Chapter XXIII

They barely persuaded Livia to go up to the roof and let them know as soon as the riders appeared on the main street leading to the gate. They knew that those who had gone to the port had not yet returned, nor had they heard fighting, so they might return soon. Livia was afraid of heights but still agreed to climb on the roof of a tall building, which was quite difficult for an inexperienced girl, so the boys also cheered her on. Lucius and Uriel were hiding near a huge stable, waiting for a sign. Michael stood on the other side of the street to get the attention of the guards when needed. Lily was asleep. Lucius hadn’t said goodbye to her, but now it was too late to think about it. There was little time left.

The mirror in Livia’s hand reflected the sunlight, and thus they realized it was time.

“Red-eyes! Red-eyes!” - Michael shouted and when the stablemen came out of the stable, Lucius jumped into the window. A few seconds later, they found themselves in a stable, although Lucius did not know what to do next.

“What now?” - whispered to Blondy.

“Do not worry, I am not stealing horses for the first time,” he smiled at the sight of Lucius’s surprised face. “My brother taught me we used to steal from our own stable ...”

Uriel galloped towards Angela, and without stopping, grabbed the girl. The guards and stablemen at first stared in amazement and could not believe that someone was stealing the horse in front of their eyes. Then they turned away from Michael and chased Uriel, but on foot. None of them thought of chasing them on horseback. Lucius was expecting this, too, and dragged the horse out of the stable.

He was not a splendid rider and got lucky that the horse turned out to be calm and restrained.

Lucius galloped towards Michael and assisted him to sit back. Michael barely made it to the horseback after several attempts.

Soon they rushed to the central road, moving towards the wall. Uriel was nowhere to be seen. Lucius couldn’t slow down, as the gate was already being opened, and he had no other choice.

As he approached the gate, Uriel also galloped his horse from the side road and joined them.

“Stop at once!” - shouted the officer, when Uriel ran into the slightly opened gate and Lucius followed behind.

Several riders followed them back. Uriel immediately yelled at Lucius to follow him and change direction. Michael turned and counted five wizards in red and gold robes.

“They have tired horses so we will drop them eventually,” said Michael, and Lucius rushed at full speed.

“Why do they follow us?” - Michael asked. Lucius was also very interested in the answer. It would have been understandable if the officers chased them for stealing, but did the wizards bother for such petty theft? Besides, they obviously could not catch up with the tired, emaciated horses.

“I think we got rid of the wizards,” said a delighted Uriel. However, he noticed his horse was slowing down.

“What the hell?!” - Uriel greeted. Tried to subdue the horse, but the stallion resisted, neighing tried to turn back. Angela could not restrain herself and fell down. Blondy jumped off as well, as the horse became too disobedient.

Suddenly Michael’s horse jumped unnaturally and boys found themselves on the ground and the horse ran back.

“What the hell is happening?!” - Uriel could not come to his senses. He helped Angela get up. The girl was not seriously hurt, only had several bruises.

“Why did the horses run? What the hell made them so mad?!” - The blondy could not calm down. Lucius was no less irritated, though, before making a sound his headache so much that he collapsed on the spot. The pain was so unbearable he thought his head would explode. He heard unearthly screaming, piercing his brain even more.

So they lay on the ground, convulsing in endless agony, suffering in excruciating pain. Suddenly, the distinct sound of a horse came to Lucius. Next, he felt that someone grabbed him and dragged him on the horseback like a sack. Blinded by all this pain he could barely see, but still caught sight of a ghostly figure with red eyes. Surprisingly, it was not the eyes of a wicked, bloodthirsty creature...

The wizards did not spare the horses. They put all their strength and effort into reaching the wall, staring back and forth as if something (or someone) was following behind. The unbearable headache did not stop, as if it was not enough. Someone’s incessant screaming pierced his brain. At some point, Lucius realized it was his own voice all this time. Everything felt like a dreadful nightmare and he hoped to wake up second by second.

“Do not fall behind, we are approaching the gate!” - Cried, someone.

Lucius realized they were already on the main road and had to stay for a while before the wall. His rider looked back and screamed in fright, “That something is too near!”

The wizard ahead of them turned the horse and galloped in the opposite direction.

“I’ll try to stop it for a while!” - He shouted.

Lucius could vaguely see how the wizard was approaching something reddish, but he could not figure out what it was, nor did he care, because of the maddening pain.

“Close the gate!” - Lucius heard the order.

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As soon as the gate was closed, the headache disappeared, but it left him exhausted. They found themselves in a huge, bright room, probably in the hall of some nobleman.

“They asked me to climb on the roof, I did not think...” - Livia’s weak voice could be heard, someone was sitting in front of a red and gold uniform and was scared to explain something.

“Let the girl go. He knows nothing” - Vittorio had a firm voice.

“Yes, but...”

“Get her out of the room!” - repeated the wizard.

Lucius noticed the fear in Livia’s eyes as someone pulled her out of the room.

“Drink it,” the middle-aged woman handed the glasses to the children. Lucius knew her. She was in the commander’s room earlier.

The drink turned out to be warm and tasty, it also increased their stamina.

“I think they are ready to answer our questions,” said the other wizard.

“So why did you escape?” asked the red-haired one.

There was no answer.

“Rufus told me when they pick you up. You were screaming, convulsing, shouting. Can you describe what were you feeling?

“Intolerable headache,” Uriel replied.

“And it started as soon as you reached that place?”

“Yes,” replied Uriel again.

“When my people found you rolling and convulsing on the ground, your eyes were red. Do you know that?”

“Why do we have to talk so much?! Let’s kill them and end it. At least we can not help them. There is nothing to find out here. They met that creature and became marked ones too,” said the youngest wizard. The black man raised his hand and silenced him.

“Why did you run away from here today?” - Vittorio repeated the woman’s question.

There was no point in hiding anymore. The wizards knew about eyes already, so silence could only bring death to them.

“We decided to escape after seizures. A few days before your arrival in Mondelay, first, it happened to me then to the others,” Lucius replied this time.

“What seizures?” - Vittorio frowned.

“Seizures, which were accompanied by redness of the eyes and we got afraid, if someone saw our eyes, they would kill us. So we ran away.

“It is nonsense, Vittorio. They lie to deceive us,” said the young magician. Vittorio answered nothing. He put his head in his hands and it was like that for a while. The others watched him and the kids silently.

“I was there, Vittorio. I saw how our ship sank and it left no one alive on the ship. In this city, on this land, something terrible is happening… What should have killed so many warriors, Vittorio? We searched the streets of the city for the traces, but in vain. Instead, we all felt that something or someone was watching us. If it could sink the ship, it would have defeated us too, but only showed up when we went back inside the wall. Maybe the city commander was right, Vittorio. Maybe it’s really a vessel of the Regad...

“Do not talk nonsense!” - The red-haired woman interrupted the wizard.

“If the vessel of the Regad was here, no one would be alive in this city.”

“Maybe the vessel is too young?!” - said Vittorio.

“Well, even if it was born yesterday, these sinful walls could not restrain it. And what about the red one? Is there even such a color?” The woman asked.

“Existence of regads is confirmed by the magic of the barons. The purpose of this creature, whether it’s a vessel or not, is unknown to us. Therefore, it means nothing if these walls are intact and townsfolk are still alive,” - sighed Vittorio.

A strange silence fell. Most of them had desperate faces. In the eyes of Lucius, they were wise, powerful wizards. He thought they stood above ordinary people, but now they resembled ordinary mortals with fear in their eyes.

“What should we do, Vittorio, if it’s really a vessel? You are the only shaman among us, and what can we do against such creatures?” - Whispered red-haired one.

“I do not know, but if it is really a vessel, it can only be newborn. Otherwise, we could feel its existence,” Vittorio said thoughtfully.

“How do you know all that?” Asked one of the wizards.

“Years ago, when we were very young, Marcus and I were fascinated by the tales about Regads. We read a lot about them. Marcus knew a lot more about them and wanted to understand more. Maybe that was the reason for everything that had happened later. But now it does not matter. The main thing is that I know something about this creature, and what I have heard here makes me think that we might really be dealing with a vessel.

“What does a vessel of Regad want here to kill people? Destroying the city? What is the point of all this?” asked the younger wizard.

“I do not know, Rufus. Understanding the motives of the Regads is not a simple task. Wherever the vessel appeared, the goals or causes of this event have never been known...”

Again, everyone sank into silence and thought until one of them asked,

“Should we kill them?”

“killing them is unnecessary for now. Let’s lock them in this room. I will decide later what we can do,” - Vittorio answered. Then, everyone was given their roles and left the room one by one.

Only kids, a middle-aged woman, Rufus, and Vittorio remained in the room.

“What do you think is happening to them?” - continued the red-haired wizard.

“It’s hard to say,” he replied. - They don’t look like ordinary marked ones, also they have not been in direct contact with the source. As the process started beforehand.

“Maybe they are lying?”

“I do not think they would try to escape from here for no reason when they could meet horrible death in every second beyond the walls. Marcus’s interest in them makes me more curious...”

“What if a vessel turns up here?” - Rufus asked the black wizard.

“If that happens, then I will have to perform an oriental dance.” - He replied.

“You mean Delta?” - Admiration and respect were felt at the same time in Rufus’s voice. Vittorio nodded slightly in agreement and then turned to the grumpy woman with the words,

“Jahna, I‘ll need your help to prepare for this.”

“But nothing has happened yet, and we do not know if we are really dealing with a vessel,” replied red-haired.

“It may be too late when we found out. So we need to take measurements now. I can not do oriental dance alone. I have not recovered enough yet, so I need your help.” - Said Vittorio and left the room.

Kids were left alone and not a minute had passed since they were looking for an escape already. The balcony door was open. But they could not escape from there with no one noticing. The exit door of the room was locked. And even if they escaped somehow, meeting with this creature was more fearsome than death itself, so they soon abandoned their intention and returned to the soft seats.

Lucius had everything messed up in his head. There was no connection between Marcus’s behavior and the story of these wizards. He could not understand why Marcus summoned them to Mondelay if he knew they would come to kill or capture him. Why were his eyes red when he had no contact with that creature before escaping? Was it related to the dream that he had before being called to the commander’s office? If that’s the case, then Michael, Uriel, and Angela should have seen something similar, but they did not.

He then remembered when Marcus touch their foreheads, he started laughing like a madman, repeating that some bastard was right about something. Maybe that was the reason… Lucius could say think of any solution.

“If I reveal my identity, could it possibly help us?” - asked Blondy.

“I do not think the royal authority is anything to the wizards,” replied Lucius.

“You are right, it is not worth disclosing” - Agreed Michael.

The door opened, and the maid brought food. When Lucius smelled it, he remembered he was hungry as hell and, despite all his worries and thoughts, sat down at a large wooden table to eat. The others joined immediately. It was weird, but eating improved their mood a little and later the fatigue took its toll and they fell asleep...