Chapter 79: 77
The icy air "cut" the skin, even though it was covered with feathers. The lungs, despite the surrounding cold, burned with hellish fire. However, despite all this, my gaze was clear and precise, and my wings continued to hold me in the wind.
Returning to the camp was not enchanting, not solemn. We returned pretty tired, without strength and energy.
Even though the battle itself was not very difficult in terms of energy for my companions, its consequences almost squeezed out the juice.
After a short retreat from the battlefield, a new goal was adopted - to reconnoiter the area in a new way. This was done for three things. The first was to find out the reason for the retreat of the dead, although the chances of this were pitifully small. The second is to make sure that there are no enemies left. Well, the third is to place magical analogs of the "signals" for reinsurance.
It took us about twelve hours to do everything. All this time we worked tirelessly, and also sparing no energy. The huge area was combed in record time, more than two hundred signals were installed in special places - in the hills. They looked like clay figurines of eyes, covered with many chains of runes. As you might guess, he created it from Og. The poor dwarf was so tired that in the end he was carried on the magical equivalent of a stretcher. To my reasonable question about Og's condition, I received a laconic answer: Not my main specialty. A runologist is not the same as an artifactor.
Runologists are divided into two types: combat and peaceful. Of course, this is all exaggerated, but still. The first one is the gnome. His domain is the use of runes directly in battle. The second group includes ritualists and artifactors. Of course, there are exceptions. There are both combat artifactors and ritualists. What can I say? How they divided it.
Having finished with the assigned tasks, we headed to the camp. One might think: "This is it, we'll be able to rest soon," but alas. The return was also long. We did not go straight, but swerved from side to side. At the same time, Flitwick, together with Croco, covered our tracks, both with the help of magic and physical labor. But every path ends one way or another. After another three hours we arrived at the camp.
As soon as Crystal removed her spell, I dived down like a stone. Having turned back into a human, he tiredly lay down on the ground. My eyes stared at the night sky, and my tired brain memorized this view, debugging it to the back of my memory.
Nobody touched me. Everyone scattered in all directions. Sol and Fox go to their tent, Professor and Croco go to the fire. Susann dragged Al into the tent, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. The vampire disappeared to no one knows where. Well, Og was already lying on the bed, ready for the examination. A vampire put him there, along with Croco.
Sighing tiredly, he headed towards him. You need to fulfill your responsibilities.
The inspection of the gnome did not take long. Having finished with him in literally fifteen minutes, he went to inspect the rest. Everyone except Ed. He hasn't returned yet.
Having finished in an hour, he tiredly sat down in front of the fire. No one suffered any significant injuries. So, exhaustion of varying degrees of severity, and a couple of scratches that managed to heal successfully.
Oh, how tired I am. Not used to flying in the bird shape table for a long time. But I turn into an ordinary analogue of a flyer, not magical, without making major changes. So far this requires too much effort, but there is progress.
How beautiful is the flame of a fire. Thanks to him, you forget about all your problems and begin to appreciate fleeting moments. Petals of different shades of yellow and red danced their dance, giving rise to a bizarre picture. Under a gust of wind, it changed dramatically, acquiring sharper features. And the sparks, like children who decided to leave their father's house, rushed upward - to freedom. How beautiful.
- Yes. "It's really beautiful," the professor's voice intruded into the idyll. Looking at him in surprise, I noticed a knowing smile. - And yes, you said it out loud.
"Sorry," I answered him, embarrassed, but trying not to show it. Hmm, looks like I'm a lot more tired than I thought.
"Oh," he waved his hand. - Happens. Moreover, today there is a good reason for this - the day was hard. "I'm actually surprised that you survived to the end," Croco, who was sitting next to us, had previously listened and showed no reaction, nodded in agreement. - Still, ordinary birds are not designed for such a long flight.
Shrugging his shoulders at his question, he turned his gaze to the flame. Not to mention that in the end I helped myself with the help of telekinesis, simply "grabbing" the air next to me. Fortunately, the body weight was small, so it didn't take much strength, although it was significant.
"Their prank still haunts me," he tried to change the topic. Moreover, now she interested me much more. - Not exactly typical actions for the dead, especially so ancient.
There was no response to my statement. I am sure there are guesses, but until facts appear to confirm or refute them, they will remain to themselves.
Raising his head, he once again stared at the unfamiliar sky. It was significantly different from what was outside the veil.
- Why are the stars different?
— Are you drawn to philosophy? - Flitwick chuckled at my question. Either he didn't understand, or he pretended not to understand.
- If the curtain simply protects part of our planet from the ordinary world, then why are the stars different? Aren't we on earth? Space and the night sky should remain the same, not change. Is not it? — I explained my question in more detail. Eh, why all these games?
"You're not the first person to ask this question, and you won't be the last," this time the dragonite took the floor. At that moment, he also raised his head to the sky. "At first, only after the appearance of the curtain, we, that is, the magicians, could not get beyond its borders. Only grandmasters of the upper level, as well as archmages, were capable of this. According to them, the sky was the same as on earth. But after two hundred years it began to change. This process lasted another hundred years until it stopped at what we see with you now.
— It turns out that it changed gradually. But why? And also, why couldn't weaker magicians get to this side? - this is very interesting information. What did the archmages do that made them literally able to cut off part of the world from everyone except themselves?
"Nobody knows," Croco said somehow distantly. "Maybe the archmages know the answer to this, but they didn't deign to share it with us." We can only guess. Perhaps it was the fault of the magicians themselves. Maybe this is nature's reaction. Who knows? - so, it seems he was carried away into philosophy. This was just what I needed. But thank Merlin, he decided not to go deeper into flights of thought. — Regarding your second question, the veil was unstable. Any magician, sorcerer or sorcerer who did not have sufficient personal strength simply died when trying to cross it. How many intelligent people died then - darkness. Only two hundred and fifty years later, with all possible help from the archmages, was it possible to create the gate through which we got here. And yes, until that moment more than one attempt had been made to create such a gate, but they all ended in complete failure. Only after crossing the threshold of two centuries, it was possible to create it in the form that you saw," having finished his short monologue, the dragonite fell silent. Hugo's gaze still wandered across the starry sky. Who knows what thoughts were hovering in your head? - OK. We are all very tired today. It's time to go to the side, as I advise you too," said Croco and headed to his tent.
There was silence. The professor and I sat by the fire and thought about our own things. In the end I decided to go and rest as well. Having said goodbye to the half-goblin, he went to his room. On the way, I examined Og again, making sure that everything was fine with him.
Only after crossing the threshold I was able to once again realize how tired I was. The shoulders dropped, the back bent, and the head became incredibly heavy. And all this was due to the depletion of mana and psi; there was still plenty of prana, but it could not provide the body with everything it needed.
Somehow I hobbled to the bed and just fell on it. I didn't have the strength to undress, it was even hard to take off my shoes. Somehow I tried to remove it, but was not successful. Only the shoes were removed.
I fell asleep in an instant. Well hello, saving darkness.
****
-Calder! Wake up! — Croco's roar brought me to my senses in an instant.
Ignoring the pain in my head, as well as in my magical body, I jumped out of the tent with my wand at my advantage.
A horde of the dead surrounded the camp. There were hundreds of them, if not more. The blue radiance of hundreds of eyes exuded ancient hunger, as well as grave cold. But that wasn't the worst thing. Several dozen wyvern skeletons, engulfed in a dark gray glow, flew right in the sky. What's going on here?
Discarding unnecessary thoughts, he rushed towards the makeshift hospital. Og could still be there.
When I ran there I found all the party members. They all surrounded Og, who was lying on the couch, as well as Crystal, who stood next to him and tensely clutched her staff. Drops of cold sweat ran down her forehead, and blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. Apparently she bit her lip from tension.
"Calder, time is short," the professor began quickly. - As you see, the situation is unpleasant. The enemy surrounded us without touching a single signal.
- How did this happen?
"Wyverns," Croco said briefly. "They carried most of the dead through the air." And as soon as they surrounded us, the main forces rushed towards us.
- But how, in such a short time, were they able to cover such a distance? It's at least fifteen kilometers, if it's twenty.
— We assume that the Lich can create...
*Boom* A huge explosion came from outside the dome. A bright flash blinded my eyes.
- A-ah-ah! — the necromancer screamed, clutching her head. She fell to the floor and lost consciousness. Blood flowed profusely from her nose and ears.
In an instant, he ran up to her and began treating her. We got it done in just a few minutes and moved away from her.
"She's fine, but she won't wake up for the next few hours," Alou answered his worried look.
- R-r-a-ah! — the roar of hundreds of throats rang out in space. He was echoed by a series of explosions.
- No time! For a breakthrough! Croco, he was throwing himself around! Calder, grab the patients with telekinesis and immediately go to the center! - Flitwick's scream was not inferior to the roar of the dead.
Without arguing, he conjured a cocoon around the bodies and already picked them up with telekinesis. It will be easier this way. Standing in the center of the formation, we rushed to the outside.
We were already met outside the camp. Hundreds of dead men rushed towards us in a single impulse. The answer was a volley of fire.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a change in Croco. Right at that moment he was transformed. The body grew, the mouth took on a more bestial shape, and two wings were torn out from behind the back. Literally three seconds later a dragon flew above us. More precisely, a descendant of true dragons, only they can take the form of their ancestors.
- R-a-ah! — the wyverns roared when they saw their older relative. However, Croco did not focus on them. Opening his mouth, he breathed out dragon flames.
Heat, smoke, ash and the smell of burning flesh. All this mixed up, making the already difficult path more difficult. Without trying to hide my abilities and conserve my strength, I began to use ice magic.
In an instant, the temperature around us became more comfortable, the fever receded. Aura Cold is a very expensive, but very necessary spell at the moment. The wider it is, the more energy it consumes.
With my possible help, our speed increased several times. Various spells flew in all directions, and I also kept up with my comrades. It created an ice plateau right behind us, which prevented the dead from moving. Ice walls, spears, arrows - all this required a lot of strength, fortunately Aura somehow helped with this, but after fifteen minutes I was exhausted.
However, my help was no longer needed. At that very moment we broke out of the ring. Without stopping them in place, they rushed at full speed, trying to break away from the dead.
We ran headlong for a good two hours. As soon as we ran away a decent distance, Croco fell to the ground, instantly returning to his previous form. Without slowing down, he grabbed it with telekinesis. It's good that it works for me on Psi. Praise me for my foresight.
- Stop! Rest! — the professor's team was more helpful than ever. In an instant we fell to the ground.
Without sitting on the ground for a long time, I began to examine Croco, but everything was in order there, if we did not take into account his depletion of both mana and prana.
- What about him?
- Everything is fine, he will live. In an hour maybe...
Another roar prevented me from finishing my sentence. Raising my head up, I froze in place. A dragon was hovering right above us. Correction - dead dragon. A huge fucking dragon that exuded a burst of "dead" mana.
Roaring once again, he rushed down. We didn't have time to do anything, only the professor conjured some kind of protection, but the dragon didn't notice it, literally tearing it apart with his front paws.
- To the side! — the half-goblin's cry was muffled by the flapping of wings. Grabbing three bodies, he rushed to the side, straining his spatial abilities to the maximum.
Having fallen out of the "jump", he rolled head over heels on the ground. Having blown myself up, I turned back.
Flew away. The dragon flew away. This was good news. The bad news is he grabbed Ed. Well, how much is possible?
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