Light Warriors. Vlad Vas

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СКАЧАТЬ they descended from their horses, they went to the door and knocked on it, but there was no answer, so they decided to enter without an invitation. Once inside, the knights and the princess were greatly alarmed and frightened by the number of corpses there, and their faces changed, turning pale, if not even green, at the pungent smell of dead bodies that almost made them all vomit.

      The skin of the bodies, whose souls might have gone to better worlds, seemed so white as to compare it to the first virgin snow, but the sight was absolutely unappealing. All these snow-white corpses were studded with purple stains, like bruises resembling jellyfish, and their eyes were as black as the darkest night, with nothing in them to be seen at all.

      – Oh, my God, what a horror! – Adelaide suddenly burst out sharply.

      – Perhaps they are much better off now, young girl,» came a sudden voice from an unlit corner of the room.

      – Who’s there?! – Richard asked loudly. – Come out into the light! – he added in a commanding tone. Immediately a man appeared out of the darkness, clad in an old brown cloak with a hood covering his face.

      – My name is Father Victor, my children. I am the priest of God’s Temple here,» he said, taking off his hood and exposing his face. He was a swarthy man in his fifties, with black hair and a black beard, with kind but tired brown eyes.

      – What happened here? Where did so many dead people come from and why did they look so horrible? What killed them, and was there anyone left alive? – Jeff asked the priest a lot of questions.

      – My dear friend, a terrible calamity has befallen our village, just as it has befallen other cities and peoples. It destroyed all life, sparing no one, not even newborn children. Death does not choose, it does not care about age, gender, nationality or race. Apparently, this disease is God’s punishment for all our sins. It comes suddenly, and no one knows how to avoid it or heal from it. It affects health so quickly that it leaves no chance of curing those who are infected,» the father said with pain in his voice. – I spend every day praying for the salvation of their souls and every day burning their physical shells.

      – Is there anyone else alive with you, and how long ago did it start? – Richard asked again.

      – The sickness and the passing of people began a year ago, but in just the last two weeks the plague has taken the lives of one hundred and eighty people. There are only twenty-nine left alive, and all are already old people who have one foot in the grave. They now spend most of their time in church, and it is very strange that the deadly disease has bypassed them, including me.

      – How does this disease spread? – Adelaide asked. – Isn’t it dangerous that we are here now?

      – I don’t know how it started,» the priest said. – But one thing I can be sure of is that it is not transmitted from the dead, you should fear the living, whose first signs are a cough, sometimes even with blood, yellow eyes and a grayish tint to the skin. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my work,» he answered and went on burning the bodies of the dead.

      Without a word or delay, the brothers began to help the holy father in his plight, and in just a couple of hours all the plague-stricken bodies committed to the fire were destroyed.

      – Thank you, my children, for your kind hearts and for your invaluable help,» he told them as he left. – You will be rewarded in heaven for your noble deeds. And may your guardian angel protect you all from evil, and may Christ the Savior Himself send good things to you! – Once again he thanked them and hugged them tightly as if they were his children.

      – Thank you, Father! – said Richard.

      – Thank you, I hope the Lord will indeed forgive us,» Jeffrey said.

      – Surely he will forgive, he loves all his sons, the main thing – have sincere faith and live in goodness and in conscience, – the priest answered affirmatively, and then they went on their way.

      Stalking

      – А-а-а-а-а-а-а-а! – страшный рёв раздался из леса. It was the cry of a Viking warrior who had found with his foot one of the traps Geoffrey had left especially for uninvited guests when he had made his rounds the previous night. The traps in question were quite simple, a rake-like instrument made of pointed, thick, short twigs. They were deliberately covered with mud to infect the enemy through the cuts if he did not die immediately. Such a wound could lead to excruciating, fatal results from prolonged suffering. The entire mechanism was easily set in motion: as soon as the victim stepped on the hidden, taut rope, the weapon was released to engage the target. In this case, the trap worked perfectly, jamming into the victim’s right thigh.

      – Get it out of me! Help me! – Trying to pull the sharp rods out of his leg on his own, the victim screamed so hard that even the birds scattered in fright.

      – Shh… Calm down, now we’ll help you… – The leader said softly, and at the same moment he struck him with an axe straight in the head, and blood spurted in all directions. – Watch your feet before you lose them,» he said in a commanding tone. – Byron, get over here and take a good look, and find the direction the two men and the girl went,» he continued.

      – Yes, my lord! – replied a tall, lean, but sturdy warrior with a sitting hawk on his arm. When he removed the small helmet from the bird’s head, which covered its eyes, he threw it up sharply so that it could look out over the area. The hawk immediately soared above the trees, waving its wings widely, and its master began searching the ground for traces of the men who had left. The rest of the warriors remained where they were, peering more cautiously and carefully into the thicket to avoid falling into another trap, but staying far away and not touching anything, lest they confuse the seeker.

      – My lord, I’ve found them, or rather the direction,» Byron finally spoke after a while, having found the hoofprints. – They’ve gone northwest, and the tracks are still fresh, so we can catch up with them!

      – Did you hear him?! – A chief Viking named William the Conqueror spoke. – Go after them! Whoever finds them can be the first to taste the woman, after me, of course! – he added, whereupon everyone jumped on their horses with a wild shout of approval and set off in search of their brothers and their reward.

      After a few hours, the Vikings made their way out of the forest and came upon a village, one that looked like a ghost town. It was still empty and silent. Only one black raven sat on the roof of the tallest building, watching the new arrivals.

      – Search everything! Find something to please me! – The leader with the red beard gave the order to the others. Everyone immediately began to carry out the order and scattered around the village, running into houses, kicking in doors.

      The Viking himself, surrounded by Byron and several other warriors, drove in the direction of the church, from which the priest soon emerged.

      – How can I help you, my children? – he spoke.

      – Perhaps you can help us by telling us if the two horsemen and the girl with them have not passed or stopped here?

      – Unfortunately, there are no visitors to our city, because a terrible disease has overtaken it and killed almost all of its inhabitants. Therefore, is there anything СКАЧАТЬ