Elinor. The Deserted Valley. Book 1. Mikhail Shelkov
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who got carried away spilling out everything that was boiling up inside him.
“I can’t think about battles! I can’t hold a sword in my hands! I want to be with her, and not to go to war, yet I’m a warrior and I want to be one! But somehow, I’m drawn away. Why? This is feeling, right?” he looked at E’Do.
“Yes,” E’Do replied.
“And you… was it ever like this for you?”
“Like that, never!” E’Do’s responses became exceptionally dry.
“Is the feeling a bad thing?” the young man continued. “For if it’s interfering with battle, then, I’d think, yes. Am I right?”
“Right.”
“You know, it seems to me I was incredibly excited about our journey when I realized that I could escape from my feelings! But it turns out that that is not how it is! I’m running from Reyve, but not from my feelings for her. The feelings take over again and again! Perhaps you don’t understand me. You said it yourself that you have never felt anything like that.”
“Go to sleep!” E’Do suddenly grabbed his sword and plunged it into the ground to the very hilt. “You’re on duty tomorrow! Therefore, you have to sleep! That’s an order!”
All thoughts left Do’Ayve’s head at once. That’s what was good about the Itoshin philosophy. At the exact moment that you are unable to act by the Code, you will be put in place by an order!
Do’Ayve received this order from E’Do, and then gave himself the order to fall asleep. This time, the power of the udoğan’s word overcame his own emotional sufferings. He had to obey.
5
The next morning Do’Ayve woke up in a disgusting mood. He felt that black circles had crept out under his eyes. His temples felt as though someone was squeezing them. But even more, so the young warrior was amazed at E’Do’s face. Not only could the traces of obvious insomnia be read on it, it seemed the udoğan had aged in one night, as though throughout the entire night there was some sort of inner struggle, much more powerful than fighting against demons.
There was also a struggle going on in Do’Ayve, but he understood that the scale of his struggle was much smaller.
What was the reason for the udoğan’s struggle? What is his secret? What lies in his heart? What did he hide from his loyal warriors?
For several days, Do’Ayve did not talk to his commander. And every day, he saw E’Do grow more and more grim, and in turn became gloomier himself.
My question awoke some of his inner turmoil… that which had almost been won over by the udoğan. But what had I said?
The Itoshins made five similar crossings with five stops.
They walked as a black column along the long path, enveloped in white fog. Their swords clanked against the steel protection on their hips. Shoulder and breast shells seemed to absorb all the cold of the stale mist and transmit it to the body. But a true warrior couldn’t be scared of the cold!
On the sixth day, there was an event that became a landmark for Do’Ayve.
About a dozen demons rushed at them from nowhere. It was as though they had long taken them into a ring, slowly crept up and suddenly decided to attack.
Lado struck the first one, thanks to his lightning-fast reaction. With an easy movement, Ğan-Iolai took off the clawed nipper of another one. Todo ran up and finished the third demon with a stabbing blow. Joe screamed wildly and rushed towards two at once. He waved his sword in all directions and soon turned the monsters into a bloody mash.
Do’Ayve rushed forward, exposing the blade in front of him without shouting a war cry or making any drastic, unnecessary movements. While he was emitting as much fury as Joe in that moment, the fury was directed more towards himself and the inability to overcome his passions. Do’Ayve simply cut the first demon in half, evaded the attack of the second, and quickly slashed the third, which let out an ominous screech. He then returned to the second, pushing the blade into its mouth to the very hilt. But he miscalculated the demon’s strength.
While pulling out the strip of steel from the flesh of the monster, Do’Ayve felt his legs tied by an unknown force. He lowered his eyes and saw a disgusting tentacle curl around his limbs. He wanted to slash it with a sword, but it was tightly stuck between the teeth of the previously murdered creature. And the tentacle had already started to drag the warrior. As Do’Ayves let go of his sword and fell, he got a glimpse of the huge jaw, ready to swallow him.
At that moment, the mighty figure of E’Do jumped out of the fog. Hanvet danced a semicircle from shoulder to earth and the tentacle tying the legs of Do’Ayve was cut off. However, another dozen tentacles on the huge monster immediately rushed towards the udoğan. The speed of E’Do’s movement was incomparable. Simultaneously, the commander did not lose composure, doing his job clearly and confidently. Soon the ominous jaw no longer made any sonorous squelching noises; instead it roared with extreme pain. Its two huge eyes filled with red and quickly died out as Hanvet crashed down between them.
Do’Ayve was on his knees breathing heavily.
“Any demons left?” E’Do screamed into the fog.
“No,” answered Lado.
“No!” confirmed Todo.
“This is my first one! This is my first one!” a sonorous girl’s voice babbled joyfully, which Do’Ayve recognized as Leerie.
“Well done, apprentice!” E’Do approved. “Today you took a great step towards becoming a warrior!” After that the udoğan came up to Do’Ayve, who was burning with shame. “Bad, warrior! Very bad!” he began, quickly jumping to quotes from the Code. “The essence of the warrior is not in a rage, but in fearlessness! Fearlessness is not the absence of reason, for mind is necessary to the warrior in battle. And the mind of a warrior must be cold. The essence of the warrior is not in anger, for anger obscures the mind. The essence of the warrior is in the veridical power that is hidden in him!”
Do’Ayve knew the Code by heart. But these words would forever be stuck in his head. Throughout the following days on the way to the Valley, he repeated them over and over again, whenever he began to experience emotional turmoil again.
6
They met no more demons on the way.
On the twentieth day of the journey, the fog suddenly dissipated and an amazing landscape opened to their view.
Do’Ayve stopped dead, his mouth wide open. The other Itoshins stopped as well, apparently experiencing similar feelings. Everyone was stunned. Nobody thought the world could be like that!
The contemplation of the surface of Moon Lake on a cloudless night was beauty’s top for any Itoshin. But here, the Valley was full of various colors. The green color of grass and trees prevailed, as well as the azure color of the sky with occasional white clouds. On the glades, there were flowers of red, yellow, and blue hues and a few more, whose colors Do’Ayve didn’t even know.
He looked back and saw a dense white veil.
Can this be? Is it really the Valley, which is despised by all who have returned to the Empire of the Itoshins? How different it is from our world… how scant and poor it turns out to be. And I lived without even knowing that. I’m a warrior! A warrior! And I will follow my spirit further, but can’t a warrior rejoice? Now everyone is happy. Even E’Do has changed in the face, and I want to smile! Oh yes! That’s what struck me in Reyve! She smiled at me, though we almost never smile! I look around at my comrades, and they also have smiles on their faces!
If the soldiers could still somehow could contain their emotions, the yauls have given themselves over completely. They began to moo and mumble wildly through