"Auto-da-fé" by Alexey Pekhov, summary Automatic translate

The text was written in 2011. This book is a direct continuation of the adventures of the hunter of dark souls. Seemingly disparate episodes gradually merge into a single, coherent story of the search for a mysterious blacksmith who forges a deadly magical weapon. The author skillfully combines a mystical detective story with elements of dark fantasy. The author forces the protagonist to travel across various countries in search of a skillfully concealed truth. The narrative is replete with political intrigue, theological debates, and the harsh realities of a fictional medieval era.

The novel is part of the popular literary series "The Guardian." It is the second book in this lengthy series. The text logically develops the fates of characters already familiar to the reader. The plot introduces new political conflicts between the Orthodox Church, secular rulers, and the independent Brotherhood of Guardians. The author masterfully blends mysticism with the harsh reality of the everyday lives of hired hunters of evil spirits.

Secrets of Darkshire

After being mortally wounded at the end of the previous story, guardian Ludwig van Normayenne awakens in the mysterious Darkwood. He was healed by the local prophetess, Sophia, using ancient and dangerous natural magic. His blood was purified with snake venom, granting him complete immunity to all existing poisons. Together with his disembodied companion, the Preacher, and the aggressive, animate Scarecrow, he faces a completely new challenge. The local oak grove owner, Guervo, and the enormous black dragon, Fireward, ask the hero to urgently investigate the cause of the regular loss of dragon eggs. Each new amber clutch is methodically destroyed by an unknown, invisible force.

Ludwig travels to a nearby village of wild Victs. There, he explores the area, converses at length with the superstitious inhabitants, but finds no trace of the dangerous dark entities. Soon, the hero realizes his grave mistake. The main culprit turns out to be the bright soul of the mad old woman, Agatan. Bound to an old tree, she mistook the amber scales of dragon eggs for ordinary sea amber. The old woman was draining the life from them, wishing to gift the glowing stones to her long-drowned grandchildren. The Guardian cuts the invisible magical thread holding the old woman to the world of the living. Agatan finds long-awaited peace, and Ludwig saves the newborn brood of the dragon Fireward.

Trip to Progança

Leaving the hospitable dense forests, Ludwig meets his close friend, the white sorceress Gertrude. She secretly conveys an urgent order from the leadership of the Brotherhood of Guardians. The hero must travel to the neighboring kingdom of Progansa. A harsh local law strictly forbids those with magical gifts from entering, under penalty of death. Ludwig is partnered with the vengeful and harsh guardian Ransè. In this dangerous, closed country, they must find the Brotherhood’s deeply walled-up ancient archive and retrieve a securely hidden book. The heroes cleverly disguise themselves as southern mercenaries and successfully cross the heavily guarded border.

Along the way, the companions constantly encounter squads of armed undead and strange roadside creatures. In the dusty cellars of Savran University, the guards finally find the hidden tome they seek. Inside the old book, they discover a skillfully crafted dagger. The hilt of this weapon is adorned with a smooth black stone instead of the usual blue sapphire. Ranse uses this long journey to pursue a long-held personal vendetta. He finds Hugo Lefevre, the brutal murderer of his own brother. An unequal battle ensues with the local city inquisition — the Bearers of Purity. Ranse slays his sworn enemy, but dies from his severe wounds. Ludwig takes the valuable black blade and flees the hostile Progansa.

The dangers of eastern roads

The long journey east presents the surviving hero with new unpleasant surprises. In the forest wilderness, the weary guard stumbles upon the telltale signs of a powerful evil spirit. He saves a vizagan — an aggressive and dangerous cannibal — from certain death. In exchange for his unexpected rescue, the monster honestly warns Ludwig of the grave danger of spending the night in a ruined old monastery. The hero narrowly escapes a deadly trap of dead monks emitting a frightening green flame. Later, he successfully joins a peaceful merchant caravan. That evening, all the relaxed companions drink poisoned cider at an inn. Ludwig survives only thanks to the perfect poison immunity he acquired in Darkwood.

A nighttime camp for a convoy is attacked en masse by bloodsucking stargs, thirsty for warm human flesh. The hero cleverly escapes into the forest thicket. In the morning, he is rescued in the forest by heavily armed warrior monks of the stern Order of Saint Calicius. The clerics are relentlessly hunting Wölef, a powerful ancient sorcerer. The villain actively uses fresh blood to activate his combat magic. Wölef brutally murders two clerical brothers from a search party. He then greedily drains the magical power from dead human souls. Ludwig agrees to join forces with the miraculously surviving giant monk Brother Kurvus and the young, inexperienced lawgiver Hannah. Together, they track down the treacherous killer.

A dangerous battle with a trained sorcerer unfolds on an abandoned steppe farmstead. Wölef summons a powerful demon and raises the dark, corporeal souls of unborn infants en masse from the earth. Hannah heroically disrupts the bloody ritual, at the cost of her own young life, cut short. The mighty monk Kurvus predictably dies in intense close combat. Ludwig, with his last remaining strength, finishes off the greatly weakened heretic. The terrified warlock cowardly begs for mercy. He offers the guard an ancient book of forbidden spells. The hero flatly refuses the unholy bargain, burning the sorcerer along with his tome. The guard coldly takes another dagger with a black stone in the hilt from the dead man.

Intrigues of the Holy City

In Livetta, the great capital of the faith, Ludwig is officially received by the high clergy of the fortified district of Riapano. Influential cardinals secretly display a broken dark dagger. They urgently demand the Brotherhood of Guardians’ assistance in finding the unknown underground blacksmith. According to reliable church information, forging such a powerful weapon requires dozens of ordinary blades from slain Guardians. The hero conceals the truth. He conceals the fact that he recently saw similar artifacts and personally sent one of them to the Brotherhood’s headquarters. High-ranking clerics openly hint at the direct involvement of the murdered Margrave Valentin in the mass weapons collection.

On the bustling streets of the holy city, Ludwig encounters the white sorceress Gertrude, the hot-tempered gypsy Shuko, and the good-natured, tall Newgort man Nathaniel. During a brutal mass game of quilchio, unknown assailants brazenly murder unattended servants. The thieves steal Nathan’s valuable dagger. The defenseless guards embark on a long, tense chase through the city’s criminal underworld. With the armed support of the scandalous court artist Merisi, they track down the wealthy mastermind behind the theft. This mastermind turns out to be a long-time, cunning adversary of the Brotherhood — the escaped sorcerer Walter. The villain manages to deftly escape pursuit in a thick smokescreen. The stolen blade is returned to its rightful, enraged owner.

The Secret of the Black Blades

In late autumn, Ludwig arrives in the northern Highway at the urgent request of his strict former mentor, Miriam. The dusty roads of the region are thick with unseen dark souls. These entities masterfully manipulate the corpses of innocent victims, disguising themselves as living beings. Miriam frankly admits to her former student that she is soon guaranteed to die of old age. She yearns to find the mysterious creator of the black blades, sincerely hoping to prolong her fading existence with their help. Suddenly, a terrifying truth is revealed: it was Miriam who secretly organized the deceased Ranse’s tragic expedition to retrieve the artifact of the first Emperor Constantine.

Ludwig, Miriam, and her timid young apprentice, Albert, spend a long time tracking a suspicious nomadic gypsy camp. One of the cunning nomads skillfully wields a newly forged black dagger, deftly transforming his slain companions into completely obedient, speechless zombies. A large-scale and incredibly bloody battle suddenly erupts at the large gypsy encampment. Miriam masterfully deploys complex, multi-layered defensive systems. She successfully holds off a dense crowd of advancing undead with magical fire. Ludwig mounts his trusty horse and catches the fleeing gypsy by a fast-flowing river. The frightened fugitive makes extensive use of the road dust for camouflage and short, rapid magical movements.

A cunning gypsy sorcerer desperately attempts to wound the pursuing guardian with a black blade. He wants to transform the hero into his willless, dark puppet forever. Ludwig dodges just in time and mortally wounds his enemy with a simple, powerful blow from his broadsword. A fresh, dark soul emerges from the gypsy’s lifeless body. The guardian mercilessly sends it to the inferno. Left without their invisible magical puppeteer, the dead fall limply to the dry ground. Another dangerous dark blade safely ends up in the hands of the Brotherhood. Miriam refuses to destroy the confiscated, unique weapon. She intends to thoroughly study its hidden magical properties and finally uncover the trail of the mysterious underground blacksmith.