female voice sounded from the corridor.
Yes, it’s good that I swiped Marfusha after all. She would be gathering dust in the castle now, but here it’s more interesting for her and more fun for me. I wove her into the protective charms of the entire house, she controls them so it won’t turn out like last time. Now she informs me about any fluctuations in power. My smart girl. And as an alarm clock, she’s simply irreplaceable… In a word – an assistant.
And now she was definitely right. I was indeed already running late. Putting the empty cup on the windowsill, I put on a jacket over my T-shirt, smoothed my tousled hair with my palm, and teleported to the Guardians’ headquarters. By the way, calling this building a headquarters, in my opinion, was incorrect. Our place of work resembled more a state museum. A highly secured, secretive, incredibly extensive museum-library. Yes, that’s exactly it.
I found myself in the middle of a huge hall. High bookshelves with books and artifacts of ancient mages surrounded me from all sides. More precisely, with a small part of the artifacts entrusted to our headquarters. The most dangerous ones were here, and the rest were equally distributed among the Guardians and rested in hiding places all over the planet. For example, ninety-three powerful artifacts were under my care. Or rather, now ninety-two.
However, something in the surrounding environment categorically displeased me. But what exactly? I slowly walked among the shelves toward my office, trying to understand what was bothering me. Wait! Why is it so quiet?
There was always noise and bustle in the headquarters. Hundreds of Guardians from all over the world wandered through the main hall, carrying books and studying artifacts. Periodically someone yelled, cursed, or laughed. In rare cases, even fights broke out. True, only with fists. Using magic in the main hall was strictly prohibited. With such a number of artifacts, it was akin to smoking in a powder keg, and the distinctive feature of the Guardians, as is known, was precisely prudence. But I had never heard such silence.
Turning at the nearest crossroads, I approached the stairs leading to the second tier of the hall. Usually, this balcony was used by observers to watch what was happening in the main hall, but even they were not to be found. I leaned on the wooden railing and peered intently into the dimness of the room. No movement. Absolutely. The main hall of the headquarters was completely deserted.
But where is everyone? Even during the last war of shamans, there were duty Guardians here, ready to fight and repel an attack in case of an assault. But there were no duty officers. Nobody. Oh, I feel that serious problems are looming again. I knew I should have stayed on vacation longer. Well, I’ll get to the office and contact one of my colleagues and find out everything.
The protective spell on the door of my office let me inside without any trouble. A thick layer of dust covered the worn, massive table, the shelves of old cabinets, and even the small sofa. Strange… The entire headquarters building was entwined in a dense web of conserving charms, and this was the first time I had seen dust here. Could there have been some kind of malfunction? Or maybe someone played a prank? Anyway, it didn’t matter. A short mental impulse, and the dust rose into the air and immediately vanished. Thankfully, using magic in the offices was allowed.
I habitually glanced at the world map, covered with an uneven network of ley lines, and smiled. Magic was gradually returning, and the magical streams had almost taken their usual places.
Settling into the office chair, I took out my cell phone. Yes, Guardians used phones too. It’s much easier to make technology impervious to high concentrations of magic than to send postal birds every time. Pigeons, owls, and ravens – they were more a tribute to traditions and a beautiful gesture, but for work communication, it was easier to just call.
However, none of my colleagues picked up the phone. Even my grumpy chief refused to pay attention to me. All this was strange.
– Well, if you don’t want to talk on the phone, let’s try to contact you another way, – I thought.
Extending my hand forward, palm up, I lowered my eyelids and began to fill a complex, intricate weaving with power. Feeling a pleasant heaviness on my forearm, I opened my eyes and smiled. On my hand sat a beautiful indigo-black raven, as if woven from swirling darkness – the oldest method of sending messages between Guardians. The ghostly messenger required quite a lot of energy but could find the recipient anywhere in our world. Rumors even said it sometimes found them in other worlds too. A smart bird, overall.
– Find any other Guardian and deliver the message, – I ordered the raven and scribbled a few words on a piece of paper. My messenger cautiously took the note in its beak and dissolved into a dark mist. Well, let’s wait…
I was about to walk to the coffee machine when the raven returned.
– Good job, that was fast, – I praised the bird and extracted the reply from its beak.
“Contact me if you read this message. Guardian Vsevolod I.”
Something I don’t understand. Did the raven bring me my own message? Why? Did I formulate the order poorly?
– Deliver this to any other Guardian! – I said clearly and handed the ghostly bird the message.
The raven looked at me thoughtfully and shook its head negatively. What kind of joke is this? Did I mess up the weaving? I closed my eyes and focused on magical vision. The naughty bird immediately appeared before me as a tangled ball of shimmering lines. Yes, the weaving was complex, but perfectly executed. So why then did it refuse to deliver my note? A terrible guess pierced my mind. I abruptly opened my eyes and looked at the bored raven.
– You’re not delivering the message because you can’t find the addressee? – I asked, with slight anxiety in my voice.
The bird nodded in agreement. Damn it! What does that mean? Could the ghostly messenger really not find a single other Guardian? But where did they disappear to? I slowly sat down on the old sofa and thoughtfully looked into the black eyes of the ghostly messenger. And now what to do?
***
– No, no, and no again! – the sorcerer decisively waved me off and nervously paced around the office. – I won’t step foot into the Guardians’ lair!
For half an hour, I had been trying to persuade my former teacher to help me. However, the dragon wouldn’t even hear of rescuing my colleagues. And honestly, I understand him. Since ancient times, we, the Guardians, have protected our world from intelligent magical races from other worlds, including massive lizards capable of taking on human form. The fact that Altair managed to stay unnoticed was the exception that proved the rule.
Still, I desperately needed help. All my fellow Guardians had vanished, and of all the other mages I knew, the dragon was undoubtedly the most prepared. And probably the smartest. But how to persuade him?
– Aren’t you curious to see the most powerful artifacts of the ancients? – I asked again. – Or try to read the Great One Almanac in its original form? Where’s your draconic curiosity?
– I got rid of it many years ago, – the sorcerer looked at me seriously. – And only because of that, I managed to stay in this world.
– Fine, – I gave in. – What do you want in return for your help?
– You’ll owe me a favor, to be called upon when I ask, – the dragon smirked. – And you’ll pull me out of the spirit world if your colleagues send me there.
Any favor? That’s quite a price, of course. But fair.
– Agreed, – I nodded. – When do we leave?
The sorcerer paused for a moment, glanced at the reddening sunset outside the window, and waved his hand dismissively.
– Let’s go now!
That’s