Dressed in all black, with a hood on his head, he began to look around. Noticing Tana, the stranger moved towards him. As he approached, there was a tension in the air. Suddenly, next to him, a shadow jumped out of the door of the house, it was Aengus, a neighbor's boy of about fourteen. The man cut off the guy's leg with a sharp movement of his hand, and with the second movement, he cut off his head just as quickly that Aengus did not even have time to utter a word. He did it without fuss, without unnecessary movements, as if he had swatted a cockroach. This was Wotan's representative. The territories of Wotan and Arkon were bordered by each other. However, a peace agreement was concluded between the rulers of both peoples, which had lasted for hundreds of years, and the representatives of Arkon were not afraid to build their houses near the borders. It is obvious that once it was one people, one tribe, but for some reason they split up. They were distinguished by the complete absence of hair and eye color. For Wotan's representatives, they were bright blue, which glowed in the dark. But this one was different. When he looked up, Tan saw that from the seemingly bottomless darkness in the hood, bright blue eyes with red blotches of bloody color were gazing at him. Tan waited, preparing to fend off the attacker. As the man in black approached, Tan began to realize how impressive his size was. Approaching a sufficient distance, the man in black lunged to the side. At the same time, with a lightning-fast movement, he raised his mighty hand, in which was a sword, and with deafening force sent it directly to Tan's head. But Tan managed to raise his hand and his sword took the blow.

Thane's sword, which had been forged by Ancalite's finest craftsmen, shattered into tiny pieces. From the force of the blow, Atanasius sat down on his ass, leaning on the ground with his left hand, and on his outstretched right, he watched the handle of his former friend, with a small fragment of metal remaining in it. Tan just couldn't believe it. And the man in black loomed over him. Only now did he notice his war paint on his face, which made him even more terrifying. He had already raised his hand to complete what he had begun, but suddenly he heard the sonorous voice of his mother.

– Athanasius!

Tan turned around and saw his mother standing near the house, covered in blood and shouting:

– Athanasius, run quickly, my boy!

***

As always, the sun had not yet had time to show its sharp rays, and Tan was already sitting on the bed and thinking about the dream he had seen. Suddenly his thoughts were unceremoniously broken by a knock at the door. "What the heck?! Who else is there! " Tan thought.

Opening the door, he saw a young man, his name was Bercy and he was the personal adjutant of General Swann. Tan nodded his head to him so that he would immediately come in. Bercy was slightly overweight and shifted from foot to foot, not looking into the eyes of Athanasius. But he was very fulfilling and did all the work entrusted to him with diligence. He was always so nervous in the presence of Tan that it even slightly amused the latter, because he knew that the reason for everything was rumors about his ferocity in battle and exactingness to the soldiers. Athanasius decided to maintain the tension, and, frowning, with a steel gaze in his eyes, inquired about the reason for such an early visit. Hearing the question, Bercy immediately stretched out like a string and his cheeks trembled with zeal. It looked so comical that Tan could not restrain himself, smiled and, going up to Bercy, patted him on the shoulder. – Relax guy, what's up?

– General Swann, asks you to report immediately to his apartment, Bercy said;

– For what purpose? – Tan pressed;

“I don’t know,” Bercy replied.

– Okay, inform the general that I will arrive now!

Bercy immediately turned around and headed for the exit, glad that communication with Tan was over.

Tan watched the departing young man, smiled and thought that not everyone in the army was destined to be a war and, shaking his head, closed the door.

Having dressed, he immediately went to the general. It took a good ten minutes to go to the general's house, so Tan, in order not to waste time, decided to take his brigantine with him and fasten it along the way. Because it is necessary to come to the general in a proper form and be ready to immediately go on a mission without delay. His sword was also with him. He was excellent. The handle was brown calfskin. The pommel and the V-shaped guard, the rays of which go in the opposite direction from the handle, were covered with gilding. The Ricasso blade was adorned with red tourmaline. The straight, double-edged blade hid behind an elaborate black scabbard. His pants and boots were of high quality leather, made to last, but already pretty well worn and well worn. His brigantine was trimmed with black leather. A pattern was embroidered on the chest and abdomen with white threads. Ornament from the lines. The bottom, unlike the standard form, was sharpened. Shoulders with similar embroidery and neck protection were also attached to it. The belts were designed in such a way that it would be possible to fasten it yourself, without helpers. She was in better shape than pants and shoes, although she had several marks from contact with the blades of opponents swords. Bracers with inserts of metal steel plates were made in the same style as the brigantine. He needed them in battle, because he practically did not use a shield.

At the door of the general's house, he was met by guards in the form of two guards with spears. Seeing the approaching guest, the guards tensed slightly, but as soon as they realized who it was, they immediately greeted him. Tan so put his right hand to his chest.

Bercy opened the door for him. When Athanasius entered, he found General Swann collecting things in the chests. The general, noticing Tan, gestured to Bercy that he would go out. Swann was gloomy, but this was not uncommon. Approaching Tan, he handed him a scroll with the royal seal. Athanasius, without taking his eyes off the general, asked:

– What is it?

– Read it.

Tan began to read and after a while, looking up at the general asked: – When?

As you may have noticed, I am packing my things, my boy. And as you might have guessed, I'm not crazy about this idea. My place is just like yours on the battlefield. But the king believes that he has too many politicians in his military advisers and it is time to dilute them with the company of a military general. '' Hmm, Tan replied, theorists are a dime a dozen, but practitioners can be counted on one hand.

– All correctly answered the general and, coming closer to Tan, said: – You will go with me.

– What…? I AM…? General, I'm needed here. My place is here. We are aware of the concentration of strength of the opponents. A battle is coming soon.

“We both know that this war has already been won,” the general said with a sad note in his voice.

– But what about my squad? My people? I must lead them with me!

– Athanasius, do you remember our first meeting?

Tan has a lump in his throat! And he immediately fell silent.

“When we came to the village, I was only twenty years old,” the general continued. "Gloomy warrior", as I called myself then. I already commanded a detachment, the same as you are commanding now, and I did not know anything about the war! What we saw there changed me forever. Such atrocities have not been seen, even by those who have been in the battles of the war. All the villagers were killed! Their tortured and disfigured bodies were everywhere, where our eyes did not fall. And then in the compost pit, on the outskirts of the village, we heard a rustle. Everyone grabbed their swords, not knowing what to expect. But a boy came out of the pit, he looked only seven or eight years old. But contrary to the expectation that the guy would roar excitedly and tremble at nonsense, which would be logical, given what was happening, he just looked at me, and I looked at him. I looked, and could not believe in any way that a child could have such a look. There was everything in him … I have never seen such a look either before or after – the general's voice trembled. Since then we have not parted with you. I taught you everything I know. You have a family, instead of the one that was taken from you. As you know, I have no one dearer than you. I am proud of who you have become. And I need you and your support, because I have no one to rely on in the capital. So what do you say?