I declare with authority that falling from a great height is painful. It's good that telekinesis softened the fall, and mana and prana strengthened the body.
Lying on the ground with my eyes closed, I indulged in thoughts. There are no enemies nearby, at least I don't feel them.
The behavior of the dead was quite interesting... The Lich noticed us almost from the very beginning, I don't know why he didn't attack even then, but he led us masterfully. Although it might not have been the Lich, but the chimera that appeared at the end. A pile of flesh with a hundred tentacles growing from different parts of the body, and the crown of this splendor was a giant jaw, which we almost fell into. Oh yes, don't forget about the black color of this creature, thanks to which the chimera was difficult to detect even without camouflage. It's not for nothing that it's night outside...
Hah, how comical that would be. Two "brave" scouts who made their way to the very center (well, almost...) of enemy territory unnoticed (almost...) voluntarily ran into the mouth of a giant chimera, otherwise they would be eaten in turn. Yes, in the history books this epic would take a separate place, for the most ridiculous death.
- Are you alright, Al? — without opening his eyes he asked the werewolf. I didn't want to get up, even if I wasn't very tired (what's a few hours of running for a metamorph?), but mentally I would like to rest and calm down a little. If it weren't for my attentiveness, death would have overtaken me.
"Looks like he's alive," the werewolf responded from somewhere nearby. Apparently he has already taken on human form. - What was that?
"I have no idea," I shrugged and answered the honest truth. "It looked like some kind of chimera." Just a little more and it could be lunch for us...
"Yeah," Al said. "Thank you for this," he thanked me, but I didn't answer anything. There was no need. - How did you know it was a trap? I couldn't even guess about this...
"The Draugr were acting strange," I began to answer. "Even though there were a lot of them, but... None of them used magic even once, you know?" Not once, which is not typical for magical creatures. And when approaching the clearing with the chimera, they began to slow down completely. Tired? It's not funny, the dead don't get tired," he stated his guess. "Somehow," I fell silent again, taking a deep breath. Yes, the number of inconsistencies is so small that you won't notice it individually (not counting magic, and even then in the heat of battle this is the last thing you think about), but if you put everything together... An interesting puzzle emerges.
"It's not for nothing that you're Poppy's student, your head is working." "I didn't even notice it, apparently I was running too fast," the werewolf answered, emitting a small laugh. - Thanks again.
Shrugging his shoulders at his words, he decided to get up. Taking a sitting position, he raised his head up and opened his eyes, wondering where we fell from.
A white ceiling with thousands of blue veins running through it. Ice-like stalactites hung from the ceiling. They emitted a soft, slightly bluish light.
On the ceiling, directly above us, was the mouth of the hole through which we fell here. It feels like we are in a deep well. Through the hole I could clearly see the stars that shone from the black canvas of the heavens. Hah, it really is a well. Like a frog from a fairy tale.
Lowering my head, I examined everything that was around us. A gigantic space, dotted with huge, ice pillars extending into the white ceiling. The ceiling itself consisted of snow that was placed on the crowns of icy trees. The interweaving of the branches of the ice giants created such a dense "carpet" that it was able to form an almost solid blue ceiling. That's where the snow accumulated on it.
The pillars themselves, which is logical, were the trunks of giant trees. I have no idea what kind of species it was, but the size was amazing. From the ground to the "ceiling" it was about fifty meters. Glory to magic, without it we would die... Well, crazy on the right. Also, at the base of most of these giants there were passages into the trunks, as if the tree had grown this way on purpose, forming a hole in the bark. Apparently, this is where we got inside the elves' dwellings.
But you can't just get there. Even from here I can see that these passages are closed by a thin wall of ice, almost transparent, but undoubtedly solid. Is this like a door made by elves?
Below ours, surprisingly, there was no snow at all, except for what fell with us from the ceiling. The ground around us was full of ice plants. It was as if you were in a forest, with all its splendor of vegetation, but all of it was "created" from ice.
The kingdom of ice, that's what was next to us. In magical vision, all this simply radiated Mana. The concentration of this energy was also much higher, as if the entire space was artificially fenced off so that mana would collect here, and the snow would act as an insulator.
Well, that's quite logical. What kind of magician who attacked the elven city actually made a kind of magical "greenhouse" for himself? After all, all the trees and other plants were alive. Yes, each of these plants radiated a "living" aura. I don't know why, but I didn't see her at the top. Even somehow strange.
Another structure is that someone changed the entire ecosystem to something completely unusual, in one sitting. Who can have such powers? And I'm not just talking about magical power, but also about abilities, as well as intelligence. This idea had to be reached, let alone implemented. I would like to talk to him, but I have vague doubts that this same person raised the elves from the dead, or is at least connected with the one who is responsible for this. If he is still alive (most likely he is), then if I at least appear in front of him, I will say goodbye to my life.
But it's amazing how beautiful it is.
Looking at the werewolf, I was honored to see his reaction to all this splendor. Graduation eyes, slightly open mouth. And emotions, mm. Yes, shock is our way of speaking.
- Beautiful, isn't it? — I said to the werewolf, smiling slightly (probably). As if he had arrived at home, he jerked his head and, looking at me, let out a strange laugh, scratching the back of his head with his hand.
"Ha-ha-ha, perhaps you're right," and why is he so embarrassed? Just think you've been staring. "I've been to many places, but I've never seen such beauty."
"Yes, yes," I nodded, agreeing with his words. After a slight pause, he added: "Even though the picture is beautiful and beautiful, it doesn't change the fact that we need to get out of here." Any suggestions?
Apparently my question made him very busy, he was so lost in thought. But yes, the question is interesting. Somehow I doubt that we will be able to do this. However, it's worth checking out.
"Okay, I have an idea," the werewolf's attentive gaze showed that he was completely attentive. "Although I strongly doubt that it will work, I will try to fly to the hole," he pointed with his finger to the place from where we fell. - If I can fly out - good, if not - bad, but something needs to be done early.
"Cool," this individual smiled cheerfully. "I wish you luck," um, you could kill him with his smile, it's so bright.
Looking at it as the eighth wonder of the world, I put this incident out of my head. Well, think about it, optimist, what's wrong with that?
The flapping of the wings lifted my body into the air. It's so good to look at the world below you from a bird's eye view, and the feeling of the wind in your feathers... however, that's not what we're talking about now.
I flew up to the ceiling and hovered in the air. Using magical vision, I took a closer look at him.
The mana that was, as it were, in the ceiling itself was so dense that it almost crystallized. However, not only its density surprised me, I also noticed blocks of enchantment in the resulting crust. Still, I was right that this place is somewhat reminiscent of a greenhouse. Why did I decide this? Mana from outside perfectly enters the zone fenced off by this anomaly, but it does not return back. Therefore, why it is so thick, undoubtedly the merit of the plants is also in this, that even in this state they continue to produce Mana, but the main merit lies with this anomaly.
Flapping my wings, I headed closer to the hole, but already on the way I began to feel how gravity began to gradually increase, and in the end I was able to feel the blow of the magic "hammer" on me.
The blow was strong enough to throw my body back. Like a thrown stone, I rushed to the ground. The fall was quite fast, but I still managed to stabilize my fall about ten meters from the ground.
Smoothly gliding to the ground and taking on the owl's familiar appearance, I headed towards Al, who was waiting for me.
"Well, as I understand it, you can't just get out like that," he said in a cheerful tone.
Looking at him in surprise (what's there to be happy about?..), I still nodded:
- Yes. There," he pointed upward. - Some kind of anomaly. At first, she gently does not allow you to "go" further, but if you continue on your way, then the measures will be much more significant. It was like I was hit with a hammer. The body still aches," he twitched his slightly numb hand to confirm his words. And this is me, a metamorph.
- And what will we do? - Al asked me after a short pause.
At that moment my surprise knew no bounds. Who is the adult here, him or me? It seems that he is the commander of the detachment, which means he must make decisions himself. Apparently he read something in my gaze, since he immediately decided to add something.
"I see you have no ideas at the moment," I nod in confirmation. - Then let's do this. First, let's try to go back, maybe there won't be a dome there. If he ends up there, we will move to the center of the territories. There must be a way out somewhere?
Nodding to his words, I immediately headed to where, in theory, our camp should be, only on the surface. Of course, this will take a lot of time, but none of us owns anything that would help us. Og or Susan could use their minions, but we, alas.
However, it didn't take long to walk. Turning into a wolf, Al took me on his back and ran. The speed was much higher than before. Well, that's logical, there are no dead people here. The only question is, why not? The whim of their owner? Or a cruel necessity? Unclear.
Sitting on my back and watching the landscape rushing past us, I realized that nothing would come of us. Gradually the trees became smaller, and along with them the ceiling became lower. The anomaly has not gone away.
And I was right. Literally a few hours later we arrived at the border of the dome. Well, like the border, the forest had not ended yet, no, but the trees were much lower, because of this the dome passed through the trunks and went somewhere underground.
Al was silent, I was with him. We had nothing to say, everything was already clear. The easy option is gone, only the riskier one remains. Turning around, the werewolf headed in the opposite direction.
Well, let's see what this icy forest hides?
*****
Having arrived at the already familiar clearing, we did not stop and continued on our way. I was already on visa, in case something happened, so our journey continued.
With every kilometer the trees became bigger and bigger. We also began to often come across elf buildings. That's what, but they didn't completely turn into ice, just like that castle under the dome. What was part of the tree definitely became the same as it, but something else... for example, a castle made of stone remained that way. The bridges that connected some of the houses also partially remained the same (stone arches. And why do they need them at such a height? However, some of the elf houses were also made of stone. On a tree, a house made of stone. How? Why? Why the hell? Fuck you will understand these elves.). Although maybe it was not the elves who did this, but the same gnomes, for example? Well, I saw their representatives in the hordes of the dead, during the attack on the camp, and the massacre.
Our journey went smoothly. There were no enemies along the way. Only giant giants and the beauty of a marvelous forest. This is what surrounded us.
However, after another hour of our journey, the idle running was interrupted.
- R-a-ah! — a roar, albeit very quiet, but still audible.
- "Heard?" — the werewolf mentally asked the stopped one.
"Yes," he answered. - "Only I don't know who makes this roar."
"Weaver-rna," was the short answer given to me.
- "Wyvern? But that means..." I began.
"This is our ticket to the world," the werewolf answered joyfully. - "After all, somehow they got here. So we can get out too."
At that moment, I completely shared his joy with him. This was a good sign. We have a chance to get out of here.