Читать книгу Elinor. The Deserted Valley. Book 1 - Mikhail Shelkov - Страница 23

Do’Ayve was the third one on watch. He slept until early dawn, and then took the post from Leerie, who was initiated last night and became a full-fledged warrior. The young girl-warrior was still over the moon with happiness and seemed ready to remain on duty for the whole night, and even the next.

But emotions are emotions, and a rest was a necessity. This lifestyle hardened the Itoshins, as it was quite common to rush into battle half-asleep, which is why E’Do adhered to a strict schedule of shifts.

Do’Ayve began his watch by throwing firewood into the fire, and bathing in the invigorating water of Kawa. He put a pot of water with some herbs on the fire, then went to the trees to pick fruit for himself and his comrades. He stood in wide black robes, without armor. Only his sword hung from his waist.

As Do’Ayve used the tail of his shirt to collect and carry more fresh fruit, a shadow suddenly darted toward him from the bush. The fruits scattered as the warrior jumped back to defend. The predawn twilight helped outline a human silhouette.

“Who are you?” Do’Ayve asked in a menacing voice. In response, there was an inarticulate sound, more like a roar.

Daemon! A demon who took on a human form!

“Stand by for action!” he yelled at the top of his lungs as he simultaneously drew his sword and knocked off the strange creature’s head. The body fell back into the bushes as more figures began to appear from the predawn gloom, and Do’Ayve continued his attack. By this time E’Do ran in to help, followed by Todo and Ğan-Iolai, and then the rest.

A frenzied cry was heard: it became clear that an a’jo’ğan was running into the battle. Warriors parted in different directions, and Joe crashed into the dark silhouettes, sweeping bodies in different directions.

There were a lot of demons, but they were all so slow and sluggish that the Itoshins quickly finished them off. And as the first rays of sun sprang from behind the hill, illuminating the recent battlefield, surprise engulfed the soldiers when they saw who they had been fighting.

“These are people!” exclaimed Biu.

E’Do bent over one of the corpses and examined it carefully.

“The dead!” said the detachment commander.

“Dead, obviously. After all, we’ve just killed them!” Do’Ayve didn’t understand at first what E’Do was trying to tell them.

“No!” the udoğan turned to his soldiers. His severe, pale face expressed anxiety. “Come here!” He waved Do’Ayve over.

The young man also bent over the corpse. Once, what had probably been a middle-aged man was now a swollen body with pale skin of a greenish hue, a battered face, and whitish eye sockets without pupils. An Itoshinian sword cut the defeated in half almost around the belt. And seeping from the huge wound was not blood, but a viscous black slime flowed out into puddles.

“They all died long ago!” E’Do stated.

“The dead came alive?” someone whispered uncertainly.

Everyone could see everything perfectly. It was simply that no one understood how this could be possible.

Here’s your carefree life in the Valley!

A chill ran across the skin of the fearless Do’Ayve.