Глава 16

Cold night, long night.

The bare earth is covered in frost. Upon it are haphazard footsteps, stretching into the distance where the sun fades beneath the horizon.

Scattered black dots are moving slow, at the place where the earth meets the night sky.

Lake Neva... is frozen.

This year is bloody cold. It's not even winter yet... what are you laughing about?

I remember that in the winter of 31, Igor Velikiy defeated the army defending Grypherburg on Lake Neva, spelling the end of the Hippogryph Kingdom.

And what about it? You want to lead us in an assault on Deity Grypherburg?

No. Not yet, at least.

Hmph... it's another story that I'm thinking of.

Around the year 150, a famous playwright wrote a play about Igor Velikiy before he entered Grypherburg.

His intention was to celebrate the friendship between Igor and the Hippogryph noble Mikhail, who were comrades in the revolution overthrowing the Hippogryph Kingdom.

But it was lambasted throughout Ursus because it mentioned a 'compromise' between Igor and certain Hippogryph nobles, whereby Igor gave up some power in exchange for their support.

The Ursus refused to accept it. They considered it a slander against Igor Velikiy.

The playwright paid the price for a story that he claimed to be true to history.

It was only many years after his death, when the original agreement between Igor and the Hippogryph nobles was discovered, that people learned he had been telling the truth.

A fine story.

Are you trying to tell me that the legend that I worship is just a figment of human imagination?

I'm trying to tell you that even Igor knew the importance of flexibility.

We should stop here, Rankin.

Grypherburg is in the way, and its defenses are on a completely different level from the Far North.

What if they find us? It won't be the Patrol Units waiting for us, but the Armies of Ursus.

Winter will find us in the wilderness if we continue to take detours and fail to reach the border in time.

I would much rather deal with a patrol or two, than Ursine winter.

Do we really have to go to the Kazimierzian border, though? Find your legendary Reunion?

You know how far it is, never mind the enemies that we might encounter on the way. Look at our people, our food, even our clothes. Do we have enough to make it?

Let's say we actually make it to the border. What if it's not an Infected village that awaits us there, but another mine? What do we do then?

What other way is there? Where can we go?

There must be a way...

I know! We can go east! Nikolsk. It's an old city, almost abandoned now, and there are even fewer people in the surrounding villages.

We could go there, split up and hide in the villages... that's the only way for us to survive.

And live like slaves for the rest of our lives?

I gave you a choice, Nikto. I gave everyone a choice.

I thought everyone chose to come with me to live like men.

But you shouldn't wager everyone's lives on a castle in the sky—

I took a good look, Rankin.

The outpost ahead is manned. The searchlights are on... it hasn't been abandoned.

If we can't get through this way, do we have to...?

You hear that, Rankin?

Searchlights... how many searchlights did you see?

I... I don't really remember. Two... maybe three?

Think! How many exactly?

Two! Yes, I remember now. There were only lights on the east and west sides. It's two lights!

Two lights... so a garrison of a hundred or so. Maybe...

Rankin!

Look behind you, Rankin... this is all the people we have...

This is not a revolutionary army. They just want to live.

Are you going to send them into the mines from which there is no return, like the mine owners did?

Rankin looks at the crowd behind him and sees their expressions under the lamplight.

Pain, fatigue, helplessness, fear...

Perhaps Nikto is right. Their clothes are too thin and they cannot take it. But he feels no cold, for some reason.

No...

I won't throw away any lives. Even if sacrifice may be inevitable, I won't allow anyone to die without meaning.

We can't go back to a life of slavery...

Follow me. There's another way.

There's such a long mine tunnel underground?

What's going on, Rankin? How did you know where the mine tunnel was here?

Someone had an idea a few years back.

There are more than a thousand mines in the Far North, each with hundreds of workers, yet they are all disconnected from each other. What if we changed that?

We could connect the tunnels—no one knows the underground better than we do. We could weave a web beneath the frozen soil and link everyone, sharing information and helping each other in the hour of need.

Have you been preparing all these years? Were you planning for this day?

I'm no prophet. I simply began with a very basic idea—we should unite and help each other.

At the beginning, my influence extended only to a dozen mines in the area. I was powerless beyond that.

Later, I heard that other people were doing the same things in other places... it's a pleasant surprise to find that this tunnel looks relatively safe.

Where does it lead?

The Volgrad Mining District, southeast of Grypherburg, in the southernmost part of Ursus. If we can reach it through the tunnels, we'll be able to circumvent the capital's defenses.

But you better pray there's no army on our tail, or it'll be an easy opportunity to wipe us out all at once.

No such thing as a path without risk.

Wait... I smell alcohol.

Impossible. How could there be—

Get down!

A flash of cold light lunges out from the darkness, breaking the only lit lamp.

What the—

Get down! Don't move, and don't fire back!

<i>Blyat!</i> They found us!

Call for help!

Wait! Stop! We're friends!

Rankin stands and shouts at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the deepest reaches of the cavern.

You...

You're not the Patrol Units?

That's what we were about to ask... I suppose the answer is no.

Thank goodness! I thought they found our position.

Where did you come from?

The Central Mining District.

Central? I didn't know there were any survivors there!

We heard the guards started a massacre. We thought there wasn't anybody left alive.

I can see why there would be such rumors...

But they're not true. We're still alive. We defeated the Patrol Units and escaped. We haven't given up on our struggle.

That's the best news I've heard in a while!

One moment.

We're trying to get to the Volgrad Mining District, in the south, through these tunnels. Can we—

The south? It's no good. The tunnel leading to the south has collapsed. That's why we've been stuck here.

I see...

Again, Rankin! Again! Why is every path a dead end?

Wait... Rankin? THE Rankin?

My name's Rankin. I don't know anything about 'The' Rankin.

It's really you! Rankin from Central! You're real—you're alive!

I see my name has taken flight on its own...

We can talk about that later! Let me take you to the living area.

You folks look like you're in real bad shape. We have some food and water, not a lot, but we can spare some.

Living area? Are there a lot of you living here?