Tursed my worid upside down

They left the village without saying goodbye. In the chaos, no one seemed to notice their disappearance. During the entire journey back through the forest, they exchanged only a few phrases. Egor still could not believe that Klaus had simply abandoned the inhabitants of the village that had sheltered them to their fate.

The prince himself did not pay any attention to his companion. He was focused on the possible danger and sometimes seemed to be lost in his thoughts. When the young people made a stop in the same clearing where they had appeared several days ago, Egor decided to clarify:

"What are our plans for the future?"

"I haven't decided yet what I should do first."

"What options do we have?"

"Go straight to Uncle's estate or visit the camp of the royal army, which was the detachment that attacked the village."

"Maybe I don't understand something, but the idea of ​​going into the enemy's camp together is not a very good one."

"You're right, but the problem is that I don't know who my enemies are. Uncle? Father? Someone from the outside?"

"According to the professor, Uncle should provide you with protection."

"From whom? And until when? Under what conditions? I have so many questions and they keep coming. And how can I trust the words of a man who hid his true identity until the last moment. What benefit does it give him that I was away from home? And what will he do now?"

"If you want to know my opinion, you should go to your uncle. That way, the chances of finding out at least something will be higher."

"Yes, I'm also inclined to think so. If I were alone, everything would be much simpler," Klaus looked at Egor with what seemed to the second one a condemning look.

"I can be useful to you. Agree, one ally is still better than none!"

"Yes, but only if the ally is useful!"

"Hey, I can get offended!"

"It's decided. Let's go to my uncle, and then we'll see what to do next."

They weren't walking as fast as Klaus wanted, but he couldn't do anything about it. Egor was not adapted to life in this world, but the prince saw how the fair-haired youth was trying. He didn't complain and walked with all his might.

They didn't encounter anything interesting along the way. Sometimes they walked along a scorched plain, sometimes they passed small sections of forest, where Klaus warmed up with a katana and magic, killing small creatures. When they climbed the mountain, their gaze opened to several villages and even one small town, surrounded by dense forest. The only protection, or rather a small obstacle on the path of those who were engaged in the slave trade.

According to Klaus's calculations, half a day's journey remained to his uncle's estate, when screams were heard in the distance. A familiar cry of battle, the clang of swords, the ripping of branches and the rumble of the parting earth.

"There's a battle ahead," Klaus told Egor without turning around, but he didn't stop.

"Are you going to go straight there?" Egor was horrified.

"We need to get as close as possible, and then go around."

And that's what they did. The battlefield horrified Egor. Corpses were lying everywhere, the ground looked like someone had detonated a hundred mines, the trees around were uprooted, and despite the fact that they were quite far away, Egor could smell blood, burnt flesh, and, as it seemed to him, death itself.

They made camp near three trees that the battle hadn't yet reached. Egor sat on the ground, leaning against the trunk, and Klaus climbed one of them to get a better look at the scale of the battle.

-"here's a detachment from the border army, and the others are most likely some rebels. They don't have a uniform, but there are a lot of them. I've never seen such a concentration of Protestants, and what are the border army doing here?" the prince said, descending.

"What are we going to do?"

"The area ahead is open. We'll have to either make a big circle or go straight ahead, but the second option is almost impossible with you."

"You know, I don't even have anything to say to you against this statement," Egor said offended. "Sorry," the fair-haired man added, lowering his voice.

"There's no point in apologizing now. You're already here and we can't fix anything, but you know... I'm glad I'm not alone now. Let's go."

The young men moved in the opposite direction from the battlefield. Klaus was on guard all the time, despite the fact that the fierce battle was relatively far away, the guy could not relax. They were walking through a wasteland, and the nearest trees were still far away, and accordingly, although frail, but still a shelter too.

The prince was tormented by a bad feeling, and the open area was driving him crazy. Here they could be seen by a random soldier. They could easily be shot with a bow or use magic. Yes, a good view allowed the young men to see the danger in time, but Klaus doubted that, in the event of a sudden attack, he would be able to protect both Egor and himself at the same time.

When they approached a small house, which, apparently, had been empty for a very long time, Klaus breathed a sigh of relief, hiding behind a half-ruined wall and pushing Egor there.

"From now on, we'll move quickly from shelter to shelter," - said the dark-haired man, taking a sip of water and handing it to Egor.

"This is such a wasteland. Do you think someone will need to go through here?" skeptically examining the ruins and rare bushes that were visible in the direction they needed to go.

"But we needed to go through here," Klaus noted. "I wouldn't relax if I were you."

"Kid, you should listen to a smart person," a voice ran out from the depths of the house, where the second half-ruined wall stood.

Klaus turned sharply in the direction of the voice, pushed Yegor behind him and took out his katana. Several bolts of lightning ran through his body. The prince was ready to attack at any moment.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"I recognize the distrustful and eternally gloomy prince. Don't rush into a fight right away. I won't hurt you now," a tall man in a black cloak appeared from behind the wall. The hood completely hid his face, but Egor noticed that skin that was too white was visible from underneath. It looked artificial. A mask, the young man realized. Whoever it was, he didn't want to be revealed.

The black cloak slowly emerged from behind the wall and spread his arms to the sides, as if to show that his sword was still in its sheath. Klaus gripped the katana even tighter.

"I asked a question," the black-haired man said calmly, not taking his eyes off the uninvited guest.

"I just decided to say hello. I haven't seen you in a long time. You've grown up and matured!"

Klaus was silent and looked at the man with a searching gaze, waiting for an answer to his question.

"You know, I'm glad that you're heading to your uncle, but I don't understand why you're dragging a worthless, puny slave with you without magic?"

"I'm not a slave," Egor shouted, unable to bear the insult.

"Interesting," the stranger smiled. Or rather, it seemed to Egor that he was smiling.

"Klaus, if you can't get rid of the ballast, then I'll be happy to help you," with these words, the black cloak sharply raised his hand up, and then pointed it towards the young people.

Klaus felt a weak impulse of magic under his feet, instantly grabbed Yegor by the waist and jumped back with him. The next moment, long and sharp spikes emerged from the ground exactly where Yegor stood. More precisely, they did not emerge, the ground itself turned into them.

"Ah, you...," Klaus growled and rushed towards the offender with his katana at the ready.

The stranger waved his hand, and the ground around him rose, formed into dozens of sharp arrows, and then, with a wave of his hand, flew straight at Klaus. The prince sent lightning through the katana and, dodging several arrows, cut the rest in one movement.

"I don't want to fight you. At least not now," the man said. "Step back. Let me kill the boy."

"Are you kidding? I'll chop you into pieces now" Klaus roared and rushed to attack again.

Egor stood aside and watched an incredible picture. Klaus looked like a ferocious tiger trying to pounce on its prey. The stranger looked serene. He barely moved from his place, but only sent new arrows towards the prince with waves of his hand, put up protective earthen walls from lightning discharges. Egor even thought that he was enjoying it.

Klaus's attacks were becoming more and more furious. His lightning broke through the protective walls one after another, but the enemy was a virtuoso in earthly magic and, no matter how hard the prince tried, his attacks did not reach their target. He could not get closer either because of the incessant attacks of the man in the cloak. Klaus was afraid that the arrows would hit his companion. Egor understood that the prince would soon lose control of himself. His attacks already looked chaotic.

"Klaus!" Egor shouted at the prince. "You need to calm down!"

Klaus froze for just a second and one of the arrows grazed his shoulder. Just a small scratch, but it brought the prince to his senses a little. In a few jumps, he retreated back to Egor.

"Is that all?" asked the enemy. "Have you decided to give up and let me finish what I started?"

"What do you want?" asked Klaus, catching his breath.

"I told you, I want to rid you of unnecessary ballast. This puny boy will only slow you down."

"What do you have to do with me?"

"All in good time. You will find out everything in good time. Now step aside."

"Fuck you!" growled Klaus and again gripped the katana tighter.

The young man didn't like all this. The enemy was strong, and the prince couldn't fully concentrate on the fight. He needed to protect Yegor, but he didn't know how to do it. Klaus had never had to worry about anyone other than himself in a battle, and this feeling... the feeling of possible loss... The feeling of responsibility for someone else's life... The feeling of fear that he could lose another friend, whom he had recently found. He didn't like these feelings. He didn't want this weakness to control him, but he couldn't fix it. He was distracted by his thoughts.

He didn't have time to react to the sudden attack from the right. He noticed an arrow of ice flying towards him out of the corner of his eye. "Water magic. There was someone else here, and I didn't even notice their presence," the thought flashed through his head. "I won't have time to dodge."

Klaus made an attempt to protect his chest, but suddenly Yegor's back appeared in front of him. The prince realized too late what this arse had done. He covered the prince with his body.

"Crazy!" Klaus tried to push Egor away, but it was too late. The arrow touched the blond guy's neck and... fell apart?

"What the hell?" said the dumbfounded Klaus. Egor's equally puzzled face turned to him.

"How interesting," the man in black said. "So you're not a useless puppy? You're an anti-mage!"

"Who? Egor asked again.

"You don't know who an anti-mage is?" the man laughed. "It only gets more interesting. Okay, I'll save your life. For now. We'll see each other again, Prince of Isorobia," and he disappeared. He simply dissolved into thin air.

"Stop!" Klaus shouted, but there was no one around.

"Klaus...," Egor whispered quietly.

"You're a crazy jerk.! An idiot! Why the hell are you getting hit! If the arrow hadn't fallen apart..."

"Sorry. I did it instinctively. But it ended well, the guy giggled."

-,"Yes Klaus said thoughtfully. "This is a very fortunate coincidence. You turned out to have one of the rarest abilities. Who would have thought!"

"So I'm not completely useless," Egor smiled.

"You will cease to be useless when you master your new abilities."