- What's that supposed to mean? You've had it for 200 years. You haven't studied it yet?
All three looked at each other and wrapped their heads together. Codorro explained:
- Diamond Armor is a very strong and unusual artifact, Miriel. We don't know all his possibilities, and we may never know. It takes years to discover a new property or a spell.
Mirielle's heart has gone down. No matter what Arelato said, she did not lose hope of using the Armor and getting out of the foothill dungeon. But if Randu himself had studied it for centuries, what could she do, a stranger? Untrained.
- Tell me how you're researching it!
Kodorro shook his head.
- I can't... Working with Armor is strictly confidential. Laboratory staff is not allowed to talk about it.
She giggled.
- Yes, yes, he never even tells us anything! The rules are the rules of what to do.
Miri is pouting.
- You're so boring. You have total prohibitions.
Castale hit a fairy on the head. He was always brave and family-like, unlike Kodorro, who was as timid as he had been the first time they met...
- Why do you have to fill your head with this nonsense, Miri? You better tell us about Remidea. About fairies. We know almost nothing about you.
- No, it's not! - Miri's wrapped up. - I've already told you about Remidea before. And Kodorro, I won't, he's not talking about his job! You'd better tell us about these Doramons. Why do they attack once a week and at night? What's so surprising about the attack this afternoon?
- Blood magic is stronger at night," Darschela explained. - They gather in a circle at the foot of the castle and direct magical emanations to the top of the Tardill. We hold a shield that does not allow their destructive energy to pass through. When their power reserve runs out, they leave to recover. It takes them a few days to recover. And you know how they recover. Torture and killing people and other living things... When they gain enough strength, they attack again.
- And so fourteen years?! Hasn't anyone stopped them during this time? Arelato said there are eighty-three orders on Mercan. If someone had attacked them while they were exhausted after you, their evil deeds would have stopped!
The young Randu looked back at each other. The guys were looking at Darschelle, and she was looking at Kodorro. Randu's long hair said nothing:
- Doramon hasn't used blood magic for fourteen years, Miri. A century and a half.
- What?!
- Two hundred years ago, they were a bad order. Their best wizards were not suitable for Randu's novices either. But once a few wizards of their order - the weakest and most talentless - tried to take power out of the pain and death agony of living creatures. They started with animals... Then they switched to humans - simple mortals. And in the end, we got to the magicians. Supporters of bloody magic seized power in Doramon. The Order began to attack small magic orders. Doramon exterminated them at the root. They drank the strength of their members. So they exterminated more than a dozen orders. And then they decided that they had gained enough strength to attack Randu and capture the Diamond Armor.
- But why didn't the other orders unite against them?!
Kodorro opened his mouth, intending to say something... But embarrassed, he lowered his eyes and never dared to talk. Castale answered:
- You see, Miri... Probably you won't understand. Judging by your stories, life on Remidea is softer and easier than on Mercan. Magical orders do not unite. Asking for help means being weak. And those who are weak will be destroyed by those who are stronger.
- That's nonsense! - exclaimed Miri. - To be strong is to watch the Order of the Bloodsuckers destroy all life around you? Not to interfere?
Castale hesitated, waiting for one of his friends to answer the fairy. But Shel and Codorro kept silent, turning their eyes away. He had to continue:
- Doramon was weak. Nobody took them seriously. Order rivalries are commonplace on Mercan. And when everyone understood what they were doing, it was too late...
Miriel looked at the young magicians as if they were three-legged, four-armed, two-headed animals without eyes, ears, and mouth. A blatant violation of nature, incomprehensible as living in the white world.
- You know, um... You look like animals from the same fairy tale... My mother told me as a child. There was a little red chanterelle in the woods. And other animals: hares, hamsters, forest mice, beavers. Everyone lived together, didn't fight with anyone, didn't hurt anybody. And then one day a wolf came to the forest. He came - and began to devour everyone. I started with mice. Mice were running through the woods, calling for other animals to help. There were a lot of them, but he was alone. Let's kill the wolf all together! - they called for them. But the animals only turned away. Let the wolf eat mice, they said. They eat them, but we are not touched. But the wolf ate mice and took up the hares. The hares also ran in, asked for help. Let the wolf eat the hares, the rest of us talked. We are not hares, he will not touch us. The wolf ate the hares, started to eat the hamsters. The hamsters immediately forgot how happy they were until recently that they were not mice or hares. And the other animals were still happy that they were not hamsters. And the most rejoiced was the little red fox that she was not a mouse, a hamster, a hare, or a beaver. And laughed at the animals when they came to her for help. One day, there were no more hamsters, no more beavers, no more hares, and no more mice in the woods. Just a little chanterelle. When the wolf came for her, there was no one to run and call for help. And the chanterelle did not laugh anymore. Never.
Mirielle stopped talking. The magicians also kept silent, not knowing what to say. Finally, Castale whistled.
- Good fairy tales tell fairies to children...