Acanton was once a large port. Acanton the Great, Acanton the Glorious, Acanton the Mighty... It was a long time ago. The City of Lions - Acanton... A formidable seaside fortress... The heavy granite bastions still towered over the shore, the thick walls seemed just as indestructible, the blue flag with three silver lions still fluttered over the high main tower. Only the flag had become tattered and faded, and it was no longer blue, but some kind of indefinite one. The stones of the bastions were covered with gray-green moss, the battlements of the walls were crumbling and falling off. And the formidable catapults on the watchtowers were no longer visible. Here and there on the walls, between the huge stones, grass was pushing through, even young trees had grown. And for many years the fire on the Lighthouse Bastion has not burned.
Sand and mud cover the port, the Merchant Harbor and the Sea Harbor have become shallow. Not a single galley dares to approach the port now, only small fishing boats glide along the green muddy water. But once upon a time, dozens of ships with overseas goods stood in the port, life was in full swing. Everything could be bought in the port of Acanton: silks and spices, precious sandalwood and tempered swords, rare incense and a magic unicorn horn, exotic animals... But that was a long time ago... Before the beginning of the Time of the West Wind.
Constant western storms made sailing to Acanton unsafe. Dozens of sandbanks suddenly appeared, sharp rocks rose from nowhere and blocked the approach to the port. And it became empty. Along the long stone piers there were now not huge ships, but tiny boats, the warehouses were dilapidated, and the granite Arsenal, which seemed eternal, had completely fallen apart. The once formidable battle galleys were peacefully rotting on the shore…
And the city itself gradually fell into decay. Many quarters simply disappeared, and the sown fields and gardens grew, hiding the ruins.
All that remained of the fortress's former grandeur was a monstrous stone pier stretching far out to sea. It was high, almost as tall as a fortress wall, and even in the strongest storm the waves could not wash over it. No, there were storms that raised the waves much higher than the pier, so its height was not the cause, no. The mysterious builders - and no one remembered who built the pier - said that it was not people at all who placed this at its base, where the pier ended with a small observation tower, the Charm Stone. It stood out as a bright white spot against the background of grayish-red granite, shining through the water. This stone forbade any evil forces to come near, and even now, when storms and floods swept away one by one the coastal cities, the inhabitants of Acanton slept peacefully. Although there were rumors that one day the Sea King would take the city seriously, and then no Charm Stone would save it, so it would be better to send people in advance to negotiate, to pay off... Oh well, when things get bad, we'll talk, but for now we can live, there's no point in rushing in vain, there'll be time... And anyway, there are clouds gathering again, it's better to go home...
But not everyone left. Khani and Chani loved to stand on the observation tower at the end of the pier during storms and watch the waves crashing onto the rocks, sending up fireworks of sparkling spray, and wisps of foam flying right into your face. It was so easy to imagine that you were standing on a ship rushing through the waves. The wind was hitting you right in the face, just like now... And soon you would see something mysterious and dangerous... Chani was the first to see the ship. He was usually the first to notice everything, but Khani did not envy his older brother.
- Look!
Khani , covering his eyes with his hands from the flying splashes, looked closely.
"A galley," he agreed.
Chani narrowed his eyes and, after thinking for a moment, determined:
— From the south.
- How do you know?
- Guess for yourself.
Khani shrugged.
- No, I don't see it.
"Oh, you expert," Chani said mockingly. "Look at the figurehead. Have you forgotten that eagles are only installed in the south?"
- A…
— I just can't make out the flag.
- Black with gold. Golden Torch.
Chani furrowed his brow in recollection.
- This means... This means... Tan-Khorez?!
Khani threw up his hands.
- Wow! Real wizards! And they've never visited us before. Listen, let's run and have a look, I've never seen a living wizard, and they say that everyone there is a wizard, no, really, let's go?!
- I really wonder why he came to see us. Of course, he doesn't look great...
And indeed the galley looked as if it had just escaped from a very hard fight. Its side was broken, instead of a mast there was a miserable jagged fragment sticking out, the stern, it looked like someone had been gnawing at it for a long time and diligently. And the galley moved somehow strangely, jerkily.
"She was pretty battered by the storm," Khani said with the air of an expert.
"By storm?" the brother asked incredulously.
- And what then?
"You never know," Chani answered evasively.
- That's true! - Khani's eyes lit up. - How come I didn't guess right away. The Sea King must have been doing some magic here!
"Come on," Chani waved his hand. "You're always making up all sorts of nonsense. You're always imagining magic."
That's true. But judge for yourself, how could it be any other way when you live in such a city? Khani really did see sorcerers and wizards everywhere. After all, every fairy tale talks about them! And these tales were even more fascinating because the adults forbade talking about dragons and ghosts. But when you walk along a crooked narrow street to the port, it seems that at any moment a... Well, at least a gnome... will jump out from around the corner. But his brother doesn't believe it. But then what is he hinting at?
- Maybe I'm imagining things, maybe I'm not. You yourself say that something is wrong here.
- I'm not saying anything, I don't know myself.
- Well, let's go and see. It's so simple.
Chani chuckled.
- What? Let's go. The galley will dock at the fifth pier now anyway. And you'll see for yourself.
- Ha, an expert. Of course, because in the Merchant Harbor all the other piers have fallen apart.
At that moment, the galley passed right by them, and Chani saw a figure standing at the stern, wrapped in a long black cloak. It seemed to him that this person was looking at him intently. And that he had seen this... Where had he seen her?..