Part 3. Demiurge maker.
Forlie looked around. When he fell, the forest on top seemed to him the most common. But close up, he looked like a cheap set. No, the trees and other vegetation were as if they were real, but were so unrealistic as if they had come down from a painting. The glade where he landed was perfectly round and surrounded by trees on all sides except the narrow path. Beneath each of them, there was a big, knee-deep fly against. On each flower sat either a butterfly or a bee. But the worst was the birds - after listening to them, the magician realized that they were singing the same ten-second melody in a circle.
- It's a hell of a place," Forlie said, looking back nervously. - Where's Steve?
- I didn't see him fall, but I think we'd meet him. We have to go! - Sofia, who had been looking somewhere in the sky before, quickly walked down the path.
After watching her look, Forlie saw a bright red dot fall.
- What was that? - As he caught up with her, he asked. - A comet?
- No, that's Demiurg, my maker. I remember that day.
She broke her head. Forlie barely kept up with her. At some point, the root literally threw itself under his feet, and the magician fell. While rubbing his bruised knee, he moved on. The soliphileset was found on the edge. Here the forest ended, falling many kilometers down.
Underneath them, as far as the eye could see, stretched a huge plain of purple color. Like stars, it was covered with fires. There was a huge bright red crystal hanging in the center. When Forlie came out, he just swung and flew up, leaving many figures in the plain to stand in bewilderment. He noticed a Succubus among them.
- Demiurge, our creator, appeared to his children," Soliphileset said trembling. - We were to become his army and conquer the universe.
Forlie looked at her with doubt. She changed a little: her features smoothed out, her skin became lighter. In the meantime, there were changes in the plain. Now it was a huge military camp. Its inhabitants were definitely confused, as if they didn't know what to do.
- What happened?
- He didn't come back. Not the next day, not a year, not a hundred years later. We never waited for him - she went back to the woods. - Come on, there's nothing else to see here.
The forest behind their backs also changed. The trees became thinner and lighter. Forlie walked and was deeply immersed in thoughts. It didn't get away from Sofia:
- What did you think about? - She asked.
- So, about the past," he waved his head vaguely.
- Didn't you ever get stolen into slavery? - The Succubus mockingly asked, but when she noticed the discontent on his face, she apologized. - I'm sorry, sometimes I have to be a little more silent.
Forlie humbled. He's been accustomed to the fact that Steve is perceived as a well-established man, and he's only seen as a nerd-mage. They were both completely satisfied with this model, though everyone knew deep down that it had to stop.
- I remembered my last day at the academy," Forlie said.
- Graduation? - Sofia specified.
- No. I was eleven, I think I had a big fight with someone in class. They tied me up and threw me in the closet," he squinted, remembering what happened next. - I shouted for two hours and asked to let me out, but no one came. And then it was all a blur - I remember just the face of my mother and classmates shaking in the corners. Oh, well, Steve came in all bruised up last night, probably fighting with someone else again.
For some reason, he didn't want to think that these two events were directly related. That the older brother found his abusers and, as he could, without looking at the fact that there were more opponents and they were all magicians, he took revenge.
- And then?
- Nothing, I studied remotely, I was sent books, sometimes teachers. In my spare time my parents took care of me. I never went to school again.
- Perhaps it was for the better. Children are sometimes cruel," Sofia said.
The path, or rather the whole road, was not a loop, but was sure to lead them forward. There was a child's voice, and a girl of seven years old jumped out to meet them. She had a red handkerchief tied around her neck. In front of her, she kicked a ball that looked like a bun.
- Excuse me, have you seen a wolf? - A girl was very busy asking about it. - He has been drowned for two hours as a Lumberjack.
- Not yet," Forlie replied politely and added with a smile. - Are you in a hurry to your grandmother?
The girl was skewed.
- Yes, she surrendered to me. Wear pies to her, and she does not even get out of bed and all about the ears and eyes talked about. I live with a bear now!
The magician and Sophia looked at the fairy tale - it was going somewhere else.
- Have you ever seen anyone fall from the sky here? - A Succubus asked. - We are looking for a friend.
Red Riding Hood looked at her like she was crazy.
- If he fell from the sky - to your cemetery - she pointed somewhere in the woods. - Okay, come and visit, we have a pig tonight!
Demonic laughter and mushrooming, Hood went back to the woods.
- Some kind of brutal fairy tale," he said, turning towards the cemetery.
- The book adapts to the readers," Sofia shrugged, "is your cynicism with your brother, beating over the edge and changing it.