There was a stone not far from the fire. It had a diameter of sixteen inches and was ideally suited for his purpose. Approaching it, Hadjar squatted down, grabbed the stone, and jerked it out of the ground. The whole stone, once revealed, was about twice as big as what he’d expected, but that only made it better.
Hadjar cut the stone perfectly in half with his sword. Placing them on their sides, he rolled under them and, after hoisting them on his back, began to push up. Each of the halves weighed at least eight hundred pounds. Such an immense weight would’ve been a considerable challenge for a Heaven Soldier at the initial stage, but not for Hadjar. Even if he was sweating and biting his lip, he still managed five sets of twenty repetitions each by the time the squad returned.
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” Einen shook his friend’s hand and patted his shoulder. “I see that, as always, you’ve gotten a little stronger after such a deep sleep.”
He uttered the last phrase in the language of the islands, using a very rare dialect he’d taught Hadjar how to use recently. They hadn’t been happy about Karissa being able to understand their conversations.
“Everyone has their own secret,” Hadjar winked at the islander.
“Secrets,” Einen corrected him.
“Barbarian,” Ramukhan nodded. “It’s good that you woke up. We have something to discuss.”
Judging by Tilis’ expression, she was against her boss’ plan. However, she had enough willpower to not object outright.
After a light dinner, they held a council. As always, Salif and the boy weren’t present. Salif was nothing more than a repository of information, and the boy served him. They didn’t have the right to take part in the council.
“Here and here.” Glen marked two spots on the map they’d drawn on the ground.
“These are lakes?” Hadjar asked.
“Exactly,” the Baliumian nodded. “Out of all the lakes we explored, those match your description the best.”
Hadjar thought about it for a moment. He had no idea which lake they were looking for. Moreover, he didn’t know how to find the entrance to the city. He just felt like the dream he’d had shouldn’t be ignored.
“Judging by your expressions,” Hadjar took his pipe out of his caftan’s pocket, “there are some difficulties.”
“Exactly.” Karissa, taking the stick from Glen, continued drawing. “On the way to the eastern lake, we spotted at least six groups of other seekers. Tilis’ divination spell confirmed it.”
“I don’t see a problem here.”
“The problem, barbarian, is” Ramukhan interrupted them, “that, besides the numerous weak bastards, there are also a few Heaven Soldiers among them.”
Hadjar looked at Einen, who shook his head imperceptibly. It was a good thing that they hadn’t detected Shakh’s group, otherwise one of Hadjar’s mad plans would’ve ended in complete disaster at the preparation stage.
“What about the other lake?” Hadjar pointed at the other mark.
It was west of the seekers.
“It’s hopeless,” Tilis shook her head as she suddenly joined the conversation. “There is an anomaly there that’s so potent not even Sankesh could deal with it easily.”
“By the way, since we’re talking about Sankesh,” Glen added, “He and his squad are heading directly for the west lake. I don’t know who his pathfinder is, but the man knows his business.”
“Why would you presume it’s a man?” Tilis asked indignantly, but was ignored. Her indignation was nothing more than a ploy meant to incite another quarrel or brawl. Now that they were so close to their goal, nobody wanted to waste time on such tricks.
“An anomaly,” Hadjar muttered.
After he mulled things over, he suddenly removed the leather wallet that held the two bracelets from his belt. Concentrating on something, Hadjar began to slowly move the wallet over the map.
“A divination amulet?” Karissa asked. “But I don’t feel any energy in it and-”
“And,” Ramukhan continued, “The barbarian wouldn’t have had enough money to afford one. We can’t even afford one. So stop this nonsense-”
The sorcerer abruptly closed his mouth. As Hadjar held it above the second mark, the wallet emitted a barely noticeable ringing.
“We should go here,” Hadjar nodded, tying the wallet back onto his belt. “Furthermore, it’s obvious that the entrance would be in the area where most of the dangers are.”
“Why would you think that?” Glen rolled his eyes. “Because of the ringing of your wallet?”
This time, no one supported the Baliumian.
“Demons and gods!” Glen exclaimed. “Are you serious? Why would you ever go along with this crazy plan? I can understand everything else: the dragon, the lake, Sankesh, but, damn it all, the ringing of a wallet! You’re all crazy! The barbarian is out of his mind, and you’re indulging him!”
“No,” Karissa shook her head, “we’re just waiting to hear your brilliant ideas.”
“Thanks a lot,” Glen gave her a mocking bow. “Listen to the voice of reason! Listen to me! We should go back to the Demon’s Heart, see where the comets will intersect, and set an ambush there. We’ll have enough time to set up traps that even Sunshine Sankesh won’t be able to overcome.”
“All of that sounds good,” Ramukhan agreed. Glen, hearing the squad leader praising his plan, exhaled in relief and snorted triumphantly at Hadjar. Alas, his happiness didn’t last long. “There’s just one small problem, Glen: there is an elixir of the gods in that city! Sankesh or someone else will come out of Mage City after becoming a god! Do you know what gods are capable of? I don’t. But I suspect that your obstacles will seem like child’s play to them.”
“Then we should go back to Underworld City,” Glen almost begged, “otherwise we’ll all die here.”
“I didn’t know that mothers raised cowards in the north,” Tilis grimaced, and then looked at Hadjar. “On second thought, I did. They raise cowards and traitors.”
Despite their best efforts, the fire of conflict began to reignite in the squad. Surprisingly, it was stopped by Salif’s boy this time:
“I think I know a way past the anomaly.”
These words made the screaming practitioners shut up instantly. Everyone turned to the boy. He tried to look brave, clutching a ladle in his hands like one would a sword, but he was clearly very afraid.
“Another brilliant idea,” Glen howled. “This godforsaken sun has roasted all of your brains!”
“Shut up,” Ramukhan waved him off and thought about it for a moment. “The boy is right. The anomaly that Tilis spotted has one feature we’d normally disregard, but it could prove useful now.”
“What feature?” Hadjar asked.
“It doesn’t react to mortals.”
“Even so, the boy isn’t a mortal,” Hadjar ignored the boy’s displeasure. “What level is he at? The Bodily Rivers?”
“That’s easy enough to fix,” Karissa opened her book and showed him another talisman, “I can seal his meridians for a short time, making him indistinguishable from a mere mortal.”