Shadows of Alletria. Child of Mountains
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– How does he kiss?Zarri asked with a wide smile, her eyes darting to her older sister's face as quickly as possible.
" Zarri!Huona drawled, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.– What kind of questions?"
" Hee-hee –" the young prankster laughed loudly, straightening her curls in the wind."La-aa-bottom, I was joking. You don't have to answer, but tell me about his magical abilities, since they are so powerful.
– No one else has such magic, not the mountain elves, not the sun elves that Trion belongs to, or the Norg shamans. It has something to do with his father and being a member of the Order of the Five Talons. He has incredible fire and wind magic, which he can effortlessly combine to form even more powerful spells, and he can also talk to various draconids-wyverns, hydra, and, of course, dragons. He can also make contact with other monsters, I've already heard a couple of stories.
– It's amazing. I've never heard of elves talking to monsters before!Zarri said admiringly, already anticipating interesting stories from Trion himself.
– I doubt we'll ever hear any more. The rest of the order's priests are dead, so Trion is the last of the elves with such abilities.Huona breathed in frustration, realizing the position of her object of sighing
– Now I understand why the Elder is so protective of him. How does he even live in the casemate…?Zarri mused, not even waiting for a response from her sister.
– Everything was fine, but the last time we met, Kyte told me that Trion had been raving about the plot for more than a week, hearing the whispered conversations of the plotters who were planning an attack.Huona said suddenly
– What do you think of that?"Zarri asked, surprised by her older sister's response.
– I'm worried about him. Almost three years of living in an empty casemate, locked up and unable to leave his reservation… I just want to know that everything is fine with him-excitedly and sadly said the girl, and these words in her shining eyes flashed a light of fear-But I have not been allowed to enter the Monastery for several days.
– Okay, "Zarri said, running away from her sister, who was frozen in place," I've already learned a lot, now all I have to do is meet the Great Son of the Dragon in person.
Looking up, Huona saw five shining pillars of light rising high into the sky, as if resting on fluffy clouds. The girls were so engrossed in talking about Trion that they could easily have missed the right path leading to the top, to the very pillars of light that emanated from the Wards. Zarri, well ahead of the lagging Huona, was the first to climb to the Altar of Knight's Wards, through which the phylactery was to be filled. Placing the box in the center of the altar, the girl removed a pendant with a purple stone that shimmered like mother-of-pearl from her neck and, leaving it next to the phylactery, went to one of the wards. There were ancient runes scrawled on the stone wheel, which framed a small design that vaguely resembled wind currents moving towards the ancient altar. With a wave of her hands, Zarri let out a fairly powerful gust of air from her small palms, aimed at the runes of the amulet, from which they gradually acquired a glow, lighting up clockwise, one by one. The glow grew brighter, bursting out of the stone ward in slow, careful tongues of non-scalding blue flame. The stones on the box in the center of the altar table also began to twinkle, like stars in the night sky, which flickered on and off again, giving their light to the neighboring ones. When the box finally began to shimmer and warm steam began to flow from under the closed lid, Zarri went back to the table and put the pendant back around her neck. The box abruptly went out and once again stood calmly on the gray stone, the runes on the amulet also lost their radiance, until they did not lose their magic fire at all.
" All right, we can go back.Picking up the phylactery, Zarri said, calmly approaching her sister.
There was a soft flapping sound from the girl's back, like a cloth fluttering in the wind. Grabbing her sister's arm, Huona pulled the girl toward her, and then both of them froze for a moment in shock – a couple of meters away, at the very edge of the cliff, three huge lizards soared into the sky and, flying over the very heads of the elves, flew towards the Monastery.
– Who is it? Winged?Zarri asked, clutching at her older sister in bewilderment.
– No, did you see the webbing on his wings? The winged feet don't look like that. They were mountain wyverns.Huona replied, recovering from the unexpected encounter."Hurry, we need to get to the monastery as fast as possible, they're going there!"The girl shouted, pulling her sister after her.
****
With a single sweep of its powerful tail, an old wyvern with slightly frayed wings tore down the archway of the stone archway, covering several guards with it. The Templars swung their engraved blades, glittering in the sun, and charged at a pair of young animals that were rampaging around the main square. The lizards flew in circles around the garden, playfully clashing in battle with each other and did not even pay attention to the approaching opponents. When one of the elves finally gave the party away with his furious war cries, the wyverns scattered to either side of the garden and swooped down in a slicing maneuver, knocking the temple guards to the ground. The fallen elves were about to get up, but the merciless lizardmen landed on top of their immobilized enemies. Bones crunched under heavy paws, and even the heavy armor that the dwarves had forged especially for the Monastery's guards couldn't withstand the force of the blow. The poor devils died under the clawed paws of bloodthirsty lizards, without the ability to resist the monsters.
– Get down!"Kait shouted as Yuona ran up, spotting a flying clot of wyvern acid from afar.
–What's going on?"– trying to shout over the screams of the dying and the sounds of battle, the girl asked.– Why did they attack the Monastery?"
– We don't know.The guard shouted as he ran to safety."The lizards arrived so unexpectedly that we didn't have time to raise the alarm.
– Where is the Elder?Zarri asked, tapping into the conversation.– I don't see him on the battlefield.
– He is near the Monastery fighting off the alpha male of this pack with other guardians. Now is not the time to talk, I need to help the others, so find a place where these creatures can't reach you and keep your head down until everything calms down.The templar said in a commanding tone, already gaining on his squad
– Well, no way!Huona shouted angrily and resolutely – " I'll find the Elder, they might need help."
– Will you leave me alone with these winged monsters running around?– Looking into the eyes of her sister, Zarri asked – Well, no, I'll go with you too.
" Zarri is not safe," Huona drawled, trying to dissuade the young elf
–no. This is not up for discussion. I'm coming with you, period!– strictly answered the girl, catching up with her hurrying sister.
The lizards tore down everything they saw in their path, sometimes smashing down stone structures, sometimes spitting acid on monastery gardens and houses. There was chaos all around, noise, confusion, the screams of wounded or burned guards mingling with the clang of steel swords against the tough scales of wyverns, maintaining an unbearable atmosphere of madness around the bacchanal. The dying Templars crawled along the blood-soaked ground in the hope of escaping, but the lizards caught up with them and tossed the pain-stricken elves into the air, playing with the bodies of the guards as a cat plays with a trapped mouse. Most of the inhabitants of the monastery settled in houses that the monsters, for unknown reasons, did not attack, passing through each house in pursuit of warlike templars and monks. It seemed that the lizardmen were selective in their goals, attacking only warriors and magic-wielding monks, but what was driving the unexpected rampage of the dragons, who had previously lived peacefully in their caves, only occasionally attacking passing caravans, was still a mystery. The monks were lost in the chaos, torn by difficult elections that would have a lot of consequences. There were guards who were slowly losing their vitality and needed to be helped to heal the warrior's wounds, for which you would most likely pay with your own life if you didn't have time to escape from the wyvern that had overtaken you. Or you can just run away from the battlefield, letting the poor guy die in the clutches of ferocious monsters, for which you will reproach yourself for a long time, realizing the weight of your guilt. Of course, most of the priests, ignoring possible remorse, hurriedly left the danger zone, locking themselves in the Monastery, like cowardly rodents hiding in their burrows in case of danger.
– Cowards! Traitors and scoundrels!Elder Valn shouted from the locked door of the temple – " Saving your own skins at the cost of the lives of others, isn't that what your abbots and ancestors taught you?"
– Accept your death with dignity, old man, " one of the priests replied through the locked door."Today, everyone is saving themselves as best they can.
– The gods will punish you for your treachery!Valn shouted furiously, abandoning all attempts to negotiate with the terrified monks.– The death of all these people will be on your conscience…