Chapter 38

Just Anna and a first crush. 

What does a newly born baby think about, and does he think at all? It is a difficult question, the answer to which only the Sages know, and not all of them. 

Anna did not remember the days of her childhood, that happy time when her father was not yet "..." and her first mother loved both him and her.  The girl's first memory was not a happy one, it contained only a lack of understanding why her mother was crying and her father was swearing. It can be attributed to the age of 3-4 years old. 

Anna remembered the smell of dust and dry wood that lingered in the attic, where she was doing something. Maybe playing? Maybe hiding? Or maybe she was looking for the treasure her father had found in his adventures. And the reason she was there was not important, to be honest, what Anna heard and saw was much more interesting. 

Mom and Dad were arguing. Their voices grew angrier and angrier. Mama's face, always so kind, was contorted in a hideous grimace of rage, and Papa's face seemed to have grown a head and turned into the horrible werewolf the girl loved to hear about hunting. 

The gaps between the boards in the attic were wide, and the girl's eye caught the whole range of feelings that the faces of the adults expressed, she heard every word, both her father's and her mother's. 

She didn't remember the elevated dialog itself, only the last word carved into her memory, the word her mother had spat out at her father. 

And then there was Dad's punch. A swift, scathing blow that sent Mom to the floor. And the sickening crunch of her head hitting the corner of the table. In the next instant, her dad was himself again. He grabbed her by the shoulders and howled like a wounded animal. 

Anna never saw her first mother again. According to her father, she had gone in search of adventure.

For some reason the girl decided not to tell about the scene she had seen, for it was only a dream.

But she learned something from the dream: never call her daddy "..." or he'll turn into a scary werewolf monster, and don't tell anyone about the dream.

  That's the first memory. 

***

The city of sands, the city of traders, and the southernmost stronghold of the Kingdom of the Two Runes, Yugol. 

A girl with a shaved head was sneaking down a narrow street covered with a centimeter of sand. This swarthy, red-eyed little girl was not yet ten years old, but already they were talking about her genius for murder.

Anna's footsteps were quiet, silent, seeming to barely touch the ground. This was her last test, after which the girl would get a guild tattoo and she could finally get rid of the shameful stigma of being the daughter of a "...". Which made her want to make everything beautiful. 

The girl took out a mirror from her pocket and began to look at what was around the corner. When she saw the target, she concentrated even harder, and her eyebrows drew together at the bridge of her nose. She pulled out a wooden stiletto from a special holster, attached to her leg close to the hidden place, and prepared to act.

The target, meanwhile, was staggering down an empty narrow street, holding a walking stick in his sweaty hands. The target's eyeglasses gleamed in the blue starlight. 

Having jumped a couple of meters easily and silently, Anna, using her unique power of Ve, stuck to the wall, spreading out on it like a desert spider.  Very carefully, but at the same time incredibly fast, the girl, like some small animal, ran on four limbs along the wall of the house. 

The target, meanwhile, unsuspectingly stuck her staff into the sand and, taking a wafer from behind her back, began to eat the treat with gusto. 

Brrrr.

A boy about a year older than the girl, the very target, heard the muttering, perplexed, fixed his huge eyepieces with one hand, and then he realized. He tossed the unfinished treat aside, but there was no time to do more. A skittish shadow swooped down on him from somewhere above, giving him no time to even activate his Magnus (which he'd made himself, by the way). 

Anna was angry at herself and her body. How much work she'd put into tracking down Lex, how much she'd circled around him, finding a place to do everything quietly and beautifully, just like Master had taught her, and all to no avail!

"Ugh! It's Lex's fault! If it weren't for his cotton candy I would have succeeded!" - With these thoughts, the girl attacked the boy as she had been taught - quickly and wasting the minimum of Ve's strength. 

Knock.

The wooden stiletto said hello to the future warlock's head, and Anna tried to create a move that she was quite good at on dummies. But a living person is not a wooden mannequin. She couldn't push off the boy's legs beautifully, using Ve to lighten her body and soar upwards.

The bespectacled man, feeling the blow, instinctively tried to cover his head, but hesitated and stumbled over his uncomfortable robe, and then fell on his back. All Anna had time to do was "leak" him and saddle him. 

Lex sniffed his nose.

Anna blushed.

- You-you-you-you! Come on! Die with dignity, you miserable bespectacled boy! - The girl growled and tried to jump up from the boy, but the boy, frightened by her growl, rolled to the side. Anyway, they switched places. Lex was now sitting on top of Anna.

- Fa hahahaha! Your student is worthy of his teacher, Lo! Wow! Pfa hahahaha! - The bearded man leaning on his glaive stood next to the children and laughed a very loud and infectious laugh. Quite interestingly, he wasn't even here a second ago, and neither was his interlocutor.

- Mark, there's nothing funny about this. This guy is a brilliant loser, trust me. I'm afraid to let him in my house anymore! He can't even play a good game! And his Magnus does anything but what he needs to do! - There was a whiny voice of a second man, thin as a chip and tall, with a disproportionately long neck and very large round earrings in his ears. Oh yes, and this man was black. - By the Sun Goddesses, if he weren't my third cousin by marriage, I'd have thrown that fool out in the red desert to feed the wicked long ago! 

Lex blushed at his teacher's words, clutching at the nearest object. The nearest object was Anna.

The encroachment on her personal space drove Anna into a state of frenzy, she, having injected all available Ve in the action, pelted the guy with a focused wave. The poor bespectacled man flew into the air, the gravitational force of the planet gradually ceased to act on him, but for the girl such overstretching of her inner Magnus did not pass without a trace. The girl's nose bled and her legs gave out. 

- Oh-ho-ho. How unpleasant. - With those words, the Negro pulled a bone dagger from his holster to plunge it into the sand. A transparent wave of cleansing Ve washed over everyone involved, removing the effects of Anna's Ve from the stunned Lex. The guy was already pretty high up, so it wasn't a pleasant landing for him. 

- Anna, Anna. - Mark shook his head. - You're at it again. Are you in such a hurry to get to the next world, apprentice? Now, eat this and don't you squirm! 

The man lifted the girl's chin and, opening her mouth with force, shoved into it a small pill the color of a child's surprise. The "treat" made Anna even paler, and her hands trembled. 

- Did the little crybaby forget what I taught her? - Mark's face, which had not been serious before, suddenly broke out into the stupidest smile. - Oh, oh, what to do, what to do! I guess I'll have to break my finger as punishment for forgetting! Come on, Anna, save the old Master's finger and tell me about Magnus and Ve!

The man hunched over, his sad gaze moving from his apprentice to his palm and back again, the goofy smile never leaving his face. 

Nearby, Lo was treating Lex, who had managed to break his leg in a fall. Lo didn't forget to bemoan the young warlock's negligence, but Mark knew how he really felt about his student. 

Anna, in the meantime, had moved away from alchemy a bit and, like a diligent student, began to recite what she had read in the library of the Assassins' Guild with boredom.

- Ve is the power that everyone in the lands of Ru-Kazar is born with, and it is Ve that gives us life and death. - The girl began to repeat exactly the text from the book. She didn't understand much and so she didn't add her own thoughts, for idle chatter was not encouraged in the kingdom.  - In the days of the Khans, the Sages believed that Ve, or Faith as it was then called, was a power born of man's belief in the gods, but this idea was later rejected. In those days, the Mountain Khanate of Triea was destroyed by a mistake of their Sage.

Mark nodded at her every word. The former Liquidator didn't consider himself an excellent teacher, unlike Lo, who had already graduated more than a dozen spellcasters, so Mark tried to reinforce the girl's basics, not allowing himself to experiment in educating the young talent.  And knowledge of Veh, his weaknesses and strengths, is the most important part of their work. 

- You can leave out the story of Brokeback Mountain. - 

Anna nodded and continued her story. She and her teacher headed out of the uninhabited areas towards the guild. 

- Few people can use large amounts of Ve, and they have to use special devices called Magnuses, which are made of special materials. Sometimes it happens that a child whose parent has been in contact with a large amount of Ve active materials is born with a special organ, also called a Magnus. 

- That's right, Anna. Kids like that are the treasure of our town, and if anything happens to a talent like that before he's old enough, it'll be a headache for whoever was responsible for him. Go on. 

Anna blushed at the man's words, she was embarrassed.

- Ve brings both good and pain to our people. Sometimes it happens that people who are strong in controlling Ve turn into werewolves after death. If the resting ritual is not performed in time, the werewolf will rise. It is also interesting that after the initial hunger is quenched, the werewolves tend to the red desert to return as a huge pack when the year of night arrives. It is our duty, as citizens of Yugoli, to contain these packs, preventing them from making their way towards the peaceful lands of the kingdom. 

- Yeah, that's right. You've learned everything you need to know, but be careful, because werewolves rise from those born with Magnus, too, and I don't want to do a ritual on you. - I wouldn't want to do a ritual on you," Mark said. I don't want to do the ritual on you," he said without grimacing. 

  Behind the two of them, Lex was a fair distance away, head down sadly and scooping up sand with his feet.

***

Yugol is a unique city in the Kingdom of the Two Runes. The cultures of both the north and the east are intertwined here. Only in Yugol, strolling through the narrow streets, can you find the inhabitants of the Khanates and the northern barbarians peacefully conversing. The proximity of the red desert with its living Magnus bearers attracts many adventurers to the city, even though the city is not populated even by a third, the residential and commercial areas are still amazing. Yugol is the only one of the eight cities in the Kingdom that is not ruled by a Boyar, but by a council of Wise Men responsible for all areas of city life. 

At this moment in the council, the three elders were discussing how to keep the city safe in the coming night. It is worth explaining that in the world of Ru-Kazar, night is a rare phenomenon. Due to the peculiarity of the star system in which the planet is located, night is a very rare phenomenon and lasts for several years. That's all right, but it's at night that all the werewolves from the south begin their hunt. A million pack of creatures descend upon the lands of the southernmost kingdom and the first in its path is Yugol. For many millennia Yugol has been up to the task, but now he doesn't stand much of a chance. 

- Because of the attack of the Steppe Khanate, Centrus will not provide us with troops. - An ancient old man with a long white beard tried to break the awkward silence that had become a tradition of their council. - I suggest that we increase the number of recruits in the warrior guilds.

- This won't solve the problem! - The old man with the disheveled black beard cracked his skinny fist on the jade table, red sparks splattering in all directions. The former head of the warrior guild was furious, as he always was when an issue had no solution in his opinion. - We can't fucking do this! The beady-eyed bastards from the fucking Khanates are out of their fucking minds! If the kingdom falls, all their fucking steppes with all their stolen wealth will drown in blood.

- I agree with my colleague, the city is still reeling from last night, we just don't have enough men. And there will be no use of children who have no predisposition to military things, you know how to train a sorcerer. - The old man with gray hair slicked back and a black beard tied in a braid speaks quietly and measuredly. 

- Fuck yeah! You can't teach a magician! I suggest we hire desert people! - Though the grandfather warrior spoke in chopped phrases, but do not consider him an idiot, he had already thought of hundreds of ideas in a few minutes of the council, as well as the other two. In general, they didn't really need these conversations. The three ancient grandfathers had lived so long in the world and had held so many complicated councils that now their Ve had become synchronized and the men could have a mental dialog without any problems, and they carried it on, expressing only the end of each discussion with words. They spoke, by the way, only for the scribe who, from age to age, wrote down every word spoken in council. 

- It won't be enough, the mortality inventory indicates that the pack will be large this night, quite possibly the appearance of an ancient beast. The Wastelanders are not particularly brave, but if we could persuade the Northerners, there might be a chance to hold back the pack. - The elder with the long beard chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. - I propose to liquidate the merchants' guild and the moneylenders' guild, confiscate their funds and hire the men of the islands and the Northmen. 

- I agree! Let's hire more highlanders and fucking yellow assholes and black assholes, the more the better! Fucking freeloaders will be fucking useful here! They're useless! Every one of your favorite northerners will shit themselves when they see a werewolf come through the desert! 

- Why so expressive, Wolf? Or do you know something that Dolphin and I don't know? - The well-groomed grandfather looked at Wolf very suspiciously, at the same time discussing with Dolphin his overly aggressive behavior.

Wolf wrinkled his nose, the letter from the King had arrived yesterday, but he didn't want to initiate his rival friends into the essence of Batiushka the King's advice until the last. 

- Here, Spider, read it. - When he made up his mind, Wolf took the letter out of his pocket and tossed it to his colleague. 

  With a smooth and easy movement, the grandfather with the braided beard caught the scroll and immediately unfolded it, reading the lines of the order-wish. Then he leaned back in his chair and gave the scroll to Dolphin. 

Dolphin repeated his rival-friend's maneuver a few seconds later.

- What is the Lion thinking?! Orders like that from the King, it's, it's, I don't even know what to say! - Dolphin was the first to break the silence. He was burning with indignation. - Is it really time to change the Elder Sage? What bad timing.

- Yeah, change it, try it. That bald cat has been sitting on the stool under the oak throne for a couple of centuries, it's already sprouted there! And yes, colleagues, it seems our senior is ill. - All three of us bowed our heads in sorrow. 

- What are we gonna do? I'm afraid we can't replace the time until night, and it won't solve the problem. Our king is young and already with all youthful fervor wants to fulfill his order, thinking that it will solve all problems. - The spider was desperately looking for a solution and didn't find one. In fact, they have a year to find a solution or they will have to do as the scroll says. 

- Bloody marasmus! - Wolf slammed his fist down on the long-suffering table again. Sparks flew out again, this time blue. 

The name of the Wise Men's worst disease made both his colleagues flinch and stare, then each of them bit their thumb in a superstitious gesture, even Wolf. 

The discussion continued after a couple minutes, but they still couldn't find a solution, not that day or the next. 

A month later, when the "request" could no longer be ignored, the Sages gave the order to gather the ingredients for the ritual. The genie would be released from the bottle to save the kingdom, but would it destroy the world in the process? 

***

Anna was a capable child. When the other children were playing and having fun, she was studying and practicing.  The reason for her diligence was not the girl's early adulthood, not at all, it was much more prosaic.  The other children did not want to get to know the daughter of "...", believing that she was an arrogant, ugly, too prominent, unfairly lucky, etc. etc. At first she was insulted and beaten, but as she began to learn and develop control over her own behavior, even the worst bullies did not dare to touch her. 

Anna herself was not so offended by the fact that the rest of the children's community ignored her, maybe a little.  Although there was one child who did not ignore her, but not because of any bright feelings, but because of the similarity of the situation, as Anna thought. The bespectacled one kept up with her after the memorable ordeal, was always near her, and they even played catch-up a couple of times. 

At the moment, the girl was on her way to her former home. She wanted to please her father with a clan tattoo. Even though her father had caused her a lot of trouble, especially because of his frightening profession, even though she treated him as a stranger now, she was not going to break the Sun Goddesses' covenants. 

An eleven-year-old girl with a wisp of black hair on her head walked into a house that hadn't seen a woman's hand in a couple of years. She took off her shoes, put them in a special locker, and headed for the second floor. On the walls hung stuffed animals that her father had killed when he was an adventurer. The girl looked at the bizarre werewolves with interest and fantasized about how she would kill them. 

On the second floor, in a study by the fireplace sat a tall, broad-shouldered man with kind red eyes, a black beard, and short hair. In his lap lay a charcoal-black glaive with runes inscribed on it. His Magnus, which he used to take the lives of monsters and werewolves and now beheads the city's enemies, had an inner Magnus. It was a joke of fate that he had become one of those he had despised so much before, but his father's fate had caught up with him. 

"This glaive is cursed," the man thought for the umpteenth time. It was the tenth generation of users of this Magnus to lose their happiness, to become employees of the most disgusting profession in the world.  And the end is always the same. Georg wished with all his soul for a different fate for his daughter, which is why he pushed the girl away from him, gave her to the guild, holding on to its members until the very end.  He also always looked at his daughter and saw the one he had killed with his own hands, the result was a constant depression that affected his Ve. Georg's brightly fiery Ve was becoming black and intangible, like the Ve that the cursed glaive was generating.  The man realized, soon the darkness of the cursed Magnus would finally consume him, make him like his father and his father's father.  Watching the burning flames, the man thought of the missed opportunities. If he had known that this would be the case, he might not have fled his family to the far south, but would have accepted his fate, married a woman picked up by his grandfather, and lived like everyone before him. 

"Goddesses! Ten years of happiness crumbled when the damned thing found me. "How stupid I was, not believing my father's words. Ha! I thought I was the smartest, and three women are dead because of me."

Georg remembered that day clearly. The eighth day of the month of dust, the year 5783. The day the shadows thickened in the middle of the room and the nameless glaive appeared. The day all his relatives had died, and a week later, the council had asked him for a favor.

"Gotta unload the prisons at least a little bit, a couple orders and we'll get behind you. Sneaky old geezers! And then they spread the word that one of the Executioners was living in town! Bastards! They couldn't help but know how they feel about those who can take away with a single blow the thing that is believed to represent the soul. For the greater good, they deprived me of everything... Marina, why did you start that scandal? Who put you up to it? Who should you take the head off? Maybe kill all the wise men? Maybe the neighbor who crawled up your skirt and inspired you to unleash the poison of dirty words on me?" - His thoughts once again, for the umpteenth time, revolved around the past. Alas, such is the fate of the entire Executioner dynasty. Georg asks the gods for only one thing - "Goddesses, I pray, let the next woman bear a boy by me! Do not let this burden fall on my daughter, my sweet daughter..."

The creaking of the steps distracted him from his prayer alternating with self-injury. 

Anna quietly opened the door. In a dark room, lit by the fire of the fireplace, in a rocking chair sat her father. The girl walked to the middle of the room. The man gave the girl an indifferent look. Unfortunately, Anna had no idea how hard it was for him not to rush to his only daughter, hug and praise her accomplishments.  He barely managed to suppress the pride he felt for his daughter. He couldn't have the girl attached to him, there was a chance Magnus would 'want' her as his lord before an heir was born. Georg was still holding out hope. 

The girl could hardly hold back her tears. Even though she is a genius, but she is only eleven years old and really wants the love of her father, whom she loved no matter what. But all was deafening. Her father, no Georg said nothing, not even a nod, just a look of indifference and turned away to the flames of the fire in the fireplace. 

The girl bowed and, without a word, left the room on wobbly legs. The girl bowed and left the room without saying a word, leaving the room on wobbly legs, without seeing anything in front of her. 

Anna was so engrossed in her worries that, not noticing the obstacle, she tripped and fell face first into the sand, breaking her nose. 

She sat up with difficulty, clutching the wound with her fingers, trying to stop the blood, and looked around. She had run far away from the residential neighborhoods, into the northern part of the city. Anna looked at what she'd tripped over. A flurry of goosebumps ran down her back. 

- Trrup? - A boyish voice came from behind her, ahead of her exclamation. It made Anna flinch, but then she calmed down; she recognized the voice.

Leaning on his stick and staff, Lex himself peered around the corner. 

-You followed me again! - The girl was angry, jabbing her finger accusingly in his direction. - Lex, you can't keep following me around. 

The bitterness of resentment against his father was forgotten, replaced by anger at the clingy boy.

- But, Anna, I was bored, I mean, let's practice together! - Corrected his eyepieces the kid. He decided not to tell the truth, that he just didn't want to get from the bullies who didn't dare to touch him only in front of Anna. 

- Yeah, I especially liked that last workout. Go take a walk, I don't have time for you. - Anna waved her hand as if to ward off a fly. - Where's the body? 

The corpse was gone, only blood-soaked sand was where it had recently been. 

- Black Moon. - Lex wheezed, his hands trembling as he gripped the staff-Magnus. - He'd become a werewolf... 

Anna shuddered. Taking her stiletto out of its holster, the girl looked around and prepared to give her life away. All worries and worries faded into the background. The world became crisp and clear. The enemy is close, kill him or be eaten. It was the first time she had ever heard such a thing, a strange whispering came to her ears.

- Lex, do you copy? - The girl asked quietly to the shivering boy. 

-Nnneeettttttttttt. - He bared his teeth. Unlike the girl, the bespectacled man felt inexpressible terror, as any ordinary child in his place would. 

-Grrr- 

The snarl of the once intelligent beast came from every direction. It was no ordinary animal growl, but the fear-soaked "voice" of a werewolf. 

It was more than enough for the boy, because Lex didn't have a string of creepy ancestors using Ve even more terrifying than the pitiful power of a werewolf just born.  He staggered to his feet and flopped on his ass. He staggered back onto his ass, eyes wide with terror and sweat beading down his throat.

But Anna was not confused, as if a veil covered her from the enemy's influence, and a faint whisper made it clear where the werewolf was hiding. Not yet seeing the enemy's movement, our heroine, relieved to the utmost, jumped to the side, evading the jerk of the swift shadow. The girl darted after it, trying to slash it with her weak hand Magnus, which was generating a poisonous Veh. 

The speed of the jerk was such that the stiletto was hilt-deep in the green body of the creature. The only thing left to do now was to survive and wait for the poison to kill the beast. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. The werewolf swung its three-toed paw, and a wave of force threw the girl away, disorienting her. 

- Gras! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! - The creature howled. It was a hunchbacked, upright creature with a frog's head and two rows of teeth covered with warts, and it was disgusting. 

The monster's jaws opened and its quick, sharp tongue nearly pierced Anna's head, but she managed to move it slightly, leaving only a scratch on her skin. The monster didn't want to die from the poison. 

He bent down in preparation for a jump, his powerful hind legs tensed and his gaze focused on the girl who had just woken up. Jump. 

- Lightning! - A thin arc of blue lightning shot from Lex's shaking stick and struck the monster in the leg, sending it tumbling to the ground. Lex, meanwhile, kept sending weak bolts of lightning at the werewolf in a panic, preventing it from getting up. The girl jumped up to the unresponsive toad and, raising her weight to the limit, struck at the base of its skull, punching it through and through. Anna was also hurt, her arm was a terrible sight. She struggled to pull her hand out of the corpse and fell to her knees.  Her mind was a jumble, her stomach revolted and she vomited bile. She didn't understand anything, tears were streaming down her cheeks as a little girl, and she was suddenly terrified.

Someone stroked her hair affectionately. When Anna lifted her crying face, she saw Lex smiling at her in confusion. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat and pounded fast. Her cheeks suddenly flushed red with shame. 

The one who had recently pierced a werewolf capable of defeating some of the guild warriors with her bare hand was embarrassed, not knowing why herself. 

That's how Lex and Anna's friendship began. So was born a weak feeling of a girl for a boy, which with each year flared up more and more strongly.

Society ignored these children. One was regarded as her father's daughter, the other as an inept. 

As time passed, the children grew up, Anna was still a rotten seed in the eyes of everyone else, while Lex grew into a handsome young man. Years of training with a very strong opponent had developed his control over Ve to the limit, and he was gradually becoming a respected man. He had created three powerful Magnus, which was a huge accomplishment for his sixteen years, and of course, he was getting noticed by girls. Pretty girls. 

Anna, on the other hand, had not acquired beauty; she had grown from a tomboyish girl into a girl with zero breast size, overly flat and unfigured. Her face was cute, but her red eyes frightened suitors. As it turned out, she didn't socialize with anyone except her teacher and Lex, who saw her only as a friend. Anna's father was getting older, the women he'd tried a dozen times hadn't given him an heir, and many of them had died of various causes. Now even whores avoided the executioner's house. Meanwhile, Anna and Lex were both seventeen years old. This year was in many ways a turning point in their fate, as well as in the fate of the entire Kingdom of the Two Runes. 

Three that will shake the world.

  The 6th day of the month of the split mountain 5797. 

Anna crept along the roof, keeping an eye on her target. The petty official who had raped the daughter of an ordinary citizen was careless, he did not get rid of the evidence, did not fear justice, and continued to kidnap the children of ordinary people. After all, the law is on his side, and here the guards are powerless - so he thought. Except that he did not take into account that his case will attract the attention of an experienced master of murder, who recently became Anna, having fulfilled the necessary conditions. Now the girl could take orders on her own, but in case of unfair, unsupported by evidence murders, she now awaits punishment. But only as it was said above the official is too brazen and the evidence Anna found without problems, which puts a cross on the life of a moral freak. 

The girl pulled a small flute from behind her sinus. She had created this Magnus a couple of years ago from the bone of a desert kenar, and it was the perfect instrument for destroying such cockroaches. 

Anna began to play the flute, but it did not make a sound, at least no one but the fat official, who was clutching at his heart, heard the melody. Ten seconds it took Ve in the melody to break the rapist's heart. 

"Half the work is done. Now we just need to present the evidence to the guild council and we can move on to the next one." thought the unremarkable, unattractive girl, speeding across the rooftops. 

Eight minutes and she was in the central guild square, centered around the sacred fountain of the Sun Goddesses. This was where the nuns usually gathered to chant their prayers. Anna loved to hear the ringing voices of these women, and she even thought of joining the Order of the Two Suns as a novice someday. 

The girl stayed at the fountain for a while, listening to the beautiful voice of a young novice praying to the Blue Sun. The bald girl sang about the eternal cycle of day and night, about how with sunset comes darkness to give the world a rest from the light. Anna listened and enjoyed it, all worries left her for those five minutes that the prayer lasted. The girl's eyes, on the other hand, enjoyed the beautiful dance of the happy older nuns. Peace and tranquility were brought by the girl's words. But all things come to an end, the song ended as well. Anna approached the embarrassed little girl without regret and gave her a couple of gold pieces and hugged her. 

The five buildings of the city's main guilds, upon which its prosperity rests, surrounded Anna, who was sitting by the fountain. 

Warriors Guild, the building is monumental, angular militarized. Warriors and battle spellcasters who have chosen to serve the army gather here. The third most powerful guild in the city.  Anne has never been to it, the warriors don't like it much because of her father. 

Next to it stood the buildings of the Merchants Guild and the Adventurers Guild. The fourth and fifth strongest. The buildings didn't look any different from the architecture of the rest of the city. The same white stone buildings as everywhere else, except bigger, much bigger. 

Anna turned her head in the direction of the hobbled small building. The Executioner's Guild, which currently only had one member, her father. Yet the guild itself is considered the second most influential in the city, though the youngest. 

Why is that? It's simple, really. Executioners are the only ones who can quickly and with one blow, without any rituals, take the lives of people in such a way that they do not rise up as werewolves. And, importantly, any human being, no matter if they're 10,000-year-old sages. 

And finally, the swankiest building belonged to her guild, the first in influence. That's where Anna had set her sights. 

As she moved, the people around the girl recognized her... and curved in a contemptuous grimace. Why was that? Anna didn't know. No matter what she did for the people around her, she was still just the daughter of "...". Funny. The first in everything, with a developed inner Magnus, a fine pedigree (the girl's mother was a great-great-granddaughter of the sage Delphinus), capable of creating fine Magnuses and a perfect track record, she was just a "..."(The inner Magnus of people is always the brain, and since Anna's father always has to put the head on a stake, it turns out that, according to most people, the girl has a talent for controlling Veh for this reason, and I don't care that Anna's father became a Magnus when she was born).

When she entered the hall, she immediately went to the office of the guild master, who was also her former teacher, under the stares of the people who were silent when she arrived. 

There were voices coming from the study.

Anna's mask trembled in front of the office, because "he" was there now. The girl became agitated; it had been five years since she had confessed her feelings for Lex, the boy who had become a handsome man. 

"Calm down, Anna! Pull yourself together, and confess to him at last!" - An inner voice was desperately pleading to do so at last. Prado sounded it silent and suppressed by will and embarrassment. 

Anna took a deep breath, exhaled, and for the umpteenth time, promising herself to confess everything to the guy tomorrow, or at least to start processing him, knocked.

- Who the werewolves brought in! Remember, if after opening this door, the reason you're distracting me doesn't seem worthy, then watch out! You'll be killing flies all over town for the rest of your life! Oh, Anna! Come in, come in, come in.

The girl not listening to the teacher's gibberish walked in, interrupting his threatening speech. 

- Hi, Ann. - He smiled his trademark smile at her. The girl's heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks didn't blush just because she'd gotten herself worked up before entering the office. 

- Hello, Lex. - Anna replied quietly to the boy, then turned to Mark - Hello, Master, the assignment is complete, and I'm ready to provide the materials.

- Later, my girl, I have more important things to do right now. Here, read this and tell me what you think. - Mark nodded at the scroll on the table.

Anna frowned. She didn't understand what was more important than the law, but the scroll made it clear. It turned out that there were laws that overruled all others-the Laws of Kings, in the truest sense of the word. 

After reading the beautiful ligature of symbols filling the paper, the girl put the scroll aside and turned to the teacher.

- Are they sick? -

At that question, Mark smirked and shook his head. 

- You two are so much alike, like a perfect couple, even thinking alike. The girl almost blushed at the teacher's words and shot a glance in Lex's direction, but it was the same as always.

- Don't talk nonsense Master, we're just friends, nothing more. But the sages are really sick to order such a thing. What if some dragon responds? Who can kill it now?!

The young man's passionate speech was interrupted by a powerful fist hitting the table of the Master, no, Master. It was no longer Master Mark, but Marcus Shadow, the head of the Yudol Assassins' Guild.

- It is not for us to debate the wisdom of the Sages! Proud of the honor, for it is you two and a pool of others who have been chosen to welcome the younger generation of our guild! So you'll be ready in a week in your killer costume, with your awards, and, Lex, get your Magnuses in order! I don't know, tie a bow or something, but let's get out of here. I'm busy. 

  Lex grimaced as if he'd eaten something sour and headed for the exit, remembering to slam the door one last time. 

- What are you waiting for? Get out of here! - Anna only crossed her arms over her nonexistent chest and gave him a very expressive look. 

- Я. I brought it. Evidence. Guilt. Purposes. Familiarize yourself. - Pulling a decent-sized folder and a couple of baggies out of her hiking backpack, she unloaded them onto the table.

- Why did you come to me with this? Go to the man in charge. 

- You're my responsibility.

- Ah! That's right!