meN/Ace
Defunct. Epic battle of neuralink
– Run while you are alive. – Jumping over the table, Selim in a rage, with one blow of the sword, cut off the chain on which the chandelier hung. She fell with a crash on the table, and the egg seemed to slam shut. Crawling back, the girl seemed to be numb from what she saw.
– Break, crash! What kind of demon lives in you? «Gruel simply slammed the huge table, and it flew off to the side with a bullet. Flying into small fragments in the air, which, for a moment slowed down in flight, then accelerated again and with crazy force hit the wall, so that the entire building was shaken. The gray-haired wanderer thrust his leg into the concrete floor with force, and stones under Svurt’s feet burst out of the ground, lifting him up and twisting him in the air, pushing from his back with a solid slab in the direction of Grul. Raising his hand without touching, the sage stopped him in flight. From the momentary stop, his limbs and head almost flew forward of the body. But Selim was not at a loss. He drew two daggers from behind, with forked blades. They immediately burst into black flame, and with a sharp blow, Svurt severed Grul’s arm. Tumbling in the air, he struck the second blow in the neck area, and, having landed on his feet, criss-cross with lightning strikes began to shred the body. Swinging from top to bottom, obliquely, immediately from bottom to top with the other hand, then, directing one blade with a point towards the body, he mercilessly pierced it, and drove the other here. Slowly, he began to back away, as if scared himself by what he had just done. His hands shook.
He turned around, remembering the girl. But, she was nowhere to be found. Looks like she escaped. Grul’s body flared with blades protruding from him, lighting up the darkness with even blacker flames. He spread his arms to the sides and laughed out loud. Before Selim had time, he only turned away for a second, the sorcerer again had two hands, as if they had not cut it off at all. He walked slowly towards Svurt, and the flame slowly went out on him. When the flame was completely extinguished, in front of us was the very same wanderer whom they met yesterday. In a black robe with a hood thrown over his head, and the daggers stuck in him just disappeared.
– Fool, I wanted to help you, and you … – he began to speak calmly. «Even in the forest, I could make you and all your brothers look like helpless insects. But this is not necessary. His black leather gloves creaked with a fist in front of his outstretched hand. Selim’s legs gave way with an unpleasant crunch in the joints, and he fell to his knees. Grul stopped and Svurt himself, unwillingly, kneeling on the ice, began to slide to meet him. Also, not arbitrarily, with shaking movements, his hand went up, palm outstretched upward. In the darkness, under the hood, the stranger’s face was completely invisible. He grabbed the man’s hand and dropped his clenched fist into his palm, giving him something very small. «They built this castle,» the strange sorcerer continues. «They were waiting for you here. You are trapped. Everyone you knew is doomed. They will be turned into frantic monsters, eager to devour all that exists. Your bodies, for them tools, empty vessels. But, you have a chance not to stay in Shelber’s darkness. Run, if you don’t want to be part of this nightmare, throw the crown and run as far as possible. I know you are worried about the fate of the nahmau. It’s time to change the political course. I will give you the right direction. If you stick to it, you can rule your people, even after death. Sitting on the floor, head down in doom, under Grul’s feet, a wicked smile appeared on Svurt’s face.
Her white dress catches everyone’s eye. Trying to remain unnoticed, Carney sneaks through the back streets, hugging the walls of buildings. Finding no other exit but the central one, she waited for the moment when the soldiers on the watchtowers turned away, rushing away as fast as they could. She ran without looking back, and with all her body felt that she was noticed. Inaudible screams rang out from behind. As she approached the line of the forest, she stopped and turned to catch her breath. Clumsy armored warriors raced behind her. These are the drugged guardians of King Shadakh. It is good that they did not think to saddle the horses. Seeing a large gray rock nearby, she decided to hide behind it. Barely squatting down, a terrible pain gripped her leg. A small spider was crawling along her thigh, which must have caught on as she dashed through the tall grass. Not paying attention, she just threw off the insect and ran into the thicket of the forest. Ten minutes later, her pain gave way to weakness. The guards were still searching the forest. There were more and more of them. It was necessary to move on, but the forces were gone. Hidden under a bush, the girl lay in agony for half an hour. Cutting her entire leg, trying to squeeze out the poison with a knife, Karnei fainted. Only an hour later she was found dead in the same place. It is not even known whether Gruel learned of her death, since no one has seen him since that day. According to legend, he gave the two remaining unnamed books to the Osirian elder Archva from Jericha and the Sumerian idol Dagsha. But, more than one specimen was never found. The kings of Mesopotamia are obsessed with finding a primordial manuscript above any treasure, because the great «Book of Life» and «Law of Selim» were written on the basis of the same text of a mysterious book, later called «Origin», which unites both ideologies of being.
Memoirs of great nahmau.
Our tribes have been at enmity with each other since ancient times. There were forty-eight independent communities in total. Initially, our ancestors lived in central and northeastern Europe, as part of a certain Veliriam culture. Subsequently, the descendants of this culture were Europeans, Slavs, Scandinavians and others. The Nahmaut culture, about seven thousand years ago (15,000 BC), gradually began to stand out from the general Veliriam culture, in the far north, on the territory of modern Norway, Finland. Unlike other peoples of the north, who were predominantly pale-skinned, fair-haired and blue-eyed, Nahmau were dark-skinned, dark-haired and brown-eyed. These unusual, distinguishing them from their fellows, were a sign that they had come here recently. Where exactly, it is not known, but most likely from North Africa, moreover, at about the same time as the migration of the Osiris – the founders of the Egyptian civilization. In those days, along the Nile River, the lands were incredibly fertile, however, for some reason, the overwhelming number of tribes decided to go to the northern, lifeless territory. Perhaps the tribes did not divide something, and they were allowed into exile. The Osiris story is much more logical. They simply moved from one favorable region to another. Later, about two thousand years ago (10,000 BC), the Nahmau tribes completely moved from north to south, to the territory of the future Israel, Syria, Iraq, and even Iran. Many of them mixed with the local backward peoples, but some nearby tribes living nearby, united in unions and built the first cities in history to protect them from the same migrants, hostile Sumerians and Sabars. In the interfluve, the Rohvem valley, near the future Sumerian city of Umma and the Shelber valley, near the future Akshak city, numbered sixteen strong Nahmau tribes. Our staunch ancestors immediately showed the local savages who is now the owner of these lands. Nahmau Rohvem and Shelber, appropriated all natural resources, and, cruelly turning the people into slavery, also divided it among themselves. Feeling their significant superiority, after a couple of three generations, the Nahmau admitted their mistakes and freed the civilian population. With the development of civilization, more and more internal enemies began to appear, yearning for power over both valleys. While the Nahmau were distracted from the outside world, solving internal conflicts, near the future city of Babylon, the recently founded, small village of Vayelon, has already turned into the largest developing Osiris city-state, right between the two valleys of the Nahmau, which of course did not leave them indifferent. The kings of Rohvem, after unsuccessful negotiations with the new world capital, decided to take the fortress by storm. And the Shelber government, in order to quickly capture the city, simply decided to put their governors at the head of the state. There were more people in Vayelon than in all of Mesopotamia, and whoever takes possession of this city will gain the best wealth, political and economic leadership.
BATTLE of VAYELON
Two hundred years later, Vayelon 7796 BC.
Summer heat begins to spin your head even before sunrise. There used to be a desert here, and later, it will reappear. And now, the whole of Mesopotamia, like a real paradise, is dotted with tropical forests and fertile vegetation. People, not knowing hunger, in those days developed rapidly. The first state institutions appeared. Trade flourished, and the center of the whole world was the city between the endangered Nahmaut valleys – Vayelon.
A man in a tall, cylindrical headdress and a white pha-toe sticking out of him, attentively looks at the papers that are being shoved to him by the strangers who are lined up in line. A long column of cavalry stretching for hundreds of meters. Traders from different parts of the earth are registering to enter the main kingdom of the Osiris. With a wave of his hand, and shouting something to the controller standing on the wall between the four entrance towers, he folded the papers into his bag and went to the chariot. After examining it from all sides, looking into the tin barrels tightly tied to the cart, the checking man muttered something and, having already taken out his journal, made a note in pencil. The huge, arched gate slowly opens. Behind them stood a powerful, iron lattice, which moved apart in segments in different directions. Having driven his cart there, the dark-skinned honey seller waited wearily for the gate behind him to close and in front to open. Being within the four walls, he was nervous whether the damned sentries, imposingly descending from the second, even higher wall of the fortress, would give him the go-ahead or send him back. Such a double pass procedure is necessary so that more than one carriage does not enter the city. She was so annoying that some of the merchants just turned around and left without waiting for their turn. By the way, Vayelon is the first city in Mesopotamia with two defensive walls. Shelber Castle has only one wall, and that was not built by its inhabitants, but Fimirel in the Rohvem Valley, the largest settlement of the past centuries, is an open city. They don’t need walls. They are very proud, but not like Spartans with a powerful army, but rather like the Nazis, ideologically, confident that they are special and omnipotent, and everyone else is unworthy and incapable of anything. Therefore, they never even thought that someday, from someone, they would have to defend themselves. They sincerely believed that no one in the world would have the courage to even look in their direction without permission.
There, outside the walls of the Osirian metropolis, life was in full swing. Architecture. Just look at this wonderful architecture, which is mixed in different styles unusual for late civilizations. No mythical castle or palace compares even to the walls of Vayelon. Various protrusions, mostly in the form of rings, and layered superstructures were amazing. The pointed roofs of the first wall, like bunches of needles, branch out in all directions. Huge, alternating yellow and green heads of crocodiles, instead of roofs, on the second wall of the towers, were one of the symbols of the state. They look up, with wide-open mouths, protruding teeth and curved wave, pink tongues like spires reaching into the sky. The sparkling blue eyes of these crocodiles are said to be human-sized natural diamonds. And this is a delightful wall painting. Everything is decorated with bright, multi-colored engravings and mysterious drawings, in which it is not clear what is depicted, but it looks very beautiful. The best sights were, of course, inside. In the very center of the fortress, there was a palace of unprecedented beauty. When traders first see him, they feel as if they are in a dream. What can we say about ancient people, when this would excite even modern people. Three majestic buildings, connected by bridges, chains, vegetation and just some kind of decorations, stretched above the clouds. These skyscrapers are clearly not built of clay. In the worst case, they are built according to all modern technologies, with a combination of metal, concrete and glass. Or even with the use of nano-technologies, miraculously implemented by the brilliant Osiris.
At night, the city center glowed, with mind-blowing, colored ribbons and lanterns, as if it were a modern metropolis, and not a prehistoric village of clay caves, like the neighboring wild peoples. Even the most ordinary taverns and eateries are hung with bright garlands to attract attention, although there were no power plants in the city. Everything was powered by disposable batteries. High stands, advertising posters, against the background of medieval-style mansions, look peculiar. Babylon with hanging gardens and amazing bridges, like stairs, connecting the towers of the main palace. Golden statues of gods, historical figures and just art. For example, a building in the form of a huge bunch of grapes. Or, a giant artificial fountain in the form of a black as night cobra with a golden belly, in the marketplace. An unimaginable waterfall in the form of the mythical four-winged bird Ambimum, near the government building. The color of her translucent body, with orange and black spots, created the illusion of a burning flame. There is also an amazing flower palace in the shape of a pyramid. This is an iron frame, entirely lined with natural flowering plants, which, hundreds of people, every day take care of and replace with new ones. The roads are lined with smooth clay bricks on the outskirts, and colored ceramic tiles in the center. You can endlessly enumerate these original masterpieces of an incredible civilization, but all this was preceded by events that in the future for them will be fatal.
A whimsical chariot rushes at great speed along the main street of the city. A black flag flutters behind it, depicting random white threads curling up into a ball in the center. Cavalry, drawn from six unnaturally large horses, loudly knocking horseshoes. On horse heads, they wear high golden crowns, like sultans’ hats with red petals sticking up. Light, silver armor covers their backs. At the turn, the carriage skidded sharply, and one of its edges lifted off the ground. The people walking by jumped aside in horror. Barely able to resist, the cart continued to skid along the smooth stones to the very square of Grompi, stopping at the very entrance to the majestic palace of King Ormon. All knocking and screaming died down. There was complete silence. Only the murmur of water and a gentle breath of wind. The driver of the wagon sat motionless, like a statue. His head is bound with iron armor, obviously not of local manufacture. Suddenly the door of the golden carriage opened and a leg appeared from there in a black leather boot with patterns embroidered with precious stones. Its sole was made of small, silvery human heads! Stepping on the ground, the unknown man in a black robe stood motionless. The people standing nearby began to whisper among themselves and backed away. His face was covered by a black, stone mask that showed no emotion. There is a square headdress on the head, with gold engraving on the front. On top, she was wrapped in dark rags, like a scarf. Looking towards the wide steps that rise to the entrance, he raised his hand, pointing his finger at the door. A rather interesting bracelet sits on his wrist. Red, thick, intertwining earthworms. They are made of copper, but they look real.
– Call me the king! He boomed in a terrible voice. – What is this demon? Human speeches are heard. The servants standing at the high front gate went inside.
«My lord, he has arrived. Waiting for you on the street, – one of the guards reports to an elderly, long-haired, gloomy man, in a blue checkered shirt, with lush, puffy shoulders like pillows and a gold brooch around his neck.
– Is he really alone? – asked the old man, putting on a crown in the form of white crystals and a red cap with a yellow circle in the middle and outgoing lines depicting the sun. The soldier silently nodded his head.
«Tell Mandalis to keep the garrison troops on alert in both directions.
«Yes, my king,» the soldier ran away.
A minute later, the gray-haired, bearded ruler went out into the street. He squinted from the blinding sun, trying to see everything around him. Seeing him, an unknown person in a black robe, confidently went to the meeting. Climbing the soft colored carpet that stretched through all the steps, his wildly bulging eyes could be seen through the eye sockets. When he met the old man, he bent down slightly, resting his hand on his chest.
– Governor of Shelber, for what purpose did you come to us? The king asked him.
– Greetings, lord of the Osiris, wisest of kings. I, Aprod Rift, have come to you at the request of the Most High Governor Shelber Daligen. We need to discuss some political issues regarding the safety of the city.
– Well, let’s go to my meeting room, – the King nodded to the guard and went inside. The visiting ambassador followed him through long corridors. Closing in a small room, they sat down at a round table, which stood at the very window. The old man took off the crown and placed it in front of him. Taking a handkerchief from his chest pocket, he wiped his damp face. – What do you want? He asked, scratching the back of his head. – This month, we paid tribute to Bil Hamhharaf, regularly pay taxes to the temple of Selim and did not violate any agreement between the Nahmau and the Osiris.
«Keep calm, oh great king. I haven’t started the conversation yet, and you are already making excuses. It doesn’t suit you. Vayelon’s people are in great danger. Rohvem wants to completely destroy the city, fearing your power. Even though they are our brothers, we will not allow this madness. The forest of the dead in the southern valley has taken too many people from Fimirel to hell, and our people disappear on Shelber’s mushroom paths. Nahmau are having their worst times. It’s hard to seem like heroes when our own kings left us at the mercy of Jerichan leprosy. Envy, flying up to heaven Vayelon, turned the heads of the governors and priests. We decided to take control of one of the city councils. Whether it is the council of the wisest or the council of the elders, I am obliged to lead this branch within a week. Deliver this to your subjects. Having learned that I am in power, Makhtum will not dare to attack his brothers. Otherwise, he will unleash a senseless war with Shelber.
– It all looks like some kind of competition, – the tsar looks menacingly into his face. – Who from Nahmau will capture the Osirian capital faster. So our obedience is no longer enough for you? Has it ever occurred to you that our people can resist wicked envious people? Fists clenched tightly, his face twitched nervously. – And then, we ourselves are already looking at the lands around us. Living in the occupation of a greedy, dying people is not so exciting.
«You shouldn’t call my people greedy. In that case, let Biel decide your fate. The countdown has already started. You will not be saved by the numerous hordes of mortals, from the ruthless creatures of Rohvem. – Taking out a scroll from his mantle, the governor handed it to the king. – Read this and pass it on to the council. Dahligen’s own appeal. Perhaps it will convince you more than my words. – Getting up from his chair, Aprod left the palace.
Sitting on his soft, wonderful throne, upholstered with the skin of a Nile crocodile, with a sparkling ornament on the upper part of the back, leaning his elbows, King Ormon hung his head thoughtfully. At the long table of the council of the elders, he carried a great deal of weight. And, in today’s discussion, as a result of controversy and disagreement, supported the side of the envoy from Shelber, but the council did not approve of this position.
«My years are passing,» he raised his bushy eyebrows sadly. «And I don’t see a decent youth capable of ruling Vayelon. I have spoiled my children too much. The elders are already forty years old, but they are all helpless children. I propose, to the council, to introduce a new position in the department that is temporarily fulfilling my duties.
– We are not against such a position, but it should be occupied exclusively by a local, – the senator, sitting somewhere in the middle, waves his index finger. – For example me. To give power to a stranger, and even to some governor from Shelber… we will not allow!
– Well, calm down, – the king raised his hands, trying to calm down the shouting advisers. – In a week, we have to give an answer. Collect troops. Our answer is war.
Dark clouds were gathering in the sky. Peals of thunder and striking lightning fell right into the tower of the majestic temple of Selim, in the deserted city of Fimirel. Abandoned stone cottages surrounded a single residential structure stretching to the very heavens. Gloomy, dark building. This dizzying cone-shaped structure is even taller than the skyscrapers of Vayelon. And, most importantly, it moves. Each floor, like a huge disk, in the form of a semicircle, planted on top of each other, slowly revolves around its axis. And at the top, segments of a sharpened fiery roof. It glows bright orange. With the help of kinematics and changing color rendering, the illusion of flowing lava is created. No wonder this tower got the name – Volcano. Queen Fimirel Bil Hamhharaf lives here. An insidious witch who for the sake of power killed her father, and then her brother. She hates men, and therefore killed her son in order to make her daughter the receiver of power. Even all members of the council, in Fimirel, are exclusively women. The only man in the entire Rohvem Valley who can argue with the distraught ruler is High Priest Makhtum. He heads the most important common shrine of the Nahmau. This is the divine, first common religious temple of Selim – Birhatten, and, according to the law, no one has the right to take away the power of the chief priest over the spiritual community. Initially, this temple was built as a palace for the kings of Rohvem, even before the Fimirel tower appeared. But, the building turned out to be too chic, breathtaking, in a word, grandiose. Such a large-scale and magnificent complex that the then ruler Mastakh thought that only gods should live there, and decided to transfer the building to the clergy. A couple of centuries later, when the ideology of the «Law of Svurt» was popularized, the temple was slightly rebuilt, made it even larger and more fantastic, suitable for all spiritual levels. It is strange that the greedy queen did not even try to take possession of this building, because it is several times more beautiful than her palace. Perhaps, she still had some kind of upbringing, and respect for faith, otherwise, if she were blinded by power by a naive dictator, she would have been overthrown by her own advisers and caretakers. Hatred of the opposite sex, the future queen accumulated from childhood. A talented girl has always been ignored and not taken seriously. Her father called any of her suggestions nonsense, although he himself ultimately accepted them and said that these were his brilliant ideas. Now, the touchy lady hates all men in the world, and even her wife Liger is afraid of unpredictable passion and crazy fanaticism, having long planned to escape from the city, to the neighboring village of Dagbu, following the rest, adequate residents.
Today is the brightest night the Knight Masod has ever seen, standing at the farthest outpost of Vayelon. After feeding his horse, he quickly went to the tent to hide from the beginning of the downpour. A strong wind has risen. The catapults standing in the field rolled towards the fire and almost caught fire. The horses whinnied in fright. Two thousand people, already on alert for the second week, on the southern border of the Osiris, tirelessly watch the rugged terrain of Rohvem. Grabbing an earthenware pot, the guardsman began to have supper, quickly eating flour cakes with berry filling. The comrades sat closely with each other, telling different stories. Suddenly, outside there were the shouts of the guards. – Everybody out! Faster, faster! Under construction, under construction! Stand in front of your tents! General Mandalis has arrived!
– What’s happening? Does the general show up in the middle of the night, in such terrible weather, without warning? – Masod goggled eyes, barely chewing on another pie. He carefully pulled back the curtain, peering through the small window of his tent. «Move your ass, guy,» his comrades hurried out into the street. There was complete confusion. It was not just his retinue who came with the general. With him came an army of at least five thousand people in full combat readiness.
– Roll up camp, prepare your horses and sharpen your arrows! – shouts the commander of the outpost. By the decision of the council, in a day, we move forward to capture Fimirel and liberate the Osirian villages.
Delight appeared in Masod’s confused eyes. Under a raging downpour, in the middle of the night, for the first time he felt the greatness of the army gathered here, and his irreplaceable, great role in the fate of an entire people. Gaining strength, the warriors, as it should, slept for the last time. In the morning, two knights gathering brushwood in the vicinity of the camp noticed movements in the distant bushes and reeds, a swampy peat land.
– Hey you, stop!! – Shouted one of the soldiers to a black, human silhouette, moving behind the tall grass. – Come here, or I’ll come to you myself! – he unbuttoned the cover and took out his blade, with a decoratively curved blade and a chopping handle. «Wait, don’t get excited,» his partner stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. «It’s just an old priest. He doesn’t hear you. He picks berries, I guess. Leave the poor man. – How do you know that this is a priest? – he was indignant, pushing his friend aside. «Maybe the spy from Fimirel changed his clothes. We are obliged to check, – having run up to the very hummock, surrounded by impassable thickets, they have not found anyone. At the same moment, screams were heard from the camp. «It’s begun,» the soldier muttered to himself. – What started? – his partner is perplexed. – Savages, attacked again. Acadian and Sumerian tribes, admirers of ancient traditions, along with the Nahmau, consider these lands cursed. During the time that we are here, they have already persuaded us three times to get out of here, in response our commander only laughed. The turn has come to answer for our stubbornness, – with a smile, he twisted his long spear and ran towards the screams.
The battle unfolded. Hundreds of wild hunters, calling themselves «blackheads,» hunted down the generals’ troops that had come that night. Reinforcements came to the Sumerians from the north. They are superstitious Acadians with three leaders at their head. The Osiris, organized a tactful defense, under the command of General Mandalis himself, who is also a member of the council of the wisest in Vayelon. The victory was won with minimal losses, however, this event disrupted all the plans of the command. Having sent messengers to the city, with the news of an immediate offensive, the general did not wait for the coming of night. An impressive army of seven thousand people at that time, crossed the borders of Rohvem and moved in the direction of Fimirel. Black silhouettes, again crawling in the reeds. When the soldiers directed their arrows at them, warning of an attack, they were frightened and jumped out of the nasty, seething quagmire.
«You can’t get through here,» one of them creaks in a hideous voice with a terrible accent. It was Sabarets. A representative of an almost completely extinct ancient people. They were called Sabars by Osiris. This word means «transparent heads», which was true. They are so different from other people that their organisms do not coincide with the general human DNA. The processes on the coccyx, which they can even wiggle, indicate the presence of full-fledged, albeit short, tails. With blisters and black abscesses all over his face, he was certainly not a priest of the great temple. These creatures worship their unseen gods. The Sabarian people are not aggressive, but disgusting. Selfish and rebellious. Even the greatest kings of Mesopotamia could not conquer them. The longer you look at these people, the more you get the impression that they are not people at all, but some other, peculiar kind of mammals. Bald, wrinkled heads, with transparent skulls, seem eerie, twisted in shape. And their terrible wrinkles. They, like protruding fatty discs, run like a ladder across the entire face and neck, merging with the chin. Completely blue eyes, without pupil and eyesore, with which they perceive not all colors. But, these are not freaks. These are their genes. Burns and blisters, of course, are not from birth. These are various diseases and scars from their difficult lifestyle. In long, dirty shirts and village bast shoes, six fornicators bowed before the Osiris, promising to help them. But, is it worth believing these geeks, when it has already been historically proven that they completely lack the instinct of self-preservation. «Oh, great commander,» they began to communicate with the general. «You shouldn’t go through these swamps. No wonder the blackheads are so alarmed. We also lost a lot of our brothers there. Be so kind as to go around this strip of evil from the east. Just ten kilometers from here.