judge. But if you are a necromancer, then you will be in trouble, I promise you this with the bodies of my dead comrades!
– Sienna, stop! – one of the captors held the sword in the woman’s sheath. «You yourself said that their fate should be determined by Sylvia.»
Then they walked in silence, each in their own thoughts. Sienna repeatedly pushed the captives so that they would not stop.
***
So they came to a beautiful castle made of white marble.
– But we should have seen its roof many miles away! – Esmeralda was surprised.
«Magic hides a lot from prying eyes,» said Sienna. – Don’t you know about this, necromancer?
At the threshold they were already met by a red-haired woman in a green dress that matched the color of her eyes.
– Greetings, Guardian of the Ancient Portal! – said the people in red cloaks.
– Portal?! What kind of portal do they mean? – Dorian seemed to express his thoughts too loudly, remembering his home with bitterness.
– Why are you asking? – asked the Guardian. – What have you forgotten on my lands?
«I believe that it is they who are to blame for the revival of corpses, Sylvia,» Sienna grinned maliciously, looking at the prisoners.
– Search them! – the mistress of the castle commanded.
– Oh, the coin is the key to the prison. You are in cahoots with the prisoners. Let’s get to know those you are trying to save.
«Everything is lost!» – thought Eleon.
Sylvia took the round object and held it up to the mirror. As one would expect, the old man looked at those around him through the looking glass.
– Greetings, Master Sylvia!
– Avinius! What are you doing in prison?
– Troubled times have come. Again Evil is trying to envelop our world in intrigue, and again I don’t even know his face.
– Who is this guy that carries this key?
– Eleon. He conjures Light and Darkness, and perhaps it was about him, and not about Della, as I mistakenly thought, that was spoken of in the ancient Prophecy. It is he who is destined by Fate to destroy Evil at its roots forever.
– Or Good. If we misinterpreted the Prophecy like we did last time. Tell me, Avinius, if they didn’t awaken the dead, then who? After all, this may mean that another prophecy will also be fulfilled.
Sylvia handed the coin to Eleon. And then she turned to the servants.
– Free them.
– But shouldn’t they be punished? – Sienna was indignant.
– You heard my order! Free them!
When the order was carried out, Sylvia called the White Wolf to follow her.
– I’ll tell you the story of this strange Forest. He’s been cursed for a long time…
– But why don’t you leave him? After all, we encountered so many dangers on the way here.
«We are forced by oath to live next to danger. Every evening I perform a ceremony to prevent the Ancient Evil from awakening. You know, here the lines between worlds are much thinner than in other places.
Once upon a time, elves lived here. They hid their existence. Until one day a general who got lost in the forest, hiding from the enemy, found this village. His army was destroyed, but he himself escaped in the wilderness.
The elves could not leave a person in trouble. They did not know human meanness at all. They knew no one but their own kind. The elves were strong – after all, any word spoken in the ancient language became a law of nature. All their words were fulfilled. The spell of the High Elf, Herberolden, was especially strong. It is rumored that the elves on earth were the descendants of the High Elves, who were deprived of their wings. After all, the High Elves, who swore allegiance to Zeymond, were overthrown after his defeat, and no one knows where they went.
The general was a simple guest for a long time, but a vile thought was ripening in his soul that would never have occurred to a naive elf.
– But with such power as yours, you can take over the whole world! – he once said to the king of the elves. But Herberolden did not heed his words and drove away the careless guest. Although there were also elves who liked this proposal. And then a split occurred in the ranks of the forest inhabitants. Some of the elves left after the general. The general managed to learn the basics of the language, and even compiled a dictionary with a translation from his native language into Elvish. And, of course, he asked the priests to make themselves a staff covered with elven runes. He personally taught many warriors elven magic.
The general went first of all with the new army against the soldiers who killed his soldiers. The magic was stronger than the sword, and he won. Then again. And then an empire appeared, which had no equal in this world.
But he did not forget that in one of the forests those elves who did not join him still live. Of course, his army had long possessed ancient magic, but not as masterfully as the elves.
– What if they decide to overthrow me? – said the new emperor. – He who is not with me is against me.
The elf village was burned to the ground, and the forest will never forget this betrayal. Gerberolden, together with the surviving elves, found opponents of the new government. But in this war, as they say, none of those who knew the elven secrets survived. The elven race was exterminated, but along with them the elves also took the treacherous man who had corrupted their people. All the elven staves were lost, the dictionary compiled by man was burned.
Centuries passed, but the cursed place made itself known again – the center of the new Antimonian Empire arose here. Antimonik was the strongest magician who ever lived on Earth, but, unfortunately, he chose the path of Darkness and destruction.
No one could refuse the Prince of Antimony. The strong-willed either voluntarily served him, becoming officers of a countless army, or died. The weak in spirit became zombies: the living dead, subordinate to the ruler in everything. Cannon fodder, without thoughts and the meaning of life… All Antimonians became combat dark magicians, recruiting more and more new soldiers. From the ashes of the fires of rebellious cities and the fear of those who submitted, the Antimonian Empire arose, absorbing more and more new territories.
But there were also those who decided to resist the magician: this is how a military order arose – our ancestors called themselves Monians. In contrast to Antimonik, the master called himself Claudius of Monia. The swords were covered with silver and many ancient magical symbols and runes. Killing a magician is difficult. But he is not able to resist such a sword.
It seemed incredible, but Claudius’s army burst into the abode of evil. Antimonikos fell from the sword of Claudius. But that wasn’t the end. Claudius died of an unknown illness. Then our ancestors decided to destroy the
