Richard would have fallen if he hadn't sat down at the table.
"Mister, are you all right?" Artoris touched Richard's arm. The wizard did not have time to jump away. The whole sinister aura of Artoris penetrated Richard's perception zones to show itself to the fullest.
The dining room disappeared in a distortion of space, time and logic. A stream of images flashed past his eyes. Shadows. On the ground. In the sky. Under the ground. Only six. The howl of the doom brought a prickly chill down on his back. Six shadows darted everywhere, passing through all the known and unknown moons.
But each time they were burned on the moon the color of boiling blood. They burned themselves, howled, tried to touch her again.
Richard sent out a million curses in his mind, remembering every ancient demon Kalem had told him about. The wandering the wizard Crow felt like a fly. Fly.
The moons began to approach. Faster. Faster. Faster! Richard's blood flow froze as the numerous moons began to collide in the dance of the last night. An Empty Eye appeared over the horizon. It grew and grew. Its mouth hid the stars and moons until darkness covered everything.
"It's not real-" Richard bit his tongue to get a refreshing pain. But no, he didn't wake up. His blood flow returned to start beating and thrashing around in his body like a trapped animal.
After the onset of absolute darkness, Richard felt deformed. Time, space. They dragged on. They were tearing apart Richard's very existence.
Richard screamed soundlessly, trapped in his own body. "NO! NO! NO!"
It was worse than death. Instead of shouting, praying, crying – apathy and emptiness came.
The darkness was replaced by the familiar dining room.
"Hahahaha! Artoris, even at that age you drive men crazy," Joan snatched Artoris away from Richard, "I hope you will use your beauty wisely."
While Richard was in a short trance, Joan pulled Artoris's hand out of Richard's palm. There was a tiny nail scratch on his palm. Joan "accidentally" scratched Richard in an act of spite.
"Yes, Mom!"
"Mr. Crow, you're quite shy. Please don't touch my little daughter. Her beauty is easily able to cloud your head and provoke you into not very adequate actions."
Joan was smiling, but her thoughts were burning. "My patience will soon come to an end."
Mord gave everyone a soup with Vital herbs. When Mord was applying to Richard, she tried to smile at him, but changed her mind. The girl looked away, embarrassed. "This is the first time I've seen such a nice young man."
"Here you go, Joan. Disserst of Tiger Berries. I cooked it with care, for my brave savior," Joan took a pie out of the oven and handed Artoris one piece. "Thank you for saving my life."
The spoon in Richard's hands was shaking. To distract himself a little, the wizard asked: "You called Artoris the savior, right?"
Joan nodded.
"My cute flower was recently incinerated and fried by a goblin who attacked me! And she's only seven years old, can you believe it? I'm so proud of my little witch!"
Mord looked gloomy, but refrained from interrupting her mother. Artoris, however, noticed her sister's distress, as did Lilia.
"Mom, Mord saved you too! She finished off the goblin with a stone," Artoris handed Mord a piece of pie.
"Uh-huh," Lilia nodded, looking at Joan.
"Sorry, Mord. How could I forget that I have another savior?" The question didn't sound like a rhetorical one. Joan really didn't know why it happened, but she didn't attach any importance to it.
"Thank you," the healer put her hand on Mord's shoulder. The woman was smiling, but her voice was not joyful. Mord felt a faint coolness.
Nevertheless, the girl smiled. The face of the Mord could not boast of beauty. Against the background of Artoris's appearance, the girl looked at all like a frog, hastily made from lumps of dirt.
But Mord's smile exuded something familiar. Heat. Richard remembered Kalem's mother smiling like that, a long time ago, when Kalem and Richard were children. Kalem's mother worked hard. Richard had never seen her rest for long. But, oddly enough, she was always smiling. As kind as this girl Mord. Richard's trembling was gone.
On the contrary, Artoris' smile, though kind, emanated from her bestial danger and madness.
Richard wanted to leave this house, but curiosity held him back. It will destroy him someday, if not today, then tomorrow.
Richard wanted to know what was really going on.
The Crosslands family and the traveler had dinner.
Lights came on, shadows from ancient times came to life. Richard built the silhouettes and the stage, starting his story. Artoris's eyes glittered. She had heard this legend from her mother many times, but Joan used water that had no color. Mord gasped, looked at Artoris. The girl couldn't wait to get the gift of magic too. What will it be like? Like a mother's or other, as impressive as a guest's.
Joan was smiling tensely. She could not determine how she should treat the guest. Seeing Artoris' joyful expression, she felt like a slightly flawed sorceress. However, Artoris' joy made Joan's heart warmer.
Richard's performance has begun!
Artor, in the form of a brilliant young man, went in search of six demons.
"The Great Artor searched for six demons day and night. Days turned into weeks. And so he came to a city whose old name has long been buried under the dust of centuries"
From the shadows rose from the table and formed transparent forms of the city.
"A great evil was rampant in that nameless city! Nineteen-headed, a monster from distant lands, named Tailong! He sent chaos and destruction."
Darkness covered the buildings. She was constantly changing. Nineteen clumps of darkness rose above the city. "Nineteen mouths, eyes, breaths of dark smoke, nineteen beasts, chaos of everything and nothing! Such was, is and will be the most formidable adept of the transformation Tailong! And believe me, my listeners. Things with even a weak adept are always bad– Khem-khem."
"Stop the monster! Richard exclaimed in a heroic voice. His light puppet raised his cane, "Stop ruining innocence humans!"
"No, great Artor," Richard portrayed the monster's voice at first hoarse and quiet, but then it quickly exploded in volume and melodicity, "These humans are guilty-guilty!!! GUILTY!"
"They used mana monoliths to enjoy stability and order in their lands," Richard changed Tailong's voice through each phrase. "MY CHILDREN ARE DEAD!!! The monoliths turned them into a silent stone, sucking all the chaos out of them."
"But I can fix it. The destruction of this city will give blissful chaos and transformation. This chaos will revive my poor children!"
"No, monster, I'm sorry. I won't let your plans come to pass," Richard raised his hands in a dramatic gesture. Artor's puppet soared on colored streams: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue and purple. Sweat broke out on Richard's forehead.
"I feel sorry for your children and you. But nineteen-heads and humans can't live in the same world. One must leave forever for the other to survive."
"I totally agree– But what about the deal, oh Great Artor? I heard your parents left this world. I have a secret how to get them back. To do this, I will only need your blood and indifference to this miserable city."
"WHAT DO YOU SAY?! MY KING ARTOR?!!" Richard's voice distorted so much that even former Inquisitor Jones jumped. Lily snuggled up to the Muzzle along with a Rose and a Tulip. But Artoris was delighted.
"Hush, hush. Everything is fine. Mr. Richard, you're scaring the little ones," Mord glared at Richard.
"Really? I'm sorry, I overdid it a little. I'll make the show less tough–"
"Our king has been thinking for a long time. He didn't like to take hasty actions with big consequences. Ten minutes later, Artor spoke."
"No. Your offer is too tempting. And who guarantees that there aren't six demons behind you? I can smell them here."
"And that's how the great battle began!"
A puppet of light pounced on nineteen amorphous clumps, cutting, piercing and crushing seven colors in a graceful rainbow.
Miniature Artor and Nineteen-headed wrestled intensely. The light did not show blood, the puppets cracked and were covered with deep holes. Their movements became more constrained.
Old Man Jones gaped. Despite the lack of blood, the battle looked natural.
"Nineteen-Headed and Artor fought almost on an equal footing. The battle lasted eighteen clear days and eighteen cloudy nights."
With Richard's words, the sun rose from behind the edge of the table, it jumped over the table. Behind him, multicolored moons rose from the horizon of the table.
Light and darkness fought in a merciless whirlwind. The shadow of the Nineteen-Headed Tailong was constantly changing. Artor's silhouette glowed with greatness.
So the "day" and "night" in the dining room changed eighteen times.
"Nineteen-headed escaped all wounded. But the monster managed to steal something."
Artor's puppet was holding its head and shaking. And the clumps of shadow carried away two tiny dots.
"My eyes!"
"Stupid man!"
"You could have been our king," suddenly a second shadow appeared on the table. It was an insect with six red lights instead of eyes. "Now we've taken your eyes."
"Nineteen-headed Tailong flew away with the help of one of the six demons."
"Artor received a billion wounds. His blood stained the ground."
A rain of red lights swept across the table. Artoris tried to catch a couple of drops in her palm. The light just hit her skin and melted.
On the table, where the lights fell, scarlet flowers rose. Small and cute. "Scarlet flowers have sprouted from Artor's blood. For the residents of the nameless town, they have become a symbol of will and aspirations, a source of miracles. And, indeed, they could work miracles. The new genus of flowers was given the name Bloody Artoris."
Joan nodded, patting Artoris on the head.
"Blind Artor stayed in the city, nicknamed Kyork, for eighteen days to heal all his twelve million wounds."
"So Arthur drove away the vile monster and saved the city of Kyork."
Richard bowed to the audience.
Light and shadow are gone.
"How do you like dinner, dear guests? My daughter Mord tried very hard!"
"It was delicious. This broth has warmed my old bones, I think I'll get better soon," Mr. Jones made a half bow. He was perfectly in control of himself while trillions of guesses were tossing around in his head. Almost like Richard, he sensed something unusual coming from Artoris.
"Yes, the soup from Vital herbs turned out delicious and satisfying. What else does a lonely traveler need?" Richard finished his soup.
"A bed to gain strength," Mord replied.
"In which lies a faithful companion," so Aunt Rina?" Artoris grinned.
Rina almost choked on her soup. "That's how he is– But we don't have a faithful companion. I can give our guest my favorite pillow, but that's it. Let him look for faithful companions in another house, in another city– No offense."
"He's infertile, Aunt."
Rina looked at Joan. Her face expressed a meme, but understandable question: "Are you sure teaching Artoris biology and anatomy was a good idea? Could you at least omit the topic of "reproduction"?
In response, Joan smiled awkwardly, saying without words, "Don't worry. The child is only joking."
Rina shook her head. "She doesn't keep Artoris in line in any way. I'll need to talk to Joan after dinner. It can't go on like this. What if the girl says something? They will try to stuff her face, she will finish off the offenders in response and it's off-let's go! Fines, time limits or an attack on the knights of the kingdom. I don't want Artoris to turn into a bandit whose fate will end in a war or in an alley."
"Well, we have a bed. Come with me, Mr. Crow," Joan got up from the table. Richard hurried after her.
(-)
"–So Arthur drove away the vile monster and saved the city of Kyork. A kind and happy ending."
"Mom, you're a great storyteller!" Artoris smiled and failed asleep.
Soon the lights went out all over the house.