my palm, – and fill it with power. If you make a mistake in even one line, we’re all dead. Understand?
Zheka nodded uncertainly, carefully knelt down, closed his eyes, and began the ritual. Soon, there was a loud clap, and the castle shook so violently that we barely kept our feet. Did this fool actually manage to move us into a spatial pocket? The darkness outside the windows confirmed it – Zheka had succeeded!
– Seva, did you explain to him how to anchor it to the source? – the dragon whispered.
I looked at my companion in surprise. What a strange question. Why explain such elementary things?
– You know they only study anchoring in the third year?
That was a real blunder. What does it mean? He closed the loop? I stared wide-eyed at my satisfied roommate. Damn it! He not only transported us into a spatial pocket, but he also put a temporal loop on the castle!
– What have you done, you idiots?! – someone roared, bursting into the auditorium.
It was the dragon! Well, I mean, someone in the enchanter’s body, which was now taking on its true form of a huge reptile. And why was he yelling?
– Decided to stop me?! The great Vseslavsky himself?!
Oops! I was completely lost. So Kazimir was actually in the dragon’s body. But why then was he angry? He couldn’t possibly be the villain. As if hearing my thoughts, the director hurled some deadly filth at me. What was he doing? Why did he need all this? Where did all this power come from?! The questions remained unanswered. Kazimir’s spell reached its target. Jerking aside, I collapsed onto the floor like a broken doll. Before darkness completely engulfed my consciousness, I managed to see my friends also helplessly falling to the stone floor.
Outside the windows, darkness reigned. We stood near Zheka, who was seated in the center of the runic circle. Wait! We were just killed a moment ago! Or… I slapped myself on the forehead. A time loop. Good job, Zheka! Well done!
– He’s about to burst in! – I shouted to my bewildered friends. – Hide!
My call worked. Asya, Zheka, and I dashed to the oak tree, while the enchanter traditionally crawled under his table. Just in time, it must be said.
– What have you done, you idiots?! – Kazimir roared, bursting into the auditorium and transforming into a huge lizard on the move. – Decided to stop me?! The great Vseslavsky himself?!
Kazimir suddenly fell silent. Apparently, he did not expect to find his adversaries missing. And why is he repeating the same thing? Interesting… It seems the loop closed on me, Asya, Altair, and Zheka, as we were closest to the center of the ritual execution. Does that mean the time transfer activates when one of us dies?
– Why are you doing all this? – the enchanter unexpectedly yelled, peering out from under the table.
Strange. I hadn’t noticed any suicidal tendencies in him. Kazimir laughed with a roaring laughter.
– You think I didn’t know you were a dragon?! – he growled. – From the moment we met, I’ve been preparing this plan to seize your body! I’ve been accumulating power for many years and waiting for the right moment!
Now that was confusing. He seriously decided to unleash an apocalypse just to become a dragon? And they say I come up with complicated plans.
– I longed to gain the ancient power of the dragon! – the director continued his rant. – I sent the previous enchanter on maternity leave! I invited you to take her place! I shrouded the castle in the Veil of Despair! I framed the steward! I took your body! And I will destroy you all! Every one of you!
Kazimir laughed again, his laughter filled with madness. And power. We all knew that we couldn’t stand against a dragon. Or rather, I could have… if I were in my own body.
The director swung his clawed paw, sending another deadly weaving at Altair. The enchanter awkwardly jerked his green mohawk and ungracefully fell to the floor. I was ready to be thrown back in time again, but… nothing happened. Why? Ah, I get too distracted during battles. Another of Kazimir’s spells hit me in the chest. Well, at least it was painless this time.
Outside the windows, darkness reigned. Once again, we stood near Zheka, sitting in the center of the runic circle.
– Again? – Asya, stuck in the director’s body, was surprised.
– Yes, again, – I grimly confirmed, walked to the enchanter’s table and climbed on it with my feet. The rest of the company rushed to the oak tree, hoping to find shelter behind its mighty trunk again. So, the loop only triggers if all four of us die? Well, I’ve seen worse.
– What have you done, you idiots?! – Kazimir roared, bursting into the auditorium and transforming into a huge lizard on the move. – Decided to stop me?! The great Vseslavsky himself?!
– Yeah, – I calmly replied. – You wanted to seize the dragon’s body, gain power, and you slept with the enchanter. We all know that. Want some tea?
The director froze in place and looked at me bewildered.
– How do you know?! – he exclaimed, ignoring my question about tea. Too bad, we could have resolved everything peacefully over tea.
– I have my sources, – I waved my hand significantly. – Better tell me, why did you decide to conduct the ritual of forced evolution? Why change the structure of ley lines if you just want to steal a dragon’s body? Why all the complexity?
– I didn’t change anything! – Kazimir roared. – And I’m not planning any ritual! And besides, you’ve annoyed me, stupid girl!
Before I lost my life again, one single thought flashed through my mind – how is it that he’s not conducting the ritual?
Outside the windows, darkness still reigned. Once again, we stood near Zheka, seated in the center of the runic circle.
– I’m tired of this! – Asya shouted, and it seemed she started crying. I understood her, but I had no time for tears.
– If he’s not the one conducting the ritual, then who is? – I quickly asked the enchanter.
– I have no idea, – he shrugged, clearly upset. Yes, it’s not every day that old friends betray you by inhabiting your own body.
– What have you done, you idiots?! – Kazimir bellowed, bursting into the auditorium and again transforming into a huge lizard. – Decided to stop me?! The great Vseslavsky himself?!
– Shush! – I snapped. – Stop yelling. Better tell me, what role do I play in your plan?
Perhaps Kazimir didn’t even know that I was the Guardian. What if my admission to the academy was really just an accident? I don’t believe it! He could sense the true nature of a dragon, but not my power?
– And what do dragons usually do with beautiful girls? – The director laughed and grabbed me with his huge scaly paw. – They kidnap them! So, I will kidnap you. And marry you!
Wait a minute. Marry me? No, I disagree. And besides, I wanted to marry this body first! When it still belonged to Asya! And how, pray tell, am I supposed to fulfill my marital duties? I, for one, love girls, not huge reptiles.
However, my moral turmoil didn’t concern the director. Gripping my-Asya’s body tightly in his paws, he swiftly, as far as it was possible with his size, slipped out of the auditorium. Well, at least he clearly doesn’t know that I’m the Guardian.
I leaned against the cold, damp wall of my cell. So, it’s time to think. What do we have? I’m an adult man in the body of a young girl, locked in a dungeon guarded by a real dragon who wants to marry me. And the dungeon itself is in a castle