Portal Key [https://i.imgur.com/i3J9oJz.jpeg]

- I was expecting a brave warrior, - Nix sighed. - But a frightened child came to me.

- Then let me go. I will go home. - I was a little relieved that my adventure was over. Would my friends believe the story? What kind of warrior was this magician waiting for?

Nix sat motionless in his chair, thinking about something. He was waiting for the warrior, whom he considered the last hope in the fight against the dark forces that threatened the world. The old man’s eyes glittered with a tired light mixed with a note of anxiety. He gazed into an uncertain future, pondering his deeds and the consequences that might come.

I interrupted the lingering silence.

- You were expecting a warrior?! So it’s your fault I’m here and standing before you?

- Yes, it’s kind of my fault.

- Kind of?!

- I opened the portal, giving the warrior a chance to help me. Why you ended up here, I don’t understand. Apparently, I put the wrong settings in the Key.

- Reminds me of “Kung Fu Panda, — Nikos smirked. -“ I am the Dragon Warrior.”

Friendly laughter filled the room. Even I smiled.

- It’s not my fault that the situation is like the animation. However, there were differences. Panda wanted to be a warrior. He had dreams where he fought and won. In my dreams there were marble maidens created by the hand of Benjamin Victor, and Louis Li Rong. But back to our dialog with Nix. Hearing about the Key and the Portal made me angry:

- Enter the correct settings and let me go. I’m not a warrior. I can’t fight.

- I’m sorry, I can’t, — Nix shrugged. He reached over to the table and somehow one of the ceramic drink bottles was in his hands. - I don’t have the Key.

I still felt like I was being played. What Key, what Portal.

- You can explain to me what’s going on. Where I am and why I can’t go home?

- I'm trying to explain it to you and I'm waiting for you to stop being nervous, -Nix reverted to the old man’s image. - You are in a land I call Orkvalia.

- Because of the orcs? - I grinned.

- What orcs? - The interlocutor was taken aback. - What are orcs?

- Forget it! Tell me more.

- It's a wonderful country filled with magic. Orkvalia can turn any of your fantasies into reality.

- Can I create a Key to open the Portal?

Nix sighed and answered,

- You don’t know its working principle, its form. My imagination did not create the Key and the Portal, I just used them. The Key looks like this, — Nix held out his hand to me, and a small object appeared on his palm, a small triangular pyramid.

- I don’t know what’s inside the Key. I don’t know how it works. I only know how to use it.

- If you want a warrior, create a warrior.

- See these figures? - Nix nodded at the chess set. - My futile attempts. I had to enlist the help of the Key.

- Why do you need a warrior? - curiosity slowly overcame me. - What are you drinking? Can I taste your drink?

I thought that far from my homeland I could afford to drink one cocktail consisting of a drop of rum and a glass of Coke. Nix handed me a cup of water.

- Try to imagine that the cup contains your favorite drink. Remember the flavor, the ingredients.

Images swirled in my head: a barrel of strong Jamaican rum, cans of cola, sizzling liquid, little prickles on my tongue. The water in the cup darkened like the desired rum-cola. I took a cautious sip.

- So how was your first impression? - Nix asked.

- Tolerable, — I didn’t know on what scale to rate the quality of the drink I’d created. - It tasted like a wooden barrel.

- You’ve only made your first attempt and you’ve already got results.

I quickly finished the contents of the cup and when I filled it with water from the flask I imagined rum in a glass bottle.....

My friends, when they heard that I had learned to create an alcoholic beverage, became angry:

- Why didn’t you tell us this before?

- We’ve been suffering for so long without a drink!

- You asshole, - Theodore jumped up from his seat. Only Sasha looked at me calmly:

- You did the right thing. If I had known it was possible, I would have become a real alcoholic.

The passions calmed down a bit and I could continue calmly:

.... The cocktail clouded my mind a little, my trouble didn’t seem something terrible anymore. I asked Nix:

- So why did you need a warrior?

- Now you have a small idea of where you’ve come to. Orkvalia is a magnificent land, for realizing one’s potential. What was your impression when you climbed out of the pit and looked around?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

- Ruin and desolation. No one lives here, it’s uninhabited.

- You’re partly right. Ruin and desolation.There are a dozen or two places in the whole country where people live. Most of them live underground, like me. The culprit is a family of dragons - who have taken over.

- So that’s why they call you... - Alex interrupted my story with a shout of joy. I put my finger to my mouth and hissed,

- Shh-shh-shh-shh! If you guessed it - say nothing! Don’t reveal the intrigue before time. Just enjoy the story...

- Dragons, — my head swirled with plots filled with dragon characters. Good and bad, flying and crawling. Eastern and European. What dragons is Nix telling me about right now?

The old man continued,

- Dragons take away people’s horned cattle to feed themselves, take away small children, ruin the magic of this country with their actions.

- Why do they take children? For breakfast?

- Soldiers and servants, that’s what it’s for. Children grow up, lose their humanity, turn into human-dogs.

- Children of the dragon!!! - Michael, Nikos and Basil exclaimed simultaneously. I was accused:

- You knew! You knew everything!

- Why are we only finding out now?

- What haven’t you told us yet?

- Calm down, I’ll explain everything. Yes, I knew there were such creatures. But I’d never encountered them before. In all my six journeys. That’s why I forgot, even when Nix warned me I might encounter them. Are you going to stay angry or can I continue?

- Continue, - Nikos waved his hand....

.... Besides humans, evil creatures serve dragons. They walk like humans, but their bodies look more like deformed human bodies and their heads are disgusting. Bared teeth, drooling, evil laughter.

At the mention of laughter, one computer game that featured similar characters popped into my mind.

- I call such creatures Servus, — the old wizard continued. - Besides dragons and Servus, there are many other creatures in the country that poison the peaceful lives of ordinary people. But the major threat to all life is dragons, of course. There are several places on the planet where dragons live in families, but the worst ones are the ones that have taken over in Orkvalia.

- Old man, I think you’re planning a coup d’état with the help of a warrior who’s come here. The warrior will kill the dragons and you will rule the land in peace. Isn’t that right?

- No, it’s not. I don’t want power, I don’t want fame. I tried to make a bird like this today, - Nyx handed me some beautiful, colorful feathers. - I wanted it to fly through the forests and sing. I named it the kara-kora. The dragon burned a pair of birds, out of the sky. There were only a few feathers left.

- You’re a mage, aren’t you? - I asked Nix a simple question. - Why don’t you fight the dragons and destroy the family? It’s better than just sitting around waiting for a warrior to show up.

- I can’t kill a dragon, — the old wizard said and solemnly. - I can’t kill anyone at all. The more creatures I create, the longer my life is. Killing one creature, even the most evil, the most disgusting one, would violate the foundation of my own essence. My essence is imbued with a living creativity that brings life, not death. My magic is the art of creation, inspired by a love of life and harmony. By killing, I would destroy that harmony, disrupting not only the lives of others, but my own essence. My purpose is not destruction, but ascension and transformation. I become part of what I create, and destroying any being, even the most evil one, will lead to the destruction of that harmony and of me. For the same reason I do not seek power, because my heart is filled with the desire for harmony and creativity, not submission and control. My essence is infused with the living breath of life, not death. I believe that true power lies in understanding, cooperation and respect, not in dominating others. Power based on coercion and suppression only destroys harmony and causes strife. I strive to be a creator, not a destroyer, and my magic is aimed at ascension and transformation, not suppression and control. Thus, my purpose is not power, but harmony and balance in the world.

- You've made it clear to me,- I sighed. - that I have almost the same aspirations. I think I was born to create beautiful things. I'm not a warrior. Maybe the two of us should try the Portal again and wait for someone more warlike to arrive?

- Opening the portal a second time won’t work for several reasons. If you have any understanding of science, you should realize that it takes a lot of energy to move even a small object through space. And you’re not a small object. The device has to charge up. But that’s not the point. You didn’t pay attention to my phrase at the very beginning of our conversation: - I don’t have the key.

- Why isn't there a Key?! - I jumped up from my seat. Nix’s story was depressing. According to the old wizard, I'm stuck in this country for a long time. Maybe forever!