.............Knosh..:
........(c)Schafft..:
- Mino, get up!
- What's the matter?
- Quickly go outside!
Mino threw up the blanket, quickly pulled on his pants, and ran out into the yard.
behind Cotto, who had already left the hut. It was already hot outside
sunny afternoon. Squinting his eyes from the bright light, Mino saw
a crowd of people gathered in the square, and hurried there.
Pushing aside the crowd, he made his way to the center of the ring. A glimpse of
in the crowd, Mino noticed the mayor of the village. "Something important happened...
the mayor left. He rarely leaves his house for trifles,” thought
Mino, pushing deeper. Finally he reached the center and
I saw the old shaman Eco, who, with his eyes closed, muttered
some strange words.
- Look Mino! - Cotto was already here. He pointed to
land. Turning his head in the direction, Mino shuddered. On
The body of a man lay on the dusty road. It was impossible to look at him
watch without shuddering. Almost all the skin is on him
was absent. It felt as if she had been pulled off with one
with a jerk - there was a deep wound left on the shoulder from some
ugly paw.
But even this was not strange, but the fact that the man himself remained
still alive, and opening his blind eyes wide, slowly turned his head
then to the left, then to the right, and at the same timeopened his lipless mouth,
from which hoarse sighs could be heard...
- Quiet! This is not a farce for you,” the mayor’s voice sounded within the walls.
meetinghouses are like thunder, - I understand your indignation, but everything
We need to pull ourselves together.
The voices in the hall began to fall silent. The mayor looked at everyone
those present - there were only men of the village - those who could
already stand firmly on young legs, and those who have not yet bent from
old age.
“You all know what happened today,” the mayor said
a short pause, - I won’t assure you that everything is fine, and that
there is no need to be afraid of anything. No. The only thing I can tell you is
this is that everyone is strictly forbidden to leave Countville without
my consent,” the mayor straightened his vest made of monocorn skin, and again
continued, - today, there will be no meeting as such. Now
those I name will remain...
...
Night has fallen. The lights in the nursery have already been turned off. But Mino and Cotto
everyone was still awake. Lying on their beds, they whispered.
- Well!? - Cotto said impatiently, demanding to continue
the story started by Mino - what happened next?
- Then the shaman came out. He told those who remained that he
was able to extract information from the man who was found today.
He said that this man was seriously injured not only
physically, but also spiritually. Why did he (the shaman) have toit's hard with him
communicate in the subtle world. It was Dodge - a shepherd from the neighboring
villages. He told about the attack on him by something huge and
incommensurable, which mutilated him, but, having found strength in himself, he
was able to reach our village. Then he started to rave
saying only: “lightning... darkness... Knosh... demons of the dead...”.
The mayor then told everyone else that tomorrow at dawn everyone
those who remained will go to the neighboring village to find out
happening.
- I wonder what could have happened to Dawn? What do you think Mino?
- I think one thing - that nothing good could happen there.
No wonder there is a proverb - “if suddenly Knosh comes to us - alive
won’t find a place” And we must prepare for the worst.
- What is “Knosh”?
- Sleep better!
...
Before they even had time to sing the kyotas, a group of four people and
the carts were already collecting dust on the road towards Doun. Everyone was silent
It’s been an hour since the mayor let them out of the village. No one dared to interrupt
the silence of the morning, as if the deaf and dumb were getting ready to set off. Even a horse
didn’t neigh or snort, just fingered his six hooves,
trying not to trip.
Suddenly, brazen snoring was heard from the cart. Four,
looking at each other, she stopped. Quietly pushing aside the bales and baskets, they
They found a little boy curled up.
- Hey! Brothers, this is Mino's sonmiller He's like that
turned out to be?
Mino woke up from this exclamation. And rubbing my eyes and squinting,
looked around.
...
Shaman Eco sat on a wooden chair near the fireplace and
With his eyes closed, he turned over the latest events in his head. Something
it didn’t fit - there was no logical sequence. It was like this
feeling as if the rope had broken in several places, and
connected again, forgetting the sequence of its location
parts.
- When will the squad reach Doun? - asked the shaman without opening
eye.
“In two days,” answered the mayor. He sat next to him, lowering his
look at the fire. He was also in thought - we should return to
village in a week, - and immediately recovered - unless, of course,
something will happen.
The dark room, which even the fireplace lit poorly, again
covered in silence. The quiet chirping of the logs made her feel bored
nap. But these two had no time to sleep for a long time... The silence was broken
mayor:
- I think that you are still alarmed by the fact that the body
the shepherd disappeared without a trace, - he turned his head to the shaman, - where
it could disappear if the house was guarded both inside and outside; and
without leaving visible traces? I think it's already yours
destiny - all this mysticism. Yes, despite all this, it still turns out
that the next day almost half the village became infected with some kind ofunknown disease.
Shaman Eko's face was impenetrable. Not a single muscle
trembled. He paused and began:
- Unfortunately, neither one nor the other is within my power either.
mind. The shepherd disappeared without leaving a "shadow trace", although he
(trace) remains from any objects. Most likely, this phenomenon is
there is a clear example of the physical laws of another world. So what?
second, I was never able to determine the cause of the disease. This
looks like gradual death of the skin, but no drugs
help. Looks like we have no choice but to wait
the return of the detachment from Doun.
The mayor of Countyville turned back to the fire. There was no feeling in my heart
calm. I felt something evil was approaching and
known. It was at that moment that he truly felt
scary. Such fear had never come through him before. And he knew that
old Eco had the same fear in his soul, but he could restrain
himself, otherwise he would not be a shaman.
“Are you sure that Mino left with the detachment,” old shaman
Eco opened his leaf-green eyes and also began to observe
behind the flames.
“Yes,” the mayor shuddered slightly at his soulful voice and
nodded, - we asked his brother Cotto, who talked about
as he saw Mino getting ready. And before that they were talking about
the meeting that took place then. This boy is probably smart
he climbed intocart... I think nothing will happen to him.
...
The biting wind stung my face painfully. Mino wrapped his cloak tighter around him.
He was sitting on the radiation bench next to Fest - the same one who recognized
him. Dust from the road rose into the air and dusted the eyes, although
the horse felt quite confident and pulled the cart with its heels
the people on it. The dust didn't bother her at all - on her eyes
long strands of mane hung down to protect from the weather.
It was starting to get dark. Long shadows of rare boulders
increased and filled the entire earth. The sun is slow and with
with some reluctance it set below the horizon. The annoying wind has begun
gradually subside. And when it completely died down - the cart
stopped.
- Yes, there have never been such strong winds at this time of year,
- Fest said, removing the bandage covering his face.
One of Olu's brothers began to make a fire next to the boulder.
He struck a spark and fanned the flame, which gradually flared up and
began to warm all travelers. Forming a ring around
fire and without uttering a sound, they sat watching
flame.
Fest was squatting and moving wood with a stick. After that
As soon as he finished this procedure, he sat down next to Mino on a log.
The resulting silence was desecrated only by the chatter of annoying grasshoppers and
the quiet howl of wolves in the distance.
Without saying a wordwith no one, Fest rummaged through his bag and
took out the guitar. Plucking the strings with his fingers, he listened to
sound. And making sure the instrument was in tune, he began to play
slow melody. And soon he began to sing in his soft bass voice
voice.
The fight is over, the day is over.
Blood soaked the ground.
Life goes into the land of shadows.
The army climbed into a noose.
Knosh - the king of darkness hovers over the field.
His laughter is terrible.
He kills souls with his gaze.
But it couldn't be otherwise...
This song was based on the legend of Knosh. Her
passed down from generation to generation. Everyone knew how it started
this legend, but no one remembered its end. But still everyone
came up with my own ending, because they knew that everything had
beginning and end.
Mino listened closely to the voice and something appeared before his eyes.
battlefield, then the great path along which the Chosen One goes, then his
exploits, then battles with demons.
Many bitter years will pass,
Before the retreat of evil.
And the Light will spill over the whole world -
Disappears into the wilds of Mist.
And Knosh and the Chosen One stood up
At the Chasm of Death.
And they both knew everything
Who will fall before her...
But Mino heard nothing further. He was very tired over the past
day, and his eyelids became heavy. He began to nod off, and
soon fell asleep. And he dreamed of great adventures and danger,
lurking at every turn.
...
Dawngreeted the travelers with dead silence. Exactly dead, so
how nothing was heard except the quiet creaking of doors. Along the streets
people didn’t walk, children didn’t run, you couldn’t hear the usual
everyday village noise. Only a dull wind, too
Some kind of innocent man, occasionally knocking on the open shutters. And on
the bottomless eye sockets of empty windows looked at the wanderers.
They walked along the main street and looked for any signs
life. After searching several houses, the detachment found nothing. And not
it made sense to go to other houses, so they decided to look
Elder Dawn's house.
“I don’t understand,” said Thorne, “how all the
village?
“I think,” one of the Olu brothers turned to him, “that for now
No one can answer this question. The dead are not
talking. And, especially since they don’t even exist... But you’re right -
all this defies understanding.
“We should find out everything soon,” said Fest, stroking
tired horse, “we need that house over there,” he pointed to
a two-story house that was different from all the others.
Mino walked up the old spiral staircase. Every step
the steps echoed with a terrible creak. At the same time the boy's heart
began to beat faster and faster, as if trying to break through
chest and jump out. On the railing, like most
items in the house there was a decent layer of dust, the house was not looked after
alreadyseveral days. Mino took the handle of the knife stuck behind
belt Feeling a small surge of fearlessness, the young seeker
adventure continued his way up.
Now he was not sure that he had chosen the right path,
which I decided to follow. Why did he need to get into
a cart? Why did you have to go to Doun? Why did you even get involved?
into this story? FOR WHAT?
Such questions were now spinning in Mino’s head. But now
he could be at home with his brother, playing Hunters with him.
Spirits". And then in the evening listen to the old story about the past
times, which grandfather always told before going to bed. Sleep
lie down not on the bare ground, but in a warm bed under a roof...
And it’s not at all necessary to leave Countville, you could
wait until the squad returns back to the village and that’s it
will tell...
He brushed the hair that had flown into his eyes and walked deeper into the room.
on the second floor. In the brown twilight everything looked like
petrified from decay and covered with a large layer of dust.
The room looked quite simple. Left and right walls -
cabinets with books from different times and countries. And stood near the window
a large table with scrolls, parchments and
books.
Mino walked up to the table and began to look at the table, slowly
looking from one object to another. The scrolls were
mottledsome strange unfamiliar letters,
reminiscent of the ancient Kripsky, and various drawings, graphs
and cards. The books also turned out to be uninformative, here
there were “Ancient culinary recipes”, “Fali
Dictionary", "Maps of Ritori Island", and some other books on different
languages.
Suddenly, another book with a blue color caught his eye.
cover and gold border. Mino called everyone else in the squad
on up. The book had the following inscription in beautiful handwriting:
"The Diary of Ulan Meshkol, the Elder of the Doun Village."
...
Fest opened the first page. And I read: “Diary started on 28
day of the month of stones, 324 years from the founding of Lenuria." He flipped through
a few dozen more pages, opened on the required date.
4th day of the month of the beast, 333 years from the founding of Lenuria.
Preparations for the big hunt are coming to an end.
In a couple of days, the great hunters will again go to the “teeming forest”,
to replenish supplies for the coming winter.
One of the novice hunters came across a very strange
the stone he brought me. And now this stone lies
on the table in front of me. It is smooth, as if polished, oval
shaped like a dark yellow cobblestone that fits in the palm of your hand, but
much heavier than its actual weight. It has a strange property:
if you bring it upit to your ear, then you hear a strange unintelligible
whisper. It will be necessary to study it more thoroughly.
Shepherd Dodge suggested taking the cattle closer to the village of Countville.
There, in his opinion, there is very good grass that will give rich
wool for next year.
5th day of the month of the beast, 333 from the founding of Lenuria.
Dodge left for Countville this morning. I allowed him to accompany
several wars.
...
I just returned from checking my hunting equipment, and
I discovered that the stone was missing, although I remember exactly that I put it in the closet
under lock and key. This is all strange...
6th day of the month of the beast, 333 year from the founding of Lenuria.
The big hunt has been cancelled. One of the young hunters (the same one
who brought the stone) fell ill with some strange disease. All
healers and healers shrug their shoulders. The hunter was separated from the others,
fearing that the disease is contagious.
The stone was never found.
10th day of the month of the beast, 333 years from the founding of Lenuria.
The disease grew with unprecedented speed. Already dead
twenty five people. And they all literally disappeared into
air, and no one saw it. And more and more people become infected
even more. This is all unbearable.
11th day of the month of the beast, 333 years from the founding of Lenuria.
I saw THEM. They kill souls. Black shadows are hard to see
during the day and invisible at night they come to the living and suck out all
energy, leaving only an empty shell of the body. It seems to me that
all THIShappened because of that damn stone, damn it.
13th day of the month of the beast, 333 years from the founding of Lenuria.
I'M SCARY...
The last entry was made two days ago. And then they walked
sheets covered with strange signs, symbols and blots. And
No one could read further. Everyone stood in silence again. Thoughts
everyone was turned inward, towards their own lives. The nerves were on
limit. Everyone tried to calm down.
Suddenly the window opened with an impudent creak, and an angry wind blew.
burning wind...
...
The air suddenly became tart. It became more difficult to breathe. Around
there was something ominous about it. Everyone started looking around. And
stopped at the window. Or rather, on what was in front
window. It was difficult to put into words.
The air in front of the window was less transparent, as if in one place
a faint fog condensed. Exact shape or at least
the outlines of what was in front of the travelers were impossible
catch. But on each of them lay a heavy and ancient as the world
a look that looks inside, into the soul, straight into the heart,
looking for weaknesses and fears.
In an instant, everyone froze. And it seemed that even itself froze
time. The moment lasted an eternity. And suddenly everything was interrupted...
Air movement and...
The elder Olu suddenly flew up and hovered above the ceiling.
Scorchingstreams flowed from the one who raised it.
Thorne pulled a sword from his belt and swung it threateningly at
enemy, but the enemy was now much stronger and faster than any
of them. A shadow flashed near Mino's eyes and pierced Thorne - he
flew to the opposite wall. The strongest was visible on the chest
a burn that goes deep into the body. Mino shuddered at what he saw -
He slowly began to back away towards the stairs.
Defeated, Olu hit the floor with force, as if he had been thrown,
like an unnecessary toy. The younger Olu and Fest stood in a pose
"preparations" - Mino often watched as Eco taught them the art
magic and realized that now there would be a struggle at the mental level.
A gentle breeze blew, which gradually grew stronger.
more and more. Between the opponents began to form
the air funnel was a consequence of mental pressure.
And the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. Olu and Fest so far
stood motionless, their hair developed as if under strong
storm And the Shadow stood above them, accepting the battle started by the people.
Sometimes it seemed as if a huge black cloak was developing behind
shoulders of an almost invisible enemy; it grew and filled
the whole room, the house, the village, the whole world, the whole universe.
Mino, trembling with fear, groped his way to the corner and lowered himself
on the floor The room now looked terrible. The stacks began to collapse
books flying aroundtorn pages spinning in circles and
occasionally lingering near two corpses lying on the floor. Mino
closed his eyes.
The wind was unbearable. He stabbed, cut and made it difficult to concentrate.
It was impossible to stand on my feet. People started to slowly slide
by floor. The pressure on the brain was not humanly evil. Olu not
survived first. He grabbed his head and ran screaming towards
staircase But his scream was not heard, he was only visible
a face twisted in horror and an open mouth - drowned out everything,
the continuous howl of the wind, which gave me a headache.
An unexpected new gust of wind knocked Ola down and threw him into the wall,
next to Thorne. The blow was so strong that the body was crushed into
wall. After some time, there were already three corpses on the floor. on them
It was impossible to watch without shuddering...
Suddenly everything stopped - just as it began. Wind
verse, as if it never existed, only the sheets reminded of it
papers slowly falling down. Fest fell like a stone to the floor.
Mino, coming out of his daze, approaches the lying Fest.
Slowly, as if afraid to frighten him away, he extended his hand... Fest hoarsely
sighed.
Mino is relieved to pick up his staggering friend, and
He sits him down near the wall, placing a crumpled bag under his head.
Fest is breathing heavily. He can't speak. Even now his thoughts
far from here, it would take some time forrestoration of strength.
There was a warm breath from behind. Mino turned around sharply and was stunned: in the middle
room sat the shaman Eco in his favorite position, with crossed
legs The shaman was pale, it seemed that everyone was visible through him
items. Taking a closer look, Mino realized that they really were
in idny.
The shaman sat with his eyes closed, not saying a word, as
as if he was sleeping, but Mino heard measured mooing coming from
old Eco.
- How do you feel here... - began, it was a boy, but an old shaman
got ahead of him.
- Minokkoru Saneva, I can’t talk for long, - Eko doesn’t even
opened his mouth when talking, and Mino guessed that the voice sounded
right in my head - I have sad news: Countville
almost completely destroyed. A small handful remain
people. But those who are still alive can be considered dead
- it's all a matter of time.
Evil forces, coming from nowhere, strike the earth with their plague.
The prophecy came true - Knosh comes to Gaia.
The one you saw was only a servant of those forces that
he serves. He wasn't even a warrior, just an observer, but
I managed to distract him while Fest held contactless contact with him
fight.
You must neither stay in Doun nor return to
Countyville. You must direct your path to Kutaf - the river
village....
I can’t talk anymore... - the shaman turned even more pale, and
soon began to shine,turning into a ball of light that does not blind,
but warming.
The ball slowly moved towards Fest and entered him. Old Eco
gave the remnants of his energy to his student. Together with her he
the information that Mino heard was transmitted.
Fest shuddered slightly and, squinting, opened his leaden eyelids. He
I saw Minokkora standing next to the window, looking out onto the street.
A heavy sadness fell on his face. Fest understood what was going on
now in his soul: he is now mourning his relatives,
acquaintances and relatives. Mino's eyes didn't move, didn't even blink,
and a sparkling tear rolled down his cheek.
The Old Shaman's disciple went to the window, standing next to
boy, and put his hand on his shoulder. Mino now more than ever
support was needed, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cold
glass
"A tear of time and centuries fell to the ground.
Three eyes were closed with a key.
Three eyes erased forever.
Pain came from an ancient land,
Leaving the key at the foot of the lion.
Blood clotted for ten years"
Book of the Dwarods "Prophecy of Knosh"
...end...
window, standing next to
boy, and put his hand on his shoulder. Mino now more than ever
support was needed, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cold
glass
"A tear of time and centuries fell to the ground.
Three eyes were closed with a key.
Three eyes erased forever.
Pain came from an ancient land,
Leaving the key at the foot of the lion.
Bloodcurtailed for ten years"
Book of the Dwarods "Prophecy of Knosh"
...end...
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