Виктор Пахомов – Sherlock Holmes: The Gate of Oblivion. Volume 1 (страница 3)
– <Kha – de! Mal – tur!> – it shouted in a hoarse voice.
Holmes froze. He didn’t understand the words, but the intonation was universal: fear and despair.«I will not harm you,» said Holmes, slowly raising his empty hands. – I don’t have a weapon. Holmes did not waste time analyzing the warning. He quickly approached the young man and examined the wound.It was a deep, jagged mark left by something sharp and, apparently, jagged.The blood, purple and thick, continued to ooze, turning the grass around it dark, almost black.
«The physiology is almost identical to human,» Holmes noted, applying a pressure bandage from his handkerchief. – The artery is not affected, but the loss of plasma is critical.
He worked quickly and confidently. His hands, accustomed to the finest chemical experiments, acted with the precision of a surgeon. Having bandaged the wound, he raised the young man’s head and brought a flask to his lips, in which there was still some water left.The young man came to his senses, took several greedy sips and exhaled convulsively. His skin began to take on a healthier, pearlescent hue.
«Thank you…» he said.This time the word sounded different. Holmes felt the meaning of the phrase appear directly in his mind, bypassing the hearing aid.The crystal in Holmes’ chest faintly responded with warmth. – You speak strangely. Your words sound like the grinding of dry stone. But your thoughts are pure.
«Moriarty once said that my thoughts are just a cold mechanism,» Holmes helped him sit down, leaning him against a tree.«The problem is that the world around them rarely matches their clarity. Who are you? And what are these «shadows» you mentioned?
The young man shuddered and looked around in fear.
– I’m Elian. Junior healer of the Order of the Silver Leaf.And the shadows… – he pointed deep into the forest, where the purple twilight became almost black. – These are the Beasts of Oblivion.They feel Manu.And they hate everything that has form and spark. Holmes stood up and carefully examined the thicket.The silence of the forest now seemed to him not vacuum, but expectant. A tactical scheme quickly formed in my head.
«If they sense your energy, then our position is unenviable,» he stated.«You are wounded and exhausted, and I, in your words, am «empty.«How far is the nearest safe place?
Elyan tried to stand up, leaning on the trunk of the glowing tree. His face contorted in pain, but he stayed on his feet.
«There are ancestral caves an hour’s journey from here.«There the walls are saturated with the salt of the earth, it extinguishes the radiance of Mana. But I… I won’t be able to get there.My navigation crystal is broken.
He pointed to the pieces of blue stone hanging on his belt.
«Without him, the forest will lead us into circles of madness.«These are the Whispering Roots, they change paths every few minutes, adapting to the mind of the traveler.
Holmes walked up to Elian and took him by the elbow.
– The forest cannot change paths on its own.This is either an illusion that affects the vestibular apparatus, or a complex mechanism that obeys a certain algorithm.The algorithm can be calculated.Navigation is just a matter of relating fixed points.
«There are no fixed points in this forest!» – Elyan exclaimed in despair.«Even the mountains on the horizon sometimes change their peaks.
Holmes smiled faintly.It was the same smile that made the Scotland Yard inspectors feel like schoolchildren.
– You’re wrong.There are two points that remain motionless in any coordinate system of this world.Those two moons are above our heads. If you measure the angle between the Silver and Blood Moons and correlate it with the angle of inclination of the branches of these wine trees…Holmes fell silent, closing his eyes.Chains of equations began to form in his brain.The sphere in his chest began to vibrate, and suddenly he saw the world differently. He didn’t see magic, but he saw lines of tension in the air. He saw how the forest «breathes», how flows of energy bend the space around.
«Deduction is also a kind of navigation, Elian,» Holmes opened his eyes. His pupils became narrow for a moment, like those of a predator. – Follow me.And don’t be one step behind. If my calculations are correct, we will reach your caves in exactly forty – two minutes.
Elyan looked at him in awe.
«You… you’re not Hollow.«You are an anomaly.
«I’m a detective,» Holmes snapped, taking the first step into the purple darkness.«And I can’t stand it when geography tries to confuse me.»
They walked quickly. Holmes led them along a strange, broken path, sometimes forcing Elian to step over roots where there seemed to be a smooth path.The air around began to get colder.The light of the Silver Moon became more and more intrusive, and the crimson Blood Moon seemed to increase in size.
Suddenly Holmes stopped. His hand abruptly blocked Elyan’s path.
– Do you hear?
Elyan listened.At first there was only silence, but then another sound broke through the crystalline sound of the wind. A low, vibrating hum, reminiscent of the sound of thousands of insects hitting glass.Figures began to emerge from the shadows between the trees.They had no clear contours – they were clots of absolute darkness, so cold that the grass beneath them was covered with frost.
«Beasts of Oblivion…» Elyan breathed, his hand trembling. – There are too many of them. The creatures moved strangely, jerkily, like frames of a damaged film.They had no eyes, but Holmes felt their attention focused on Eliana, the only source of magical heat in this sector.
«It’s useless to run,» Holmes said calmly, analyzing the trajectories of the monsters. – They are faster than us and they have already blocked the escape vectors. Elian, do you have any energy left?
«Just a little… just for a short flash…» whispered the young man, clutching a piece of crystal in his hand.
– Hold her. I need eight seconds.
Holmes quickly dropped to one knee and opened his reagent case. His fingers moved at incredible speed. He grabbed three glass vials: one with concentrated magnesium, another with potassium chlorate, and the third with a mixture he called «London fog.»
«Magic is energy,» he muttered, mixing the powders directly into an empty metal tobacco can. – And any energy obeys the laws of thermodynamics.Creatures respond to your mana because it resonates in their spectrum. But they are not ready for pure chemical light.
The creatures were already ten feet away.The air became so cold that Elyan’s breath turned to frost on his lips.
– Now! – Holmes commanded. – Flash!
Elyan screamed, throwing the last of his mana into the crystal. A faint green light illuminated the forest for a moment, and the creatures rushed forward, attracted by this bait.At that same second, Holmes struck a match and threw it into the jar. CHAPTER 3. SALT OF THE EARTH
There was a blinding explosion of white flame.This was not a magical light – it was a violent chemical reaction generated by Earth science.The forest momentarily became brighter than at noon under the scorching sun.The creatures of Oblivion, accustomed to the subtle vibrations of the ether, let out a terrifying, ultrasonic screech.Their ghostly bodies began to literally disintegrate, unable to bear the intensity of the magnesium flame.
– Let’s go!«Holmes grabbed Elian by the shoulder and pulled him forward while the dust from the explosion still hung in the air.«We have a two – minute head start until their sensor systems reboot.»
They ran. Elian, overcoming the pain, tried to keep up. Holmes no longer looked at the moons – he was guided by smell.The smell of ozone grew stronger, but a new aroma was added to it – the acrid, salty smell of minerals.
A gray rock appeared ahead.At its foot there was a narrow crevice, from which a weak, even glow emanated.As soon as they crossed the invisible boundary ten yards from the entrance, the buzzing in Holmes’s head stopped.The pressure disappeared.
«We’re inside…» Elyan fell exhausted to his knees as soon as they found themselves under the stone arch. – Salt caves… The salt of the earth extinguishes mana. Here the shadows are powerless.They cannot enter the zone of silence.
Holmes straightened up, dusting off his badly damaged coat. He looked around the cave.The walls were covered in a thick layer of white crystals that glowed with a soft bluish light.
«The shielding effect,» Holmes stated. – Natural insulator.Very practical.
Footsteps were heard from the depths of the cave.Several gray – robed figures armed with crystal – tipped spears came out to meet them.
– Who are you? – one of the guards boomed. – Healer of the Silver Leaf? And…» he squinted at Holmes. – What kind of curiosity is this? He doesn’t smell like ether.Is he dead?
Holmes straightened his collar and looked the guard straight in the eyes.
– I’m a detective.And I would like to discuss the terms of our stay here before your guards decide that I pose a threat. The guards were in no hurry to lower their spears.In this world, where every living object had an energy trace, Sherlock Holmes looked like a frightening blur of absolute emptiness.To them, he was either an anomaly or a harbinger of doom.