Виктор Пахомов – Sherlock Holmes: The Gate of Oblivion. Volume 1 (страница 4)

«He has no aura, Gurd,» whispered the second guard, whose hands were visibly shaking.«Even stones have an echo of mana.«And this one… it’s like a hole in space.

– Enough! – a sharp, authoritative voice rang out from the depths of the tunnel.

A woman approached the group.She was much older than Elyan, with graying wine – red hair and piercing eyes the color of a stormy sky. Her robes were decorated with intricate runes that glimmered dimly, resisting the overwhelming effects of the salt.

«Master Kaelia…» Elian tried to bow his head, but weakness made him stagger.

The woman came almost close to Holmes.She didn’t use magic – she just watched, piercing him with a gaze that seemed to be trying to get to the very core of his atoms. Holmes did not look away. He studied her in response: the wrinkle between the eyebrows was a habit of heavy thinking; salt dust stains on the sleeves – she personally visits the mines; a slight smell of sulfur – alchemical experiments.

«The Hollow who is not afraid of the Shadows and reads the stars in the forest of madness,» she said slowly.«Elyan says you deduced him using only calculations.«In our world this is called «Hard Knowledge".It’s almost forgotten.

«And in vain,» Holmes noted dryly. – Numbers never lie, unlike feelings.

«Perhaps,» Kaelia darkened. – But now we have no time for philosophical disputes. You have arrived on time, traveler. We need someone who sees the world differently than we do. We had… an event.And if we do not open it, these caves will become our common grave in two days. Kaelia led them deeper into the settlement.The Caves of the Forsworn were an entire underground city. Here lived those whom the capital Aetor considered a «marriage» – people with low levels of mana or those who lost it as a result of accidents. Holmes saw hundreds of emaciated faces illuminated by dim lamps.There was a heavy smell of salt and despair in the air.

«Three hours ago,» Kaelia began as they entered the fortified sector, «the Heart of the Mountains disappeared from our internal storage.«This is a unique crystal that purifies the air in caves from toxic fumes. Without it, we will all suffocate.

– Traces of a break – in? – Holmes asked briefly, switching to work mode.

– That’s the point, they don’t exist.The vault is protected by the «Seal of Blood». Only me and my assistant Gilbert could go inside. We found Gilbert inside. He’s dead. But he doesn’t have the crystal with him.

Holmes stopped. His eyes narrowed.

– Locked room.My favorite genre. Lead me to the body.And please tell your people not to come near the door. I don’t want them to trample the physical evidence with their magical searches.

They approached a massive door carved from a single piece of obsidian.Two guards stood at the threshold, whose faces expressed an extreme degree of superstitious horror.

«The magical security was not broken,» Kaelia explained.«If someone walked through the walls or used teleportation, the runes on the doors would glow crimson. But they are silent.From a magical standpoint, Gilbert was the only one in the room. But Gilbert could not steal the crystal – he was more devoted to the order than to life itself.

Holmes took the oil lamp from the guard’s hands and, without saying a word, crossed the threshold. Kaelia led them deeper into the settlement.The Caves of the Forsworn were an entire underground city. Here lived those whom the capital Aetor considered a «marriage» – people with low levels of mana or those who lost it as a result of accidents. Holmes saw hundreds of emaciated faces illuminated by dim lamps.There was a heavy smell of salt and despair in the air.

«Three hours ago,» Kaelia began as they entered the fortified sector, «the Heart of the Mountains disappeared from our internal storage.«This is a unique crystal that purifies the air in caves from toxic fumes. Without it, we will all suffocate.

– Traces of a break – in? – Holmes asked briefly, switching to work mode.

– That’s the point, they don’t exist.The vault is protected by the «Seal of Blood». Only me and my assistant Gilbert could go inside. We found Gilbert inside. He’s dead. But he doesn’t have the crystal with him.

Holmes stopped. His eyes narrowed.

– Locked room.My favorite genre. Lead me to the body.And please tell your people not to come near the door. I don’t want them to trample the physical evidence with their magical searches.

They approached a massive door carved from a single piece of obsidian.Two guards stood at the threshold, whose faces expressed an extreme degree of superstitious horror.

«The magical security was not broken,» Kaelia explained.«If someone walked through the walls or used teleportation, the runes on the doors would glow crimson. But they are silent.From a magical standpoint, Gilbert was the only one in the room. But Gilbert could not steal the crystal – he was more devoted to the order than to life itself.

Holmes took the oil lamp from the guard’s hands and, without saying a word, crossed the threshold. It was cold inside the cell and smelled of dry dust.In the center, right under the empty pedestal where the crystal had previously rested, crumpled on the floor, lay the body of an old man. Holmes did not immediately approach him.At first he froze at the entrance, slowly moving the lamp from one corner to another.

«Perfectly fitted blocks of slate,» he muttered, moving the light along the joints.«No cracks or vents larger than two inches in diameter.«The walls are monolithic.The floor is solid rock.

Elyan and Kaelia stood in the doorway, watching the Hollow crawl along the floor, examining the layer of dust.

– What are you looking for? – Elyan whispered.«Our trackers have already examined everything.«They did not find a single vibration of the ether.

«Your trackers were looking for ghosts,» Holmes stood up, brushing off his knees. – And I’m looking for matter.Magic is just another way to influence the physical world.And if she did not leave a trace in the ether, then she acted through physics.

He walked over to Gilbert’s body.The old man looked as if he had simply fallen asleep, if not for the unnatural pallor of his face and the frozen horror in his wide – open eyes. Holmes carefully raised the deceased’s hand.

– Rigor mortis has not yet set in, the blood has just begun to settle in the lower extremities.Death occurred approximately two and a half hours ago.Gilbert died instantly.

Holmes took his magnifying glass out of his pocket; it was cracked from the fall in Egypt, but still usable. He brought the lens to the deceased’s palm.

«Interesting…» whispered the detective.

On the old man’s palm was a tiny red ring that looked like an insect bite.In the center of the ring, Holmes saw three microscopic punctures arranged in a perfect triangle. *** FIXED REPEAT TEXT ***

Holmes took the oil lamp from the guard’s hands and, without saying a word, crossed the threshold.It was cold inside the cell and smelled of dry dust.In the center, right under the empty pedestal where the crystal had previously rested, crumpled on the floor, lay the body of an old man. Holmes did not immediately approach him.At first he froze at the entrance, slowly moving the lamp from one corner to another.

«Perfectly fitted blocks of slate,» he muttered, moving the light along the joints.«No cracks or vents larger than two inches in diameter.«The walls are monolithic.The floor is solid rock.

Elyan and Kaelia stood in the doorway, watching the Hollow crawl along the floor, examining the layer of dust.

– What are you looking for? – Elyan whispered.«Our trackers have already examined everything.«They did not find a single vibration of the ether. *** CARD LETTER «R» ***

Rationality is what you call the magic of five centuries,» Holmes said, looking at the Master. – The Heart of the Mountains crystal has the property of absorbing light and mana around it.In the salt caves he becomes almost invisible to the magical gaze. You saw him on the floor, next to the dead Gilbert. You realized that the Fiddler killed the old man and dropped the loot. You simply stepped on it, pressing it into the soft sole of your boot.Salt hid the magical trace, and the Seal of Blood does not look for objects, it looks for intentions in the aura.

– Search him! – Kaelia ordered, and her voice was colder than cave ice.

Gurd tried to grab his sword, but Holmes was faster.Using baritsu techniques, he grabbed the giant’s wrist and with a sharp, precise movement pressed on the painful point.The sword fell on the stones with a clang.The guards fell on the traitor, knocking him to the floor. CHAPTER 4. CITY OF FLOATING TOWERS

After Gurd’s exposure, the attitude towards Holmes in the salt caves changed.The outcasts looked at him with apprehension, but hope was now visible in their eyes.Magister Kaelia ordered that the «wanderer and his companion» be given the best rooms the caves had to offer – dry niches lined with soft moss and illuminated by stable crystals.

Holmes, however, was in no hurry to rest. He spent the rest of the night studying the maps of Eldria that Kaelia had provided him with. Elian, whose wounds were healing thanks to the skills of local healers, sat nearby, watching as the detective made notes in his notebook.