Chapter 3

I don't know how long I was in oblivion, but I woke up not in the open air among the corpses, but in a wagon. The fabric roof of the van indicated this. On his left was a whole bunch of well-known things. It seems that this is the same carriage in which Selina slept. I saw it from the inside out of the corner of my eye, so there was no certainty about it.

The last thing I remembered was trying with all my might to get rid of the blood in my stomach until the body absorbed it all. And then terrible pain came, and all ... darkness. Most likely, he simply passed out from pain shock.

I tried to get up, but quickly changed my mind - it hurts too much. What is bad, blocking this pain is much more difficult than normal. In fact, the only way to get rid of it is through blood, but for me this is not an option.

- Woke up? - came the well-known voice of Selina, only now there was no more warmth or kindness in him. I looked up and saw that this was not in her beautiful eyes. Only fear and distrust.

"Like that ..." I answered in a hoarse voice. It was dry in the throat, as if sand had been poured. - You can water ...

"Now," after a short pause, the girl answered and held out a flask. She was afraid to come up to me herself, so I had to overcome my weakness and give myself a drink.

After drinking the water it became a little better, but full recovery will take time.

-Are you undead? She asked bluntly.

- Did you want to tell a vampire? - I specified, trying to occupy a sitting position.

"I don't give a damn what it's called," the girl said very sharply.

-And yes. And no. It's difficult, "I answered, feeling how I growled in my stomach.

-So yes or no?

- I'm half-breed. My mother was a man, and my father ... well, you understand.

"It's impossible," she answered flatly. "Vampires are not capable of having children." They can convert ordinary people, but they are not capable of giving life.

"The lower ones are not capable," I nodded, confirming the correctness of her words. - But the higher ones - yes, although the vast majority do not see this as necessary.

-And how are you different from ordinary converts?

-Maybe first let me eat, and then I tell? I practically pleaded, feeling the stomach begin to digest itself.

"I won't give you my blood," she narrowed her eyes and stepped back a step.

"Until this day, I have not tried blood at all," I grinned gloomily. "So normal food will do."

Thinking again, the girl nodded and left. She did not return soon, I even managed to fall asleep in a dream.

"Hold it," her voice was heard, this time a little calmer, but her eyes still looked at me with fear.

The plate was cold porridge and a piece of stale bread. But considering what kind of storm unfolded in my stomach, I attacked it with great appetite. It was only worth eating a couple of spoons when I was almost twisted. Only by enormous efforts of will it was possible to suppress the gagging urge.

"Damn ..." I coughed when I managed to cope with my stomach. - And returning to normal food will be much more difficult than it seemed ...

The witch, while I was trying to eat, stood at the entrance to the van, silently watching. And the longer I choked on the porridge, the more noticeably her eyes softened.

"Thank you," I thanked, returning the bowl to the beauty. The gagging subsided, so I can say that I won this battle with my own body. - Why did you save me?

"I don't know," the girl looked down. - At first I was very scared. I ran through the forest until I realized that I had nowhere to go. I don't know these places, and all the money remained in the van. At the University of Magic, we were taught one good spell to take control of our own emotions. I used it even before the bracelet was fastened on me, but the fear that you began to kill these robbers completely could not suppress right away. Deciding to return, I saw you writhing on the ground in pain and vomiting blood. And then…. You just lost consciousness. At first, I wanted to take advantage of this, pick up my things and move parallel to the path towards Vularian, but ... seeing you, for some reason changed my mind.

"Thank you," I sincerely thanked the girl.

-Tell me better. I don't want to regret later that I saved you.

"What's different ..." I thought. - Yes, many, if you think about it. We are not afraid of sunshine, garlic or silver.

-Yah? That is, the half-breeds do not have the usual vampire weaknesses? - Selina did not believe. "And if I give you garlic now, will you suffocate?"

- Well, that doesn't stop me from loving him. But no, nothing will happen. True, there are certain reservations.

-What kind?

"Wait," the curiously curious girl braked slightly. "First I have to tell you something else." I already said, until that time I did not drink blood. At all. This is what distinguishes half-bloods from ordinary vampires. We can choose our own path. If a half-blood begins to drink blood, then over time it will completely turn into an ordinary vampire. Unless the sun, most likely, will not be afraid. But the remaining weaknesses will return.

-And if you do not drink blood?

-That half-blood become an ordinary person. Well, almost ordinary. Physically, we are a little stronger, the wounds heal too. Better control pain and mental state.

"Not so much," Selina thought. "So ... you used to live like a man?"

"Yes," I confirmed. - It was my conscious choice. Until twelve years I lived like an ordinary person, but then my mother died. Then my father offered me a choice, to become a full-fledged vampire or to continue to live as a person. And so that I understand well what awaits me, he opened to me "that world." The whole background of the vampire world appeared before my eyes, and I realized that I did not want to be part of it.

"And your father accepted it so simply?" - surprised Selina. At this point, she stopped standing on the sidelines and sat on the edge of the van. Interestingly, now the girl was not wearing the usual travel suit, but a simple canvas shirt. And given that the gaze of the beauty of the nipples of the beauty was visible to her, she had nothing under her shirt.

"Of course," I nodded. "True, I have not seen him since."

-And you grew up completely alone?

- Not really. My father bought me an apartment and gave me a "mentor". Boris Ivanovich Kashin. He is a good man, and to some extent I can consider him the second father.

- So he raised you?

-More-less. In fact, I lived alone, he only occasionally visited me, resolving various issues, such as parent meetings.

-And what kind of parental meetings? - the girl asked, moving closer. Now she was sitting near my feet, and the old fear in my eyes was almost gone. And also ... I noticed that the girl was not wearing pants. And now the gaze opened a great view of her slender legs.

That's just because of too long a shirt and could not understand whether the girl has panties or some other underwear.

"And I look, you're feeling better, you're already staring at my feet," the girl smiled barely noticeably.

"Well, excuse me," I answered, slightly embarrassed. Wellness really has become noticeably better, an accelerated metabolism of vampires affects. Most likely, I have already half-digested the porridge eaten. "Does that bother you?"

She used to behave a little differently.

"In normal times, it would probably be embarrassing," she answered, and then pointed a thin finger at her head. "But now that spell is still affecting me." If it weren't for it, I would probably be crazy after what happened.

-Useful thing.

-So what kind of parental meetings? - the girl returned to the question.

"To explain for a long time, let me tell you some other time," I promised, returning to the previous topic. - In general, Boris Ivanovich for the most part replaced my father.

-You know, this is amazing. Vampires are usually described as cold-blooded and cruel, and your father gave you the opportunity to choose. Although, if desired, he could simply force to drink blood by force.

-Yes, I also thought about it sometimes. It would be nice to ask him myself, but since then I have not seen him.

"Wait ... that is, after you chose the man's path, your father didn't show up again?"

-Exactly. Apparently, I thought that would be right. And I do not blame him at all for this. It was the right thing to do. The vampire community is not the best place for humans. If my father would visit me, one way or another it would attract the attention of competing clans, and you never know ....

-Then it is clear.

-Well, did I satisfy your curiosity?

-More or less. I don't know yet ... can I trust you, but your story sounds believable.

-Can I ask a counter-question?

- Ask.

-And where are your pants?

The girl blinked in surprise, lowered her eyes to her bare legs and looked at me again.

-No.

-I see that no, but where are they?

-I don't know, share it somewhere.

- You're kidding right now, right? - I grin.

"A little," the beauty confirmed. - They say that humor is the best way to defuse the situation. Did it turn out badly?

-So-so. But still…

-Jacket and blouse tore, you yourself saw. And the pants were all in the blood. Not without your help, of course. And go to them ... I could not.

-Do you have no other clothes? - I was surprised.

- Yes, but it's a form of university of magic. I'm not going to walk in it here. So you have to look at my legs.

"Not a big trouble," I grinned, noticing that the girl was starting to look at me with a warmer look. And do not convey in words the joy from this that reigned in my soul. I really didn't want Selina to look at me like a monster.

"Okay, you really don't look so good," she said, getting to her feet. - Get some sleep, in the evening I will bring more to eat. I wish I could help you with magic, but ...

And only now I noticed that the bracelet that the traitor hung on her was still on the girl's hand.

- You never took it off?

-It is not so easy. He has a magic castle, only another magician can remove it. Well, or how to work with tools, but it will still be difficult. The bracelet is reinforced with magic, so the metal is very durable.

- That's how ...

-Do not worry. We get to the city and instantly take off. Now rest.

The girl left this, and I, again laying down on not-too-comfortable bedding, passed out very quickly. When I woke up, I felt much better. There was more strength in his hands, but his stomach again murmured with displeasure, demanding a new portion of food.

This time I got out of the cart myself. Selina, meanwhile, sat by the fire and silently looked at the fire. I did not immediately make myself felt, looking around. It seems that now the girl and I were in the old parking lot.

-How are you feeling? The witch asked almost normally.

-More or less, did we go back?

-Yes. Unfortunately, we have only one horse left. Three died from crossbow bolts, and the rest fled. I did not begin to run through the forest and look for them. So she put you in a wagon, harnessed the horse there and went back.

-And why back? I did not understand.

-I do not know these lands very well. Moreover, it is possible that friends of those robbers could wait ahead. Yes, and you looked bad, you needed a normal parking lot with a close source of water. I only know this one. Well, I didn't want to stay near the corpses. Blood is likely to attract predators.

"I see," the girl convinced me. Dragging along with the wounded man forward, not really knowing the road - this is not the case.

- Will you eat?

"It would be nice," I agreed.

The evening was calm, though we hardly spoke. The girl, apparently, wanted to gather her thoughts and decide for herself how now to treat me. And I was forced to just wait for her decision.

By night, the question arose of how we would sleep. I wanted to offer to sleep together in a wagon, but did not. And here the problem is not even in the sexual subtext, but in the fact that Selina now did not completely trust me. It is foolish to suggest sleeping together when a person is afraid that you will bite his teeth into his neck.

I had to gasp around the fire, despite all the objections of the girl. She believed that I had better spend the night in a wagon, since I had not yet fully recovered. But conscience did not allow to leave this beauty to sleep on the street.

The night passed without incident, although in the morning the girl looked awake. It is possible that she expected at midnight that I would arrange something, but instead I slept well.

I felt just fine in the morning. Side effects still remained, but muscle aches passed, and the stomach ceased to resist normal food. I think that in a day or two it will be possible to get off the porridge diet.

-Today you look almost normal, - this did not hide from the eyes of the beauty.

Yes, it's really better for me. But in fact, I even went a plus.

-In terms of? - do not really understand.

- My physical condition is now better than before. After I drank the blood, I went through the restructuring of the body and now began the "rollback". I went through the painful phase yesterday, now the passive phase has begun. Now, of course, I am not as strong as a real vampire, but the speed of reaction, reflexes and physical strength have increased markedly.

-It's great.

-The effect is temporary. Soon, the body will understand that there will be no blood flow, and it will be too costly to maintain new abilities, then a fairly quick regression will begin.

After breakfast, the girl and I discussed further plans. We decided that there was no point in returning, it would be better to go to Vularian. If we hurry, we'll reach the city before sunset. There was another reason, so to speak, more mercantile, to return to the place of battle again.

Despite the fact that Selina did not really want to see dead comrades, she was able to overpower herself. A good thing is a spell, just like my innate talent, otherwise it's a dubious pleasure to be alone with a screaming and panicking woman. And so the witch behaves quite adequately, though sometimes it seems a little insensitive, this is nonsense.

Surprisingly, the battlefield has not changed much during the time we were gone. I was expecting to see half the corpses being driven away by wild animals, but no. Although a couple of traces of someone's teeth were visible, perhaps our appearance frightened away the cowardly scavenger.

But the most unpleasant thing here was not a sight at all, but a stink. In the baking sun, the bodies had already begun to decompose, and a whole heap of flies flew around. The smell of decaying flesh cut his nose so that the girl had to cover her face with her hands. And still, it didn't help much.

"If you want, you can move away," I suggested to her.

"It's okay," the beauty stammered, to which I only shrugged. I want to stand here - yes, please, already an adult. It was easier for me in this regard. The sense of smell of a vampire is much sharper than that of humans, but since we are referred to as "evil spirits," and sometimes even to "undead," the smell of death is not as disgusting for us as it is for ordinary people. And yet, the stink pinched my nose.

First of all, I went around all the dead and collected all the valuables. Money bags, jewelry, and more.

-What are you doing? She frowned.

"To the Marauder," I answered honestly, not seeing anything wrong with that.

"But after all ..." Selina hesitated.

-You know, we have a saying: what is taken in battle is holy. This means that the winning trophies go to the winner. I am new to this world. The pockets are empty, and gold is no longer needed for these thugs.

Selina clearly did not approve of my actions, but she could not say anything against. That's great. It was still not enough to arrange scandals from scratch. It's stupid to deny that I need money, and she understood that.

As a result, I was able to get from the robbers twenty silver round and about fifty copper. As Selina said, this is not so much, but enough for the first time. In addition, I found two rings and one chain, but, looking at them, I doubted that I could help out at least any acceptable amount.

The next step was the collection of weapons, as Selina advised. It can also be sold to blacksmiths, albeit for a not very large amount. Indeed, the quality of the weapons of the thugs left much to be desired. I didn't want to take bloodied armor, so I limited myself to edged weapons and crossbows.

-How interesting…

-What is there?

"It seems I found a treasure," I grinned, pulling out the scabbard leader's sword, which was Brand's relative. This blade stood out from all others with its appearance. His metal had a yellowish sheen that said it was not ordinary steel. Unclear letters flaunted on my guard, and the blade itself was simply unrealistically sharp. I was hurt just by running my finger, and in my hand the sword sat like a glove.

Twisting it in his hands and making a couple of swings, I decided that I would leave it to myself. Too good to sell.

"Hmmm ... Elven," the girl remarked, looking at her sword closer. - I wonder where he came from simple robbers.

-Dear?

- Well, most likely, it will pull on gold, - the sorceress thought.

Gold is fifty silver, and silver is one hundred copper. It turns out that this sword costs twice as much as all the money that the robbers had. Indeed, a treasure.

-How do I look with him?

"Not bad, not bad," she nods wearily. And I am pleased to fasten his scabbard to a belt on his belt. It will be necessary for the future to train to own it.

Next begins the most unpleasant part - you need to do something with the corpses. Selina supported me in the matter of the fact that it is simply impossible to leave such a massacre. So I took the hatchet and started collecting firewood.

Initially, he was going to just bury the bodies, but the girl opposed this. Burying the dead on the territory of Free counties was allowed only in special cemeteries or burial grounds. Burials outside these places made it possible for necromancers to subsequently breathe life into the dead.

I was extremely skeptical of this information, but did not argue with the girl. Это же я в другом мире. Вдруг тут правда покойники к жизни возвращаются. Решено было, что раз нельзя их хоронить, значит, придется сжигать.

На то, чтобы устроить нечто вроде погребального костра, ушло часа три. Делал я это, разумеется, не на дороге, а на полянке, найденной неподалеку. Она была небольшой, но для наших целей сгодится.

Первые тела я таскал один, сделав подобие носилок из пары палок и куска ткани. Селина же молча стояла в стороне, не в силах пересилить брезгливость. Но в конце концов она таки решила мне помочь с павшими товарищами.

Костров было решено сделать два. На один мы просто грудой возложили разбойников, а на другой аккуратно положили Фихта и его солдат, исключая предателя, разумеется. Тот валялся среди других тел, сложенных друг на друга.

А вот с тем, чтобы все это разжечь, пришлось знатно повозиться. В итоге только на сожжение у нас ушло больше полудня. Солнце неторопливо катилось к закату, когда мы закончили. Тела лошадей мы вдвоем кое-как смогли стащить на обочину, где, скорее всего, их быстро обглодают падальщики.

И по завершении, смотря на проделанную работу, я был очень рад, что «деградация» ещё только началась. В своем обычном состоянии я бы и за два дня не собрал те два костра и не перетаскал трупы. И даже не смотря на все это, во мне ещё оставалось довольно много сил.