Нова Проспект / Nova Prospect: Edge and Pearl (Эредин)

Edge and Pearl (Eredin)

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:46

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Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:46

He wanted to immortalize that rounded hip line, so gracefully accentuated by the scarlet glow of the sunset. Not the abstract constellation of shapes and colors that Ge'els loved so much, but a work in the spirit of the old masters who were able to bring out the divine in the mundane.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:52

Eredin leaned back on the pillows, shifting his gaze from the waterfalls flowing down the stairs to the naked body of his lover, but the pleasure of contemplation was overshadowed by the name that loomed intrusively in his thoughts.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:53

Zireael.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:51

The very memory of Lara Dorren's human descendant prevented him from savoring Eltara's exquisite beauty forged over generations, but Eredin could not get the thought of his folk's fatal mistake out of his mind.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:55

Not a nation, though - just one renegade, a traitor who couldn't control her lust and threw herself into Dh'oine's arms. A mistake for which he had to pay.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:56

Eredin rose from his bed, causing Eltara's carefully concealed displeasure. He had long ago learned that capricious grimaces always suited beautiful women, and his current lassie, with a look of mild disappointment on her face, was utterly charming. If Eredin hadn't had a meeting with the counselor, he wouldn't have been tempted to take her again.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 12:57

Zireael.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 08:56

How long would that girl with the tainted blood take up his time? How long could she run from her destiny? Eredin felt that sacrificing herself for Aen Elle, the race whose genes she owed her uniqueness to, would be the best thing Zireael could have done in her short human life. And what a pity the girl was too stupid to realize it.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 12:59

The empty eyes of the servants watched his every move as Eredin entered the reception hall. He had left the hall decoration unchanged since Auberon's time, driven by indifference rather than respect for his predecessor.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 12:59

There was no more worthy candidate for ruler among the Aen Elle than Eredin. And so he was disgusted by the rotten stench of rumor surrounding his ascension to the throne. But his subjects chattered and whispered in the nooks and crannies of countless rooms, their gossip echoing beneath the white vaults of the palace, settling on the walls like dirt.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 16:49

The ignorant assumption, first expressed by the same Zireael, had grown into a weed in his lands - and like all things human, multiplied, spreading faster than the plague.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 16:50

Fortunately, this nonsense could not poison Karanthir's mind. He was in many ways superior to his mentor, whose dry, encyclopedic knowledge often prevented him from seeing things for what they were. Avallac'h was blind. But while Eredin could still forgive blindness, he could not forgive weakness. Avallac'h had shown it by chasing after the ghost of a former love, a distorted copy, many times inferior to the original. It meant that his past failures had not taught him the simple rule that if you want to control fate and women, you must use your power, not run after them with an outstretched hand.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:10

Caranthir, clad in a spacious robe, was already waiting for Heredin, gazing at the reflection of the scarlet sunset in Easnadh. When he heard the king's footsteps, he turned and bowed in a perfectly honed movement. Eredin, who had grown accustomed to simplicity in his years of military service, once again mentally regarded court ceremonial as superfluous, though he recognized in it a certain fundamental and traditional nature on which the culture of his people had been built.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:12

"Zireael," Karanthir began his speech with a familiar name, "is caged."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 16:54

The irony of the phrase made Eredin think that his favorite songbird was too old to enjoy singing. It was time to find a replacement.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:13

The news of the swallow did not surprise him in the least. He had been the first to notice the marks in the Betweenworlds, rough, desperate blows as if someone buried alive was trying to break free. It was Eredin who had ordered Caranthir to find out their nature, sensing the unmistakable scent of the Elder Blood.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:14

"The world she's trapped in is... unusual."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:14

Without waiting for a clarifying question, Caranthir led his king to a bizarre device - two tubes topped with metal spheres. One of them was tied with a silk ribbon. Eredin had never seen anything like it before, the crude workmanship of the metal suggesting that the mechanism was of human origin.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:23

"How does it work?" Eredin leaned over to get a closer look at the gimmick.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:23

"With the forces that make lightning shake the sky."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:24

Karantir placed his palm on the metal sphere. A few moments later, magical currents stirred around the device, but they were created not by the sorcerer's will, but by nature itself. A spark erupted in the air, and a miniature lightning bolt erupted from the sphere in a bright flash.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:24

"If we control nature by taking energy for ourselves, then humans have created tools to curb that energy," Caranthir explained the meaning of the experiment.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:25

"I can't say I'm impressed," Eredin grinned, and with a small gesture, he created a lightning bolt in his hand that, unlike the one created by the device, would have been fatal.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:25

Caranthir did not share his skepticism as he watched the sparkling orb. When Eredin turned to him, breaking the long silence, Karantir nodded toward the garden, which stretched in a green maze all the way to Easnadh.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:26

The suggestion of a walk was the usual precursor to a tedious lecture. Karanthir had inherited his passion for long discourses from his mentor.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 16:55

"There are many more of these weapons in their world. People have been able to control the various forces of nature," Caranthir glanced down at the taut jets of the waterfall, crashing noisily against the river's surface.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:26

Their world did not tolerate fussiness. With that in mind, Eredin did not interrupt his advisor, waiting for him to get to the point of his rant. Caranthir silently looked at the falling leaf of the weeping willow. It was such long and well-timed pauses that had made Caranthir famous as a sage.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:29

"But that's not what I'm worried about, it's that humans have curbed the energy of elementary particles. And that, my friend, is death. The destroyer of worlds, the destroyer of all life."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:30

None of the inventions of the human race could be more terrifying than the White Chill. Scientific progress was of little concern to Eredin: the main weakness of the human race was not technological backwardness, but their very essence.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:35

"Tell me, Eredin, what is the power of humans?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:35

Eredin glanced at the servants, phantoms gliding through the palace. All the power they had once possessed had been destroyed by careful selection. His eyes flashed before his eyes, the faces of people distorted in pain, thousands - hundreds of thousands - who had died by his sword. But no matter how many lives he took, new ones took their place, no different from their predecessors.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:39

"In fertility."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:40

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eltara leaning over a book in the shade of a centuries-old oak tree. The snow-white dress was fitted to her slim waist. It would be years, decades before that smooth line rounded out. Monogamy was not one of Eredin's virtues - but none of his many passions had given him an heir.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:40

"Nine billion. There are nine billion souls in that world."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:41

My name is Legion, for we are many. The number seemed monstrous, even by human standards, and conjured up an anthill, a thousand swarming insects. Eredin stepped a little harder on the stone slab of the path, driven by the desire to crush the horde before it filled all the inhabited worlds.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:52

"Let me contradict you, my friend, the strength of humans is in adaptability."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:52

There was some truth in Caranthir's words. Humans could multiply in places where an elf would hesitate to set foot. They'd built their cities in deserts, in tundras, in mountains - no doubt they'd breed in dungeons, too, if forced into them.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:53

"Those people burned their magically gifted kin and took a different path. They put metal in their bodies and created mechanical servants."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:53

Their path led them past a pond where small, colorful fish swam. Avallac'h had been able to breed fish whose scales shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow by crossbreeding the best of each generation. Eredin grinned - the biography of the pond's inhabitants reflected Caranthir.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:54

"They're dangerous."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:54

Eredin cast a doubtful glance at his companion. Had cowardice poisoned his heart? He despised cowardice far more than humans.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:56

"What do you suggest, Karantir?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 12:58

Caranthir halted his step, and his wandering gaze lingered on Eredin for the first time.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:56

"Caution and prudence," he said quietly. "We don't need war, we need Zireael."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:56

"I will go first," Eredin replied in a tone that suggested no further discussion, "my army will follow."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:57

His army was thirsty for human blood, eager to regain their glory as conquerors. If he gave the signal, they would enter the new world through hundreds of portals. The human race would have to confront Aen Elle with more than metal tools.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:58

The Wild Hunt could not go on forever - it was time to end it. He had always favored foreign policy over domestic policy, shifting the burden of dealing with palace intrigue to Ge'els.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:59

He will not sit on the throne as a lifeless puppet, as Auberon did, while his folk are threatened. He would give his life, both his own and Zireael's, to avert the threat.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 17:59