Chapter 7.1 Reflections

The first thing I felt when I woke up was hunger. I opened my eyes and stretched. My room was as pleasing to the eye as ever.

- Lord? Are you awake?

The next moment I remembered the events of the last few days, and my mood sank below the baseboard. Mm-hmm. I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw the priestess changed by the Darkness, sitting on a chair next to my bed. Looking at her, I realized that for the first time I could examine the priestess in detail in full gear up close. The priestess was dressed in full atretas leather armor with a white mask fixed on the crown of her head so that it could be lowered onto her face in one movement. Of all the armor, only the shoulder pads depicting the open mouth of a dragon, bracers, elbow pads, greaves with knee pads and thigh guards were made of metal. The high collar of the jacket tightly covered her throat, and behind her head I noticed the hood of very thin chain mail, lying loosely on her back. The tight laced suit emphasized the advantages of the changed one: prominent breasts and a slender figure. The black armor contrasted favorably with the snow-white skin and the absolutely black whites of the eyes, in which the crimson irises stood out like scarlet rubies. Leather laced pants emphasized slender long legs, shod in narrow boots without a heel. Turning my gaze to the face framed by white hair, I admitted that the Darkness had done an excellent job on the atretases. However, what kind of atretases are they? They are atars, even if not by birth. And what about potential? I called upon my gift and, having released the teras, discovered twenty-five priestess tentacles. A little weaker than Ehaer, but stronger than my older sisters. I glanced at the flexible figure and again acutely realized my young age and the impossibility of realizing my desires. Yes, in terms of beauty, the changed can compete with my mother and Arisna. The priestess was armed literally from her toes to her hair: on her calves were a pair of sheaths with curved daggers, on her hips were fastened sheaths with short curved swords, on her belt were a pair of sheaths with one-and-a-half straight swords and a bladed whip folded into a short cane, on her body were slings with short light throwing knives, behind her back was a two-handed, only slightly curved sword with a long handle, similar in blade to a Japanese no-dati, a combat scythe with a straight position of a shiny blade was leaning against the headboard of my bed. Even in the tightly fixed tail of white hair, something was glinting dangerously. I wonder if they also keep poisoned needles under their tongues? The vulgar thoughts that arose while examining my acquisition raised my mood from disgusting to acceptable. Hunger pushed inside my body again.

- Everything is fine. I woke up and I'm hungry. Arrange for food.

The priestess rose gracefully and, swaying her hips, walked out of my bedroom. If the other three are like this, fifteen years before Eldar puberty I will either get used to it or become neurotic, which is more likely…

A little while later, an unfamiliar Orin came in with a tray with my food on it. When I had finished eating, she took it away and immediately appeared with my clothes. Dressing went as usual. When I stood up and went to the mirror, I froze in shock and fear. These days had not passed without a trace... All that was left of the plump, black-haired toddler was a skinny, white-skinned shadow. My black hair had turned completely white, and even the whites of my eyes and irises had turned white. Only the black dot of the pupil stood out on the whites of my eyes, white as milk. Bags had gathered around my eyes, like those of a hopeless drunkard. Orin, meanwhile, gathered my hair into a short ponytail and secured it with a black silk ribbon. I sighed with displeasure. How thin I had become...

I was torn from my gloomy examination of myself in the mirror by the appearance of the changed woman. Under my gaze, she entered the bedroom and knelt on her left knee.

- Master, the matriarch conveyed that she wishes to see you.

Again. Can't I get sick? A little more, and even my blood will turn white. I dove into the gift. Well, at least I was pleased here - the gift was completely restored. True, it was filled not with the usual whitish energy with protuberances, but with gray, and the energy burst out in thick tongues from its surface. What was the matter? And here is the reason - the black blot of darkness was twice as large in diameter as its companions, and it emitted ten times more energy. Probably, this is the influence of the Eternal... Having emerged, I recounted the ters - their number had not changed. So, the gift will simply restore faster. Well, great. I turned my gaze to the priestess:

- Take me in your arms and carry me.

- Yes, lord.

Did I imagine it or did I really hear joy in her voice? The priestess picked me up almost effortlessly and walked out of my quarters. The other two priestesses walked ahead, three steps away, and one behind, at the same distance. What had the Darkness created to protect me? And how? I tried to recall the words the Eternal had spoken and realized that I not only remembered them, but also knew all the formalities of not even a spell, but a ritual. First of all, I was impressed by the energy expenditure – about half a million ergs of darkness to remake one priestess. Without some kind of accumulators, it's not worth even dreaming about… And the ritual itself is capable of remaking any of the Eldar people, even if it's a light one, into an Atar. It is even capable of changing the color of hair, skin, and eyes at the will of the creator. I probably won't tell my mother about my knowledge… I emerged from my thoughts in front of the door to the matriarch's chambers. A pair of Atretas priestesses, also in full gear, standing on either side of the office door, each holding a braid in their hand, stared at us and stood at attention, drawing in their stomachs. The one on the right touched the communication bracelet on her right hand and, after a short wait, opened the door for us. Why such an attitude? Although after the performance that the Eternal had put on…

The matriarch sat at the table, as usual, in the most revealing outfit and silently looked at us. I looked into the eyes of the changed one holding me in her arms and said:

- Sit in the chair.

It was much better to sit on my hands. Plus, I ended up taller and could look at my mother almost straight. I turned my head to the changed ones. It was amazing. They were identical in height, build, eye shape and color, and even weapons and armor. How could I tell them apart? I figured it out! I'll order them to dye the tips of their hair different colors. Mm… Red, blue, purple, and black or green.

- Hmm. How strangely we began to live after your birth. In just one day, from twelve atars, we became sixteen. - The matriarch's voice was calm and peaceful. - My once-shaken power became stronger than steel. My word became law. I did not hide what happened - almost half of the Atretas men have already been tested by the forces of their own priestesses. The rest are isolated and quietly await their turn. Get ready, Asheras, tomorrow a representative of the Ariry Council of the Supreme Goddess will come to visit you. Do not be afraid, you are untouchable for them for now. She will only attest to you and the named for history and discuss some organizational details with you. Until then, you are free - rest and gain strength.

- My matriarch, where will my guards sleep?

The mother thought about it.

- Yes, you are right. You need to be relocated. We have dozens of sealed athar quarters in the closed wing. So it is not a problem. Some of them are large enough to easily accommodate you and your entire retinue, even if it grows.

Is this a hint?

- Thank you, matriarch.

- Yes! I give you the right to call me by name! After all, you are an adult atar, even though you are trapped in a child's body. My orin will see you off. - Mother made a sign with her right hand, with her fingers folded in a cunning manner, throwing a light flash of darkness into space.

The door opened behind her and the familiar white-haired Orin from the matriarch's retinue entered.

- Show Asheras and his retinue the sealed chambers of the athars. These are the ones in the depths of the house. Let them take what they want. After which remove and seal the previous ones.

"Yes, Matriarch." Orin bowed slightly.

I said goodbye to my mother, raising my right hand, palm up, and we followed Orin. The Changed One held me in her arms easily, and her chest was softer than a pillow. I even dozed off a little peacefully, to the sound of the Changed One's heartbeat, while we followed Orin. I dreamed of the laughing Darkness, but suddenly her rumbling voice turned into the soft, demanding call of my guard:

- Master, master, wake up, we have already arrived.

I stretched and looked questioningly at Orin, who was frozen in anticipation. The fact that I was being held in the arms of the Atar priestess gave me a feeling of security, and when I woke up, I was in a wonderful mood. Looking favorably at Orin, I said:

- Shall we begin?

Orin bowed slightly and began to explain everything:

– This inner chamber is a natural hole in the depths beneath the house. As the atar can see, the walls above us merge into a vault. Below us, there is a square meditation platform with a side of about thirty-five steps. It is sprinkled with sand from the shores of the Sea of ​​the Dead and absorbs the magical residual emanations. We are now on the topmost, tenth, floor of the complex. There are no chambers on this floor, it was created as an observation and training platform. There are also no chambers on the first floor. On each of the eight floors there are four apartments for the atars – one on each side of the square. As you can see, there are stairs and a lifting platform in each corner. The upper floors were planned to accommodate the atars who occupied a higher position than the others: priestesses, arirs, powerful magicians. Therefore, if nothing interests you on the upper floors, I suggest not going down below, but going to another complex. There are five of them in total. The last, fifth one, called the Border of Darkness, is very ancient, has not been visited for a long time, and I do not advise even going there without the accompaniment of a full detachment of Atretases.

Hmm... To sleep in an ancient room... To feel the air that generations of Athar breathed... To try to comprehend all the wisdom of the ancient people... To look at ancient statues and bas-reliefs... To listen to the whispers of the Darkness, lurking in the corners and shadows... What could be better for an Athar who speaks directly to it? I closed my eyes and said:

- Call the priestesses... Is it far from here to the ancient chambers?

- Think again, Atar! No one has looked there for over eighty years! And anything could have settled there!

– All the more reason not to have such a stain in the house!

Orin suddenly turned pale and quickly said, bowing her head:

- I beg your pardon. You will have to wait, Atar. I will return soon with a detachment of priestesses... - having said this, she quickly left.

Somehow I became unrestrained. The wait dragged on, and with nothing to do I wanted to take a nap, but sleep did not come. In order to somehow occupy the time, I decided to start a conversation with the changed.

– Do you remember your names?

"No, lord," they responded almost simultaneously, awakening my interest in the conversation.

- But you know high speech?

- Yes, lord. - Somehow the conversation didn't go well.

- I order you not to call me lord and... other titles. Only by my name. Is everything clear to everyone?

- Yes, Asheras.

- So, let's continue... Do you know how to handle weapons and your magical power?

- Yes, Asheras. - Just fucking awesome, what a meaningful conversation. More like an interrogation.

– Do you know where you got this knowledge from?

- Yes, Asheras. The Eternal One gave them to us.

Something became clear. What if?

- Can you teach me magic?

- Yes, Asheras.

- We'll start tomorrow. And each of you dye the ends of your hair your own color - black, blue, red and green. Can this be done and fixed magically?

- As Asheras says.

We were interrupted by the quiet sound of footsteps. The changed ones reacted instantly – they pulled out their narrow no-dachi, taking them in their right hand, and a throwing knife in their left. In addition, they unraveled their teras and wove a dozen black knots out of them, plus covered themselves with some kind of protection made of black fog, distorting normal vision. The priestess, holding me on her right hand, pulled out her right longsword with her left and retreated behind the backs of her friends. Looking at their concern, I also unraveled all my teras. The priestesses slowly and silently lowered their white masks with narrow slits for the eyes onto their faces. I called up magical vision, stretching the perception of time. Thirteen priestesses in full gear with raised masks came out of the corridor and stared at us in bewilderment. The changed ones, having looked at them, slowly hid their weapons in their sheaths and also raised their masks. Irritated, I turned off my vision and pulled in the teras. The commander of the Atretas came closer and asked us:

- You called, Atar?

- Yes, my quarters have become too small for me and my retinue. First of all, we would like to inspect the Border of Darkness, assess the degree of abandonment and the amount of effort that will be spent on their restoration. Orin from the retinue of the matriarch reported that it could be dangerous there. By the way, where is she?

- I'm here, Atar. - Orin came out of the corridor. So what was this, a test? Will the changed ones really be able to protect me? And do they know how to use the gift? The Matriarch, as usual, is creating intrigues out of nothing. I even had a suspicion that there is nothing so creepy in the Border of Darkness and it is just a neglected and dusty complex, with non-working lamps and local analogues of elevators. Well, let's shove our pride away...

- Lead us.

A squad of a dozen Atretases, led by a white-haired priestess, split into two equal parts. One half went ahead, the other behind. Their leader stayed with us. Our squad left the complex and, after turning a couple of times into the branches of the corridor, found itself in a huge hall ending in a very wide marble staircase. Right in front of it, the working lamps ended and darkness began. Orin stopped and began to peer at the floor and walls. Seeing something, she said, turning to us:

- Atar, the lights and protective nodes have been depleted of energy for a long time. They need to be charged and wait until the system is cleared of parasites, mold and moss. In addition, the air regeneration weaves need to be renewed. Otherwise, we may suffocate.

I looked at one of the modified ones:

- Can you do it?

- Yes, Asheras.

I turned on my magical vision and began to watch with interest as the changed one walked behind Orin and touched her terami to the engraved drawings on the floor and walls that she was shown, pouring her power there. Having finished, Orin came up to me and said:

- This part of the house is extremely old. It was built back in the days when Alveristas was not even in the plans. You haven't been told the legend of your appearance in this world yet, have you?

I looked at Orin with interest.

- Well then. - Orin looked at the slowly flaring signs on the floor and began her story: - A very long time ago, more than thirty thousand years ago, one of the young Hellish Lords named Ashereth A'troth came to this world. There was nothing here yet except grass and mountains - and the Lord did not dare to touch this virginally clean place. The Lord left, memorizing the coordinates, and returned five or six hundred years later. Here, with your permission, I will make a digression. You see, Asheras, in relation to the Hellish Universe there is one well-known concept - the war of the Lords. This is not just the name of the endless conflict in this universe. This is its state, in which the Hellish Universe has been since the moment of creation. The War of the Lords is a monstrous conflict between the Hellish Lords, lasting since the moment of the creation of this universe. Everyone who has ever witnessed the battles of the War of the Lords says that a more terrible and overwhelming spectacle cannot be found in all of creation. They speak of scorched worlds, littered with corpses, of the riot of forces, the elements, Order and Chaos. So, at that time, the terrible war of the Lords flared up especially brightly, and Asheret fled from it, taking with him the most valuable thing he had - his wife and children, as well as part of his treasures. But his enemy - another Lord - tracked him down and penetrated after him. The fight was fleeting, and the enemy fell, having managed to irreversibly wound Asheret. Dying, Lord A'troth divided his nature and soul between his wife and children, giving them the strength to survive in this world. His children became our gods and ancestors - the first of the Athar. When the Great Darkness brought us to this world, you became our rulers and protectors. Therefore, the other races that came later and their gods turned out to be weaker, and our people easily drove them out of our habitat. There were several major wars during which the Great Dragons appeared, born from the eggs that were in the treasures of A'troth. When they hatched, they already had the memory of blood, and only five agreed to be the Great Guardians... - the voice of the white-haired Orin was mesmerizing. - These were the Ice Dragon Rentor - Guardian of the Great House R'eanr'e, the Rusty Dragon Ehesh - Guardian of the Great House Sath, the Black Dragon Kigri - Guardian of the Great House A'seatr, the Crimson Dragon Ratoth - Guardian of the Great House Khitan and the Chaotic Dragon R'earesh - Guardian of the Great House I'si'tor. All of them were not dragons in the true sense of the word, but were created in the war of the rulers as weapons. Since then, they have guarded the Great Houses, and with them the city that arose around them, called Alverist'as.

When Orin finished her story, I looked around and was surprised to find that everyone around me had frozen, listening to her. Orin also looked around in surprise:

- Well, have you never heard of this?

The commander of the Atretas said thoughtfully:

- Personally, I started reading history only from the period of the Coming and Exodus of the light Eldars, and the history of wars, their causes during this period. And you, girls? - She turned to her squad.

"We too," said another white-haired priestess.

"And us too," confirmed the other members of her squad.

Orin said in surprise:

- What were you taught as a child and in church?

The commander looked back at her subordinates and said confidently:

- Codex, weapon mastery, unarmed combat techniques, magical constructs, the School of Dark Spells, basic artifact making, combat knot weaving techniques, the body structure of representatives of different nations, and there's a lot I can't remember. After all, I'm six hundred and forty-seven years old.

- M-yeah, - Orin said disappointedly. She wanted to add something else, but, looking at the patterns on the walls, said discontentedly: - Some pests have appeared. We need to activate the defense system. It requires twenty-five and a half thousand ergs of Darkness power. Your atars will have to give all the energy to activate it. You and the atars along with the atretases will have to go and sort it out manually. I will stay here. The lighting, filtration and air enrichment systems are on...

"No need," I said. I don't feel like messing with some creatures. Besides, I don't like the idea of ​​Orin being left here alone. I turned to my porter: "Show me how you charge these signs with energy." And again to Orin: "What needs to be charged?"

Orin pointed in bewilderment at the ligature of protruding signs on the wall, arranged in a column.

- These signs indicate the level of protection charge. When the energy enters the accumulators, the inscription will light up. But, Atar, this is a very large amount of energy, and only one force. Where will you get it? It would be better to call for help from one of the elders of the Atar with their retinues...

She probably thinks I'm powerless. But my gift is full to the brim. I looked at the changed one:

"Show me..." and activated magical vision.

- The system is very simple - when you touch your ter to the output of the accumulator at the beginning of the ligature of the Ancients, you need to direct energy from the gift of a certain force, in this case - Darkness. Other energy will simply not be accepted.

I released the ter and touched the inscription. So, you can drive all the power in a row, only the one that is needed will pass.

- What will happen to the mana that doesn't fit?

- It will be ejected. I understand, Asheras, what you want to do. It is very dangerous. Such a huge amount of energy, even if not formed into spells, nodes or forms, is still extremely destructive. Asheras, if you spill two or three thousand ergs of pure energy of Death, Light or Life in this room, it will destroy all life here, except you, of course.

It's a pity I criticized such an idea. She continued.

- It's much safer to just pull the Darkness out of your gift. Concentrate, dive into your gift and pull the Darkness out of it. It shouldn't be difficult. You can control the element of Fire, right? It's no easier than controlling any of the powers.

I glanced sideways at the changed one. It was easy for her to talk. It was like explaining to a person blind from birth what a reflection in a mirror was. Oh well, I had my sight. So I could figure it out. Concentrating, I dove into the gift and began to knead it with my will, trying to listen to my feelings. Suddenly I heard a quiet laugh. "Silly little one, you got it all wrong. Go in first. Divide the gift into forces and elements, and then take what you need. Imagine that the energy of forces and elements gathers opposite their own sources. And remember one thing: your gift is your universe. You are the Creator in it!" The voice of Darkness turned from a whisper into a loud roar with thunderous rolls. Well then. The gift obediently rebuilt. The black sector was more than two thirds. With just a slight effort of will, I literally tore the entire black part out of it and sent it in one piece into the ter's appendage, which looked like a hollow hose from the inside. In addition, I wrapped the entire regeneration of the huge black blob of power onto the same ter. The laughter of Darkness rumbled, shimmering and echoing inside me. I barely managed to emerge from the gift to see the filling process itself. The ter swelled like an anaconda that had swallowed a hippopotamus. The thickening slowly moved toward the outlet of the accumulator at the beginning of the inscription, and when the absolutely black clot reached it, it was absorbed almost instantly. Power continued to flow along the ter in a thin stream. I looked up at the indicator inscription. It had turned from ordinary to almost black, only the last hieroglyph of the ligature was not filled. But it, like a bottle, was filling before our eyes. I turned to Orin and admired her bulging eyes and open mouth. Chuckling, he said, addressing the changed one:

- Did I do everything right?

- Yes, but how did you, Asheras, master it so quickly?

- It couldn't have been without the Eternal. - I winced. I wanted to eat. Why should I endure it? I looked up at the sign - the indicator finished filling before my eyes and suddenly went out completely, and then began to fill again. What? I'll have to postpone lunch. I turned questioningly to Orin. She had already gotten over her surprise and was looking at me with servility. Anticipating my question, she quickly said, bowing her head in respect:

- This energy cell serves to supply the complex with energy in an orderly manner. This is done so that it would be pointless to destroy it during an assault on this residential complex. The accumulators themselves are located at the very depths, under the lowest floor of the Border of Darkness atar apartment system. Their capacity is enormous - tens of millions of ergs. There is no point in overloading them - the Ancients made sure that they could not explode. The excess is released into the rift underneath. - Orin approached the wall and touched several signs engraved on the surface. In response to her touch, the signs lit up with a bluish glow, and in the middle of the area in front of the hall, a three-dimensional, intricate image glowing with blue light appeared. - So, this is the plan of the entire complex. As you can see, it has fifteen floors. It has many rooms for orins and even a small barracks for five dozen atretases or arirs, as well as a system of sacrificial altars on the lower floor of the well. The system is almost the same as in the complex that we examined before. The reason is that their creators, creating something new for the atars of our home, always focused on this complex. But the Border of Darkness is a unique structure of the Ancients and is not only an architectural value, but also has religious significance for all dark eldar. As I said, the complex has its own system of protection and support. It has great autonomy, since it is created from a huge piece of rock hanging over a hole. It is kept from falling by mithril chains and ancient spells of Order, which were cast by the goddess herself. Because of this, it can serve and did serve as the last line of defense of the house. As you can see, there are red dots on the diagram - these are some creatures that settled inside. The control system is simple to the point of ugliness. This is the essence of the Ancients' structures – they made simple but reliable objects and their systems. – Orin took the house sign on a beautiful matte black chain from her neck and, wrapping it around her wrist, secured the house sign on her palm. – Atar, only five such keys were made. Three are in the house treasury, and one was lost during the last house war and may well be with our enemies. This is another reason why this complex is uninhabited. Anyone who has such a key has access to the entire defense system of the Border of Darkness. Of course, unauthorized access can be limited during an assault, but such measures are powerless against sabotage. Look for yourself: I am localizing the violators… – Orin touched the red dots in the blue translucent plane. – I am choosing the means of destruction from the available… – above the host of red dots, inscriptions appeared in Ancient with symbols in a circle at the end of the inscriptions. Some were bright blue, others were gray. Orin touched a few of the inscriptions, and one of the red dots expanded, becoming a three-dimensional image of a large bat hanging upside down. Orin touched another inscription, and the bat suddenly began to dry out and fell to the floor, breaking into pieces.

- Now apply these measures to all violators. - Orin touched the inscription with her hand holding the key, and all the red dots disappeared. - Only a thousand ergs were spent on this cleaning. - Having turned off the three-dimensional projection, she turned to us and said: - Well, that's it, great atar, the Border of Darkness is cleared of violators and awaits us.

I looked at the almost black indicator of the energy cell and, when the charge was dumped into the central accumulator, I pulled the ter out of the inscription. Having brought my gift to its original state, I said, looking at the patiently waiting Orin:

- Well then, lead the way.

Orin turned and, going down the stairs, touched the high, at least nine or ten meters, double doors. Made of an incomprehensible material, the doors swung open silently. The Changed One took me in her arms and, accompanied by other Atars and Atretases, went down after Orin.

Immediately behind the doors was a bridge with balustrades separated by tall columns with blue spherical lamps on top. The bridge was about a hundred meters long. The columns themselves were quite large at the base and stood on square pedestals.

- Please note that the lamp bases extend quite far onto the bridge from the balustrade, forming balconies that quickly turn into easy-to-defend barricades during a siege. The bridge itself can be collapsed, but this has never happened since ancient times. The complex can be charged from the inside.

Yes, the Border of Darkness was striking in its grandeur. A gigantic palace, hanging in the darkness and illuminated by the blue light of magical lamps. It was unusual - in the house the lamps shone with a yellowish light, similar to the sunset. However, what am I judging? I haven't even seen it yet... When my changed one stepped onto the bridge, a distant rumble suddenly fell upon me. Turning my head to the right, I saw a gigantic waterfall, starting just above the palace and pouring its waters somewhere into the darkness below. Orin patiently waited until we admired the waterfall enough, and said:

- This is the Lost Soul Falls of Ateo. There is a legend about how this waterfall got its name. If the Athar wants, I will briefly retell it... - Having waited for my nod, our guide began her story: - About twenty thousand years ago, the first matriarch of our house, Irest, gave birth to twins. The twins were named: the girl was named Ateo, and the boy Eron. They grew up together and lived, complementing each other. Their happiness was great. They say that even the gods envied them. But those times could not be called calm. The Guardians had not yet been born, and the Great Houses were exhausted by the war with the light Eldar. It got to the point that even Athars who had not yet reached their first majority were sent to war. And Ateo's brother, Eron, suffered this fate. Ateo waited for him here on the bridge every day, looking at the waterfall. It must be said that back then it was so close that splashes of water sometimes reached this place, but now, due to erosion of the rocks, it has moved almost a kilometer away. So, Ateo waited for her brother on the bridge every day. Meanwhile, the Light Ones learned that the army and most of the Athars were not in Alverist'as, and, with the support of the dwarves, they made a daring raid on the almost unprotected city. Here, on this bridge, Ateo was captured. She was tortured, raped, and then killed, her throat cut in front of a few witnesses and prisoners. Her body was thrown into the abyss so that she could never be found and given to the goddess. When her brother learned of this, he was overcome with rage and hatred. And these feelings were so great that they awakened and gave birth to the Guardians. Eron committed many terrible and bloody deeds. He became merciless and cruel. They say that it was because of him, and not because of our Guardian, that the Light Ones left this continent in panic. When Eron could no longer kill the Light Ones, he cut off his own head in despair and threw it into the waterfall in order to simultaneously get to the goddess and find his sister's body. They say that he is still looking for her... The waterfall was named after his sister - the Lost Soul of Ateo. Sometimes, the waterfall is simply called Ateo, and the bridge itself is called the Lost Hope.

Our guide fell silent, thinking about something, but quickly came to her senses and said:

- Well, let's move on, otherwise we won't be able to inspect the complex today.

Having walked along the bridge to the end, we came up against another set of double doors, the same as those on the other side of the bridge. Orin ran her hand with the symbol of the house over the pattern on them, and they themselves opened into the complex, revealing the palace itself to us. Personally, I, already tempted by the rather rich decoration of the house, was shocked to the depths of my soul. Perfectly fitted granite floor slabs, magnificent life-size statues made of transparent luminous material, high arched ceilings, battle reliefs, and in the ceremonial hall there was a tall statue of black stone, depicting a stately muscular Eldar, naked to the waist. His arms from the elbows and below smoothly turned into three-fingered clawed scaly paws. The statue's eyes glowed faintly with a yellowish light. Orin, approaching it, knelt down and, standing up, said, standing with her back to us:

- This is the only lifetime image of Lord Asheret. All the other houses have only pitiful copies.

I looked at the statue. It inspired feelings of steadfastness and fear.

To see everything, I had to turn my head in all directions. The architecture was amazing, combining Gothic, oriental features and something inexpressible, incredible and magical. Noticing something like sofas and seat cushions on one of the small balconies, I asked:

– But wasn't the furniture supposed to fall apart over time?

Orin just twitched her cheek:

- The Ancients took care of that. I'll tell you even more. Most of the furniture and the decor of the rooms have not changed since the construction of the complex and not only have they not worn out, but have even remained in the same condition in which they were brought into the complex when it was built. Some parts of certain mechanisms that could wear out were made of mithril, received as a contribution from the dwarves at the end of the Eldar war. Oh-oh-oh, then they realized that they fought on the wrong side and the Light Ones would not risk their lives for them. Echoes of that old resentment are still there - as soon as a dwarf sees a Light One, he immediately starts a fight. True, when they see us, they grab their axes, but for every dwarf with an axe there is an Atretas with a scythe ... - Orin drew our attention to the round platforms: - These are lifting platforms, as you can see, there are six of them and they are located at the corners of the hexagon. They were all activated when you fed energy to the main accumulator. There are also two shallow spiral staircases at opposite ends of the platform. Well, let's go to the platform - I'll show you, Atar, how they work.

We followed the maid and stood on a round opaque platform, surrounded by a transparent barrier about two meters high. The platform easily accommodated all the Athars and Atretases. It was about ten meters in diameter. Orin touched the black line on the left side of the transparent cylinder and said:

- You see the floor indicators here, and this is the indicator of our platform location. We move it to the floor we want to get to and go. At the moment we start moving, the passage to the platform is closed by a protective field, and until we reach the indicated floor, it is extremely difficult to get out of the platform.

I really liked the unusual elevator. Coming out of it after Orin on the next floor, we found a large room with four beautiful double doors. In the center was a huge square well, surrounded by a balustrade with columns. Orin said:

- The chambers on this floor used to be occupied by the high priestesses of the house. The matriarch's chambers are located at the top of the palace. Shall we look at these or go straight to the matriarch's chambers?

- Is it even possible? I mean, for me, a priest, to occupy the matriarch's chambers?

- Well, the matriarch doesn't live here. And you're not such a simple priest, and I must say that you have direct access to the goddess and the Eternal, which means that your position is at least equal to that of a high-ranking arira. And, in principle, you can even give orders to the matriarch, but I wouldn't advise you to do that. So your value to the house is quite comparable to the value of the matriarch. Therefore, although you will never be able to take the post at the head of the Great House, you can live in any chambers you want, from the chambers of an ordinary atretas to the chambers of the high priestesses and the matriarch.

- Why didn't we go to them right away then?

- The Matriarch's quarters in the Border of Darkness are enormous. They are designed for a very large retinue of Atretases and Arirs. There are not only separate chambers for them, but even for Orins, utility rooms, sanctuaries of the gods, a separate kitchen, a huge pool and separate baths, a personal office and a small library.

- And yet let's look at them. - I looked back at the Atretases, who had scattered like children in a museum, and said more quietly: - My retinue is small now, but what will happen in ten or twenty years? Do you understand me?

- Yes, atar. - Orin bowed.

- I even think that if the chambers are so large and beautiful, then there is no point in me inspecting them and thinking about anything. Lead the way, show them their location and start fussing with the move. And we will inspect everything ourselves.

- Follow me, Atar.

I turned my gaze to my guards:

- Gather the girls, we're moving out.

The changed ones turned to the Atretases and suddenly shouted in unison:

- Everyone gather! We're leaving!

Having climbed up the platform in a crowd, we followed Orin, who led us through another hall to the same high doors, painted with ancient symbols and bas-reliefs. They were so perfectly fitted that the bas-relief on them, depicting a bloody battle between the Atar priestesses and some snakes with tentacles, perfectly merged into a single whole. Having stopped at them, the servant said, turning to us:

- This is the main entrance to the matriarch's chambers. There are two more entrances - for the atretases and the orin. In order to open the doors, you need to draw a finger dipped in the blood of an atar along the engraving of the Hek rune and push. An atar does not even need to cut his finger for this - there is an inconspicuous spike at the beginning of the rune. There is no such lock for the other doors, they are quite ordinary.

I looked at the changed one, and the priestess, understanding me at a glance, quickly ran her graceful finger over the dimly glowing blue rune on the door. When she finished the bloody writing, the bas-relief separated and the doors opened.