Sarcophagus

"From now on, you are my second pet... It sounds ugly. 'Servant'. This sounds better," he nodded to himself.

"Yes, from now on, I belong to you. Please take care of me," unexpectedly, a melodious voice of a young girl was heard in his head.

"Can you speak?" he asked immediately, showing a shocked face, and his eyes were asking where her mouth was.

"No, it's telepathy. And, please, don't be so rude. I am a woman, after all," she said, chuckling and adjusting her invisible hair, moving her eyes to the side.

"A woman? How can I understand that? I remember that a woman is someone who has already slept with a man. But... Wait, are there others like you?" Her eyes were threatening Vallynor, although he did not even notice her gaze, wandering or, better to say, struggling in this mess.

"No, I am a woman because my creator was a woman when she created me. So stop with the stupid questions. And it's better to go to the Lady of the Forest."

"The Lady of the Forest? Are you talking about the old lady?"

"Yes, she's waiting for you. And don't look at me like that. I won't say anything else. Only she has the right to speak about herself."

"But why does everyone keep silent about the old lady? I don't even know her name. Everyone just says she will speak and speak," with each word, Vallynor's voice grew stronger, and he searched for anger and indignation. Was he nobody to them? So much time had passed, and he couldn't even find a single word about the old lady in the book, only torn pages.

"Because I am cursed, and this curse will catch up with those who remember too much about me," unexpectedly, the old lady spoke.

"That's why I'm asking you to come to me so you can help me, and I'll help you. I also apologize and borrow your help. I'm sorry, I can't use magic anymore. I'm already at the limit. Hurry," the old lady said.

Vallynor, frowning, could not understand what to do. Maybe it was a trap? But she was right, like Baba Yaga. He needed help. He began to feel lost and empty. He even began to forget his most precious memories about his grandmothers and grandfathers.

But how does he know that he's starting to forget? It's interesting how many memories he should have if he spends every summer with them. Yet he can only recall a few memories from the past few years. Their faces are blurred in his memory.

He's also starting to think less about his old world and family, and that he's becoming a bit unhinged.

It's interesting, can it be added that he recently started speaking like a monarch, claiming to have mastered the ways of Zen? If so, that's not good. He doesn't want to become an old man with a beard.

And where should he go? He looked at the trees surrounding him. Vallynor didn't know what to do or where to go. He had no other choice but to go to the old woman. Even curiosity overcame his fear of disappearing from this empty world, or as Baba Yaga called it, from this cursed place.

"I must go. I can't just sit here and think forever. We'll think about it when something happens." But first, he opened his palm, from which a faint mist began to emanate, and in the center was the soul of an Ent. This visualization spell was very convenient for observing the soul. Vallynor learned this spell after trying several times to study the soul, feeling and trying to understand what was happening to it, but he couldn't get anything.

For him, it was like a blind person trying to understand the color of the paper in front of him. But then he took the soul in his hands and visualized it, after which he examined it. It was seven times more effective than trying to understand what was happening to it through feeling.

Confirming that the soul of the Ent was restored, even if it became meager, he summoned a book that floated in front of him and tapped it with his finger several times. Then he asked, "What rune should I turn this soul into?"

The book opened, and on the blank pages, it appeared: "The soul of a fallen Ent can enhance your affinity with trees and death, improving your magic related to trees and necromancy."

"So, this soul will improve my magic related to trees and necromancy. Trees are understandable, but necromancy... How does that work? An Ent is a forest creature, a symbol of life, not death. How is this possible?" Vallynor couldn't understand how it happened.

"The fallen Ent practiced necromancy, merging energy with ripening seeds."

"But why should an Ent learn necromancy? And what reasons are there for it? I don't understand. Okay, tell me what rune to use and how to connect it with the other runes."

A rune appeared on the blank sheets, showing how to use it and how to do everything. Vallynor carefully studied the rune and gradually began to understand its purpose and meaning.

This rune not only improves my magic, but also allows me to use the forest and its parts to create a combination with necromancy.

With its help, new types of undead can be created, consisting of half-tree. This is cool, and it's only 37% of everything I've understood. But what about the other 63%? It's a mystery. Unfortunately, I won't be able to use this rune because of my damaged soul. Damn, I'm already tired of this soul.

My soul not only hurts sometimes, but also contains some kind of monster that makes me forget about myself.

In addition, it limits my magical power. I can't move on to the next level because of this soul. I've been at the limit on every path for a year now, and if I move on to the next level, my soul will be destroyed by the overflowing power.

What did I do to deserve this punishment? Maybe it was because in my youth I tried to summon a demon and angels, or maybe because I studied real magic, including Scandinavian runes.

"Maybe I had an orgy because I bought Viagra out of curiosity and tried to satisfy my girlfriend in bed," he thought. "But that's not what I wanted." He felt that he needed to move forward and not dwell on the past.

"Let's move on, we need to go further," he said, smiling and sitting down next to him. He began to understand that he could not stay in the past and needed to look to the future. His heart was rotten and full of bitterness of reality, but he continued to hope for a bright future.

Closing his eyes, he entered himself and saw the created platform. Looking up, he noticed cracks and black pulsating threads parasitizing on his soul.

He looked at the runes engraved on the platform and took two souls - one quality and one ordinary. He turned the ordinary soul into ink and began to carefully draw the rune, connecting it with other runes. When he finished, he took two more souls and turned them into a chisel and a hammer. He began to carefully cut the rune on the stone platform.

After a few hours, he finished the first two stages. The last and most difficult stage remained - to turn the soul of the ent into liquid and fill the carved rune. Then he needed to let it harden and connect all the runes with mana.

Taking the soul of the ent, he slowly began to heat it up, filling it with mana. The soul melted slowly, while the will of the ent itself struggled, trying to break free. Valynor had to turn something that shouldn't exist in its right mind - liquid soul - without allowing the will of the soul to escape.

Every second seemed like minutes to Valynor, but soon he was able to turn the soul of the ent into liquid and completely destroy its will.

Without a second thought, he poured this liquid soul into the carved rune, which wanted to regain its familiar form. Then he held it with mana to prevent its former shape from returning. After an hour, when he was sure everything was ready, he connected this rune with other runes using mana.

"That's it," he said, looking at his new rune. He felt proud, but then sadness replaced it. "And now it needs to be sealed."

Touching the rune, he began to recite the spell. After that, the rune was enveloped in black mist, which sometimes revealed what it hid. Looking at his runes, shrouded in mist, he opened his eyes, waking up in the real world.

"It's time to go to the old woman," he said.

***

Somewhere deep underground was a stone chamber, and in the center of this chamber was a stone sarcophagus, closed vertically, inside of which sat something undefined. Suddenly, a thick cloud of black smoke burst out of the coffin, filling the entire room.

Unexpectedly, the lid of the sarcophagus flew off into the wall, and a neat female foot appeared in the light. Then two beautiful hands emerged from the sarcophagus, which let out a scream.

"Oh no! He didn't show up again... What happened to him? And that Caesar with his friend Gabriel entered my room again, closing the lid of my coffin."

The beautiful girl stepped out of the coffin, pulled her hands and legs together, then with one hand gathered all the smoke that filled the room and looked at the dense ball of smoke.

"Well, I'll send my nightmares back. At least I'll help these poor souls of this ugly world," she said.

Having absorbed the black mist, she looked around. In her clear eyes, one could feel sadness and loneliness. Only memories warmed her dark soul.

"I'll go to the city for a bit," she said and left the room.

***

Slowly moving down the dark road, she noticed that an orgy was happening somewhere nearby. Various creatures were sitting and talking, and one of them, resembling a dragon, threw a fiery black ball at his conversation partner.

The conversation partner flicked the ball away with his hand and continued talking as if nothing had happened. The fiery black ball continued to fly and headed towards a couple consisting of a dragon and a little girl. The girl said something.

The dragon simply looked at the gray sky, inhaling the air with his wings. Then he flicked the flying ball away with his wing and took the girl in one paw, tearing her clothes apart. Covering their faces with his wings and the face of the beautiful girl, the dragon spent several moments in which the girl's screams of pleasure could be heard.

"Even the last city falls," thought the beautiful girl, shaking her head. She headed towards a familiar tavern, recalling on the way what this city was like before the gods betrayed it. She noticed a handsome man with red eyes wrapped in a cloak along the way and felt that she had not seen him before. Perhaps they had met before, but she didn't remember.

"Hey, beautiful lady, would you like to participate in the orgy tonight?" the man offered.

"No," she replied sharply, looking at him.

He began to move his eyes around, trying to figure out who this voice belonged to. When he saw her face, he was frightened, jumped back, and fell to his knees.

"Queen of Nightmares, I deeply apologize for..." he began.

"Stop apologizing. And you better disappear before I decide to torture you," the queen interrupted him.

Understanding the queen's intentions, he quickly nodded and ran away. Everyone around, hearing the boy say "Queen of Nightmares", turned their heads to the girl in the cloak, then returned to their own business.

The Queen of Nightmares entered the tavern and was able to see someone killing and then tearing pieces of his soul and eating them. Some people were sitting and talking, drinking, and so on. She sat next to the bartender, who was cleaning glasses the old-fashioned way, without using magic to make time go faster. Why do something quickly and then be bored doing nothing if you can simply enjoy the process with your own hands?

The bartender, seeing the beauty sit on the stool, was not surprised by her appearance. After all, all the people in this city were beautiful, and her status meant nothing to him. "Queen of Nightmares and so what? Pay and everything will be fine," he thought. Looking at her sad face, the bartender said:

"Finally, Lia woke up. Maximum ten years until they disappear. And I thought you would stay in the world of dreams. From your face, I can tell that you couldn't meet that guy. I can't understand what you found in him that made him occupy your heart."

She said nothing, but simply showed that they should pour her a drink. The bartender silently poured her a large glass. After drinking several glasses, she began playing with the glass and spoke:

"Sitting for centuries in this prison, I escaped to the world of dreams. There, I met many people. But one day, I met a very ordinary guy. At first glance, he was nothing special, but when I started talking to him, I began to enjoy his way of thinking and his answers. I don't know when it happened, but I fell in love with him. However, lately, he no longer appears in my dreams, and I don't know what happened to him. But I want to go to his world and find him."

"Hmm. How ironic that you fell in love with a mortal... Have you heard the recent rumors?" the bartender said when she raised her head and looked at him, asking him to tell her.

The Queen of Nightmares listened attentively and was surprised. "Did Baba Yaga take an apprentice? That's unbelievable," she thought.

When the bartender finished his story, she stood up, turned to him, and said, "I'm going to Caesar."

***

Caesar was working at his desk when he suddenly looked up. His tired face quickly changed to one of fear, and he grabbed all the papers and small objects, throwing them into a ring. But the ring only half-closed before he quickly bounced away from the desk. The door to the room flew open, destroying the desk and everything left on it. Stacks of paper tore into pieces or flew around the room. Caesar wanted to curse the culprit of the mess, but fell silent upon seeing who entered the room.

A beautiful girl in a long black dress entered the room, holding one of Caesar's wards in her hand. His eyes were white, without pupils, and foam came out of his mouth as he convulsed.

"Lia!" Caesar shouted the girl's name with a fake smile, although inside he cursed that he had not foreseen her arrival. He had long fled, hiding from her, and did not want to enter the realm of nightmares again. Memories left old wounds, and there was not much time to find a way out. Caesar was careful with his choice of words, so as not to offend her.

"Caesar, stop pretending. I didn't come to send us back to the realm of nightmares again, as we did last time out of boredom," Lia said, as black hands emerged from her shadow, joining together to create a throne on which she sat.

"Lia, why did you come?" Caesar asked, placing a new desk and chair in front of her. Then, a tea set and various sweets appeared on the table.

"Out of boredom. For you, it's just fun to throw the three of us into the realm of nightmares, where we spent several years trying to find a way out and running from different nightmares that we couldn't destroy because you wanted it that way. I still remember that fucking army of roosters that wanted to retouch us. Damn, they would have hit me several times. Even Baba Yaga might be more humane... Or maybe not?" Lia replied, screaming inside.

Caesar began to remember all of Baba Yaga's insane antics and eventually realized that she was no better. "God, why did you take them? Why?" he thought.

"Caesar, I recently heard an interesting rumor..." Lia began.

"They're true. Can you leave now?" Caesar interrupted her.

"Caesar, why are you so rude to me? I want to know all the details," Lia said.

Caesar had no choice but to tell Alexander and Gabriel everything he had told them.

Lia nodded and wanted to get up, but Caesar stopped her.

"Lia, why do you treat us like this?" he asked.

"Cesare, answer me, who tried to stop me from attempting to escape from this world to the world of my love through the world of dreams?" Lia replied.

"But he is mortal, and you were in danger," said Caesar.

"Yeah, and for that, they almost destroyed my connection to the dream world. Then I started meeting him less frequently in the world of dreams, as if he had forgotten about me!" Lia finished, almost yelling.

"But how is that possible? So many centuries have passed, and you fell in love with a mortal. Have you completely lost your mind? After that incident, you threw us into nightmares several times," the interlocutor exclaimed.

"You don't know. But I'm tired. I'm tired of working for years and doing my job perfectly. Because of work, I didn't have enough freedom to think about my life. And when our world was cursed and sealed, I had enough free time," she explained.

"I was looking for a boy in this world with whom I could live the last years. But everyone was afraid. They were afraid of me and my true face. And you know what the one you call a mortal said? He said I was cool. My true face fascinated and delighted him. Yes, he was scared, but other feelings prevailed in him. And this happened in the world of dreams, where you can't lie," she replied.

"That can't be. Mortals should not die seeing my true self. You're talking nonsense," he objected.

"Fine, let's leave it at that. Then tell me, how was I supposed to feel when I found out that your actions were aimed at me bringing information from the outside world, becoming a mediator with magical records?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, you brought only various films, a bunch of gay porn, and other things that people from non-magical worlds talk about. And he recorded all of it in his brain right away. You looked so funny," he noted, feeling himself blushing with shame and anger.

"What the hell?! Why did you do that? And why didn't you warn me?" he protested.

"I thought your prophecy would warn you," she justified herself.

"You know very well that it's not that simple... Are you leaving already?" Caesar asked, looking at Lia.

"Yes, I'll go and see this boy," she replied, getting up and leaving.

"Do you really hope he's the one?" Caesar asked behind her.

"Yes," unexpectedly replied the voice she wanted to forget.

"Fuck!! Why? Did you leave me in this nightmare?" Caesar asked, looking around.

***

In the last city of the world, a castle stood in its center, and next to the castle was a huge tower. A small group of people and creatures quickly approached the entrance to the tower, when an illusory face appeared at the entrance.

"Hello, Victor, Tarin, Chen..." the face continued to call each one by name, but one of them raised a hand to stop it. "What's wrong, Victor?... Oh, you're right. Introduce yourselves and confirm your identity. Also, state the reason for your arrival... Ha ha ha. Forget it. As if some enemy will appear. So, guys, tonight we'll go to the 'Night Butterfly' tavern. There should be a party with lots of girls. Maybe we'll even reach an orgy... Why are you waving your hands and lips, Victor? Oh, I forgot to turn on the sound."

When the guard turned on the sound, he heard shouts full of fragrant obscenities.

"...open the gates, you idiot! Lady Lia was with Lord Caesar."

"What did Chen say!!! Why didn't he say it immediately? Don't tell Mr. Gabriel, or he'll turn me into a lab rat for a month. Hurry, let's enter!" ordered Victor.

The gates were opened, and the group quickly entered the tower. Moving fast, they headed towards the flying platform. When everyone stepped on the platform, a panel with many numbers appeared. Victor pressed the last one, which read "Big Boss," and the platform rose.

While the platform was rising, one of the people asked Victor, "Victor, why didn't we use the teleport from the castle to go directly to Mr. Gabriel's place?"

Victor turned and replied, "Did you forget what happened last time? The channel for teleportation to Lord Gabriel's room was closed. And the central teleport was overloaded because of the party. I even remember how many hours we spent preparing for teleportation while they were having fun without me," Victor said.

"But now things may be different," Chen interjected, who was sitting next to him.

"You're joking, Chen. Have you forgotten that the world is dead, and we've almost run out of all resources? Because of this, almost everyone stopped working and started enjoying the last moments of life through love, vulgarity, and spending accumulated wealth. This damn channel must always be overloaded, even after great parties," Victor objected.

"Where did you learn that, Victor?" asked the beautiful girl, looking at him with a threat.

"Ana, I just know," answered Victor, getting nervous when he recognized who was asking the question, and quickly searched for an excuse.

"I told you, let's live a year like a married couple, where I will fulfill all your desires, but you have to be faithful to me and not fuck some whore. What's her name?" the girl continued.

"Mia!" Victor replied, seeing her angry face.

"She's a bitch," the girl said, creating fiery wings, and flew away.

"And where's the battle?" Chen asked sadly.

Unexpectedly, the platform stopped at its destination.

"Let's go," Victor ordered.

Silently, they headed to the tower owner's room. Two girls dressed in sexy clothing were sitting at the door, watching Santa Barbara; both turned to look at the approaching group with watery eyes.

Seeing the familiar faces, they said nothing and turned back to the TV show, pointing their fingers at the entrance door.

"Thank you," one of them replied, as Victor opened the door.

Opening the door, everyone was surprised at the scene: Mr. Gabriel was sitting naked in front of the mirrors and dancing like a cat.

Turning his eyes, he began to inspect everyone. And, shouting spells, he shot a huge stream of fire. The walls began to glow, filled with runes.

Victor and everyone else created a barrier, but it quickly fell, and they began to burn alive. While Victor screamed, "Anna, damn it! Why did you leave us?" Victor was not making a mess just because he wanted to, but because of such situations with Mr. Gabriel, who could kill them all at once. Each person in the group was an expert in one element, from which they could defend themselves.

Anna, the fiery witch, was an expert in everything related to fire, so she knew how to protect herself from it. Gabriel, realizing that they had no fire mage, knew that they wouldn't last long with a water mage and chose a fire spell.

Taking his soul, he separated Victor's soul from the others and began to interrogate him.

Learning that after meeting with Lia, Caesar fell into a nightmare world, and now he sits tied up in bed, screaming, "Don't break it!" He even tried several times to break the lock, which sealed his strength. And now, he's trying to protect his ass with tied hands.

He warned the others and quickly chased them out onto the street. In addition, he threw each of their bodies.

And he himself called the necessary people, gathered his suitcase, and, upon leaving, told his two secretaries that he was leaving for a few weeks. After that, he ran away.

***

The young lion and the old monarch traveled on strange animals and silently headed towards the cursed forest. From the sky, like lightning, an arrow fell into the sand in front of them. The monarch stopped and pointed to the arrow, which ended up in his hand a second later. Taking the letter, he opened it and began to read. After finishing, he turned to his master and said:

"This person is heading towards the mistress of the forest. Should we stop him?"

"Hmm. No, let him be. I want to find out what he has in mind. Maybe I'll find out what test he's made of. Let's go."

"As you wish," the monarch lowered his head and continued to follow his master, while a huge army followed them.