Surprises on that did not end there. It was almost night, I was sitting in a dark office, pondering what had happened when I heard a noise and a strange voice below and decided to go down.
"What's going on here?" I asked and saw that the maidens crowded around the unfamiliar young warrior half-lying on the floor.
"Lord Aranthir... I need Lord Aranthir..." he repeated, panting like a spell, and the older maid gave him water.
I approached him and sat down beside him.
"The Arantir is me. Who are you, and what brought you here?"
"Lord Sehbet sent me..."
I shuddered. Sehbet? So this is Sebet's messenger?!
"Tell me what happened. Tell me, I beg of you! Hey, give me more water!"
The messenger sobbed and suddenly burst into tears. Yes, boy, you see, you brought me unkind messages...
"Tell me, what happened to the army? Where is Bishop Belket?"
"He is no more," squeezed the soldier through his tears. "And there is no army. We were advancing very successfully, but once on the battlefield we were surrounded - the enemies came from where they should not have attacked, and there was nowhere to retreat, and we were struck by a strange fire magic... "he sobbed again. "All the undead were simply incinerated in a moment, and there was nowhere to get reinforcements... Other lords also burned down then... We did not have time to be saved..."
"Wait! And Lord Sehbet?"
"And Mr. Sekhbet... Him too... Many of the rulers of death were taken prisoner, each one was attacked by a dozen warriors, genies and some other creatures ... And then they were tied to posts and burned ... Even the living! They were shouting ... The rest were silent or praying. And Mr. Sekhbet was there ... He told me so: if they say to me what will happen, tell Lord Arantir, told where to look for you ... I hid and watched how they were executed... I saw how it burned... And ran..."
The unfortunate messenger burst into tears. I ordered him to make him a bed, water for bathing, he ordered him to immediately feed him and show him the medicine, and left him alone.
Slowly I rose to my place, sat down at the desk in the office and dropped my head in my hands. Belket. Old lords. The army of Erish... The great archon, you have always considered everything and only one - betrayal - would not have suspected in your people without good reason.
Sehbet. Sehbet...
To be continued
Thank you for reading!