– He’s great, you shouldn’t treat him like that!

«Graphomaniac,» the guy waved his hand. – If I had known about his literary passions, I would never have bought it!

«But he understood that it will take at least another ten years for you to understand,» the master grinned. «You need to go to the lair of this Fifa and… you know… disrupt her plans, because she’s clearly not going to do anything good, especially with the help of a powerful necromancer.» And let this be the best lesson for you, my boy.

How Dan didn’t like the name of this person. Something was wrong in these requests and threats, and the master suspected that he was sending his student to a very dangerous enterprise. But how can he, a necromancer magician, cope with a most likely strong sorceress?

«If you don’t go, I will kick you out of school without a diploma and, believe the old man, I will make sure that you are not given a job anywhere, and your necromantic museum is banned as a business harmful to the safety of the world.»

– Persuaded. Where she lives? – the student asked in a tone full of indifference.

– In Moscow, or something. Or in Paris.

The young magician grimaced with displeasure. Wow spread. And even abroad. He thought that this glamorous individual lived on the other side of Prague, or at least in Karlovy Vary, where he just wanted to go on vacation. But in France. Although, Western Europe is not so bad. In Russia… This is truly dangerous.

From his geography lessons at school, Dan knew very well who populated the second layer of the world in this country. In the cities, no matter what, Europeans have come in large numbers, but in the villages you can’t find a single normal person. The girls are beautiful, but when you get to know them better, they are mermaids or strigas at best. Not like in my native Europe: either a witch or a sorceress. It’s no wonder that the strange Fifa lived in such a country overpopulated with non-humans. But also dangerous. Necromancers, for example, were not born in Russia at all, just like alchemists. No one has yet figured out why. Probably, the nature of his homeland also influences the magician’s gift.

He didn’t want to be distracted by the peculiarities of national magical creatures, and for now he naively assumed: Fifa called him to her place, most likely, to summon some nasty genius from the third layer and subsequently take over the world. But is it really possible that in such a large country as Russia there was not a single Czech, Slovak or Hungarian soul caller? Why wasn’t there such a thing in France, where any European could get there even without a visa? For some reason this escaped Dan’s attention that day.

«Here is the ticket,» the master handed the envelope. – To Moscow. Because, as we found out on the orconet, Fifa writes from Russia. She probably flies to Paris on weekends. You’ll find out, though. Registration in an hour. Hint understood?

«That’s not the right word,» muttered the young necromancer. «But I don’t agree to go to some Fifa who is looking for me without a protector magician.»

The mentor threatened him with his finger:

– If it weren’t for your experiments with all sorts of nurseries, there would be no Fifa, believe me. If you light up, get out on your own. And now… your brilliant dragon will protect you, he is not only capable of iambic and trochee.

– Well, yes, I also know amphibrachs! – the creature blurted out, bouncing on one leg.

Looking guiltily at his feet, Dan took the documents from his mentor.

– If you evade, I’ll report it to the Council myself!

No, he will not hide, cowardice is so vile. The necromancer stared at the mirror and began styling his thin ash-gray hair with gel. Having finished with his hair, he went to the window.

– Free! – he shouted to the poor reformer, snapping his fingers.

A moment later, in the place of the ancient man, only a skeleton dressed in a cassock lay lying, and a couple of seconds later, these remains flashed with a bright purple light and dissolved. After Dan freed the souls of the rulers from the tennis table, and the rats were about to scatter, but the forces of the Kingdom of the Dead overtook them, and the animals dissolved in a purple glow. Now neither the elderly skeleton nor the mice will ever be able to find themselves in this world again.

The young necromancer rolled the landscape from the table into a tube and put it in a corner, from where he kicked out the dragon, who had already written five whole pages of the poem.

The master stood silently at the door and calmly watched his student getting ready.

«I need a battle mage, I need a battle mage, a Russian, a battle mage,» Dan whispered under his breath, as if calling for someone.

«What a stupid necromancer,» the mentor shook his head, «you can call the soul of any battle mage from the Kingdom of the Dead whenever you want.»

«I need a living battle mage with whom I could go through this whole test,» the guy corrected his spell when he blew out the burning candle.

He didn’t notice how the smoke, wriggling like a snake, dissolved in the pink light high above his head. For a long time he thought that what was said was not a spell, but simply an installation before the battle. When he said such words, for some reason he felt better, he felt like someone distant, but at the same time so close, hugged him by the shoulders and whispered in his ear: «I’m with you, I’ve always been there, I loved you.»». Dan had no idea who this voice belonged to. When the noise in his ears subsided, the necromancer forgot to think about the surging vision, and silently left the room.

The master went to the window and sadly watched the student go down to the observation deck. The necromancer stood for a long time against the wall under his window, pressing his forehead against the ivy that entwined the tower in which he had lived for five whole years. It’s hard to say goodbye to something that has become almost dear to you. In the same way, Julius, at fifteen, with tears in his eyes, left home, forever, to Prague Castle, where necromancers are taught and souls are summoned for investigation in the European Court.

Dan still had a lot to learn. He was destined to face more than one danger. A battle mage wouldn’t hurt him. But he didn’t know what happened when he said, before leaving the tower: «I need a living battle mage.» But the power of a brilliant necromancer is often enough not only to summon the dead from their subspace…

– Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! People, I’m dead! – Alina was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling. – Such a joke had to happen! I died!

She rolled over onto her stomach and, burying her nose in the pillow, continued to giggle hysterically.

– No, well, you had to be so clever! How I want to tell my friends about this!

Sighing heavily, the girl got out of bed, desperately trying to put on slippers. Oddly enough, two large white plush bunnies completely refused to stay on her feet. They didn’t even budge, contrary to all the wishes of their owner. It’s strange, if they are material, they don’t give in, then on what word of honor does a black leather miniskirt and a green turtleneck stay on her body, why doesn’t the blue denim baseball cap with the Nike emblem fly off her head, why on earth didn’t it remain lying on the bedspread shapeless a bunch of tights?

On the bed. Haha three times! Yes, if everything material had refused to accept her body, then she would not have been lying in bed, but would have found herself under the bed among dust balls and old worn-out shoes, which the girl was always too lazy to throw away.

Alina kicked her slippers, naturally, to no avail, and went to the mirror.

She decided that she had died, her body was probably lying in the refrigerator of the morgue, and this image that she somehow felt… what was it? She died. How did this happen? Why does she believe that what she has experienced is precisely death?