34. That's how I met this man

“So this is the end,” Dara said pathetically, while Deya watched the dark lord descend from the sky with a shudder in her body. And when he appeared at the level of the roofs of the houses, the enthusiastic whispering about the recent rescue in the square stopped – the people froze in horror, it became quiet, as if there was nothing left alive. The man continued to descend, his dark cloak fluttering in the bright sunlight, but his black hair was still... The girl stopped breathing as Rian lowered himself onto the snow-covered square, the snow crunching loudly under the soles of his boots, she had never been so scared.

Deya sat shivering on the cold, snowy road as lord T'er slowly approached her with his usual menacing calm. And all the time since the magic dome had disappeared, Rian hadn't taken his angry eyes off her. And she didn't even have an excuse. All she wanted to do was cover her face with her hands and cry, or better yet, fall under the ground. But the girl continued to sit there, flinching at his every step, tears streaming down her cheeks, her lip bitten to keep from bursting into tears, her wounds burning and searing, it was so cold, but she still kept her eyes on the approaching mage.

Suddenly Dara materialised fully in front of her and whispered: “Master, don't...” And then, for the first time, Rian tore his heavy gaze away from the girl, if only for a moment. As soon as he looked at the reborn one, she was blown out of the way by the force wave, the siren wailed again, the amulets of the Night Watch flashed scarlet. But Deya saw nothing but the Magister coming towards her, his eyes burning with fury. He stopped, towering over her. And before the flames of hell could roar, she heard him say, “I've had enough...”

“Siri, do you want to practice with me?”

I sighed. As usual, at the most fascinating part. I looked up from the book and frowned at Grant.

“I'm not interested.”

“Please?” Circul wore an uncharacteristically pleading expression.

“Why are you asking me to do this?”

“We stay at home all day, you hardly move and eat as much as you want. Soon you'll become obese and suffocate because your neck will be so fat that it will be strangled by a bomb collar.”

I snorted and put the book down. I wasn't convinced at all.

“Somehow I don't think that's the main reason. You just want a whipping boy.”

“That, too,” he smiled. “It's more like a whipping girl,” the guy glanced at me appraisingly.

“Didn't they teach you not to hit girls?”

“Only if they're lying down and unarmed,” he said, tossing me a wooden sword.

I deftly picked up the training weapon and smirked promisingly.

“You're overconfident,” Circul commented immediately. I can't wait to see that mocking glint gone from your eyes.

“Grant, I was the best swordswoman in my clan. Even though I was in the virtual world, the knowledge – the techniques and tricks – are in my head, even if my body has never fought in real life, it is in my blood.”

“Well, oh yes, yes,” he really believed in me.

I got into a fighting stance that I had seen a lot of in the game.

“What do I need to do?”

Grant made a few movements. Then he brushed the few loose hairs that fell over his eyelashes.

“The key is to look your opponent in the eye. You have to scare me with your determination, not with your sword swing,” he added half-jokingly.

“Well, let's get started.”

Angry at the bomb that threatened to go off at any moment, at the nice weather that made me feel a bit gnarled, at the guy who was keeping me from concentrating on my book, I took my revenge on Grant, hitting him a few times with the wooden stick that was proudly called a training weapon. Most of the time he managed to block my blows. But I was too fierce in my desire to hurt someone, so my movements were precise and quick.

But the Circul didn't play the role of noble knight either, I was beaten to the point of blue stars and bruises all over my body.

We went into the shower, as was our custom, using the rock-paper-scissors-win rule. With a sigh, I sat by the dresser, listening to the water running in the shower. It wasn't that I was a total loser at RPS, but lately Grant had somehow inexplicably learned to anticipate my moves, so he always showered first. And every time he won, he would say with that wicked smile, “Winner takes all, Siri”. It made me want to slap that cheeky, happy face even more.

“Grant, will you be out soon?” I knocked on the doorjamb.

The answer to me was the muffled cries of an owl on the prowl – it was Circul singing in the shower.

“If you don't come out in a minute, I'll sing too,” I said threateningly.

There was a moment of silence in the bathroom, and then the song was on repeat. Okay, I'm done.

I exhaled angrily, fluttering the wings of my nose, inhaled deeply and sang: “Come out, open the door, the toilet is not just yours...”

Barg came running to our concert, scratching at the bedroom door, but of course I wouldn't let him in. Then the dog howled, trying to get in tune.

“Shut the hell up,” Kai's voice sounded from the other end of the corridor where his chambers were.

A cane clattered on the parquet floor.

“What do young people do for fun these days?” Gisborne grumbled as he passed our room. “There are so many more pleasant ways to pass the time... even a game of cards. And they're just yelling... Oh, we should have sent Grant to singing school, he would have made a great singer...”

But everything in this world, thank heavens, comes to an end. Our concert trio was exhausted after a few minutes and the house was relatively quiet for an indefinite period.