CHAPTER 6

"And it went out a couple of days ago. A little more—and then outbreaks of diseases will begin. As I understand it, we are not here at all to help the light ones in Ashmoor restore the source, prevent diseases, and act as good neighbors?"

"Exactly. We're here for you to investigate the source of the magic and try to understand what or who brought it to this state. Let's go."

It didn't take long to get there—the spring stood in the center of the square. The small statue of the unicorn had faded and even cracked in some places. What do you have to do to an artifact to make it look like it's about to fall apart?

The unicorn statue was surrounded by warriors. Not very close, about a hundred meters away, but there were so many guards around that it was impossible to get through unnoticed.

"I don't think they'll let me explore it," I remarked.

Aldric exhaled next to me. What?.. The darkness swirled around his body first, then began to envelop me. I took a step back, but Aldric squeezed my hand tightly, not even thinking of letting go:

"Stay put, camouflage."

And what if I can't see a thing because of this camouflage? However, I was hasty in my conclusions: literally a minute later the darkness began to "brighten," and the whole world around became gray, as if someone had stolen all the colors.

"Let's go. They won't see us."

And indeed: we passed very close to the guards, and they did not react at all.

"Explore," Aldric commanded, letting go of my hand.

I didn't wait, took a few steps, and touched the statue with both hands. Released some magic inside the statue…

I took a step and almost collided with Aldric—he came up to me completely silently.

"What?.."

"Don't pay attention," he said. "I want to watch what you do."

I swallowed—that was the last thing I needed. I didn't hide my power for anyone to carefully study its manifestations and try to figure it out!

Especially a dragon. Immortal. Dark. Curious and unprincipled. What would he learn from seeing me use my power? Understand what it was? Tell others? I gritted my teeth, asking for a double blessing of courage. And luck, too.

I'll suffer from the backlash in five or six days, but no one will guess why I'm trying my best to remain a lowly healer and trying not to attract attention.

"You embarrass me," I said. "I can't work with the statue properly."

"Strongly?"

"Until death," I muttered.

"Mmm, I can sense death coming very well. When you start dying, I'll stop looking at you and embarrassing you," Aldric promised. "Now don't waste our time. Even a dragon has a hard time maintaining that dark concealment spell."

"And the immortal?" I was surprised.

Aldric had destroyed such hordes of monsters using several dozen high magic spells (according to reports) that it was hard to believe that one small high magic spell could wear him out.

"No, of course not. It doesn't work on its own; it needs to be maintained, and I'm too lazy," Aldric smiled.

As expected.

I laid my hands on the statue and plunged my strength into it in search of echoes of bright magic. The blessing worked for me—it did not require much effort. The bright power, as if feeling our affinity, immediately slipped to my palms. Poor light of blessing!

It was hiding from what was driving it out and trying to throw it out of its "house"—the statue.

"Show me," I whispered, closing my eyes. "Show me who destroyed your home, who hurt you."

I heard a surprised sigh nearby—well, yes, even a dragon has never encountered such methods of interaction with the light force. They are exclusively mine, created by me and used only by me.

The warmth warmed my palms, traveled up my arms to my chest, to my neck, and reached my head. It immediately became hot; my cheeks probably blushed.

And then a picture appeared: midday, warm, pleasant sun, people hurrying, carts, travelers approaching the statue to pray or touch it.

A blurry figure in a black cloak, almost identical to the one Aldric is wearing now, appears before the statue. Human hands touch the source. The sensation of acrid, piercing, tearing magic. It seems to poison the statue, causing the light to shrink, to run away, to hide.

And then the figure leaves; no one notices anything, life goes on as usual. I clenched my teeth—the phantom pain that the statue experienced was transmitted to me. So, a little more, to see where this person—definitely a person!—was leaving. The pain would not interfere…

"Enough." I was literally dragged from the statue by the scruff, because of which I could not touch it—and, of course, lost contact.

"Kha-kha," I involuntarily coughed. Taking a deeper breath, I asked, "What are you doing?"

"What I promised. I carefully watched so you would not die," Aldric remarked.

"Was it like that?" I asked hoarsely.

"Very much so."

"Phantom pain. Echo. The light was dying inside the artifact, not me," I replied.

"Oh, here's how? I'm sorry. The next time, I'll fully enjoy how you writhe in pain," Aldric said without a drop of anger or malice. "I like to look at other people's suffering."

"I am glad that I gave pleasure," I muttered, starting to recover.

Suddenly, Aldric's hand lay between my shoulder blades, and a little cool magic dispersed the nasty heat. This is not treatment, but rather neutralization. Can he?

"I want to listen to an adequate story, not a wheeze," Aldric immediately explained. "Let's get out of here. You collected the information; I, too, can be talked about in the alley."

"Man," I said, as soon as we left the square and found ourselves in the next narrow passage between the houses. "It was definitely a man, not a dark mage, not a puppet, not a demon. The statue was destroyed by a man. Do you understand what it means?"