of course, are not from birth. These are various diseases and scars from their difficult lifestyle. In long, dirty shirts and village bast shoes, six fornicators bowed before the Osiris, promising to help them. But, is it worth believing these geeks, when it has already been historically proven that they completely lack the instinct of self-preservation. «Oh, great commander,» they began to communicate with the general. «You shouldn’t go through these swamps. No wonder the blackheads are so alarmed. We also lost a lot of our brothers there. Be so kind as to go around this strip of evil from the east. Just ten kilometers from here.
– Don’t worry, buddy, our troops are already going that way, as well as from the western direction. Or did you think we would only strike with one group of troops? «If we were savages like you, we might have done so. But, we know things like strategy. Here, take the money, and get out of my way, – he threw a tied bag of coins at the feet of the elderly Sabarians, and the column moved forward. Having overcome a small ditch and a bog, the soldiers figured out a passage in an ancient wall lined with stones, which was completely covered with moss. This wall stretches for tens of kilometers, from the eastern to the western forests of Rohvem. The primitive masonry is not at all high. Two meters, and in some places even lower. They say that once it was three times higher, it just sank into the swampy soil.
– As far as I know, this wall was built for some religious reason. – Riding a horse, the commander of the outpost unhurriedly gallops next to the general’s carriage, sheathed in camouflage. – He, silently, smiled, and thoughtfully stared at the horizon. Before them was an endless field. The green grass was not so damp and tall anymore. The ride has become much easier and faster. The ground is more replaced by stones, with rarely sticking out blades of grass. But there are no ravines or hillocks. Absolutely flat field, on which you can already gallop. The foot of the infantryman stumbled on a snag sticking out of the ground. This is a broken, through and through rotten wooden log, which has been lying here, perhaps, for more than one hundred years. Throwing it aside, the soldier cleared the way for the carriages passing by behind. It must have been some kind of signpost before. There, to the side, a couple of meters away from the log, lay an inconspicuous flat stone heaped on its side. On it, in the Nahmaut language, only three words are carved: «The forest that does not exist.» Without changing the route and speed of movement, the convoy continues to go south. The grass and leaves underfoot are already completely dry. As if it had never rained here in my life. Jumping out of his capsule-shaped iron carriage, Mandelis suddenly stopped the troops. Holding the map firmly in both hands, he peered into one place. His hands shook.
– Who made these routes? – in anger he crumpled the yellow paper and threw it away. Suddenly, he is attacked by a pack of wolves. Two beasts jumped out from under the chariot, and three more rushed from the front. – Take them away! – with screams he climbs back into the carriage. The soldiers reacted quickly, drawing their bows, covering the hungry predators with arrows out of nowhere. One wolf managed to grab the general’s leg before he hid in the cart. He furiously tore at his snakeskin boot, and, continuing to clench his jaws, jerking his head from side to side, with a loud, murderous growl, he tore a piece of flesh from his calf muscle, until as many as five arrows flew into his spine, at the same time. Having stopped the bleeding, the doctors forbade the general to go outside, except when it was necessary to relieve himself. Observing this from the side, the commander of the camp outpost was no less shocked. How the soldiers in front could overlook the approaching predators. As many as six horsemen and two carts go ahead of the general. Nevertheless, the general decided to continue the movement of the troops straight ahead, which is not surprising in the trailer. Before getting on the horse, the outpost commander picked up the crumpled map from the ground and carefully straightened it, trying not to break it. This is a reliable map compiled by experts from Vayelon, including himself. Rohvem Valley on a scaled-down scale. He quickly found his bearings and, frowning, began muttering to himself. In the same place, between the western and southern forest belt, a continuous deciduous forest was designated, which was named as «the cemetery of the army of General Mandelis.» Maybe it was signed by some soldier with a bad sense of humor. Having saddled the horse, the commander continued to move next to the cart. Dry leaves rustled more and more under the wheels and horses. The sounds got louder, but they got smaller. Every creak of the wagon is heard, every step, and even breathing can be heard. The sounds of an owl and a toucan knocking on wood. The sounds of snorting donkeys. Stop. Where, in an open field, the sounds of a knocking toucan? owls? leaves under your feet? The commander got goose bumps all over his body when he realized this.
«The Forest of the Dead,» burst out of his mouth. – He exists. My heart was pounding wildly. The painful general was no longer so concerned about their problems. He moaned quietly in his carriage, thinking more about his leg. Masod, an ordinary horseman, rode on horseback in front of everyone. At one point, his animal just stopped, stubbornly unwilling to continue moving.
– But! Let’s go! – sitting on horseback, he kicks in the sides of the stubborn stallion. Nearby horses and mules stopped at the same place. They reared up on their hind hooves, circled in place, but in no way, did not go forward. Unable to bear it, Masod jumped off the mule, and stroked his face, trying to calm him down. «He’s afraid of something,» he began to look around the soldiers warily. – Here, just what? – looking in front of him, he noticed bones on the ground. A bunch of bones. The bones of animals, people, they were everywhere. Walking a little forward on his own, the soldier grimaced and instinctively gripped his blade tightly. The fetid smell of decomposition hit him sharply in the nose. Vomiting involuntarily escaped. During his life, he has seen a lot of rot, on the battlefields, but such rottenness, he has never felt before. «I know why the horses stopped,» he turned to his companions. But, they were not. The entire column was gone! Frightened, as if from an electric shock, he jumped back, bulging his bloodshot eyes. Bin Magur?! Halley! – in a panic he calls out the names of his friends. Where a column of seven thousand Vayelon warriors should have been, stood a couple of burnt trees that had just emerged. Their black, charred branches froze in frightening silence. Looking closely, he realized that these rare trees stood everywhere, to the very horizon. For the most part, these were some chopped off trunks. Without a single branch, tall, black, burnt from roots to tops. This is what a forest looks like after a fire. White bones clatter under his feet. Removing the blade from the casing, he desperately cut down the only branch of the tree nearest to him. The earth shook. It was like a tree felt his blow. There were terrible groans. These are the sounds of howling people and roaring animals, replaced by distant laughter, strange muffled rumble and creak. Throwing away his weapon, he clutched his head. It seemed to him that it was happening inside his head, and now it will simply explode. There were even more dry leaves under my feet. They, like a yellow blanket, completely covered the surface of the earth. A thick fog was approaching from all directions, from afar. It’s like a snow storm enclosed in a ring, windless and silent, densely enveloping the entire horizon. – It must be a dream? – Sadly sour face, Masod froze standing still. But no. All the horror was waiting for him ahead. Walking around a small area in a circle, the young warrior completely faded. Seeing that the terrain was completely repeated, he grabbed his face with his hands, desperately collapsing to the ground.
That is why it is impossible to get out of here. On this day, the foggy, endless forest happily took into its arms, the souls of twenty-five detachments, the southern corps of General Mandalis. The Forest of the Dead has been known for its anomaly since antiquity. Many elders tried to find out what was happening there with people and animals. But this remains a mystery. Some say that two hundred years ago, Selim Svurt himself, the king of Shelber, who fled to Rohvem from the curse of his lands, got lost here. To find a way out, he decided to burn the forest, and accidentally burned down himself, sending damage to the once beautiful, fertile lands. But, the soul did not leave his body, and even being a burned corpse, with the help of unprecedented strength, he got out of the forest. Now, those who have died there also come to life and wander in search of a way out. But, no one else found a way out. Because, as it does not exist, as there is no forest itself. This point of view is vehemently denied by the priests of the temple of Selim.