***
Gregor shook off the delusion, fighting a flash of headache.
Over time, they haunted him more and more often " memories and the migraines that followed them. I had to leave. The portal had thrown him out in the middle of green hills without a single tree, so the necromancer couldn't see any hiding places or hiding places in his line of sight. And it was not necessary to discount the local population, whose level of development was also unknown. Or maybe he was in a world without intelligent life at all.
Picking up the bag with his belongings, the magician went to where, according to his feelings from the world, the north should be. Being in the coldest province of Tamriel had taken its toll on his habits, and the warm climate made him uncomfortable, and the sun beat down hard, forcing Gregor to speed up.
With a cheerful clink of his mailed underarm, he climbed the nearest hill. The picture that presented itself to his eyes was inspiring: "between the hills, disappearing over the horizon, a road wound. Primitive, not even compared to the stone-paved roads of Skyrim, and the commercial arteries of High Rock had to be kept quiet at all. But still, it was a sign of civilization, which could not but please the wizard " in the wights that he used as batteries to break through the wormhole, much more necro-energy accumulated over the centuries than he expected, and the transition process went awry. The runic circle simply wasn't designed for such volumes, and the deceptions he'd left behind for the Thalmorians clearly didn't add much strength to it. It was already a miracle that he flew out of the portal in one piece and did not lose his miracle bag, and was not smeared with a thin layer on the everlost. The fact that there were humans in the world where he found himself could be called a gift from Aedr, and it was very generous and from everyone at once. True, he was embarrassed by the too small footprints on the trampled ground, but maybe children had recently passed through here? And in almost all worlds, parents usually didn't let their offspring leave the house until they were older, but who knows what traditions there were in this?
Adjusting the strap on his shoulder, Gregor headed north, getting further away from the road meeting the natives was not part of his plans until he had a shelter, a laboratory, and at least a couple of dozen zombies. Summoning spirits was too dangerous in this situation, who knows how the local gods will react to an outsider breaking into their plan. Nor did he like them, preferring the less fast, but more robust Cadavers.
So, briskly moving his gauntleted boots, the necromancer moved further away from the exit point of the portal, from which a patch of dead grass was spreading in all directions, and the type of energy that fed the portal affected.
By the end of the day, Gregor was finally able to find a small cave hidden in the rocks among the hills. In it, the magician decided to make a stop. The impromptu march had worn him out, and even with the change magic amplified, the Breton's body needed a break. And it was worth a bite. Even if he could go without food for years, feeding himself with vital energy, but in this case he quickly weakened the body also needed fuel, and in the absence of it, it began to devour itself.
The wizard did not have time to take supplies with him, having made a choice in favor of a portable altar, so it was decided to get food according to the method of the ancestors by hunting. And now the sorcerer looked at the result of his success, becoming more and more convinced of the correctness of his decision to avoid people.
After all, he couldn't call a beast carcass nailed to the grass by a bone arrow anything other than the result of experiments in life magic. Most of all, the animal resembled a hybrid of a fox and a hare: red short hair, rabbit ears and fox tail were clearly visible on the green background of the grass.
But his stomach demanded food, so he stripped off the skin and removed all the bones from the body, then tossed the mutant carcass into the alchemy pot. Gregor was shaken by the fact that he was using magical equipment as kitchen utensils, but there was nothing he could do about it. It is good that I was able to extract water by freezing ice, and convert coal from stones. While the dinner bubbled fervently on the three-sided stand created for its preparation, the necromancer decided to take care of scouting the area. And in this he was helped by the remnants of Zaitselis, which became the basis for the bone scout. By softening and crumpling the bones into a homogeneous mass, he was able to fashion a kind of bird.
The Mage scrutinized the result. Rudely. Even his first necroplasty crafts looked more presentable. But the bone tools he'd left behind in Skyrim were too bulky. However, it will be enough to complete the task. " The sorcerer breathed a bunch of green energy at the bizarre bone figure. Nothing happened for a couple of minutes, but then the structure jerked, spreading its small wings. Outside the cave, Gregor threw it into the air, and it disappeared into the sky.
Shu Mii – captain of the Earth Kingdom squad at Xiao Outpost.
Dust rose in clouds from the feet of the Conestraus of my squad. And why is it that I'm the one on duty that all this stuff happens? He would be sipping wine in a tavern right now, and my fiancee, Ran, who came with him to the place of duty, would not mind paying attention to her fiance.
But no, the peasants saw flashes not far from their village " Shu, go check it out. And I'm not blind, and I can see that that bastard Lao has his eye on my Ran, so he encouraged his uncle Major Ping to send the captain away for any reason.
Otherwise, why send it to every sneeze of these plebs?
Taxes not paid " Shu, beat the debt out of the arrogant smerds who do not appreciate the wise rule of Kuei and his henchmen.
A drunkard, after getting drunk, saw a squad of fire warriors outside his house? "Shu, go check it out, what if it's the vanguard of the invasion?
Invasion. In the middle of nowhere, where the Fire People were only seen in pictures, and even those in the last century, and half a continent to the front. Not even an idiot would believe it.
Now, visitors from the spirit world have come to our world to steal all the cattle from the terrified peasants. The threat would have been serious if they hadn't been near the swamp and it hadn't been the tenth signal in six months. Yes, and the major himself was supposed to check them, but who cares, except for the loser on whom it was blamed?
The soldier slapped his saddle in exasperation, as the squad looked on knowingly. There was nothing he could do about his superiors ' orders, which made him unspeakably angry. But leaving your fiancee alone with Lao? It was too much for him, and he was about to turn his transport back when he noticed a white dot in the sky.
A bird? In the rocky hills, where only foxes are found? But it doesn't look like the dragon hawk used by the Fire Nation either, it's all white.
The young captain gave the order to continue on. He may have been young, but he had already been on the front lines before being exiled to the edge of the world. And now his senses were beginning to signal an impending threat, just as they had when he had been hit by a synchronized barrage of firebenders near the Ba Sing Se wall. Then he survived only thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Tong, who covered them with a stone wall in time. And now he had the same feelings as before the shelling.
"I don't like this bird," Sergeant Chan drawled next to him. "No matter how much trouble you bring.
"Stop panicking! Brave warriors were afraid of a stray bird? "the commander shamed them" And tomorrow what? Will you tremble at the sight of a field mousetrap?
The soldiers cheered up. Indeed, what is there to be afraid of for the fighters of the Earth Kingdom, which has already withstood the onslaught of the vile fire tribe for a hundred years?
So the party continued on with high spirits, and half an hour later they reached the place where the villagers said there was an invasion from the spirit world.
"Captain, you should take a look at this.
Shu rode up to the soldier who had said this:
"So what did you find?
"Master, the earth is dead!
Miy carefully looked at the gray patch of ground under his feet. It was indeed gray, like a graveyard, and the dead spot was expanding slightly.
The captain dismounted and tried to conquer the land, but to his surprise could not lift a single grain of sand.The element that always answered the call, obeying his will… Rejected him. Ignored him as if he wasn't an earthbender.
Shu ran out of the spot and tried to conquer the earth again. The earthen spike that emerged from the ground was much shorter than usual. But the elements responded!
So the reason was in the dead soil itself!
The captain stared at the spot: the grass was dying, shrinking under the sun's rays, and it seemed that its light had become dimmer in this place. Faint shadows flickered on the edge of visibility, and soft whispers could be heard.
In a panic, the bender lifted the rocks, covering the cursed ground with a hood of stone.
"Let's go," a trickle of sweat ran down his temple. "We need to report everything to Major Ping."
"Yes, sir" the other soldiers weren't benders, and they didn't understand their commander's fear, but getting away from the cursed place was a big deal.
The briskly assembled party quickly ran back down the path, and didn't notice the bone bird watching them intently…
A few kilometers to the north of them, a necromancer sitting in a cave opened his eyes, and at the same time, his spy crumbled into a pile of dust. With all the advantages of this spell, it had one significant drawback: "one-time use. But he had completed his task, and that was all that was needed. As he had expected, his arrival was noticed. Small green-uniformed soldiers mounted on birds were trying to sniff out something at the crossing point, poking their fingers at a patch of necros-stricken earth. Most of all, Gregor was attracted to the man in heavy armor, who was making some strange passes with his hands. And then, on bare control, he raised the dome over the dead spot.
The wizard tried not to bring the bird closer to the party, fearing detection and limiting himself to watching from afar, but his construct was still noticed: it is difficult to miss a white dot against the blue sky. But considering the mutants he had encountered, the fauna of this world could be very diverse, so he decided not to worry about it. As it turned out, in vain.
The undead alarmed the soldiers, who spent ten minutes standing still, pointing their fingers at the sky, but after a command bellow, they continued on their way. The bird did not transmit sounds well, but from what he heard, Gregor realized that he would be learning the local language for a long time. And no charms were of any help " the construction of both words and sentences is too different. Most of all, the language of this group resembled the Khajiit dialect, with its mewing sound, and they chattered in it very quickly.
Gregor rubbed his temples wearily, direct control of the puppets always caused a slight pain in the head, and now he needed a clear mind.
Whoever these warriors were, they were not his allies. Most people didn't like necromancy, and judging by the local reaction to the "dead soil circle," they were no exception.
And even if they were adepts in the dark arts, they wouldn't be riding live hybrids of ostrich and chicken, but dead horses, as every decent sorcerer should.
(Gregor had one, too, but it didn't fit in the portal, of course.)
And direct control of the earth element…
In theory, Gregor he could control the earth only with pure will: "any more or less experienced sorcerer will either become iron or die over time. But the costs would be high, and the results much more modest. The energy that the unknown magician spent on erecting a three-meter cone of earth was enough for him to raise several hundred ghouls or create a bone forest. This made this direction meaningless for Gregor.
But there were mages here, which was good enough. Even if, judging by the way they used their powers, they were primitive, but most importantly they were! This means that he had a chance to find something interesting, something new. Or at least get some new reagents, because the old lab was still in Tamriel, and he would have to put everything back together anyway. And that required a lot of experimental animals. A lot of test subjects, which will definitely not please the locals. So you'll have to take what you need by force. Although... it's not the first time he's done this. But you need to be careful, who knows what tricks the locals may have up their sleeves?
The soldiers seen by the spy were front-line patrols or scouts, which was not much different in the eyes of a mage from spies, which meant that they would soon have to wait for guests. Gregor gloomily looked through the rock at the auras of the fox-men running around not far from the cave. Even if the original material is poor and not enough, it will prepare a warm welcome for an unknown opponent, and he will help him in this.
But first, "he will try what the foxcatcher tastes like," the necromancer nodded to himself as he looked at the steaming pot.
Shu Mii.
His squad drove the Ostrich horse forward, constantly spurring the sweating animals. The young commander understood: "such news must be conveyed to the headquarters at any cost. Okay, if it's the spirits playing pranks, but what if it's the Fire Nation's new weapon?
Deprive the benders of the Ba Sing Se Wall of strength for at least an hour , and it will fall to the conqueror.
So he'd rather drive the poor animals to death, but get the message across to Major Ping. And then it will fall on the table of the generals, and they will come up with something. And Shu himself may even be rewarded. And then he and Ran will get married.
The soldier's spirits rose a little at the thought of the girl. Before that, he had only looked at this duty as a heavy, tedious duty, but now the fact that it was used as a plug in every barrel will play on his side. And if you're lucky, you can move Major Pin, " the old man sat up too late at his post. And then the young captain is the first to discover the new weapon of their enemy.
Mii signaled the squad to slow down, and under the surprised stares of his subordinates, he began to think feverishly about the situation: if he wanted to move his superiors, they should be the last to hear the news, preferably along with the order to leave the service.
Only there did Shu have any acquaintances, and only there was a sufficient garrison to protect the province in the event of a breakthrough from the spirit world or the vanguard of an invasion.
The people of earth, unlike other nations, were more superstitious about spirits, which was for good reason. More territory " more visitors from their world. And no man's land was an extremely tasty morsel for those who wanted to escape from the other side.
Among the water tribes, the guardian spirits were Tui and La, the Fire People worshipped dragons, albeit in a peculiar form, and the air nomads were famous for their bison and ancient spiritual practices during their lifetime.
So it turned out that the entire spiritual zoo, which wants to know the material plane, was thinly smeared across the provinces of the Earth Kingdom, much to the annoyance of its inhabitants, because along with harmless spirits, real monsters entered their world, hungry for human beings. More than once, late Kingdom soldiers found only villages cut out and bones gnawed away. So, in addition to ambition, the captain was also motivated by the desire to protect people from possible danger. Being a native of the same village, he couldn't allow monsters to feast on humans.
"Stop! Shu yanked Conestraus 'reins," change of route, we're heading to Gaolin.
"But Captain," Sergeant Chang rode up to the commander, " it's almost thirty leagues to Gaolin, wouldn't it be easier to get to the outpost and take a bird there…
"No way! The captain was adamant, " By the time the letter reaches the city garrison, the Fire Nation's spirits or soldiers will have already slaughtered everyone in Xiao. We can ride faster on our own, so we don't have to make a detour to the outpost.
"But Commander…
"Follow orders! "at such moments, the soldiers understood why Shu Mai was given a captain at twenty-five. The young earthbender was really suppressing when he was angry.
"There is.
Turning around, a squad of half a hundred mounted soldiers once again spurred the animals. He had an exhausting march to Gaolin ahead of him.