins and priests. In most cases, a person learning the magic of Light is subsequently unable to use classical magic above basic spells.

A similar situation with the elements of Darkness. That's just about her in the manual almost nothing was written. Apparently, students of classical magic do not need to know this.

Having finished with the excursion, I switched to the study of magic itself, and here the first serious "gag" happened. It was written there that you need to learn how to feel magical energy inside yourself. How to do it? An extremely good question ... Only a couple of lines were written about this: sit down and distance yourself from the world, directing your gaze deep into the soul.

In short, you need to meditate. To meditate a lot.

Just in case, I flipped through the book further, but realized that without controlling the mana inside the body, I could not move on physically. It's enough in Harry Potter to take a magic wand and cast a spell correctly, but in life everything is much more complicated. Words in magic do not play a role - magical weaving plays a role, which must be filled with energy. Without filling, there is no magic.

Taking a deep breath, I set the book aside and sat in the lotus position. There was no indication of how to sit in the book, but usually they meditate like this. Suddenly helps?

Closing his eyes, as advised in the book, he tried to turn his gaze inward. It was said that usually Dar is like a small warm ball hidden in the center of the chest, next to the heart. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't feel it.

I don't know how much I spent so much, but the result was quite predictable - I just passed out.

"Wake up," someone's strong kick made me collapse onto the mattress.

-BUT? - I shook my head stunned and saw Lady Katrina in front of me.

"Get up," she said shortly. - You will go with me.

-Where? I blinked in surprise.

- Your familiar sorceress was caught in a nearby village. So get ready.

The news that Selina was caught, at the same time pleased me and scared me. The main problem is that she knows who I really am. As if from this problems did not come out. So I tried to convince the lady that I should not go.

"Stop bickering with me," she said very coldly. "I need you to identify her." So take what you need and go.

"I'm ready," I got to my feet and threw on a new jacket.

Katrina surrounded me with her beautiful green eyes and grinned.

-What?

- You bought a bad jacket.

-Why? - I do not quite understand.

-Yes because. In all respects, it loses to ordinary leather armor, and at the same time, wearing ordinary armor on top will be extremely inconvenient. Consider threw money down the drain.

So yes ... but I thought that I got a good little thing ...

"Okay, let's go, we need to get there until the evening," she said, and went away. I immediately followed.

Two harnessed horses were waiting for us at the exit from the estate, and here I unpleasantly surprised Katrina with the fact that I did not have riding skills on this animal.

-What kind of world do you have that you don't know how to ride a horse? She grumbled, so in the end we had to ride on one horse. The paladins ran, and I settled in behind, holding on to her waist.

Leaving the city, we quickly moved towards the northwest. At first, Katrina and I drove in silence, but apparently the woman became bored, and she decided to chat a little.

- Did you study magic there? She asked, apparently seeing a book during my meditation.

"Like that," I sighed. - Only it doesn't work out very well for me. They write about "finding a warm lump in my chest," but I don't feel anything.

-No wonder. Many beginners have problems with this. Including me. There are not many gifted people in whom the Gift was originally formed, usually it is necessary to "collect" it yourself.

-What is it like?

She thought for a moment.

- Imagine the inside of a chicken egg. The yolk is usually round, but if damaged, it spreads over the squirrel. So, imagine that the yolk is a Gift, and the protein is your body. And you need to pull it into your center, and then form a circle.

"It seems ... I'm starting to understand ..." Let her explanation seem a little strange to me, but I caught the main point. "I need to imagine how heat is collected from the whole body in the chest?"

-Like that. Some take years to do this, the main thing is not to despair. You have a gift, I also felt it, but very weak. And stop touching my chest already!

"I'm sorry ..." I said, lowering my hand to the woman's waist. This was not on purpose, just a horse sometimes bouncing slightly on a rough road, and the hand slid higher itself. And I didn't feel my chest as such, under all this armor.

-Are you and Hero getting along?

-Not. She treats me like ... I don't know what word to choose. But ... I don't blame her. I have already heard about your Yundor, and how people are treated there. For her, the Order of the Swallow is an opportunity to gain full freedom, but for me ... it's more like a prison.

"Nothing, you will change your mind over time," she grinned. - Yes, and she too. If you survive, of course.

-Reassured ....

-Maxim, here I have a serious question for you. When we arrive, what do you think, what should I do with this woman?

-And why are you asking me about this? - I was surprised.

"I always reckon with the opinions of my people," said Katrina.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

- For this, according to the laws of Trilor, the death penalty threatens. But, she is a magician, and it costs a lot. If you fight a little, then I can quite include it in my squad, like you.

-You are in charge here, so it is up to you.

-Just if you harbor a strong grudge against her, it's worth saying right away. I don't want you to stab him in the future. Better now I will execute her for the theft and attempt to sell precious stones, than in the future I will lose both of you.

- Why both? - I do not quite understand.

-Because I would have to execute the murderer of a comrade. These are the rules of the Order.

Do I want Selina's death? Very, very good question ... yes and no. If she asked me when I was in the cell, I would not hesitate. But now ... what if the girl really needed the money so much that she was ready to sacrifice a stranger? Not to mention that before these unfortunate stones she saved me, twice as much. Even after I found out that I was a monster.

"I'm afraid ... I can't say anything about this." I will not kill her personally. And how to be then - I do not know.

"I see," Katrina nodded shortly.

The further way we went silently. And the closer we got to our destination, the darker it got. When the lights appeared ahead, it was almost completely dark.

We arrived in a small, by my standards, village of thirty houses. Several guards were waiting for us with torches. And judging by the bored mines, they waited a long time.

-Who will you? - asked one of them, seeing the riders.

"The Paladin of the Order of the Swallow, Catherine de Shinro," the woman said, getting off her horse. And I did it so gracefully, despite the armor, that for a moment I admired. But getting off by myself just as easily did not work, which is why I pretty painfully turned around. And one of the guards did not hold back a satisfied laugh. Katrina gave me a cold look and inquired: - Is it safe?

"More less," answered her, brushing himself off.

- They say you caught a witch? Asked Lady de Chinro, referring to one of the guards.

"Well, we don't know about the sorceress," he shrugged. - The girl did not demonstrate magic. But the description is similar: brown hair, a wide-brimmed hat, moves alone in a shopping van.

-Where is she?

-We locked her in a nearby barn.

- Lead.

The closer the guards led us to Celine, the harder it pounded in my chest. I prayed for a higher power that it was not her. After all, it's worth telling her at least a word that I'm half a vampire, how my calm life will end.

Ahead, a rather massive structure appeared, most reminiscent of barns from American films.

"Ahem ... strange," the eldest of the guards suddenly stopped.

-What? - immediately alert Katrina.

- Yes, here Tinon was supposed to stand, guard, so that the sorceress did not run away. But he is not ... But the lock on the door is still hanging.

-Tinon, where are you !? The man shouted as we approached the massive gate leading to the barn. But there was no answer. - Oh ... if he went to the women again, he would patrol the forest belt for a week!

Grumbling a little, the guard began to open the massive castle. Having dealt with it, he pulled it toward himself, not without serious effort.

"I am the first," said the girl, taking the torch from one of the guards and taking it in her left hand, with her right she pulled a sword from its sheath. I followed her example and went second.

What we saw inside made us flinch. At first, we noticed blood on the floor. A lot of blood ...

"Be ready," she whispered to me.

Clutching the sword in my hand more firmly, I followed the paladin. But the bloody trail did not last long. In one of the empty animal pens we found a head. This was Selina, no doubt. But most of all I was struck by a grimace of horror, frozen on a pale face. She was dying in torment.

"Gods ..." the guard walking behind me mumbled, and rushed to the exit. Apparently, the stomach could not stand it. Nearby, I noticed a severed arm, also clearly belonging to the girl.

-Who could do this ...? - horrified the senior guard, whose stomach was stronger than that of a subordinate.

"This is what we need to find out," Katrina said, peering warily into the darkness. The barn was really big, there were enough dark corners where the perpetrator of this brutal murder could hide.

I stepped back a couple of steps, pretending to be trying to relieve nausea. In fact, this smell of human blood seemed now too tempting. He pleasantly tickled his smell, like the smell of a favorite dish, and caused hungry grunts in his stomach.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, trying to cope with hunger, I lifted my head up and met his gaze with a pair of red eyes. A pale human face with two large red eyes, from which the blood ran cold, looked at me from the ceiling. At heart, everything went cold, and this creature, so similar to a person, grinned quite a bit, showing a number of sharp small teeth.

Fear. This is exactly what I experienced, even despite the control of emotions. This creature literally hypnotized me, terrifying me. But still, I was able to open my "stuck together" lips, and at that moment the monster grinned menacingly and fell upon me, so fast that even with my reaction I could not dodge.

"You smell ... almost like us ... but you're not one of us ..." the creature said, barely audible, crushing me with its weight and sniffing like an animal. Despite the increased physical strength, I could not overpower him, and I could only hope that they would save me before this creature killed me.

- A hand of light! - cried Katrina, and the next moment I was blinded.

-Gra-ah-ah-ah! The pale creature screamed, jumping from me and hiding in the darkness.

-What was it!? Cried the guard, stepping back from us toward the exit. But the more he did not have time to step and step. Clawed fingers ripped out his throat.

"Don't leave me," Katrina told me, peering warily into the darkness. At that time I had already risen to my feet and was ready to fight back the creature.

It was a vampire, no doubt. And not some miserable ghoul, but quite a powerful bloodsucker, already lost its human appearance. He was still far from the Ancient vampire lords, but he already excelled me by the head, if not by one. Fast, strong, able to merge with shadows and suppress its victims.

- Can you smoke it? I asked, taking a seat behind the paladins.

-Not. The hand of light has a limited area, "she clarified. "I don't have enough mana to light up the whole barn."

"Bad ..." I said, holding my sword comfortably.

-We move towards the exit, only slowly.

-Good.

Slow steps we began to move to the barn gate, but we did not manage to do this until the end. It attacked me. Well, I was ready and somehow miraculously parried the attack of a bloodsucker aiming with a clawed paw right in my heart. I managed to be screened in time by the elven blade, which is why I got off with just a scratch on my side.

Katrina immediately struck a hand of light, but by then the vampire had again managed to hide in the gloom of the barn.

-Alive?

- Yes, just a scratch.

The next attack fell on Katrina, and this time she passed from above. But Lady de Chinro was just incredibly fast and skillful. At the last moment, she stepped aside and almost beheaded the vampire with a wave of her sword. But he turned out to be faster and retreated back into darkness in time.

"He plays with us," I muttered evil.

"That's right, he plays," she confirmed. - Supreme vampire .... No one has seen such a hundred years. And I'm afraid he showed us less than half of his abilities.

- What do you think are our chances to win?

"Not very big ..." Katrina answered honestly.

I could enlarge them by draining the flask, but even so I still doubt that I will become even to him. But only if Katrina finds out who I am, there will be no turning back. I will leave this as a last resort.

"Gunter would have come in handy now," the girl sighed distressedly. - I would have dispersed the dusk, and there you look, we would have a chance.

We almost reached the exit when the vampire attacked again. But this time he used a trick and didn't climb on the attack himself, throwing a pitchfork at us. I managed to react, but Katrina, who was standing with her back, was not completely. She tried to go sideways, but one of the steel bars hooked her shoulder. But this was not the worst. The blow was so strong that the girl was thrown back several meters, while spinning several times around its axis.

I rushed to her, but the bloodsucker was right there. Having appeared before me halfway to the paladin and grabbed my neck, he lifted it above the ground. I tried to wave my sword, but he easily grabbed my hand. Then he began to kick, making every effort to break out of his grip. But everything was useless, the difference in strength was enormous.

"Pretty," someone's voice was heard nearby, and the bloodsucker, hearing it, grimaced with displeasure.

The voice was female, that's just where it came from, I still do not understand. It seems that the vampire was not alone here.

-And I just got fun ...

-We are not killing more than necessary.

"I remember ..." - it seems that this bloodsucker completely disagreed with this statement, but did not dare to argue.

-We got what we came for. It was still not enough for the Order to sit on our tail and begin to avenge the murdered paladin.

"Good, lady," said the vampire, looking at me unkindly. "I remember your smell, half-breed." The world is small, maybe ... hehehe .... We will meet again and finish what we started.

With these words, he let me go and disappeared into the darkness faster than I managed to get to my feet. Quickly realizing that the bloodsucker was hiding, I ran toward Katrina. The girl has already come to her senses, only the wound on her shoulder was truly terrible. He was completely turned around, and only by a miracle the hand was still in place, hanging only on a pair of muscles.

And the blood ... lashed the river, and I really did not even know how to stop it, given the large surface of the wound.

-Shit ... shit! I shouted, trying to somehow stop the blood. - Do not dare to die!

Katrina looked at me with a blurred gaze, tried to say something, but I only saw the pointless lip-wiggling.

-Hey! Anybody! For help! I shouted, but no one was in a hurry to come up.

Lady Katrina de Shinro was dying in my arms, and there was nothing I could do about it.