Immortals. Knights from Arkona

«Help Elga, Mistress. Spread the bones for us!

The faces under the hoods seemed to be laughing. But now, in the hands of one, a leather bag with alcoves appeared, with signs applied to the bottom, in the hand of the other – the Silver Bowl. One of the Eternals shook the bag, and said:

«Know the fate of a warrior. Take three three bones.

Viten took off his hat, and only smiled at his friends, not wanting to show weakness, but his knees bent treacherously. But not out of fear, he told himself. I was just worried. The foreman stretched his fingers into a container of suede, and moving his fingers, took three bones. He put the alchiki in the bowl and looked at Mara’s face. It expressed nothing as if petrified. Viten pulled the bones twice more, and now, the middle of Pryakh, she began to sing:

He will find out, He will come.

He himself will take the Dead

In the years of Ivan will enter

He will tear off all the covers

Ice will melt with a kiss

And wake up, all rejoicing,

But love only one

My heart is dear to him

Still Seven Princesses

In force heavy with him

will go to the throne

Zlatoy Will Perch

White lad, son of Dawn.

Don’t wait for this day soon…

Viten lowered his head and turned pale. Vague thoughts climbed into the leader’s head, casting a shadow of doubt.

«We are coming, knights,» said Pryakhi at the same time, three as one. – And remember – There is a shelter in the Urals.

Here the Eternals, again, at once, retired to their chambers, leaving the heroes to reflect on what was said.

«It doesn’t hurt to grow big,» whispered Jaromir Salita, «I saw the Chosen Ones, so a little shorter than me. Princess Alma too…

The rest looked into all eyes at the famous mountain chambers. So immediately you will not notice the entrance to the mountain.

«Thank you, warriors. Good luck on your long journey, – Mara also said goodbye.

– Let me spend the night, mistress on Alatyr, – Viten asked.

«You must sail tomorrow morning, Knight.» But I was glad to see you and your friends, – answered Mara and went uphill, so that they did not notice the secret path.

The heroes returned to the shore flooded the stove in the guest house, ate and spent the night. In the morning, the boat went out to sea.

***

Salit ruled the rook, headed north and north of Alatyr, or Novaya Zemlya in a new way. It became cold, no one took off felt raincoats, the wind pierced to the bones. Fog fell on the sea, impenetrable, dense, they walked as if in milk.

– Are we going right, feeder? Viten asked endlessly.

«We have found refuge, Princes, foreman. This is more true. This is a terrible place. Have you changed your mind?

– Let’s go, as decided, – the foreman clenched his teeth.

«Let the most watchful man stand on his nose. Here the whole bottom is strewn with rocks.

– Jaromir, get on your nose!

Vityaz quickly passed through the benches and stood on the site.

– Straight rock in front of us!.

And exactly, as if a rock emerged in front of them, but he saw it ahead. Jaromir was a visor, but soon sweated with tension even in this cold fog. He almost broke his fingers on the keel bar, peering intensely into the sea surface. Time began to drag on, becoming simply endless. But finally, the rook jumped out to the rocks, and they saw the coast of the coveted island, strewn with stones. The sky on Tsarevna’s island was not visible at all, and the smallest rain was constantly dripping, cold and dampness reigned here.

They pulled the boat ashore, unloaded belongings and gifts. Companions watched intensely, waiting for the Guardians of the island.

– Salit, where are they? asked Tiudemir impatiently.

Others put their palms on the handles of swords, threw shields behind powerful backs.

– They are already dead, – the feeder said with a crooked grin, – you can’t kill them, the dead, here they are, marching…

Six people, or inhumans, walked along the path, trampled among stunted grass and pale flowers. The creatures were dressed in fur clothes, though very old and wiped. We walked in silence, looking at one point. Although the knights stood not far from them, the guards did not pay attention to the guests of the island and passed, disappearing among the boulders.

The knights went past the stream, next to the mountains of boulders, and found themselves in front of a huge cavern in the mountain. Four carried two barrels of honey, gifts for the Princess.

«We also see in the dark,» Viten tried to calm the soldiers, «don’t grab your swords, you can’t even think about weapons.» Whoever you see.

There was no answer, only the heroes nodded. Witen opened the unlocked door and they walked down the hall. In the dark, the Immortals saw everything in gray or black, white, they did not distinguish colors. And now Jaromir saw an abundance of gold adorning the chambers, doors and just walls, in a special brilliance that distinguishes this metal from everyone else. But the central hall made even them, warriors who lived for millennia, think about the eternal. The white throne, and the ceiling of the hall, richly decorated with stars made of polished gold. But dust, an abundance of dust on everything – as if the owners of underground halls had not been here for a long time. The heroes put barrels of honey on a stone polished floor.

«It’s not a good thing. Apparently, Elga left. And in the Urals to look – you will spend half your life in search, and you will not find it.

– Jaromir, you will not die… Enough time, «Salit chuckled in the dark.

– Damn, – suddenly Viten cursed, beating his leg against a sharp angle.

«What’s in there?»

– I don’t understand yet…

The foreman adjusted his hat, and squinted, trying to see something flashing under a layer of dust on a huge flat stone. He suddenly grabbed his mitt and wiped away the entire surface.

– Look! ’he called over the satellites.

The surface was not a stone, it was a beautifully processed rock crystal, or glass, hiding the human body under it. He was a bearded, middle-aged man with very light, ashen hair.

– Yes, it’s Purusha himself! Jaromir cried, one of the Magi Elga! I saw him on the day of the Battle of Ouma!

– That’s the thing! Maybe others are here!

The knights found six more coffins, with sleeping magi. Nurchat and Sitalk, Urgaz, Ratag and Atamas, Respa were all here. All seven of Elga’s companions slept rough, stretching out in icy silence.

«Come here! Jaromir called.

He diligently washed the shining sarcophagus, decorated with carvings. Viten, lit a wick and lit two oil lanterns. Even in the yellow light, the crystal coffin shone with lights, the light reflected from the carving, and the sharp edges of the rock crystal reflected light to the ceiling, to the flaming golden stars.

– Elga is here!

– And she’s asleep, Viten sighed sorrowfully.

– With her there are no wands of power, – Salit quietly said, – any of us, in whom there is a particle of ichora, with wands can command the dead. With the army of the Dead, we will become irresistible, and we ourselves will attack Rome!

– Is that so? – asked Evpatiy, who was still silent, nicknamed Kolovrat.

– Magus Elga led the Dead. I saw it myself, – answered the feeder, – but in the hands of an ordinary person the wands are useless. Nor is Elga’s sword here.

– But we can awaken Virgo…

«A kiss?» If you do not please her, as legend says, you will be petrified, – added Evpatiy, – and you will sleep until the end of time.

«There is no hope left,» Viten whispered, «I will go for it.»

– Agree, foreman, – everyone made a noise, – they went too long.

«We must hunt for the wands,» Evpatiy clenched his hands in his fists, «or rather. Will we return to Alatyr, foreman? And he looked straight into the leader’s face.

But the rest of the heroes carefully lifted the lid and put it in a clean place. The sleeper clearly smelled of jasmine. Elga was very beautiful, with white hair, decorated with gold, the dress was also gold. Only the face of the Dead Princess was dazzlingly pale, and her lips were blue.

«Alma’s lips are blue too,» Jaromir whispered, «I’ll be the first…

«We’re behind you, brother,» Viten whispered.

The knight leaned against the coffin, and pressed his lips against the blue lips of the witch. The icy cold burned his body, and he fell nearby, on a stone floor. As if he had seen a long dream… Six Princes, and a young man, very young, with a white to blue face, with ashen hair, in a completely impossible outfit, seals the union with a kiss, and Elga opens her icy eyes…

When he woke up, he was hit by chills, and his associates, all nine, were also lying nearby, one on top of the other. His hands shook terribly, he froze to the bone. With a groan, Viten opened his eyes, and by the hands lifted the revived Salit from the floor.

– What was that?

«We’re dead, Jaromir. But we cannot die. We lay here for three days, – explained Salit, shaking off his pants, – let’s close the coffin. You saw who she was waiting for…

– There is a prediction… He must be twenty years old.

– And what’s his name? Evpatius quipped.

– Everyone knows, and you know, Kolovrat.

Kolovrat, apparently, was disturbed by what happened more than others. The warrior seemed to be just like a gambler.

«Let’s leave the honey here. When the Princess wakes up, she finds out that we came. Salit, write about us.

The feeder grinned, and began to dagger the runes along the linden tree, and then smeared the signs with black dust.

So the knights left the limits of the princess, they did not swallow salt. The dead passed by them, not paying attention, as if the heroes were mossy boulders in a wheat field. It seemed to Jaromir that their immovable faces were smiling, that even the Dead were laughing at them. Vityaz raised his head, exposing his face to cold drops. The rain never stopped here, it seemed to drip even by the bosom.

– Foreman, we sail to Alatyr, we will get the wands. They have them, Pryakh, the Eternal hermits. We will persuade, we will beg.

– Let’s go, Evpatiy, the boat is waiting, we will return. We have to go to Gandwick.

«Nothing, foreman?» – the hero said evil already.

«You swore an oath to obey, warrior. With your blood.

The boat was waiting for them on the shore, and the knights pulled out a light boat in their arms. Eupatius looked around endlessly at the island disappearing in the fog, and finally hung his head in despair.

They walked all day, and Alatyr appeared. Evpatiy got up, and carefully stepping on the swinging benches of the boat, went up to the foreman.

– Please, Viten… We will get the wands and win, – whispered Kolovrat.

– Thin, wands have no place in men’s hands

– Viten, please…

«You swore an oath, knight,» the leader shouted fiercely.

«I’ll do it myself! Eupatius shouted, and threw himself into the water.

Winter clothes, boots and a shoulder bag pulled the madman into a cold abyss, and he did not try to swim, but only surrendered to the will of the waves. Only a trickle of bubbles appeared and disappeared with a weak trace of the missing person.

– Damn! – broke out at Tiudemir.

– He drowned! Jaromir shouted.

– Kolovrat thought correctly. His body will take to Alatyr, he will rise… And what will happen next – how the gods will decide, – Viten said quietly.

New battle

– So what Elga sleeps, and with her the Seven Magi, and guard the island of the Dead, – said the knight, – Evpatiy threw himself into the sea, decided to leave and look for wands.

– Already two hundred years in search of Wands of Power Kolovrat, maybe and disappeared where, – Slavomir answered, – we are waiting for today battle, nice knights.

The next day, the militias of Ruyana entered the battle, with a wall, but only six shields deep. Behind them stood a series of carts to strengthen the system. Behind the warriors lined up beeps and horns. preparing to fight too. Svyatovit’s squad stood behind the right flank. Both the knights and ordinary warriors drank two cups of Ella’s drug.

Saxons stood on the right flank, given in the center of the enemy army, and encouraged them to stand on the left flank. King Valdemar bypassed the crusader army, encouraging the jarls and barons.

– Valdemar, if Svyatovitova squad comes out, my soldiers will simply throw weapons, they won’t fight, – Kazimir warned.

«I’ll execute them, Prince.

«Then the executions are now, and me with them,» the prince of encouragement raged.

«Why get excited? – Mario Castelli, bishop and papal legate, fit in – I will stand in the ranks, and I will bless the soldiers, protecting the Slavic demons from witchcraft.

«Exelenz, I don’t think it will help,» Valdemar said quietly, «I myself did not want to go hiking. It would be better if His Holiness came up with something, as when he converted the Hungarians.

– What could he think of? the bishop did not understand.

«The wisdom of the Eternal City is immense. ’the Dane sweetened the bitterness of the words.

«I got everything I wanted. I offered Slavomir to become a bishop, and the right not to dissolve the squad, – the Roman almost shouted, – what else should he? – and he stretched his hands to the sky – the tithe was to remain with him, instead of Svyatovit there would be the church of St. Vitus. No, he said that they were waiting for the Chosen One and the Dead Princess would punish us! – the bishop laughed nervously, and looked around the princes and the king.

It would be better not to look, as the papal legate said to himself. Everyone turned white, and literally. Casimir looked somewhere in the distance, and Waldemar tugged a heavy thimble cross. His face flushed with anger.

– Did Magus say so? asked the Danish king.

«That’s what I said. He scared everything with ants from Priob. Like, they will come and kill everyone. He went completely mad with fear.

«No one knows for sure about Elga,» and the northerners looked at each other, «the legate began Waldemar,» if we see that a pale maiden has appeared here on a moose, and with her the soldiers are giants, we will leave. «Do not blame. We will not fight against her.

– You swore! Castelli shouted, otherwise dad will not give you his blessing! All your new awards will be revoked by the Holy See!

– If the Lady comes, no vows will be important. It is worse than mortal horror, – the Dane slowly said, as if squeezing words out of himself, – this is our fear, an ancient Miracle. The Dead will come with her. To know for sure… Waldemar said thoughtfully, what about her?

– Okay, you look, let’s manage, – said the brother of the Danish king, – if the Princess has not come to the aid of Arkone, she may never appear. And Ruyan is only three thousand, we have eighteen thousand in our army, they cannot resist our fighters.

– Everything is prepared, – reassured the papal legate, – I bought provisions, for several months in a row my commissioners bought wheat and barley. In Hamburg, large stocks of grain have been collected, – the bishop reassured, – the army will last for six months.

– Okay, we start, – Danish Waldemar nodded and went to his own.

***

The Ruyans stood and waited. The last row, standing on carts, over the heads of the soldiers of the front rows, covered the enemies with arrows. They responded with a volley of self-arrows, and quickly moved to the Slavic army. Long axes and then swords went into action. Killed and wounded fell in dozens, wounded mercilessly those and others, Danes and Ruyans, finished off with daggers. The army of the Ruyan was fed step by step back to the carts. But, warriors drunk potions, were tireless and indomitable, shields and swords in their hands were not heavy, and no one suffocated under the weight of armor.

Viten looked at the fluctuating formation of militias, at archers on carts, and, throwing a shield behind his back, exposed his two swords. The gudoshniki had already completely driven crazy by playing, and blood was bursting in the veins of the soldiers.

– Lyut, we go around from the flank of the vigorous. You are leading the knights today. Tiudemir let him carry the Village.

– Thank you, foreman, – Immortal smiled from under the helmet.

Svyatovit’s warriors quickly rebuilt, and shouted at the enemy.

Then something happened that no one expected! Encouraged, seeing the Village and the knights, they simply threw weapons on the ground and lay down on the ground. The foremen and centurions could not raise the soldiers, because they themselves lay in the grass.

The knights reached the Dan army, and the cross-section boiled. The youths stood behind the heroes, ready to help. They served new shields of excised ones. Asdings were skillful in battles, and now, a number changed a number, and tired warriors were changed by fresh fighters. They fought for a long time, tens of five killed and wounded enemies lay in front of the ranks of the heroes. But now, Dan managed to throw a dart, hitting the knight in the neck, and the youths carried the body to the tents of the squad. Danes roared with joy – the wound was fatal.

The battle continued, and the victory was not visible. Ruyan was too few, but they held back the onslaught of the Danes and Saxons. But, Valdemar’s soldiers had joy – they were able to kill at least one of the heroes.

But now, the same warrior stood in the first row, with a noticeable brooch and a helmet with a golden notch. The Asdings were worried when they saw the Risen.

Holy grenade of Antioch

The iron ranks of the Danes overturned the militias, and now the fighters were only waiting for the king’s order. Mario Castelli stood in the fourth row, wearing heavy chain mail under a cassock. He was not afraid of being wounded or killed, but he could not die yet. Nearby was the faithful Tommaso and Karl von Ratsdorf, holding a shield, covering the bishop. Exelenz held an oak cross with both hands, putting it on the ground. But the Danes held on perfectly, fought fearlessly, the bishop did not have to intervene. But then there was a terrible cry:

– To the left! Turn left! The village above them!

With a clang, the formation turned around, preparing to meet Svyatovit’s squad. The bishop saw the asdings creep up, one to one, and fresh fighters stood in the front row. Long axes in their hands awaited the best fighters of Pomerania. But then the darts whistled, or as the Wends called them, the streets. Squires tried to cover the warriors with two-handed axes, but several people fell to the ground, bleeding. Ahead of the usual holy warriors stood real giants, with two swords in their hands. The armor on them was incredible, seemingly enormous weight, and it is not clear how these fighters moved in them so quickly. These hulks instantly demolished the first row of danes, throwing bloody bodies, and the asdings could not even injure anyone. But, one of the Danes, from the fourth row, threw a dart, and hit one of the giants in the neck. He was covered with blood, the heroes intensified the onslaught, and the squires carried out the murdered man.

Mario Castelli lifted the cross and began to read the psalms loudly, trying to give vigor to the soldiers. The bishop saw that the soldiers were tired, and they were still driven crazy by the sound of Slavic horns. They trampled on this place, and Svyatovit’s squad only intensified the onslaught. The Danes began to get tired and fed back.

They have been holding on for two hours, two hours of hand-to-hand combat. Mario knew. that this is the limit of human strength. He anxiously watched the shields sway, and sweat does not drip over the faces of the fighters, but pours in a stream.

«Karl,» said the bishop, «things are bad… Another hour, and we will be crushed.

«Yes, an Exelenian,» the knight agreed, «are we leaving the section?» My knechts guard the boat, we can be saved.

«I’m worried about you, my friends. I’m not afraid of death, «the former cavalieri replied.

– In the squad there are ordinary warriors and a dozen incredible killers, exelens. Do we have the Holy Grenades of Antioch with us?

The smile just blossomed on the bishop’s pale face. The invention of masters from the Holy Land, ceramic pots with a terrible mixture. burning, burning anyone, and murderous fragments that sink into the bodies of damned heretics and apostates, enemies of the Christian Faith!

– Take Karl knechts, and bring twenty vessels here! We will drive out the sons of Diavolus!

But now, there was a cry in the rows of Danes. The soldiers saw that the knight from Svyatovit’s squad had returned, from the valley of mortal shadow, and was again ready to go into battle.

The Danes leaned back, taking three steps. The bishop lifted up the Cross Tree, and shouted:

– Stop, it’s all the machinations of the Antichrist! But the servants of God have already received His weapons into their hands, and they are coming to our aid!

– Are you right, bishop, – shouted the Dane, – The warriors of Svyatovit do not even die! All for them! We must leave while we can!

– And with us, my son, – said Mario Castelli, – All the power of our Lord!

Finally, Karl von Ratsdorf, with a cart dragged by three knechts, was in the ranks of the Danes. On his chest hung a palm with a burning wick. The knight was very prudent, not missing any trifles or important things.

– Warriors, – the bishop shouted, – cover this knight with shields, Servant of the Lord!

The Danes covered Karl with arrows and darts, and he, crossing himself like a true knight of Christ, took the first grenade, lit a wick sticking out of a ceramic pot, counting to three, threw it into the army of the Holy. Mario Castelli looked at a smoky trail in the air, and the grenade fell exactly under the feet of the hellish spawn and exploded. The Danes’ sigh gave way to screaming when they saw the burned warrior, already without a leg, fall to the ground. Next, one by one, all twenty grenades flew. Svyatovit’s squad was still standing, but Arkona’s militia began to retreat to the city.

At least fifty soldiers died from grenades, even more were crippled. But the knights did not leave the dead, but dragged them into the city. The crusader army, like a trained dog on a hunt, did not let go of enemies, and kept literally five steps away, showering the ruyan with a shower of darts.

***

Jaromir, saw a flash that blinded him for a few seconds, immediately deaf from the roar. The skin, not covered with a helmet, burned from the burn, and next to it, on the ground, shouted Tiudemir, covered with soot from head to toe. Blood gushed from his thigh, and a red, now black, boot with a shin and foot, lay two steps away. He grabbed a friend by the belt and hand, and dragged him by the line.. The boy Sechen is a smart guy, raised his leg, and ran after him. Two more banged behind his back, so much so that he again laid his ears.

– Slawomir! – shouted the knight, laying on the stretcher of the dying, -beda! Danes are straight fire! Tiudemir’s leg was torn off!

Magus, having set aside the staff, bent down and sniffed the body of the warrior, moved his eyebrows and said:

«I don’t understand, but it smells gray. As if danes descended into underground caves for this potion. So, do not come close to them, use a bow and arrow. Do they dream their fire far away?

– Twenty steps, no more, – thinking over every word, Jaromir answered, – we will try… Look after him, and he nodded at the dead man with his leg torn off.

Magus nodded, and making a sign to the servants, retired to the city rampart.

The battle continued, the militias were broken, but still fought at the rampart. The Saxons intensified the onslaught, trying to break into the city. Dozens and dozens killed. the wounded lay at the gate, but while Arkona held on. The night came that divorced the fighting.

The gates of the city fell

Mario Castelli sat on a folding chair, with the faithful Tommaso standing nearby. Damiano cleaned the silver cup, looking at the city of pagans. The bishop looked at the stars, sipping hot wine with spices, wrapping himself in a warm felt cloak. Knight Karl von Ratsdorf, imposingly settled down with the lord, considering the golden, only presented to him by the bishop.