At first no one answered the timid knock on the door, and Tim was about to leave when an excited "Who's there?" was heard, followed by "Wait a minute, I'll get dressed."
She was probably asleep, Tim thought, even though it was the middle of the day. But when there was no class, it didn't matter so much - you could study at night and sleep soundly during the day, whichever way you liked.
"Sorry for waking you up."
"It's okay, I was just meditating."
Is she really doing it without her clothes on? But why? Tim pretended to smooth his hair, but at the same time he touched one of his cheeks with his fingers - it didn't look hot, so the redness should not be noticeable.
"In this way it is easier to assimilate mana," she answered his unspoken question. "At least for us, yusmes. But perhaps for others as well. You should try it sometime."
Tim caught a faint irony in her voice and felt a blush begin to appear on his cheeks. It's interesting, what she's thinking right now? And, not wanting to go into detail, he said hastily:
"Congratulations! You've been accepted into our team!"
"Ah, at last," said Selkise sneeringly. "I didn't think I'd ever see it coming. You boys can be surprisingly indecisive about certain things. Someone must have been against it, and it took a long time to change his mind."
"No, no one really minded. Especially since you wouldn't be the only girl among us."
"Really? Who else?"
"Tiis-Mir."
"It's not a bad choice. I was afraid you'd say another name."
"Which one?"
But Selkise did not answer, instead asking when the next trip to the dungeon would coming up.
"First, the kobold needs to make a potion to neutralize the trap - I told you about it. And then we'll all get together and decide when it's best to go."
"I thought you boys would decide amongst yourselves and only then you inform us."
"Why? Don't you want to participate in the discussion?"
"I don't know about Tiis-Mir, but I personally wouldn't mind. But who is going to take a girl's opinion into account?"
"I don't think you're right," Tim protested hotly. "If it's good advice, I'll take it from anyone."
"Even from the enemy? Okay, I'm sorry, it's just not everyone thinks like you. Or rather, not everyone is ready to accept that someone might be smarter - especially if it's a weaker creature. Isn't that right?" Selkise smiled enigmatically.
"Depending on who is considered weaker. Rumara, for instance, could easily take down any guy."
"She's the exception to the rule. And why should we take her as an example? After all, for there to be a stronger sex, there has to be a weaker sex, right?"
Tim tried to look away, but he couldn't - her violet eyes drew him in like a magnet. It was almost impossible to lie or respond with rudeness when he looked into them. Embarrassed still more, he retrieved a glove from his pocket, a gift from Joz-Keragg.
"Could you tell if there is any sorcery in it?"
"I'm not really a mag-detector. You could have done it yourself: a powerful enchantment causes the object to emit light, crackle, or tingle slightly when touched. Do you feel anything like that?"
"Nope. But I have my doubts."
"Okay, let me try it."
And Selkise took the glove from him, felt it carefully, and then tried to put it on. And she succeeded! The glove, however, was too big for her and slipped easily from her hand.
"There's something about it," she said thoughtfully, handing the glove back to Tim. "But the point escapes me; it would take a more experienced mage. Or the proverbial mag-detector."
"Since you're on the team, I can tell you a secret: the dwarves promised to get one for us!"
"We'll try it when we have it. Would you like to see what Joz-Keragg gave me?"
"I'd love to!"
The gift was a bird's feather. And it shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.
"It was just like my dream!" Tim's voice was involuntary.
"You saw it in your dream?" Selkise surprised.
"Not the feather, the bird itself! And I was flying on it!"
"Then it must be very large to carry you. But here I've never seen a bird bigger than an iithair (the size of a falcon or an eagle owl, whichever you prefer). There aren't any on Olmari, either."
"And we don't have any birds that can support the weight of a man, except in fairy tales. But no, I lie: ostriches can, in some places they even hold ostrich races. Another thing is that they cannot fly."
"Have you tried asking Master Nimikel?"
"If I see her in the woods, I will. But I haven't come across her yet. And in class for some reason I don't want to ask about it."
"You're right, some things are better not to talk about in front of strangers. Do you want me to try to enter your dream to see that bird with my own eyes?"
"How do you do that??"
"Simply, I'll take your hand and you close your eyes and try to remember it."
They sat down on the bed, and Selkise squeezed his palm lightly with her palm. Tim, a little embarrassed by her proximity, still tried to concentrate on the dream, the details of which were already quite forgotten. But the more he sank into it, the darker the vision became. It was no longer the bright sunny sky but the crimson clouds that swirled over him, and the green of the forests and fields was obscured by the smoke of the fires as if the earth itself were on fire. Only on the horizon the sky was still clear, and that was where he directed his bird's flight. He soon spotted the exact same rider heading straight for him. His attempt to turn aside was unsuccessful - this time the bird wouldn't obey him, stubbornly battering the ram. It was only at the last moment that he realized that the gap in the clouds was only a mirage...
The bright flash of the collision extinguished his consciousness for a moment, and then he found himself in a clearing in the woods, lying on top of a pile of fallen leaves. The trees around him were gloomy and dull, their branches bare, as if it were late autumn. At the other end of the clearing he spotted the body of a second rider. But no sooner had he taken a step than he began to rise - with a broken neck, blind eyes, but alive nonetheless. His face seemed painfully familiar ... oh no, he had seen it so many times in the mirror! In the zombie's hands was a blued steel knife with a serrated blade, aimed in his direction. It was a foe that could not be defeated without a weapon, so he had to flee. But there are no roads and no signs in the woods, and from behind the trees appear more and more dead men, like two drops of water resembling the first. Even if he moves faster, sooner or later they will close the ring around him and attack him with every pack to nibble him to the bone. On the run, he managed to pick up a heavy, twisted stick, and the head of the nearest zombie exploded like a rotten watermelon, splashing a greenish, stinky liquid all around. Three more were left without their front limbs, and one was even stabbed through. But what's the use of that - there were dozens, if not hundreds, of them, and now there was no way out. What a pity he do not have the wand with him, then he could surround himself with fire, because the dead are afraid of it! All that remains is to twirl the stick around himself, not letting them get too close. Though he was aware of the futility of his efforts - sooner or later he would get tired, and then they would get to him.
Suddenly a ghostly silhouette appears beside him, holding a brightly glowing orb above his head. The zombies that got too close scatter a grayish, weightless dust; the rest of them are backing away, trying to hide from the destructive light behind the trees, but it finds them everywhere. The blinding white glow soon filled the world, and when it finally faded, Tim found himself sitting on the bed in Selkise's room and her beside him, clutching his palm so hard his knuckles turned white.
"What a nightmare you have! Do these things happen often?"
"Unfortunately, sometimes. Wait, that ghostly silhouette wasn't in my dream! It ended when a mob of zombies closed in on me. Was that really you!?"
"Yes, I succeeded. And I think I got there just in time, or you would have had to go through all that horror again. I was a little confused at first, though, because all the dead people looked exactly like you! It was a dream after your second visit to the lower levels, where you almost got pulled into the mirror?"
"No, before, after reading a book I'd borrowed from the library about clones."
"Not all dreams are generated by flights of fantasy, some may contain a warning or a hint of the need to turn aside, to find another way," said Selkise in a 'teacher's' tone. "Either you dislike something about yourself so much that you try to get rid of it at any cost, or you consider your own double, who is at home instead of you, to be an enemy."
"The second is more likely. On Earth, the plots of many books and movies are based on the confrontation between the hero and his second self. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde alone is worth it!"
"That's why you're so suspicious!" Selkise grinned. "So you don't believe the author of the book about clones?"
"Do you really believe everything you read? It's like this: the cover is so pretty and glossy, you can't wait to read it, and then you open it and there's nothing but garbage inside! Even I could write better than that!"
"It turns out that you are also a writer!"
"What's so funny about wanting to be a famous writer? If I want to be, I will be!"
"I thought you wanted to be a magician."
"Does one prevent the other? I have a friend who writes with his left hand as well as his right, and he knows music! Sing him a few notes, and he'll play the whole song right away!"
"Well, I can write with my left hand, too. It's no surprise to anyone on Olmari. And also I am sewing clothes, cooking, and gardening. Apart from everything else, of course. So if you happen to tear your pants, I'll mend them for you."
"You know how to... how to ruin in full! I'd rather go to the dwarves to get new ones!"
And Tim was about to get up and leave, but Selkise held him in place.
"Don't be offended. I'm sure you know something I can't teach myself. And I don't think you want to become a master of tailoring or cooking, we traditionally teach that only to girls."
"We do too!"
"And I had my doubts about the doppelgangers, too. But for a different reason. I tried several times to establish contact with my 'deputy', but to no avail. Moreover, it was as if I had run into a wall of darkness through which I could not get to my parents or to Tayloumi."
"Tayloumi - who is that?" - Tim asked jealously.
"My little brother. He's only five years old, and I raised him as well as our mother. If I had known that if I had accepted the invitation to the school, teleportation would have followed immediately, I might have refused; my mother would have had to manage him on her own. When it was announced that the clones knew and could do the same things as we did, I calmed down a little, but now I'm worried again".
"I wish I could find a book that would tell the truth about them!" it occurred to Tim.
"Where would you get it?"
"At the library, of course! Surely you could find the information you needed there!"
"I don't think they'll let you rummage through the shelves. And if you don't know the title, how do you ask for it?"
"Then you must go into the library when the Khalid-amga is not there. And look around in peace and quiet on your own!"
"You've got some nerve!"
"And what now? I'm not going to steal anything! Just to find out the truth. Isn't that a noble ambition?"
"Depends on how you do it. Or do you think the ends justify any means? If so, don't take me as your assistant!"
Now Tim had to reassure excited Selkise.
"Not at all! If I thought so, I would have gone through the shelves a long time ago, and I would have taken the most interesting things with me. Unfortunately, there are situations when you are simply forced to do things that are deeply repugnant to you personally, but otherwise it will only get worse. How can you condemn someone who defends his home with a gun in his hand? Or even trying to prevent the catastrophe being prepared by those in power? Yes, I am convinced there is something wrong with this school. And all of us are in danger - if only we knew what kind of danger. You're not the only one who has concerns about what's going on at home. Let me tell you another dream I had."
Selkise didn't go into his mind this time; she was satisfied with the verbal descriptions.
"What a nightmare! I thought I was the only one who had misgivings, so I was afraid to share them with anyone else, not to be labeled as a worrywart. But now I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones who have anxious feelings, just only few people are willing to share them with others."
"Isn't there any other way to get out of here than to get a thousand points? How about to try to withdraw? I don't mind learning magic, but my parents mean something to me, too."
"You think you are the first one to think of that? Xitati went to the goblin a month ago with the intention of begging him to send her home. She'd have been willing to lie down at his feet to get him to agree."
"So how did it end?"
-She came back a little out of sorts - she didn't tell me much, but she was determined to study until the end. And she no longer had any desire to go home."
"She was influenced by magic!"
"You'd think I hadn't guessed. And if at first I thought about following her example, now I won't go."
"So there's no other way. Well, you could try to get to the interspace portals, and then, by some miracle, activate them. But that's hardly something any of us can do, especially since only Pulsok has access to them. Even the dwarves aren't allowed close."
"We're not going anywhere, then. Yeah, it's not very nice to feel like a mouse trapped in a mousetrap. After all, no other school of magic has such closeness from the outside world, not even drowes' ones, where for any transgression you can be punished in a way that you never forget it for the rest of your life."
"You know," Tim said confidentially, although it is unlikely that anyone could have overheard them, "I have a suspicion. Don't laugh, please! We are all being prepared for some very dangerous mission. That's why they invented the trick with the doppelgangers - what if someone does not come back from there alive? And they don't tell you about it in advance, or else who would agree to that voluntarily? All the more reason for the parents not to agree, therefore vacations and visits are forbidden."
" Are we to be guinea pigs?" Selkise said bitterly. "I've heard that some evil sorcerers steal children to experiment on them. It's not really clear why we're being taught magic then, but it's still scary. What should we do now?"
And she looked at him hopefully.
"I don't know yet, but I'll think of something," Tim tried to reassure her.
"I believe so," she moved in close, and he could feel her anxious breath on his cheek. "You really are very resourceful. As long as it's not too late."
"I'll try. And if we act together, I'm sure we can do it. A clever idea doesn't have to come to me first. If you think of anything interesting, don't hesitate to let me know."
"Thank you. But so far, nothing good has come to my mind. Portals are an interesting idea, but my intuition tells me they're not the right way, and might even be a trap. As to the teachers - who knows won't tell, and who doesn't know, there's no point in asking. If we could break into the Principal's office, I'm sure there would be a clue, or at least a key to it. But how to get there, if the third tier is not easy to climb, and we can't fly? Although if we combine magic power, it might work, but our team is too small for that, it will take half of the class. And they must all be able to keep silent, if one spills the beans, all will be lost. We must carefully consider who can be trusted, and who is better not to engage ..."
Listening to Selkise's reasoning, Tim quietly removed the ring from his finger and unwillingly listened to her voice, which sounded like the babble of a brook:
"...Elimppi anlakent itnaamm tampti omakinst..."
"Atinn euntu leasat!" at one point she exclaimed indignantly, tugging at his sleeve, and Tim hurriedly put the ring back on his finger.
"You're not listening to me at all!" a translation immediately followed.
"On the contrary, I was listening very carefully. I was just thinking a little while I was doing it. The idea of levitation is certainly not bad..."
"As a matter of fact, I'd already had time to switch to a completely different topic. And how did you like our language?"
"Very much! It's even more beautiful than elvish one."
"Well, you're exaggerating. The elves have a very melodious accent, especially when they are starting to narrate about something. Or rather, it's about light elves - dark ones talk as if they were driving an iron on a glass. I can't even believe that they were once one people!"
"Probably because of the not entirely positive influence of the Goddess of Darkness they worship. But not everyone has been spoiled by her - to have a friend like Mez'A'Shib, I think many would not refuse."
"This again is an exception, as is Virda among the anzimars. By the way, it would be nice to have a dialogue with her."
"Why?"
"Don't you wonder where they came from and why they became the way they are? After all, they were very different once."
"Virda once mentioned the Great Service... Wait, how do you know what they were like?"
"From Jaamite, she and Virda are neighbors. By the way," Selkise whispered, "the caricatures that regularly appear in the hall of our tier are probably her handiwork. Jaamite saw her sketches in the grimoire - very well done. Not long ago Ri-Bo asked me if I knew who the author of those caricatures was. That struck me as odd - what did he need him for?"
"Ri-Bo got a little strange after that day. Something happened to him, but he wouldn't tell us what it was. And I don't want to ask him about it."
"That's right. Sooner or later he'll tell about it, when he's tired of keeping it to himself and needs to get off his chest."
"I hope so. I was relieved too when I told you about my dreams."
"Really?"
"You bet! If only you knew how exhausting it is when you really want to talk about something but can't. That's what friends are for."
"So I'm your friend now?" Selkise smiled slyly.
"Yes, do you mind? Or do you really think I'm seeking friends only among boys?"
"That's very nice to hear. Because for us girls, sometimes it is very difficult to take as a friend someone of the opposite sex - you own girlfriends will pester with mockery and rebukes. Not everyone manages to maintain friendship in such circumstances."
"But we'll try, right?" Tim winked at her. "And one more thing: you'll sit at the same desk with us in class from now on. If you wish, of course."
"I'd love to. Just don't change your mind before tomorrow morning."
"Never! Can you believe it? Although for you, as an empath, it is not difficult to distinguish the truth from a lie."
"Well, you asked for it. Give me your hand back."
But even after Selkise was convinced that everything Tim had said was the absolute truth, they did not break contact with their palms for a long time. And they stared into each other's eyes in silence.