Possessed: Book Five.

Part one

The town, surrounded by a wooden wall, seemed to jump towards me, quite unexpectedly emerging from the thick morning fog that filled the entire district. Although there was no indication that he would appear so soon. Only I noticed at the last crossroads, which remained three or four miles behind, an index sign - nailed to a slightly rickety gray post the same old board, withered and darkened from time and bad weather, with a board carved on it and summed up sometime ago for greater clarity black paint with the name - "Courage", as if hinting that the goal of my journey is already very close. Only the absence of not only vast suburbs, common for cities in the sleepy-calm central regions of the Empire, but even located behind the fortress wall - closer to the highway and tired travelers, inns, misled me ... Why did I barely have time to rein in my heatedly wheezing a horse rushing at a gallop when the road ended abruptly, and did not let him crash into a small peasant convoy, slowly crawling under the watchful eye of the heel of armored guards between the wide open gates.

Having successfully avoided a collision with both the last cart and the swirling boy who had time to jump aside, walking beside it, and forcing the rearing horse to descend, I breathed a sigh of relief. After all, everything could have ended much worse ... For the simple reason that my riding skills, frankly, are lame. And on all legs. I don’t fall out of the saddle during a fast jump - and that’s good.

However, an unfortunate incident that happened to me at the gates of the town briefly diverted my attention. After looking around and making sure that no one, including the village boy who didn’t even have time to be particularly frightened, was injured by my actions, I immediately forgot to think about what had happened. And he immediately sent his horse forward, at the same time forcing him to take a little to the right and step out of the way onto the grassy roadside. On which he very quickly and without interference reached the nearest guard, unceremoniously overtaking the convoy slowly moving forward.

Courage penal servitude? .. - I meant a question, turning to the serviceman, who was momentarily distracted from inspecting the nearest cart for me, sitting on a horse that was loudly wheezing and as if dancing with impatience to continue the gallop.

This is for you, - the young guard pointed somewhere to the left. - Mile and a half more on the road, almost to the river. - And he added a few more hesitantly, looking at me. - Sir.

That means a mile and a half in all ... - I thought for a moment, first turning my head and looking in the indicated direction, and then patting the withers of my driven breathing horse, which it was clearly time to change, and throwing an appraising glance at the open gates to the city.

Well, or else you can drive straight through the city, and further through the eastern gate, - the guard estimated my hesitation somewhat incorrectly. - So it will be a little shorter.

Annoyingly twitching the corner of my mouth, I thanked the Courage guard with a short nod and with a kick of my heels sent my horse around the peasant cart blocking the path and further - along the road that goes to the left, along the wall recruited from thick, wide logs. I did not stop by the town in order to look for a replacement for the noticeably tired little animal that had been carrying me since midnight. I'll lose more time on this than I'll gain...

The thought of the flowing time made me grit my teeth with renewed vigor and spur my horse. I feel good here in freedom, but for Angela in hard labor every moment stretches like an endless eternity ...

I snarled to myself again, annoyed at my impenetrable naivety, which made me trust the gray uniforms without looking back. Even if they are well known ... I thought that the employees of the Okhrana would deal with the Goldilocks like a human being, hold her a little in their underground casemates, in peace and quiet, and that’s all ... And he even drove away any seditious thought that Angela could be treated differently ! And they... They sent her to hard labor! They didn’t even put them in some terrible prison, but sent them straight to hard labor!

For the umpteenth time, in these three days that have passed since I received news from Astarch Kovan about the whereabouts of one person who, for some thoughtlessness, seems to be a real criminal and a cunning agent of our sworn friends of Aquitaine, I impulsively sighed , with an incredible effort of will, suppressing the soul-tormenting anxiety about the fate of poor Angel. And he drove the horse at a gallop along the city wall. To the east gate of Courage... At which I found myself after just a couple of minutes. What happened, not least due to the fact that this bypass road turned out to be completely empty, and, accordingly, I didn’t need to hold my horse ...

I encountered a hindrance on the way only a little later, when I, turning near the guards, who were bored at the open gate, onto a poor road, galloped on. A whole convoy of almost two dozen ox-drawn wagons, loaded to the top, proceeded towards me. However, despite the certain narrowness of this road, which seems to lead straight to hard labor, I missed this incomprehensible caravan without any problems - I simply rushed along the very edge and was like that.

And now, a fifth of an hour after I found the Courage I was looking for, I found myself on the spot ... At a tall palisade, against which a narrow, fairly dusty path rested ...

Looking around from the back of the prancing horse, which was about to rear up again, because of the reins pulled back too sharply, I nodded in the affirmative, making sure that I had clearly hit exactly the right place. Of course, there is no indication sign anywhere, but here, behind a tightly, without a single, even tiny crack, set up by a palisade, a definitely not ordinary village is hiding. The barrier built by someone is too high ... Probably twice, no less, surpassing the eight-yard wall surrounding Courage. Yes, and it is recruited from very thin tree trunks, and not from decent ones - in a couple of girths. Such a simple battering ram can be swept away at once. And there are no towers... Neither guards along the perimeter, nor even the obligatory gate tower. And this already clearly indicates that in front of me has never been a protective structure. Come straight up, whoever you like, across the open field to the palisade, and climb up the richly tarred trunks...

Burevoi Andrey

Possessed. Book five.

Possessed: Book Five.

Part one

Surrounded by a wooden wall, the town unexpectedly emerged from the dense morning fog that filled the entire district, as if jumping towards me. Although there was no indication that he would appear so soon. Only I noticed at the last crossroads, which remained three or four miles behind, an index sign - nailed to a slightly rickety gray post the same old board, withered and darkened from time and bad weather, with a board carved on it and summed up sometime ago for greater clarity black paint with the name - "Courage", as if hinting that the goal of my journey is already very close. Only the absence of not only vast suburbs, common for cities in the sleepy-calm central regions of the Empire, but even located behind the fortress wall - closer to the highway and tired travelers, inns, misled me ... Why did I barely have time to rein in my heatedly wheezing a horse rushing at a gallop when the road ended abruptly, and did not let him crash into a small peasant convoy, slowly crawling under the watchful eye of the heel of armored guards between the wide open gates.

Having successfully avoided a collision with both the last cart and the swirling boy who had time to jump aside, walking beside it, and forcing the rearing horse to descend, I breathed a sigh of relief. After all, everything could have ended much worse ... For the simple reason that my riding skills, frankly, are lame. And on all legs. I don’t fall out of the saddle during a fast jump - and that’s good.

However, an unfortunate incident that happened to me at the gates of the town distracted my attention for a while. After looking around and making sure that no one, including the village boy who didn’t even have time to be particularly frightened, was injured by my actions, I immediately forgot to think about what had happened. And he immediately sent his horse forward, at the same time forcing him to take a little to the right and step out of the way onto the grassy roadside. On which he very quickly and without interference reached the nearest guard, unceremoniously overtaking the convoy slowly moving forward.

Courage penal servitude? .. - I meant a question, turning to the serviceman, who was momentarily distracted from inspecting the nearest cart for me, sitting on a horse that was loudly wheezing and as if dancing with impatience to continue the gallop.

This is for you, - the young guard pointed somewhere to the left. - Mile and a half more on the road, to the river itself. - And he added a few more hesitantly, looking at me. - Sir.

That means a mile and a half in total ... - first turning my head and looking in the indicated direction, and then, patting my driven breathing horse on the withers, casting an appraising glance at the open gates to the city and thinking for a moment, I muttered.

Well, or else you can drive through the city, and further through the eastern gate, - the guard estimated my hesitation somewhat incorrectly. - So it will be a little shorter.

Annoyingly twitching the corner of my mouth, I thanked the Courage guard with a short nod and with a kick of my heels sent my horse around the peasant cart blocking the way and further along the road that goes to the left, along the wall made of thick, wide logs. I did not stop by the town in order to look for a replacement for the noticeably tired little animal that had been carrying me since midnight. I'll lose more time on this than I'll gain...

The thought of the flowing time made me grit my teeth with renewed vigor and spur my horse. I feel good here in freedom, but for Angela in hard labor every moment stretches like an endless eternity ...

I growled to myself again, annoyed at my impenetrable naivety. Forcing you to trust the gray uniforms without looking back ... Even if they are well known. I thought that the employees of the Okhrana would deal with the Goldilocks like a human being ... They would hold her a little in their underground casemates, in peace and quiet, and that’s all ... And he even drove away any seditious thought that they could do otherwise with Angel! And they... They sent her to hard labor! They didn’t even put them in some terrible prison, but sent them straight to hard labor!

For the umpteenth time, in the three days that have passed since I received news from Astarch Kovan about the whereabouts of a goldilocks who, for some thoughtlessness, seems to be a real criminal and a cunning agent of our sworn Aquitanian friends, I sighed impetuously , with an incredible effort of will, suppressing the soul-tormenting anxiety about the fate of poor Angel. And he drove the horse at a gallop along the city wall. To the east gate of Courage... At which I found myself after just a couple of minutes. What happened, not least due to the fact that this bypass road turned out to be completely empty, and, accordingly, I didn’t need to hold my horse ...

I encountered a hindrance on the way only a little later, when I, turning near the guards, who were bored at the open gate, onto a poor road, galloped on. A whole convoy of almost two dozen ox-drawn wagons, loaded to the top, proceeded towards me. However, despite the certain narrowness of this road, which seems to lead straight to hard labor, I missed this incomprehensible caravan without any problems - I simply rushed along the very edge and was like that.

And now, a fifth of an hour after I found the Courage I was looking for, I found myself on the spot ... At a tall palisade, against which a narrow, fairly dusty path rested ...

Looking around, from the back of a prancing horse that was about to rear up again, because of the reins pulled back too sharply, I nodded in the affirmative, making sure that I had clearly hit exactly the right place. Of course, there doesn’t seem to be any sign pointing anywhere, but here a definitely not ordinary village is hidden behind a tightly, without a single, even tiny crack, set up by a palisade. The barrier built by someone is too high ... Probably twice, no less, surpassing the eight-yard wall surrounding Courage. Yes, and it is recruited from very thin tree trunks, and not from decent ones - in a couple of girths. Such a simple battering ram can be swept away at once. And there are no towers... Neither guards along the perimeter, nor even the obligatory gate tower. And this already clearly indicates that in front of me has never been a protective structure. Come straight up, whoever you like, across the open field to the palisade, and climb up the richly tarred trunks...

“It’s true that this meadow, mowed, for some reason has a white stripe covered with lime or chalk ... - I noticed at a distance of about fifty yards from the dark wall gleaming with moisture settled down, another striking absurdity. - And this is clearly not without reason ... "

"Aha!" - the demon sitting on my left shoulder supported me, probably having also heard about this method of marking territories forbidden for walking.

"Basically, of course, such places - crammed with magical traps, and therefore requiring designation in order to avoid, are found near the border fortresses, but here it looks the same," I thought, looking left and right, and making sure that those lost in the fog white stripes are present on both sides of the tract and, apparently, go around the penal servitude, thus enclosing it in a kind of ring. Which truth remains open at the junction with the road. Here, without merging with each other into one whole, the two ends of the carefully backfilled line abruptly break and run to the palisade along the roadside, as if warning about the inadmissibility of the exit on them.

Of course, I did not check the correctness of my guesses by penetrating the delineated territory. Just because it's not up to it. And by no means because of fear of possible consequences, as the demon immediately suggested with malice, not missing a single opportunity to set me up and drag me into some kind of adventure. After all, it is obvious that if there really are some kind of magical traps here, then they will at most lull or paralyze a person who has gone off the road and stepped on the grass. Hard labor tea is not a border fortress, and it does not need to be protected in such a serious way - using deadly impact effectors. Especially considering where else it is located ... Near some kind of a town. You won’t end up with problems later, if someone from an uninvolved person accidentally gets into a murderous trap. And someone will definitely get into it! This is understandable to any person, even a little understanding of human nature.

So, having cast a last glance at the meadow outlined by the warning line, I simply moved the horse further. To gate. The contour of which, carved right into the palisade, was clearly visible even from a decent distance.

I didn't have to knock or shout to call the guards. One had only to approach the gate at a sufficient distance, as a small window opened in them, taken away by a metal grate. In which someone's face immediately appeared, staring at me questioningly.

Burevoi Andrey

Possessed. Book five.

Possessed: Book Five.

Part one

Surrounded by a wooden wall, the town unexpectedly emerged from the dense morning fog that filled the entire district, as if jumping towards me. Although there was no indication that he would appear so soon. Only I noticed at the last crossroads, which remained three or four miles behind, an index sign - nailed to a slightly rickety gray post the same old board, withered and darkened from time and bad weather, with a board carved on it and summed up sometime ago for greater clarity black paint with the name - "Courage", as if hinting that the goal of my journey is already very close. Only the absence of not only vast suburbs, common for cities in the sleepy-calm central regions of the Empire, but even located behind the fortress wall - closer to the highway and tired travelers, inns, misled me ... Why did I barely have time to rein in my heatedly wheezing a horse rushing at a gallop when the road ended abruptly, and did not let him crash into a small peasant convoy, slowly crawling under the watchful eye of the heel of armored guards between the wide open gates.

Having successfully avoided a collision with both the last cart and the swirling boy who had time to jump aside, walking beside it, and forcing the rearing horse to descend, I breathed a sigh of relief. After all, everything could have ended much worse ... For the simple reason that my riding skills, frankly, are lame. And on all legs. I don’t fall out of the saddle during a fast jump - and that’s good.

However, an unfortunate incident that happened to me at the gates of the town distracted my attention for a while. After looking around and making sure that no one, including the village boy who didn’t even have time to be particularly frightened, was injured by my actions, I immediately forgot to think about what had happened. And he immediately sent his horse forward, at the same time forcing him to take a little to the right and step out of the way onto the grassy roadside. On which he very quickly and without interference reached the nearest guard, unceremoniously overtaking the convoy slowly moving forward.

Courage penal servitude? .. - I meant a question, turning to the serviceman, who was momentarily distracted from inspecting the nearest cart for me, sitting on a horse that was loudly wheezing and as if dancing with impatience to continue the gallop.

This is for you, - the young guard pointed somewhere to the left. - Mile and a half more on the road, to the river itself. - And he added a few more hesitantly, looking at me. - Sir.

That means a mile and a half in total ... - first turning my head and looking in the indicated direction, and then, patting my driven breathing horse on the withers, casting an appraising glance at the open gates to the city and thinking for a moment, I muttered.

Well, or else you can drive through the city, and further through the eastern gate, - the guard estimated my hesitation somewhat incorrectly. - So it will be a little shorter.

Annoyingly twitching the corner of my mouth, I thanked the Courage guard with a short nod and with a kick of my heels sent my horse around the peasant cart blocking the way and further along the road that goes to the left, along the wall made of thick, wide logs. I did not stop by the town in order to look for a replacement for the noticeably tired little animal that had been carrying me since midnight. I'll lose more time on this than I'll gain...

The thought of the flowing time made me grit my teeth with renewed vigor and spur my horse. I feel good here in freedom, but for Angela in hard labor every moment stretches like an endless eternity ...

I growled to myself again, annoyed at my impenetrable naivety. Forcing you to trust the gray uniforms without looking back ... Even if they are well known. I thought that the employees of the Okhrana would deal with the Goldilocks like a human being ... They would hold her a little in their underground casemates, in peace and quiet, and that’s all ... And he even drove away any seditious thought that they could do otherwise with Angel! And they... They sent her to hard labor! They didn’t even put them in some terrible prison, but sent them straight to hard labor!

For the umpteenth time, in the three days that have passed since I received news from Astarch Kovan about the whereabouts of a goldilocks who, for some thoughtlessness, seems to be a real criminal and a cunning agent of our sworn Aquitanian friends, I sighed impetuously , with an incredible effort of will, suppressing the soul-tormenting anxiety about the fate of poor Angel. And he drove the horse at a gallop along the city wall. To the east gate of Courage... At which I found myself after just a couple of minutes. What happened, not least due to the fact that this bypass road turned out to be completely empty, and, accordingly, I didn’t need to hold my horse ...

I encountered a hindrance on the way only a little later, when I, turning near the guards, who were bored at the open gate, onto a poor road, galloped on. A whole convoy of almost two dozen ox-drawn wagons, loaded to the top, proceeded towards me. However, despite the certain narrowness of this road, which seems to lead straight to hard labor, I missed this incomprehensible caravan without any problems - I simply rushed along the very edge and was like that.

And now, a fifth of an hour after I found the Courage I was looking for, I found myself on the spot ... At a tall palisade, against which a narrow, fairly dusty path rested ...

Looking around, from the back of a prancing horse that was about to rear up again, because of the reins pulled back too sharply, I nodded in the affirmative, making sure that I had clearly hit exactly the right place. Of course, there doesn’t seem to be any sign pointing anywhere, but here a definitely not ordinary village is hidden behind a tightly, without a single, even tiny crack, set up by a palisade. The barrier built by someone is too high ... Probably twice, no less, surpassing the eight-yard wall surrounding Courage. Yes, and it is recruited from very thin tree trunks, and not from decent ones - in a couple of girths. Such a simple battering ram can be swept away at once. And there are no towers... Neither guards along the perimeter, nor even the obligatory gate tower. And this already clearly indicates that in front of me has never been a protective structure. Come straight up, whoever you like, across the open field to the palisade, and climb up the richly tarred trunks...

“It’s true that this meadow, mowed, for some reason has a white stripe covered with lime or chalk ... - I noticed at a distance of about fifty yards from the dark wall gleaming with moisture settled down, another striking absurdity. - And this is clearly not without reason ... "