6

A century and a half ago, a series of events took place that forever changed the fate of many residents of Littai. King Sieverd the Fourth died, leaving no legitimate heir behind. But there were more than enough illegal ones, the king was famous for his love of love and had about two dozen bastards from different women. One of these women was the daughter of an influential person from the Eastern Islands, whose inhabitants led a fairly secluded life and almost never left their homeland. To this day, there are rumors that gifted people who are subject to various elements live there. Zeina was a rare beauty with slanted eyes and a very feminine figure, she managed to stay at court and in the bed of the king for a long time, gossip whispered that Sieverd had decided to marry and was even going to recognize their common son.

The son, like his father, was incredibly popular with the ladies of the court. By his coming of age, which came at the age of sixteen, Marner became the absolute favorite not only of women, but also of his crowned father, despite the fact that he was his youngest child. Sieverd's promiscuity turned the palace into a military ground, the treasury almost went bankrupt on artifacts that determine poisons, but, despite all the caution, one of the king's former passions somehow managed to kill Zeyna. The king was inconsolable, and one day he recognized Marner as his heir. This news excited many close to the throne, especially the younger brother Siverd, who before this decree had every chance of becoming the next king, did not like it. Soon the king himself died, and a whole battle broke out for the crown of Littai.

The string of deaths, betrayals and assassination attempts lasted two years. Blue blood flowed like a river, and while the battle was going on for the golden crown adorned with rubies, and for the power that it bestows, the Littai kingdom finally fell into decline. The neighboring country of Masquinha decided to take advantage of the confusion, which in essence was considered the cradle of artefact science. Any of its inhabitants, gifted with a spark of the Most Bright, had the opportunity to get an education free of charge in the best institutions of the country, but after that he could no longer leave its borders. The departure of an artefactor without special permission abroad Masquini was equated with treason and was punishable by death. Thus, it has become almost a monopoly in this area. However, the military power of this small southern country was not limited solely to the strength of military artifacts, it had a whole guard of firebenders at its disposal. It was one of the deadliest elements that the Bright One bestowed upon his children. By that time, fewer and fewer of them were born, but even one such magician on the battlefield was worth hundreds of mere mortals.

Marner, who inherited from his mother the magic of the mind, forbidden in the kingdom, still managed to seize power in Littai. And although he had a great advantage over other applicants, in the form of the ability to inspire others with the necessary thoughts, he could not use this very advantage too often. Mind magic required enormous concentration and literally drank the life force out of its bearer. Mother and son kept their skills a secret, because even a few decades before the birth of Zeina, mind magic was outlawed, and all its carriers in the territory of Littai were completely exterminated. It was this delusion that played a cruel joke on the royal family.

No sooner had the golden crown descended on the head of the newly-made king than the maskinian army crossed the southern border of Littai and moved towards the capital, plundering all the cities they met on the way. Due to a split in the military-political elite, Marner the First failed to mobilize all his forces in time and give a worthy rebuff to the enemy. Ordinary people were powerless before the magicians of fire.

The new king perfectly mastered the art of manipulating people, for this he did not even have to resort to his magic, he tried to use it only in extreme cases. However, Marner the First had no knowledge in the field of military strategy, and more and more failures in this field did not add respect to him in the eyes of military leaders. The fear of losing power again, which he got with sweat and blood, pushed him to seek help from a closed community of the dark ones. The Dark Ones lived on the outskirts of the Western Lands, and although these lands were actually part of Littai, according to an agreement concluded under Marner's great-grandfather, they had special rights and sovereignty.

Augusta Reed, the daughter of Darkness, and part-time head of the dark community, was not at all surprised by the sudden arrival of the new king. Marner the First, in her opinion, was very attractive, he had oriental features and black curly hair, uncharacteristic for the inhabitants of the country. Rather high growth was complemented by a wide turn of the shoulders and a strong figure. The fame of his incredible attractiveness ran ahead of him, and before the war, rumors of another heartbreak by him at court reached the community with enviable regularity. Now Augusta could see it for herself.

But Augusta would not have become the head if she did not know how to understand people. She felt the danger coming from the king with all her being. And it was not fear of his greatness and power, but fear of his inner essence. Marner himself felt similar feelings when he first encountered the dark ones, especially Augusta. He felt an unnatural strength in her, and in the depths of his soul he felt a shameful fear of this woman. In addition, asking a woman for help was humiliating for him, but the fate of an entire country was at stake, and Marner stepped over his pride. "Reed and her community will be dealt with when I win the war." he decided.

The dark ones themselves were well aware that sooner or later the Maskin's army would come to their house, and they themselves could not avoid this war. Therefore, at the general council, it was decided that the dark ones would join the ranks of the military, and there were much more women there than men. Reed, on the other hand, volunteered to lead her small army on her own, which after a few days was in the thick of the battle.

There were legends about the power of the dark ones, but no one could imagine in a nightmare what they were capable of. Not only Masquini's army, but Marner himself with his generals were not ready for such deadly power. In two months, with the help of Reed, they managed to end the war that had drained the last of Littai's strength. The fire magicians were on the verge of extinction, but the dark ones themselves suffered heavy losses. Augusta Reid became a symbol of victory, and while the common people were washing their faces with tears of joy at the long-awaited liberation, Marner thought hard about whether he needed such a danger at hand.

The war ended, and the king returned to his favorite business - manipulating people. Augusta Reed never left his mind, he thought about her day and night, and even in bed with another woman. When the captured artefacts were brought to the palace, Marner had a great idea, in his opinion.

Six months after the victory, a solemn ball was appointed, to which all the distinguished ones were invited. All the strongest dark ones arrived at the palace for the reward and honors that the generous king promised them. Before the ceremony, Augusta's older brother and Marner I had a rather entertaining private conversation.

“Magnus, tell me, why are you being controlled by a woman?” Shouldn't the community have passed to you after the death of your father? Especially since you, as men, have more rights to this,” Marner asked casually.

“Your Majesty, it’s not so simple, for the dark ones, strength plays a greater role, and not seniority or gender,” Augusta’s brother replied.

“It must be a shame, because you are forced to obey your younger sister. It's unfair, don't you think? the king asked with mock sympathy.

“Your Majesty...

“Leave me alone, Magnus, you can call me by my first name. After all, we will soon be related, - carefully looking at Augustus, the king said.

"It's a great honor for me," Reid bowed. "But what do you mean by kinship?"

- I'm going to marry your sister.

“But, your Ve...Marner, you don't understand, Augusta will never marry someone not gifted with darkness. These are our traditions,” Reid drawled apologetically.

“Your traditions are interesting, my friend,” the king said thoughtfully. “The woman is in power, while her older brother is only an adviser. Are you allowing your women too much?

“That is so, my king, but I am unable to change anything, no matter how disgusted I am with such a way of life. The Primordial Darkness favors its daughters, women are always born with greater strength, Magnus answered with hidden resentment. This was enough for Marner, he rejoiced in his soul, having found the weak spot of the dark ones. For a while, he persistently swayed Magnus's grudge against his sister with the help of his magic.

What if I know how to change it? the king asked seriously.

"I doubt anyone can do it," Reed said uncertainly.

“I forgive your distrust, because not so long ago I doubted myself. Until I got a couple of very talented artefacturers at my disposal. The boundaries between the possible and the impossible are so fragile, especially when someone's life is at stake,” Marner replied smugly.

Six months ago, during the hostilities, the Lithuanians managed to capture a whole family of artifacts. Two sons followed in the footsteps of their illustrious father and reached considerable heights in artefacts, despite the fact that they were still quite young. The eldest son died of his wounds before reaching the royal dungeon. But the second son and father were healthy and quite safely delivered to the king. "Phenomenal luck!" Marner thought. They were about to do the impossible.

“I need a dark woman and a dark man. I'm not sure that they will survive after all, - after listening to the task, the senior artifactor summed up. Laien had nothing to lose, except for his only surviving son, the war and the dark ones had already taken a lot from him.

"It doesn't matter," the king said gravely.

A month after the start of the tests, Lyen reported to the king on the first results. The elements of water, earth, fire, illusion magic and many others have been studied to some extent before, and most of the existing artifacts were created on their basis. But before, no one tried to study the dark ones, they always led a rather closed way of life, did not participate in military conflicts, and no one even suspected what power they possess. It turned out that the magic of the dark ones is quite different from other elements, perhaps that is why the dark ones themselves never called themselves magicians.

“We are not magicians, we are children of Darkness,” they say. Laien did not care about these subtleties, he hated the dark ones, whoever they were. Both of the dark ones, provided by the king for experiments, did not last long, but this death was not in vain, with their help the old artifactor made a very important discovery.

This is incredible, son! The structure of the lines of force in dark men and women is fundamentally different, as if they are representatives of two different elements, ”the artifactor exclaimed.

— Does it happen? his son, Diane, was surprised.

“It doesn’t happen with other magicians, the structures do not depend on gender and are completely identical in representatives of the same species. This dark one has lines of force, although they are different, but still similar to the carriers of other elements. But this woman! Her power center is absolutely amazing, I've never seen anything like it,” replied Lyen.

“Then I don’t understand how they pass on their gift to children?” If they are so different, Diane wondered.

“I don't know, son. But that's not all, her power circuit is open, she draws strength not only from her reserve, like other magicians, but also from somewhere else. We must explore the Western Lands, I'm sure we'll find answers to our questions there.

Layne, as always, was right. Marner the First did not dare to cross the border of the dark community, but it was not necessary, for many miles the artifactors detected dramatic changes in the force field. It seemed as if they were moving towards a huge accumulator of dark energy, which generously spilled into space. These changes were not felt by mere mortals, or even magicians of other elements. Father and son were never able to solve this riddle.

They devoted the next two months to the creation of an artifact that could suppress the power of dark women, but not affect men. Marner did not want the complete extermination of the dark ones, he already saw what they were capable of, as their neighbors saw. The king was not going to give up such a weapon, he only wanted to take it under complete control. Finally, the first results appeared.

“Your Majesty, the artifact is ready,” said Laien.

Tell me more about what exactly he does? demanded the king.

“As you already know, the lines of force of dark men and women are fundamentally different. This played into our hands. With the help of this artifact, you can not only completely suppress the power of dark women, but also cut off their access to the source of their energy. Its power is enough to cover the entire territory of Littai,” the artifactor reported.

- What about the men? Will it affect them in any way? the king asked.

No, only women will suffer. All girls born after the activation of this artifact will be completely deprived of their powers, ”Lyen answered confidently.

What about those already born? Marner asked, and a picture appeared before his eyes, where August Reed was crawling in front of him on his knees, begging for mercy.

“These are harder,” said Layen, and broke off at the darkened look of the king. “Undoubtedly, most women will completely lose touch with their darkness, but not the strongest of them. But I think even Augusta Reed will get pretty weak. If you want to totally... suppress them, just put a seal on it.

- Seal? Never heard of it.

“Of course, Your Majesty, because printing is an invention of Maskin’s scientists. Allows you to seal the forces inside the wearer's body.

- It suits me.

The artifact was activated right during the award ceremony. Women who until recently shed blood for the Lithuanian people fell down dead. Augusta Reed and her associates were sealed that evening, and her brother Magnus became the governor of the Western Lands, expanded several times by decree of the king.

The Dark Ones returned home, taking with them the women broken by betrayal, all except Augusta. Marner left her beside him, now that she was no danger to him, he could fully enjoy her helplessness. He came to her every night, tormented her body for hours, Augusta resisted to the last, and each time lost to the traitor. The king seemed to be obsessed with her, other women ceased to exist for him.

It did not last long, the darkness locked inside literally drove her crazy, she stopped recognizing her tormentor, rushed at Marner like a wild animal, repeatedly tried to commit suicide. The heroine of the war burned from the inside in less than a year.

Also, over the past year, there has been a series of sudden deaths and inexplicable disappearances of courtiers and simple guards, all of whom, by chance, were witnesses to the betrayal of the king. With Magnus Reed and other men of the community, the prudent Marner took a blood oath.

Augusta Reid went down in history not as a heroic person, but as a daughter of Darkness who lost control of her power and went mad. In fact, this will be the last mention of the children of Darkness in the history of Littai. From now on, they will be called dark magicians and nothing else. Over the years, rumors about dark-haired and dark-eyed women will become so untruthful that they will turn them into almost monsters. After all, history, as you know, is written by the winner.