Mirielle snorted.
- Of course, you know exactly what's best for me!
"It's better for you that I'm happy with you. Otherwise, your confinement will drag on.
Mirielle opened her mouth, going to ask when he was going to let her go. But Arelato's mental whispering beat her to it:
"For fourteen years, only a handful of Senior Masters Randu occasionally leaves the castle and returns to it. In the same way that you came - through a magical portal. This is how we get our food..."
Arelato hesitated, and Miri picked up the fairies!
And everything else we need," the magician said with a smile. - We cannot go outside the castle walls. There are less than two hundred of us left. There are more than seven hundred enemies. Half of them have been camped at the foot of Mount Tardil all these years. The other half of them join us from time to time, hoping to finally defeat us. Every week, and sometimes more often, they start a magical attack. Always at night. Today they attacked again.
- And you win every time?
"As you can see. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me now, but to the Grand Master Doramon. And he would not be so kind. Doramon recognizes only one language - violence. And only one magic is blood.
- Blood? - Asked Mirielle bewildered.
"They draw their strength from the suffering and agony of living beings. They torture and kill to pump out life's energy and turn it into magical energy.
Mirielle was jerked off.
- Can people do this to each other? Are you all like that on Mercan?! Or just magicians?
Arelato grinned crookedly.
"Doramon outperformed everyone. Even Tom Ba is an order on South Mercan. They are also famous for their bloodthirstiness. They practice ritual hunting of people. They value the fervor and passion of the victim's pursuit. And Doramon is just methodically tortured, pumping out energy. And they kill hundreds of times more people than Tom-Ba.
Mirielle's tongue was taken away from the shock. Fairies could not take the life of a mortal creature, not even eat meat. The line worked both ways: neither man nor fairy could seriously harm each other.
Of course, there were murders, rapes and fights in Coffee. There were reports of border clashes with Zandus, a kingdom in southern Remidea. Miri had seen fights herself, and she knew that people were cruel to each other. But what can be like this - hunting and killing people for fun, tormenting for the sake of magical power - she had never heard of anything like that before.
Arelato watched her silently. He did not try to calm her down, to smooth things over. Mirielle looked into his black eyes inquisitively, trying to understand this strange man.
Doramon was a real monster... but hardly any other orders have gone far from them. Arelato headed one of these orders. And he kidnapped her. He did not look like a cowardly victim of a predator. More like another predator... from whom the opponent took away the prey. And he lurked in the lair, hoping to end the enemy and regain control of the forest.
Black eyes that fell asleep after a sleepless night laughed. Miriel understood that he could see through her thoughts, but she stopped worrying about it. Let it be. She had nothing to hide.
- So, do you also get strength out of pain and agony?! - She was burned out.
He shook his head.
"No, Miriel. We don't have to torture and torment him. You're right in part - we're not helpless victims. We have something to say to our enemies. But our strength is not borrowed. We forge it out of ourselves. Mushtra and discipline are what we are strong about.
- How many of you are there? Magical orders?
"Eighty-three. The strongest are five. Randu, Doramon and Lehanaisi on North Merkan. Un-Chu-Lai and Tom-Ba in the South.
- Dashing what? What a funny name.
"Those behind it are not funny. Lehanaisi is translated as a "gray soldier". They also practice torture and murder. Not for magical power and not for emotions. On the contrary, they wean their adepts from any emotions. They make insensitive machines out of them, which are only able to calculate, plan and act. It was Lehanaisi who was Randu's main rival in the struggle for influence in North Mercan until Doramon rose.
- And these... Unchulai? For what purpose do they kill?!
- Un-Chu-Lai," said Arelato out loud, hitting every syllable. He continued mentally:
"These don't kill. They lie, manipulate, turn over the facts. They are not bloodthirsty - just crooks. They are not interested in suffering - Un-Chu-Lai likes to play with people's minds. If Doramon gets power by violence, then Un-Chu-Lai is a fraud.
- It's easier," sniffed Mirielle. - Not murderers, just crooks.
"I wouldn't say it's easier. Doramon is an obvious evil. No one will join the coalition with them, no one will support them willingly. Un-Chu-Lai can pretend and lure to his side. But anyway, they still win, and only they win. Everyone who deals with them will sooner or later disappear into their ideas and values. In their game.