All the Chancellor's enemies caught on to this and exposed themselves, trying to get dirt on his most loyal associate. The ruse had worked without a hitch for more than a decade. And the small inconvenience of contemptuous glances thrown in the back and only secret meetings with women didn't bother us at all.
- We just have to use such a gift of fate, - repeated the Chancellor.
The cold weather came unexpectedly. The temperature dropped sharply, in just a few days, to zero, and then dropped into the minus range. The fortress of Zalon stood firm. Only the residual manifestations of magic, which had reached such a concentration that they were visible to ordinary people, showed that they had stormed it in all seriousness and with all their might.
These same residual forces made any magic around and in the city deadly. From now on, it was impossible to tell what would come out of your spell and how exactly it would interact with the world around you. As a consequence, the mages stopped casting spells at first, and for the last two days, neither side used artifacts.
And how to use them, when right before your eyes "heavenly shield" hitting its top in the cloud of residual magic, first blown to pieces, and then in the sky suddenly formed a funnel and in the city begins the most real hurricane wind. And although all the residual spell energy was concentrated around the fortress walls, Archmage Dukun ordered not to risk it.
No mage in the world could predict what would happen and what your spell would turn into. You had to wait a few days for it to dissipate. Which the besiegers did, and just then the weather surprised them.
Duke Cass paced nervously in front of the tent. The whole campaign was rolling into the arms of the Mur! The rebels were still in possession of Zalon. And even though the archmage commanded the army, the king was sure to blame the duke for the failure. He would not dare to quarrel with the only archmage, but he would have to take out his anger for the failure on someone, and Cass was the perfect candidate.
The commander, instead of making plans and searching for effective spells for the assault, was going to visit one of the forts that remained loyal to the king. Like there's nothing else to do?! And Knight Blood backed him up! Traitor! It was worth remembering a couple of the strongest mages of the army, as they came out of the tent and with friendly smiles headed towards the duke.
- Wonderful weather, your lordship," the knight greeted him, "It's going to be a great walk. We'll be there in the middle of the day. Don't worry so much about our late departure.
- I'm not worried about leaving late," the young man pointed at the fortress, "Zalon is still not taken, and we're going for a walk!
- It's the best thing to do now," the archmage intervened, "Magic can't be used for a couple more days. We'll be right back.
- Listen to His Excellency, Your Lordship! In situations like this, it's the ordinary soldiers who storm the place, but we haven't even damaged the walls anywhere. And we didn't stock up on alchemicals before we left. All we can do is wait. It's a good idea to inspect the loyal forts before winter sets in.
There were only two defensive forts that remained loyal, covering a copper mine and a small gold mine, respectively. And if the mine was staffed by free mercenary laborers from Zalon, and at the beginning of the rebellion, they all simply moved to the fort, leaving the guards alone, the copper mine was developed by convicts. And the commander of the fort had already asked for help many times. I should have traveled a long time ago and seen everything with my own eyes.
Half a day in the saddle and the small cavalcade reached the low wooden walls that made up the main fortification of the fort. The gates had been opened in advance, and the observer on the tower had seen the banners flying over the squad. The panting man who greeted the guests was excited and seemed to be running as fast as he could toward the gate.
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