Ойкумена / Oikumena: Глава 8

Chapter 8 Choice

Camrad_RIP 06.10.23 в 11:31

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Camrad_RIP 06.10.23 в 11:30

The hammer pounded into the old wood, methodically, blow by blow. It was uncomfortable with her left hand, so she had to tap less often, aiming each time. But Elena noted she was getting much better. Practice was a great thing. She took a breath and breathed in the fresh air.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:01

She was watched, however, as in the very first, still autumn visit, from the corners and back alleys with sharp rat-like stares. And passers-by mostly just ignored the tall girl with a hammer, who was smashing someone else's door for some reason. Some, however, slowed down, but not for long, as if some force was drawing them away from the old house, which looked more like a small fortress. There were no guards in sight. Elena took another deep breath, tightened the old scarf, and swung again.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:01

"Draftsman!" she yelled and struck the crossbar. Then, on the grate, enjoying the deafening ringing. The sound of metal hitting metal traveled farther and sounded more pleasant.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:02

"Figueredo nicknamed the Draftsman!" the girl shouted, swinging around again. "Come out, damn you!"

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:04

Two more strikes, including one on the ring. Copper, unlike bronze, sounded quite muffled.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:05

"Come out, oath-breaker!"

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:05

Some kind of life was clearly visible behind the door. Something shuffled, something clattered. There was a slurred sound, like someone cursing. The way old men mutter when they miss their slippers in the morning. Finally, through the window on the door came the sound of footsteps, as if the owner were wearing wooden-soled shoes. Whether the lock or the deadbolt rattled, Elena couldn't remember exactly how the door of the house was locked, but either way - if her ears were to be believed - it was something solid, heavy. The angry girl stepped back a step and grabbed the hammer more deftly.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:06

Draftsman stood up. Or rather, appeared on the threshold like a ghost from a crypt. Her mentor hadn't changed much since the last time they'd met. He was still tall, thin, and angry. Except his camisole was even more frayed, and his shirt needed repeated washing. The fencer's hair looked as if it had been dusted with dirty flour and dust, and his eyes were swollen, rolling out of eye sockets that had become too small. Figueredo hadn't looked like a model of health before, but now he seemed terrifying in every way. His dead stare made Elena shiver, and she took another step back and raised her hammer, pointing it at her former teacher.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:08

"You're alive," the master stated. "I didn't expect that."

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:09

"I'm alive," hummed the hapless apprentice. "Unexpectedly?"

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:09

"Yes," agreed Draftsman. "Quite," and inexpressively asked. "Is that a challenge?"

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:15

His voice sounded dull, muffled, completely matching the image of a dusty scarecrow. The master did not seem surprised at the unexpected return of his "apprentice".

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:18

"No," Elena said, raising the hammer even higher. She did her best not to flinch, not to slur her words. At the sight of the Draftsman, the fear returned, flooding her consciousness with a tidal wave. She felt again - acutely, vividly as if it had happened not more than a month ago, but just now - the fear, the feeling of helplessness and complete dependence on someone else's whim. Her right arm ached with weeping pain. Elena exhaled, grinned, and set her right foot back as if preparing to lunge with her left.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:19

"I came for what's mine."

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:20

The silence around her seemed to thicken into an invisible sour cream. Elena could literally feel dozens of stares, and everyone who passed by suddenly quickened their steps. It was strange, as normally everything in the City attracted the attention of gawkers, including pooping vixens and fights between spouses (not to mention all the other fights). But now it was as if an invisible dome had grown around the Draftsman's house, pushing the gawkers as far away from the bad place as possible.

Camrad_RIP 08.10.23 в 19:24

He leaned his shoulder on the joint and swallowed. Judging by the grimace that slid across the master's face like a wave across a sea surface, it was painful. Elena looked at the fencer, and the fear was leaving her, but her resolve was also draining away like water escaping through a ruptured fur. Surprisingly, the fierce hatred that was boiling in her soul seemed to have burned out, leaving only barely warm embers. It was enough to take one look at Draftsman, who was not a man but a ruin, a remnant of human nature.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:19

The hammer came down with jerky jerks. Figueredo stared silently at his former apprentice with the same painful, expressionless gaze. Elena exhaled, finally getting rid of her heated emotions. With that exhalation, it was as if her soul had all gone at once-hatred, humiliation, suffering. Nothing was left, all burned out in a fierce flash. A quarter of an hour ago, Elena had been ready to die, clutching at Draftsman's throat. Now all she wanted was for it to be over.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:41

Elena took a step towards the master and looked at him straight ahead without averting her eyes. Surprisingly, the girl still did not doubt that Draftsman could kill her with anything and at any moment. At the same time, she wasn't afraid of it, as if a higher power whispered in her ear with absolute certainty that the fencer wouldn't kill her on his porch.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:31

"You gave your word," she said softly.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:31

The hammer felt incredibly heavy, pulling her hand down like a half-pound weight. Her neck was sore where the stiff loop touched her skin. The sun had already disappeared behind the high roofs, and the evening light was dying. Soon, the lamplighters would go again, lighting wax torches, and the rich houses would glow with the light of magic lamps...

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:37

"You swore an oath," reminded the girl even more quietly. "Before the image of Pantocrator in the attributes of the Father of Swords. You took my money. You took my dagger. And taught me nothing."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:29

Figueredo moved his lip, lifted it in a nervous tic, as if showing a yellow, predatory fang. He seemed ready to pounce on his accuser and gnaw at her throat, but something inside him wouldn't let him. Maybe it was the sharp pain that gripped his gut. Maybe something else ...

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:30

"You're not a mentor," Elena said like a sword slash. "You are a thief and an oathbreaker."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:31

"The opposite edge of his lip twitched, and now the Draftsman looked like a hyena on its hind legs. He remained silent, however."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:31

"You took my blade. It was given to me by Vensan Mongaillard," the girl uttered quite quietly, not taking her gaze away from the black dots in the middle of the inflamed whites beneath Draftsman's eyebrows. "Vensan said you were a bad man but a good tutor who honored Àrd-Ealain. He was wrong."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:32

Figueredo's face stiffened, the blood draining away, giving his skin a waxy tint, his eyes bulging even more. His pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. It was as if a corpse was staring at Elena with dead eyes.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:33

"You betrayed the Grande Art," inspiration came over Elena, the girl slashing at the words like a knife, twisting through her wounds. "And when you die, will the First Master ask what kind of mentor you were? Will you lie to the Father of Truth? Or will you answer honestly? Yeah, you'll probably say you robbed your last apprentice. Took his money, his weapons, and then threw him out the door to his doom."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:34

The snow fell in infrequent tracery parachutes. Everything had turned gray, suspended in the brief interval when daylight had followed the sun, but the shadows were still creeping in, preparing to take over. The moon must have rolled into the sky by now, but it was hidden by the island-topped roofs and the slate stove chimneys.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:35

"But you know..."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:37

Elena hummed and looked at the hammer, bowing her head as if seeing for the first time the object she had recently ready to smash her "mentor's" head in or to lay her corpse in the fresh snow.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:38

"You know," the girl repeated, smiling crookedly. "And to hell with you. Give back what you stole. I don't need more than that."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:39

Figueredo continued to stand and stare as if he hadn't heard what was said. Then he suddenly mumbled:

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:35

"Follow me."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:37

And he retreated into the darkness of the house, like an evil spirit that lurks in a crypt.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:29

Elena shuddered. She'd been prepared for everything, but here, "things didn't go according to plan."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:29

// "The hell with it!" - She thought in a cocky voice and stepped through the threshold. Her soul was boiling like the ingredients in an alchemical elixir. Indifference mixed with morbid interest. What would happen next? Strangely, however, now the girl was not afraid of the fencer at all, although, despite the obvious illness, Figueredo did not become less disgusting and dangerous.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 17:31

The hall was unchanged. Stone floor, wood-paneled walls, a broken dummy, and weapons that hadn't moved in weeks. Shutters closed and propped up with sticks. Even the night pot lay in the same place. It looked as if no human being had ever set foot in the hall, not just an apprentice, but a human being.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:37

"The dagger," Elena repeated.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:36

Draftsman ignored her demand. He walked around the girl, scrutinizing her. The movements of the master's bulging eyes were unpleasantly reminiscent of the rotating eyepieces of some scanning optic. Just as attentive, not missing a single feature, completely devoid of life.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 16:36

"Soooo..." the master stretched out.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:28

Elena sensed something was different from the previous visit, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe Draftsman seemed more businesslike. Maybe the atmosphere of the dusty, abandoned hall was a little more lively. It was unclear. The dead light of the lamp stung her pupils unpleasantly, like the sun on the summit of Mount Elbrus on a bright day.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:27

"Hand," Figueredo said demandingly. "The right one."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:26

Elena gritted her teeth and pulled the barely healed limb, the movement jerky, like a series of small jerks. Her fingers were still weak, unable to hold anything heavier than a spoon. The draftsman took her palm, quickly ran his thin fingers along the tendons, pulled up her sleeve, and palpated the fracture. Elena clenched her jaw even tighter to keep from moaning. It hurt so much. His fingers seemed hard and lifeless, a little colder than air.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:25

"Interesting," summarized Draftsman. "By yourself?"

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:23

Elena understood the question and answered just as succinctly:

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:22

"Yes."

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:19

"Didn't expect it," Figueredo admitted honestly.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:20

He let go of the girl's hand, interlocked his fingers, and set his lower jaw very low, like an old man who'd lost all his teeth. Or a reptile.

Camrad_RIP 10.10.23 в 14:21