Mazirian raised the neck of the bottle to his lips and took a sip.
I tried to take a sip. Not a drop spilled out of the bottle!.. Wizard
shook it - no gurgling. He took a closer look -
the bottle and its contents seemed to be one and the same. Something he
heard about such elixirs; some very old trick... Well
Well, why not try it?
Feeling like a complete fool, Mazirian sank his teeth into
the cool rounded side of the bottle. And she gave in! A bitten off piece
the vessel instantly became liquid in his mouth, a soft flame
rolled down the esophagus. And immediately the pain from the burns completely disappeared,
But suddenly my left arm started to hurt: my nerves were recovering.
In a few seconds Mazirian swallowed the entire bottle. Warm
a radiance enveloped him. It seemed that he was warming himself under the gentle,
not too hot sun on the edge of the beloved Askolai forest.
Then the warmth began to subside, and the wizard clearly felt how
magical power flows into him. Yes, it really was strong
elixir!.. The glow faded and he rose to his feet. All wounds
tightened, the bones grew together, and energy overwhelmed him.
Mentally thanking the creator of the Worlds for the elixir,
the wizard bent over the chest. Impressive looking chest
turned out to be shallow and almost empty: only a wide
a saber in a leather sheath and a faintly shimmering dark green emerald.
Mazirian,bending down, picked up the emerald and hid it in
secret pocket of the sword belt. Then he took the saber and, stuttering,
read a single word, embossed by unimaginably ancient
runes on the scabbard: "Slayer". The name of the saber meant nothing to him. Yes
and not surprising - after all, Slayer lay in this for millions of years
chest.
The saber handle fit comfortably in the palm of your hand; Mazirian,
While trying it out, I made a couple of test swings and lunges. Not bad
weapon. Not bad at all... but not more than that. Just good
saber, without any witchcraft tricks. And so it was kept in
the heart of the Catacombs of Myrddin? There were even several Mazirians
disappointed.
In one leap he crossed the lava, again scorching his legs. But
now it was nonsense - the energy of the elixir was seething in him, and he
didn't even slow down.
The mana that overflowed the wizard really demanded
witchcraft, and he did not resist. He cast a spell - and
next to him, two griffins appeared from nothingness. Predators annoyed
moved their feathered wings, useless in the cramped catacombs,
they clicked their beaks. Clawed paws scraped the moss, revealing stripes
stone floor. Mazirian deftly jumped onto his neighbor's back
to the griffin, and the creatures ran at a soft cat trot. Already opened
portal - exit from the Forbidden World; the wizard clearly distinguished
his inaudible call. We had to hurry so as not to stay inCatacombs for three hundred thousand years.
Due to the battle, wounds and other experiences, Mazirian was completely
I forgot about the three doors behind which lurked an unknown danger. A
they haven't forgotten about him. Turning the corner, he saw that all three
the doors are open. He opened the middle one himself, passing here; two
others - no... Two huge phantoms, bending down and spreading
long arms were approaching him.
Mazirian, without taking his eyes off the monsters, hastily cast
spell on your weapon. And suddenly... he understood why Slayer
kept in a treasured crypt. I realized the great value of the treasure
Catacombs I realized what he paid for with his blood.
Under the influence of the spell, the saber was transformed. She suddenly
woke up from a long sleep and trembled in my hand, subtly
rang as if singing a battle song. They ran along the blade
short golden flashes. An ancient power awakened in the saber, and
Now this force was eager to fight.
Clutching Slayer in his hand, Mazirian directed his griffin
towards phantoms.
* * *
The call of the portal was getting louder with every meter of gloomy
corridors. He sang in the blood; sang about home, about comfort, about safety.
It was difficult to remain alert while listening to this song.
Mazirian leaned back on the folded wings of the griffin,
holding onto his furry neck. The right hand lay on the handle
Slayer; a bow hung over his shoulders.Two centaurs, a wounded phantom and
another griffin accompanied him. He won - he got the treasure
Catacomb! Slayer and emerald. True, somewhere in the labyrinths
Elbo Smogg was hiding - Mazirian was sure he felt
would if his enemy went into the portal. But Elbo was hardly dangerous
now. The skirmish at the Cursed Crypt probably knocked him out
fighting spirit.
The centaur walking ahead suddenly cried out pitifully,
jumped to the side - as if by magic, a
a gaping wound exposing the ribs. Then he fell to his knees, no
ceasing to scream shrilly, and then the wizard noticed
blood-stained claws. The blood of a centaur, touching them, through
became invisible for a few seconds; but these seconds turned out to be
enough. The wizard tore his bow from his shoulder and shot two arrows at
invisible creature.
Now he was on his guard again. Maybe this saved
him.
The second and final centaur turned the corner. And right there
There was a guttural roar and a piercing scream. Mazirian immediately
cast his last spell on Slayer - he recognized the roar of the demon.
Then he spurred the griffin.
The exit was nearby, two steps away. Opened right in
on the mossy wall the portal shone and shimmered, beckoned and promised... And
Elbo leaned against the wall nearby, playing with his axe. And so
short, he seemed very tiny next to two shaggygiants. A huge red demon, baring his teeth, was approaching
Maziriana.
The wizard cursed to himself. Then he took it out of his pocket
sword belt a bottle with an invisibility potion from the Cursed Crypt.
He drained it in one breath and jumped off the griffin.
* * *
- Mazirian!
Balls!
- Show yourself, Mazirian!
Balls!
- Coward! Here I am! Show yourself, let me kill you!
Balls! Balls! Elbo finally lost his composure.
He spun in place, sending magic arrows and lightning,
striking friends and foes, remembering only one thing: an invisible enemy somewhere
nearby, he laughs to himself and prepares to strike.
Near the portal, a stabbed giant was swimming in a puddle.
own blood. His heart was still beating, pumping out
new portions of blood. The second giant desperately fought off the
griffin; it circled around, hissing angrily and clicking its beak.
A huge demon, wounded by an invisible sword, bleeding,
leaned against the wall, stupidly waving his arms.
Maybe Elbo would never have noticed the enemy if
would not be the cry of a demon. But the roar of the undead easily drowned out the heart-rending screams
Lord; he involuntarily turned around and managed to see outlined in blood
outline of the sword. Here it is! The effect of the invisibility potion had already worn off, and
Elbo was surprised how he had not noticed Mazirian earlier -
blurry silhouette,stood out against the background of the wall, like
oscillating currents of warm air. But most of all they gave him away
flashes running along the blade...
FLASHES?!!
Magic sword! But there are no magic weapons in the Caves.
Unless... cursed!
"Elbo, I remember him. He is a very dangerous man." "Total
only human, Ragaril. What can he do against the Lord?
Chaos?" "He will be happy to add to his collection
a couple of Lords."
Elbo Smogg shouted a Magic Attack spell, with
realizing with horror that it was the last and that magical lightning and
There are no more arrows either. They sprayed Mazirian from all sides
multi-colored cutting rays.
But... the still barely visible wizard covered himself with a shield.
The most common shield is wooden, with an iron frame. True, according to
Golden flashes also ran through the shield. Multi-colored rays
powerlessly hitting the shield, they turned into light smoke and
scattered; the flashes seemed to dim a little.
Elbo lost all hope. A strange thing came over him
indifference: he was sure that he was going to die, and even almost
stopped being afraid. And yet he gathered all his strength and, with a heck, brought down
an ax on the silhouette of a hated enemy. Mazirian took a heavy blow
on the shield, without swaying, as if rooted to the floor. Elbo closed his eyes
expecting a retaliatory strike - and death. He felt the cold steel
throat.
Athen for the first time he heard the voice of Mazirian. He's hoarse and
was breathing heavily; for some reason this breathed new hope into the Lord.
The wizard briefly ordered:
- Drop the ax and shield.
Elbo silently obeyed and only then opened his eyes.
Mazirian towered over him, holding a glimmering saber at his throat;
the yellow glow of the wall could still be seen through it. All new army
Elbo died; but the enemy had only one griffin left, and life
left him along with a trickle of bright red blood. You can
consider that they were left alone.
Mazirian looked at the Lord tiredly and with slight contempt.
Chaos. Elbo gathered all his courage and said:
- If it changes anything... I give up.
Interest flashed in the enemy's gaze. But the voice doesn't
changed. With complete indifference Mazirian inquired:
“And that’s why I have to let you live?” I
does he really look like a fool?
“And yet,” Elbo became inspired, “it seems to me that there is
one condition on which you will let me go alive.
“Yes,” Mazirian nodded. “But I don’t believe that
you'll go for it.
It seemed to Elbo that everything around him froze in anticipation.
answer. And, trying to suppress the treacherous trembling in his voice, he
blurted out as if he had dived into a pool:
- Will an oath in the name of Maram-Or suit you?..
His throat was dry. It seemed that in the semi-darkness of the corridorssomething moved, patiently waiting. Mazirian incredulously
and at the same time looked at him in surprise:
- Since when have the servants of Chaos dealt with Maram-Or?
Fair?
- Maram-Or does not obey anyone. She is above Darkness and
Sveta.
- And you will take this risk? - asked persistently
Mazirian. - Anyone who breaks the oath of Maram-Or is doomed to a fate where
worse than death. You will swear to never stand on
my path and give up serving the Darkness?
- Maybe just the road is enough? - Elbo grinned.
The enchanted blade moved and left it on Elbo's throat
scratch. He screamed - not from the cut, but from the burn. Pain all at once
collapsed the dam of self-control - the Lord screamed in horror:
- No need! I swear! I swear!
Mazirian took a step back with a grimace of disgust, holding
Slayer at the ready. Elbo muttered, spun a web of energies,
preparing an oath. Something in the rhythm of his words suddenly alarmed
Maziriana; he listened, raised his saber... But it was too late:
Raising his voice, Elbo exultantly shouted the final word:
"Blob!"
And immediately something soft and slimy bound Mazirian’s legs.
With an incredible effort, the wizard freed one leg and tried
take a step, but almost fell, and the squelching
green mass.
Elbo Smogg jumped away so Mazirian couldn't reach him
Slayer.He laughed uncontrollably, bending over and wrapping his arms around
thighs. The mortal fear had finally left the Lord of Chaos.
* * *
Far, far from the Forbidden Worlds, or maybe close, just
extend your hand, in the secret room of the Eternal Black Castle, the Great
The Chaos Lord Ragaril bent down, grasping his long scaly
fingers the crystal ball and staring at it unblinkingly
glance. This elegant little thing allowed him to keep track of his
helpers wherever they may be. Of course, Ragaril never
shared this secret with them. It's so hard to deny yourself
the pleasure of appearing omniscient in front of these idiots!
But now Ragaril was happy. Elbo is very good
made a combination. Of course, all this was primitive, but if
quite frankly - old and banal. But it worked!
To fool the fool-wizard in the name of Maram-Or the Just
and put Velcro on him - soulless and always hungry
an amorphous creature. He, Ragaril, was sure that everything would fail,
as Elbo yelped at the tiny cut on his fat neck.
The assistant is rather weak in the knees! But a fool is a man (Ragaril even in
I avoided the name Mazirian in my thoughts) even then I did not suspect anything.
It didn’t occur to his stupid head: if you’re going to swear by the name
Maram-Or, then you don’t give a damn about any cuts.
Wow: victory came wheneverything already seemed to be
lost. But now you can admire how Elbo butchers
sorceress. Recently I described to him one very exquisite torture...
Ragaril licked his lips with his forked tongue and peered into the ball.
* * *
The griffin, opening its beak threateningly, rushed at Elbo. But from
loss of blood he moved slowly, and the Lord, easily dodging,
He picked up the ax and drove the blade deep into the graceful shaggy neck.
Even while killing, he did not stop laughing. Through laughter
incoherent cries broke through:
- Gotcha! Gotcha! Like a child! Oh, I can't! And I:
I won’t do it again, I swear!.. My ears are hanging! I tell you so
I swear!..
Having calmed down a little, Elbo carefully approached,
keeping out of reach of the Velcro. Mucous mass, slurping,
spread out to the sides. Sometimes a clot came off from it, and then
he began to independently devour everything he could reach. There
where this sticky stuff crawled, there wasn’t even moss left - only
bare stone floor covered in slime.
Elbo looked at the struggling Mazirian with curiosity.
The Velcro climbed up his legs, slowly devouring his flesh,
sucking out life force. Looks like she's already opened some
a large vessel, and the wizard began to bleed.
“Well, how is it, Muzzy?” the Lord of Chaos called out to him. - Are you ready?
swear to serve the Darkness honestly and faithfully?Mazirian clenched his teeth.
“You know, Muzzy,” Elbo continued to mock, “
I guess I'll reward you for your kindness. I won't kill you
I'll just go into the portal. Imagine - you get out, get treatment,
make friends with the local creatures... I think they will recognize you for
his. Maybe you'll even get married here, huh? you will have
enough time to choose well.
He pretended to be heading towards the portal, then
stopped and turned around.
- Oh yes, I completely forgot - you wouldn’t be so kind as to throw
Should I bring the treasure of the Catacombs here? At least this saber of yours, eh? No?..
Maybe I should swear? I swear to use the power of the treasure
exclusively for good deeds, never offend old ladies and
become a vegetarian! Still no?.. Well, then I'm sorry. Let
Velcro will feed a little more, and then...
Elbo depicted how he would throw his ax - straight
to the head. And Mazirian suddenly disappeared. Didn't fade, becoming
transparent, as happens when you take a potion of invisibility. Not
there was no sound, no flash, nothing. Just just skinny
the wizard furiously fought off the Velcro - and now he was gone.
The Velcro squeaked and filled the empty space.
* * *
Seems like a million years ago, but actually less
days, going to the Catacombs, Mazirian squeezed into his memory
one veryunreliable spell. Squeezed in as a last resort
for example, if he suddenly realizes that he won’t have time to get to the portal.
And now he, seeing that the ax was aimed right at his forehead, almost
involuntarily shouted out this spell. And disappeared.
And then he appeared again - right behind Elbo.
Mazirian was not even able to be surprised that the spell
teleportation worked. He froze in place; legs cramped
cramp. It was not painful, as happens when traveling between
worlds; You just can’t leave the place until the paralysis passes.
Elbo turned around sharply, crouching down. From surprise he even
I forgot to close my mouth. But then he saw the missing enemy - and
his round face broke into a smile.
- I wanted to escape, right? From good Uncle Elbo? How
not good!.. Just stay calm, don’t twitch! You won't
it hurts...
The lord moved towards Mazirian, squeezing with both hands
axe, but pulled back - Slayer, very sharp and very unpleasant,
frozen dangerously close to his chest.
“What a fool,” Elbo reproachfully remarked, “shouldn’t you
not enough yet?..
“If you want to fight, come over,” Mazirian wheezed.
“I won’t even think about it,” Elbo grinned. - Wait a little
and... Hey! What is this?! Get out of here, you creature!..
Velcro must have been very angry when the victim
suddenly disappeared right from her mouth - although, however,Velcro
no mouth. Or, on the contrary, there are hundreds of mouths - depending on how you look at it.
One way or another, she chose a new victim - and quietly
approached her from behind. The captured Chaos Lord rushed desperately,
but the sticky mass held tightly. He jerked forward, but pulled back,
almost running into Slayer.
“Take it away, you idiot!” Elbo squealed... but it was already
late. The Velcro moved slowly, but if it grabbed...
A thick green lump rolled onto the Lord, knocking him off his feet.
With an incredible effort he stood up again, covered in green
mucus, but the ever-hungry creature had already entwined his ankles.
Mazirian relaxed. Putting the Slayer away in its leather sheath, he
rummaged in his sword belt and pulled out a ruddy, slightly shimmering magical
apple. This won't stop the bleeding, but it will help you hold on.
some more time. The paralysis has passed; he automatically walked away two
step and dug his teeth into the fragrant pulp.
And Elbo, caught in his own trap, desperately
fought, hacked right and left with an ax. For a moment
It seemed that now he would free himself, break through to freedom. But
Velcro came again like a wave; the ax got stuck in a sticky lump, and it
ripped out of my hand.
Before this, Elbo had only puffed and puffed in time with the blows;
now he screamed. And he didn’t even scream, but screamed - piercingly
and doomed. Then suddenly his eyes stopped on the hunched
figureMaziriana, and the screams became meaningful.
- Mazirian! Save me! - Elbo Smogg screamed heart-rendingly,
Lord of Chaos. Get me out! I swear! Don't go! Noooo!!
(Continuously slurping, the Velcro has already risen to his thighs.) That's it,
what do you say! I will kill Ragaril! Do you hear?! Don't go, you
bastard! Mazirian! DON'T LET THIS THING EAT ME!!!
Mazirian looked again at the screaming Lord. His face
suddenly became very tired. So, you still have to... He
understood this from the very beginning, but allowed fleeting hope
deceive yourself. For which he paid. The wizard pulled from his shoulder
onion
“Okay, Elbo,” he said, and he could barely hear himself
continuous screams. - THIS is what I will do for you.
* * *
Far, far from the Forbidden Worlds, or maybe close, just
extend your hand, in the secret room of the Eternal Black Castle, the Great
The Chaos Lord Ragaril slumped limply in his chair, which did not look like
armchair The crystal ball immediately went out as soon as the unblinking
the gaze tore away from him. One more... Damn you
Mazirian!! Ragaril hoarsely shouted the hated name and cowered,
like a wrung out rag, as if he was expecting immediate heavenly punishment.
However, is what awaits him much better?
such punishment?
* * *
And Mazirian stepped out of the receiving pentacle and ankle-deepdrowned in a fluffy carpet. When you return home, even the pain and
paralysis passes faster. Three servants created by sorcery have already
stood ready: one held a bottle of healing potion, the other
tunic with green dragons; the third was ready to accept
a tattered, burnt robe that smelled of sweat and blood. But that's it
it could wait.
Mazirian squatted down. Huge black cat
purred loudly and placed her front paws on his lap. Tired
the wizard's eyes met bottomless green eyes and
drowned in them. Mazirian, performing the usual ritual of meeting,
touched the cat's wet nose with his nose.
“Hello, friend,” he said quietly. - Here I am at home.
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