Unknown

  Pixies are small, parasitic forms of fairies. All they do is fly around and play tricks on people. No intelligence has been found in them. "Creatures of the Central Patch by Giz"

  In the morning, Gloomy had a headache, even though he only ate food and drank bittersweet water that night. But it's clear that the pain wasn't caused by the water, because Wolves gave it to his son again, and he felt better. Apparently, this drink relieves suffering. I wonder what would have happened to my head if I hadn't drunk it yesterday. I should take some more.

  Dara and Aigo found Gloomeye sitting against the wall of the tavern.

  "Here are supplies and money for the first time, Chosen One," Dara said, pointing to the bag Aigo was carrying. "This should last one person for a few weeks."

  "Oh, but there will be two of us. And how are you going to manage the city if you can't organise a two-person journey, 'Princess'?" Splinter floated out of the door.

  "And you can eat garbage that's left on the road," Princess replied.

  "Being rude to your subjects doesn't make a ruler look good, only a tavern wench. Perhaps you should become one before it's too late." Splinter suggested.

  Each sentence of the argument was pierced into Gloomy's brain with red-hot, rusty, patterned spikes. He took the supplies and said "Thank you".

  "Chosen One, one more thing," Princess's tone changed instantly. "I overheard and found out that Valkali was also given this mission. She will visit the city of Truth, where there is a library with possible information. You'll need pegs to get ahead of her. You can use the palace ones, they are idle anyway: grey Grassy and black Raven. For you and a guide, I recommend you hire. And sell your wench at a nearest den. You might even get a gold piece, but I don't think so.

  "You help me so much and I don't have anything to repay you with," Gloomeye said, not sure how to react to the free help. He just decided to pay attention to it, maybe Princess would notice and take it back.

  "Oh, I'm sure if you empty your pockets, you'll find lumps of wool and thread," Splinter managed to interject.

  "You are a Chosen One. It's an honour to help you," Princess said. "Just come back with a successful mission for the Overlady. And preferably with a story about how someone in your circle got their head smashed in because she wouldn't shut her too-talkative mouth."

  After a moment's thought, Princess gave Gloomeye a quick peck near his nose and ran off, shouting 'For a lucky road!' Aigo was confused at first, then hurried after his mistress.

  "Oooh," chuckled a passing Giggler, "Gloomy's got a bride!"

  "They say the venom of such beasts kills in a few minutes. I can strangle you right now and put you out of your misery," Splinter stood at his side, following Princess with her eyes.

  "They also say that anything that can become a problem will definitely become a problem," Wolves said from Gloomeye's other side. "And this is exactly the situation, trust your father, he has a lot of life experience."

  Gloomeye slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder and walked into the tavern. He was relieved to be leaving the city. Princess is clearly not going to be a part of Worldedge, and the parts of Worldedge represented by Splinter are clearly not happy with her company. They'd both be better off away from each other.

  There weren't many people inside, and those who were sleeping on or under tables. Only the red-haired tavern owner was busy writing at the counter.

  "I'd like to hire a guide," Gloomeye said, approaching him. This greatly frightened the writer, who tried to simultaneously crumple and tear up what he was writing:

  "It's a shopping list!"

  "Good thing it's not a list of guides."

  "You need the rat, Drat. He sleeps behind the tavern," the innkeeper tried to smooth out his parchment and put it back together.

  Gloomeye had seen Drat in the tavern more than once. He was about Gloomy's waist high and almost completely covered in fur. He had an elongated alm face with a strange thin moustache, long sharp nails, and a long bald tail. Drat wore short dark green trousers and a dirty orange waistcoat.

  Now Drat slept in the mud, covered by a pile of rubbish. Storyteller had described such creatures, but they were always the first training monsters for novice heroes, and Gloomeye imagined them smaller. Think about the authenticity of all Storyteller's stories.

  Gloomy took a stick from the rubbish and tickled the rat's bare heel. He didn't wake up for a long time, just tossing and turning. Finally he woke with a low squeak. When he saw Gloomeye, Drat jumped up, began to brush off his clothes, and squeaked questioningly.

  "We need a guide to Truth. There we will find out where to go next. The innkeeper told me to come to you," Gloomy decided to clarify just in case: "You're Drat, aren't you?"

  The rat snorted and linked his thumb and forefinger around his eye, then held up his open palm.

  "You want five iron coins? I can pay," Gloomeye realised. "Say, I haven't met your race before, you don't speak the common language at all?"

  The new guide shook his muzzle, circled the ground nearby with his high paws and mimed putting his foot in something unpleasant for that foot. Then he pointed at Gloomeye and himself.

  For some reason, Gloomy liked the fact that Drat didn't speak (except for squeaky noises), but expressed himself with gestures. There was something painfully familiar about it.

  "So you were human, but you ended up in magerot? And it changed you so much?" the guy suggested.

  The rat nodded. He seemed impressed by Gloomeye's ability to understand him, as far as his inhuman expression could tell.

  "I'm Gloomeye, but you can call me..." Gloomy paused, realising what he was saying, "...as you wish."

  "Squeak!" Drat squeaked back, and they shook hands (although one looked a lot like a paw).

  When Gloomeye stepped out onto the main street, he saw the whole of Worldedge: Nervous Shroomer, big Moose, bored Crushy, enthusiastic Giggler, Storyteller holding his son by the shoulder, huge Mom and little Babyboy, stern Firster, Earlier, who had cut himself again, bald Skull, suspicious Rasca, still drunk Master, short Thorn, thoughtful Windblower, quiet Forager, ridiculous Planer, joyful Sewer, dirty Dwarf, tired Waterman, gloomy Northman, cheerful Divider, bearded Beard, sad Stump, looking at the crowd of Wolves and Merchant, frozen Splinter, and probably Rustle somewhere nearby. Only Meat was missing (here and in general).

  Wolves gave his son a round piece of metal from the bandits' stash, "just in case". After saying goodbye to everyone and promising Giggler a souvenir, Gloomeye, Splinter and Drat headed for the peg stables, a rag-covered pen where the pegs were kept. There, Valkali was already preparing her white peg, and her companion was preparing his grey, fat and short one.

  Splinter went to Raven, while Gloomy got Grassy. Glassy. So it's her. Gloomeye was spying on Valkali's peg preparation. For some reason, Glassy resisted being harnessed and refused to leave the pen.

  The impact on the gate was so hard that dust flew off it. Brooding over another knot, Gloomy jumped and Drat jumped next to him. Everyone in the stables (except Valkali, who was not impressed by the blow) began to watch the gate, not knowing what to do. Newly separated two pieces of the guard fell from above.

  "Attack! Attack the city!" shouted the woman in charge of the peg pen.

  A crowd of guards poured out of a nearby building, one of them starting to cry over the cut guard. The rest joined in looking at the gate.

  "How are we going to get to the gate if no one lets down the ropes?" said one of the few male guards.

  Valkali, meanwhile, had straddled her peg, which straightened its hind legs and soared high into the air. Once on the wooden platform attached to the wall, the rider leapt up again, towards the sentry platform at the top of the gate. There she kicked at a piece of machinery and a lot of looped ropes came down. Then she jumped out of the city, and her companion rushed after her. Splinter decided to jump to the top of the gate as well.

  Gloomeye's pega was still stubborn as the girl glided back with Raven's open membranes, past the guards climbing the ropes.

  "That's the Mourneer giant, Aurgelmir," the girl reported.

  "Is he alone?" Gloomeye is already entangled in the ropes himself.

  "He alone isn't enough for you? He's unleashed his freaks, but you'll see for yourself. That girl has already escaped and we have to go."

  "Should we do it now?"

  "Becoming a scone will make it harder for you to complete the task of the demon big cheese, hero. Or have you always dreamed of becoming a blot on the ground, so it is worth breaking a contract signed with blood?"

  At that moment, the guards reached the top, and one of them, already without legs, fell down with a hysterical scream, splashing blood everywhere. The pegs were visibly nervous, and if it hadn't been for the tethers, they would have jumped away. Except for Grassy, who for some reason decided to stay. The guy looked deeper into the city.

  "Ah, you're worried about your gang," the girl realised. "The weepers let them go, remember? They want Rexana and her demon-loving comrades. Well, if you want, you can stay here and stop him if he breaks through. For a second, maybe two."

  Gloomeye climbed onto his pega and placed Drat in front of him. Glassy whirled restlessly in place.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  "Listen to me! I'll give you... what do pegs like?" he tried to bribe the pega.

  Splinter grabbed Glassy's neck:

  "Listen, or we'll feed you to the giant storming the walls."

  Convinced of the threat, the pega leapt onto the platform. Gloomy barely managed to keep himself, his heart pounding. After another jump, they soared over the gate. Glassy spread her membranes and hung on the air currents. Gloomeye gasped at the sight. He saw wastelands stretching to the horizon, the small Pinching Forest, the ocean of magerot, Titus below his neck, some distant buildings, the Edge of the World, where his former village had been, and even a narrow strip of something beyond that edge.

  Then his pega landed on the gate, and Gloomeye returned to the present moment. In it, on the platform above the gate, the guards were fighting with some gnomes. They looked as if someone had taken a piece of white stone and started pressing and pulling parts of it to make a human. Sharp caps merged with schematically marked faces of dents and sharp points. Worst of all, they all wielded huge knives twice their size, made of the same material as their bodies.

  The gnomes wielded their weapons with the extraordinary ease of creatures who weighed far more than their appearance would suggest. All the knives were bloody, and there were piles of slashed human bodies on the platform. There were white creatures among them, with cracks from which ordinary red blood flowed. The city guards did not give up, however, and continued to come in on ropes.

  With the next jump, Gloomeye flew out of the city and saw the giant. He put his hands on the wall and looked down. As the rider appeared, the giant looked straight at him. Blood dripped from under Aurgelmir's veil.

  "The big guy can detach and animate his body parts," Splinter said as she caught up with Gloomeye, shouting over the wind. "I hope he loses all his teeth here."

  "You know a lot about him," Gloomeye shouted back.

  "You haven't forgotten that he used to carry my cage under his armpit. And we all collectively decided to stop washing after the Break," Splinter complained.

  Gloomeye's pega landed softly on the ground, but immediately soared back up with the rider. Gloomeye's spirit soared with it. Although the jump from the ground was much lower than the previous one, he felt incredibly free and light, and nauseous. Still, he turned to look at Capital once more.

  "He's not going to break through the gate. He's only here to announce Slizvert's intentions," Splinter caught up with him again, "Capital is the safest place in any case compared to the outer wastes."

  "But the guards..."

  "There are far fewer of them killed than it seems. The bodies just take up a lot of space," Splinter tried to reassure Gloomy. The wind blew her hair back, revealing her face. She's not that different from Crushy, they're both young women and there are more similarities than differences.

  On the way down, Gloomeye noticed Drat pointing to some structures in the distance. Right! Direction. Need that. He somehow managed to steer his mount in the right side.

  The buildings were rapidly approaching, and he soon realised that they were wooden houses standing on wooden pillars in the shadows of megashrooms. Are there really so many safe trees here, or is this a pre-Break settlement? Unlikely. From above, he could see the scars nearby, and the ground itself was just as twisted, in one place even forming an earthen canopy under which a group of people were crouching, throwing a knife at a drawing on the ground. Probably the people here had dismantled the previous settlement and rebuilt a new one to suit the realities of the new world.

  When he landed, Gloomy pulled the rope that had stopped the pega from jumping, jumped down, tied her to a stick sticking out of the ground and tried to recover. The nausea didn't go away, it just got worse. Drat also jumped down and headed for the largest building, which had an overturned ship on its roof. There were six houses, and only someone who had grown up in a hole like Gloomeye could call them houses. A pre-Break person would have called them glorified huts, covered with old crooked planks and overgrown with eyemoss.

  "What is this place, Drat?" Gloomeye shouted, still trying to shout over the wind.

  The rat ran two fingers over his open palm, put his muzzle on the folded palms, ate a little, and then ran his fingers again.

  "A roadside inn? And why are we here?" asked Gloomeye, surprised at his own sagacity.

  Drat ran his claw across his palm and realised something. Splinter came down beside him and tied her peg next to Grassy, who bounced lightly on her paws, alternating her choice of limbs. Splinter's peg looked at her with disapproval. He was all pride, even managing to bend his neck at a right angle, unlike the other pegs, where it was impossible to tell exactly where the neck ended and the head began.

  "Not bad for your first ride on a peg," the girl praised.

  "Have you ridden them before?" Gloomeye asked.

  "No, I just told you this is my first ride, and I congratulated myself. And your ride was very shameful. Shame on you," Splinter teased.

  "Oh, I would have rated yours, but you were behind me and I couldn't see your ride."

  And so as not to continue the argument, which (based on life experience) could last many hours, and also to have the last word, Gloomy followed Drat into the big house.

  Inside, a small picture of broken lines hung on the wall (looking closer, Gloomeye realised it was a map of the area), and dubious-looking people sat at cramped tables, eating, drinking and playing board games. One of the women had a rope around her neck, the other end of which was held by a grim-faced thug. An old man in a tattered robe was running a stick over a hollow box with taut veins, producing squeaky sounds that could be mistaken for music from a distance. Several customers sat on the floor, swaying. Their pupils were narrowed to a point, and the whites could be called the reds. It looks like a monstrous poisoning by a dustbag.

  A group of small creatures with sickly pale skin and large eyes with vertical slits caught the boy's eye. Another non-human leaned against the wall. Instead of skin, he had green scales, a long face and pointed teeth that didn't fit in his mouth and couldn't decide which way to protrude. He twisted a string with a small flying creature tied to it around his finger and let go just to twist it again. The little prisoner fluttered on transparent wings behind its back, its arms and legs like crooked twigs, and small pupil points darted erratically over its large yellow protruding eyes.

  "We have been in the tavern all night and all morning. Can't live without alcohol for a few hours? A bad sign," Splinter whispered into his ear.

  "I'm just following a guide. I think he's forgetting something here," Gloomeye said.

  "So, he really is a guide and not your new pet?" the girl asked in surprise.

  "My sense of humour hasn't reached your heights yet," Gloomy said, noticing Drat sitting at one of the tables under the map, and walked over to him.

  He was blocked by a sweaty woman who seemed to have forgotten to put on her outer clothing today:

  "Darling, I provide a narrow specialisation of entertainment."

  "Believe me, he'd love to lose his virginity here and now, but you're too good for him. He needs a girl who is cheaper and has no self-esteem at all," Splinter grabbed the guy's arm and led him to Drat's table.

  "Thank you for taking it upon yourself to protect my honour. That's why I'm your friend." Gloomeye chuckled.

  "Just promise to protect our friendship like your virginity, and I'll be fine," Splinter chuckled back.

  The rat squeaked, but no one knew what he meant. Immediately, a guy with protruding ears sat down next to them, panting. Gloomy thought that he wouldn't have been able to walk around in the village for long without a proper name. The thought of home made him sad. Already?

  "Are you travelling?" Ears asked after he had barely caught his breath.

  The conversation didn't go any further as Gloomeye was roughly lifted up and spun around by a bald, fleshy brute who was shouting:

  "THIS IS MY PLACE!"

  Without waiting for an answer, he punched Gloomeye in the face. He had nothing to do, but to fly some distance and break a couple of tables with his back (what to do, there was no choice). The musician's creaking became noticeably more energetic.

  Quickly scrambling to his feet, Gloomeye spotted a dangerously fast approaching bruiser, currently resembling a wild boarler. The guy managed to jump back under the table and heard a powerful crack and cursing customers. From there, he was roughly dragged out by his leg and thrown against the far wall.

  As Gloomy fell, he saw Splinter lying on her side under a table, her head resting on her hand:

  "What, you broke out of the family nest and went all 'breaking bad'?"

  The guy didn't have time to answer properly (and he didn't have time to answer anything), because he was being dragged by the leg again, and he was forced to slip away from the girl. Turning around, Gloomeye saw that he was being dragged by the same goon (which wasn't much of a discovery). With his free foot, he kicked the hand that was grabbing him, and it (after that treatment) let go of him. Jumping to his feet, Gloomeye leapt to the nearest wall, bounced off it and punched his opponent in the face. But he wasn't impressed. He grabbed the guy by the throat and Gloomy suddenly felt the hard floor on his back.

  He wrapped his legs around the arm holding him, which looked more like a stalk of a middleshroom, and tried to pull it off. The big man didn't like that, so he started hitting the floor and walls with that hand, which Gloomy didn't like in return.

  Dismounting, Gloomeye slipped back across the floor to Drat, who was hiding under a bench. When his employer saw him, he held out his fists and shook them in support. Gloomeye managed to dodge an uppercut that broke the floorboards. The guy jumped up, grabbed something from a nearby table and threw it at the goon. The something was a plate of brown stew. It splashed in mid-flight and landed in the enemy's face. He was distracted by his scalded eyes and roared with rage. This gave the guy the opportunity to hit him several times in the face, including with an elbow, drawing blood. Too bad the big man's throat was protected by a powerful second chin.

  A backhand to the face ended the winning streak. The bruiser grabbed his opponent by the throat again, but the guy managed to loosen his grip and pull back the little finger of the powerful hand. The brawl swirled around the den, smashing the remaining tables and crushing the remaining patrons. When it reached the wall, Gloomeye saw the scaly freak standing next to him and spared no effort to combine the attempt to free himself with a forehead punch to the scaly nose. The freak fell senseless, and his little captive immediately broke free, clinging to the nose of his saviour's enemy.

  The big man screamed and let go of the guy, who fell and threw his legs into the opponent's stomach. This caused the bully to fall to his knees. He was finished off by a knee to the head, which Gloomy threw in a leap. The flying creature quickly flew away through the open door.

  Gloomeye, standing over his fallen foe, looked around. Customers were huddled against the walls, most of the furniture was broken, and the floor and walls were dented. The old man was no longer tormenting others and his instrument. And there was a huge figure behind him. Wait...

  Gloomy, who didn't have time to recover, was picked up and thrown against the wall. He was held by a creature larger and taller than the previous opponent, with three arms: two like a normal human, and the third growing out of the armpit of his right arm. He used his normal hands to hold Gloomeye's hands, and the third (abnormal) hand to search his prey.

  "Do you know how hard it is to find a board now? You'll make it up to me, mageling," the creature informed the guy.

  The three-armed man found a bag of coins in his pocket and threw the mageling towards the doors. They did not detain him, and he flew out, landing on his back. That's where Gloomeye decided to stay.

  "What was that all about?" Splinter appeared against the backdrop of Dayorb. She held her hands behind her back and bent down to speak to Gloomy.

  "You saw it all," Gloomeye said, testing his teeth with his tongue.

  "Squeak!" Drat appeared beside Splinter, holding a scroll in his paws.

  "It's just hard to believe what I witnessed," Splinter threw a bag at the lying guy's belly. "But thank you. I've collected a bunch of coins, and here's your share for a great distraction and performance."

  "It was amazing! He was huge, and you beat him!" the big-eared guy joined the group of observers at Gloomy.

  "Yes, we travel. The answer to your question," Gloomeye replied distantly, admiring the swirling clouds against the blue sky.

  Splinter looked closely at Ears' face, then exclaimed in delight:

  "I remember you! You were in one of Aurgelmir's cages! Why has Slizvert sent another spy? Am I not enough? Or does he not like my reports? Of course I embellish them, but only for fun. After all, it is obvious that there were no dragon armies or dances with Regent at moonlight.”

  Slizvert's new spy looked from Splinter to Gloomeye in surprise.

  "Say something. Accusations cannot be removed by silence." Gloomy had risen and was now examining his new nose shape with his hand, cocking his head to stop the bleeding.

  "I'll go now. I think I've made a mistake," Ears panicked and decided to leave.

  "Wait. You didn't know we'd be here. That was decided by Drat, who I only hired this morning. So you followed us on a peg, the Mourneers had them. If you don't want to travel with us, give your peg to Drat. You don't have far to go, and we don't know how long."

  Ears began to run.

  "And tell Slizvert that no more spies are needed, otherwise there'll be more of them than the ones they're supposed to be spying on! Isn't that silly?" Splinter shouted after him mockingly.

  "Did we all gain what we wanted? You got money, I got punches in the face, and Drat?" Gloomeye asked, finishing taming his face.

  Drat unfolded his parchment so that the company could see what was on it. It was a ragged map of the area.

  "Hmm, the exact same map I saw on the wall in that tavern. Let's get out of here as soon as possible," Gloomy urged everyone. "I don't want to continue my acquaintance with the three-armed one."

  "Didn't you like the service?" Splinter hurried after them all.

  A long and violent fight suddenly broke out in the tavern for no reason. I think it's funny. What was the author trying to say in this chapter? Let's sum up the results, so to speak. Gloomeye is quite competent at fighting, even though he lost. Splinter - quite competent at stealing. Dratty - ducky.

  He was originally supposed to be able to talk, but we all know that the less characters says, the better they are. Then (and "Maginarium" was more satirical and less four-walled) the characters argued about whether Drat was a pet, because all the characters have a mascot, and they often talk.