*
Unknown lands.
Late at night, in the ruins of a castle, a crowd of armed soldiers laughed and drank around the fire. The quiet and peaceful sky overhead, after the war three years ago, still brought joy and peace to ordinary soldiers. Each of them knew that their families were safe, and the current ruler of the state gave people hope for a bright future.
Suddenly the laughter ceased, a blond man in black armor got up and held out a mug over his head.
- Haha, brothers, let's drink to a glorious date! Exactly three years have passed since these damn dragons disappeared! Our Order of the Black Flame must celebrate even more as we have outlived them all! The guildmaster promised us a reward for all the filthy bearers of dragon magic, we already have more than a dozen on our account! This day should be celebrated!
- Let's drink!
- For the Order!
- For the king!
Having already brought the mug to his lips, the pupils of the warrior sharply contracted, he instantly turned his gaze towards the distant forest.
- It...
Suddenly the space was distorted for kilometers, the dark night was instantly illuminated with an amazing bright flash of multi-colored lights, and then a terrible roar thundered! All the trees were blown to pieces by hundreds of meters. It's like the apocalypse has begun in the sky!
Each of the warriors drew their blade and prepared a protective spell, but a man in black armor stepped forward and abruptly signaled everyone to stop:
- Do not panic! Such a powerful splash of magic ... Amazing! - turning around, the man quickly found a man in a raincoat with his gaze:
- Emar, what do you think?
- Heh ... - the old man threw off his hood and showed his bald wrinkled head, framed by terrible burns. He narrowed his eagle eyes and hissed in a hoarse voice:
"We've been hunting this group for a week, maybe one of them got out of control and decided to kill his own. These animals are quite capable of this.
"Hmm ..." The man in armor nodded slowly. "Dragon Slayers ... There are too few of them left over the past year." I thought these were smarter and would not glow, and even so noisy ...
- Smart? - the old man giggled disgustingly: - A lizard cannot be smarter than a man, they are driven by instincts. Even our Queen ... God rest her soul, could not overcome this disgusting essence of dragons. What to expect from ordinary people? Come on, we need to scout and kill them! There is not a second to lose!
`` Mm, '' the man in armor nodded again and said menacingly:
- Brothers! We'll note later, get ready, we go into battle! These dragon geeks are dangerous, so get your enchanted weapons and chains ready. Moving forward!
- Yes!
- That's right, the commander!
Quite quickly, all the warriors of the Order equipped themselves for the road and advanced to intercept, they were not at all frightened by such a strong magical surge. It's hard to imagine what gave them such confidence ...
Meanwhile, far in the forest, in a huge crater lay a man. Pale, dirty skin, scraps of clothing, and tousled hair are purple. Even in that state, it was hard not to recognize him. Yes ... Aidan traveled in time, traversed hundreds of years, and reached the ancient Dragon Kingdom, shortly after the conclusion of the Dragon King Festival. He could not even think about where and when he was ... As Luna said - the movement turned out to be very difficult ...
Unconscious, the wizard could not even move, he did not remember what was happening at all, continuing to lie powerlessly in a deep hole. The forest turned into splinters a hundred meters around, the stones scattered into fragments, and a huge crater with a depth of twenty meters appeared under Aidan. The move turned out to be very dangerous, but he was able to survive. But for how long ...
*
The encirclement of twenty armored knights lined up in a semicircle, on the opposite side of which stood only two, a wizard with a staff and a large man in black armor. His name was Ain, while the old man was named Emar.
The commander raised his hand and ordered the soldiers not to rush, they all immediately drew out their glittering swords and turned towards the crater. Aidan lay right in the center of the pit, his strong body visible through the scraps of cloth, it immediately became clear that this was not an ordinary farmer lost in the thicket of the forest. Finding himself in a similar state, and even in this position ... Then even the stupidest one will understand that the magician in the pit is somehow connected with the explosion.
Ain scowled at the center of the pit and surveyed his surroundings. Huge trees were simply felled and smashed to pieces, as if a dragon was raging here ... This warrior had seen a similar picture dozens of times, so he had no doubts:
- This is definitely one of them ... It looks like he was seriously injured, and maybe dead ...
The old man next to him scratched his beard and tapped a couple of times with his staff:
- Here you have correctly noticed ... But, he is alive!
Ain nodded grimly:
- Expected ...
- I have a bad feeling, - continued Emar: - This type is dangerous, even weakened ... He has a huge magical power, and to make such a devastation ... I can't even imagine who he is.
"I'll figure it out," the commander nodded gloomily.
- No, wait, - the magician abruptly stopped him: - It is not clear who he is, only a dragon could have arranged this, but ... The currents of magic in the air are too strong. It is not clear what happened, besides, it was he in the pit, and I didn't hear any battle. Everything happened in one moment, as if someone had struck him with one attack ...
"You mean there's a culprit around here?" The knight whispered with obvious apprehension.
- Right. Perhaps they are close and it would be better to retreat, the one who created this can be very strong! Perhaps we were in a hurry and should have sent reconnaissance first, hmm ... Put the guy in chains, I will take him to the kingdom, I will interrogate him.
"Got it," the man nodded and waved to one of his warriors. He quickly pulled out thick chains and handcuffs, and then slowly, with noticeable fear, began to descend towards Aidan. But, he did not react in any way ...
A couple of ringing clicks and he was chained with anti-magic handcuffs. Then the knight calmed down and exhaled with relief, casting a questioning glance at the commander. The answer was not long in coming.
"Lift it up and load my carriage into the carriage," Aimar explained, turning away. In fact, he even rejoiced at the opportunity. Finally he can return to the kingdom, home. He was already tired of chasing the remnants of the Dragon Slayers, he wanted to continue his research and he did not like at all to play the role of a bloodhound and killer of cornered lizards. Finally, he had a good opportunity ....