Atlas Double Star Book

Atlas Double Star Book

You are a bird, your wings appeared,

When I wake up in the night to call.

I only call with my arms,

For your name is like an abyss a thousand nights deep

——Rilke

Preclude.

He sleeps and wakes up again and again, with endless dreams and endless roses.

Pelias got up, sorted out the sketches on the table, turned off the kerosene lamp, and the moonlight lit up.He walked to the window, moving very lightly, as if in order not to disturb the man's sleep.

The tower, the ocean at the end of the world.

He looked to the south, and the tide, like the night, followed the rotation of the moon.The movement of those huge celestial bodies has no sound, but it can lead all things to sing together, the waves are constantly hitting the cliff, and the flowering period in the rose buds is expanding day by day.

The scholar opened the window, and the summer night wind crept in, blowing the man's blond hair.

When this piece of silver disappears on the sea, the sun returns to measure time, and the earth and city-states will wake up.People in the harbor are the first to wake up, the whistle will go far, and the lighthouse will go dark; It will be much earlier, hundreds of millions of eyes will be opened gradually, and then the brilliance will gradually shift to the west, and the snow-covered mountains will not be able to stop it.The empire is clouded, and the sun will only fall on the desk or the bed like gold, and the Omega will wake up with the ordinary people who work.Further north, until the inaccessible big ice field, the smoke of cooking for breakfast will also rise in the wind and snow.

Yes, yes, they will all wake up in a few hours.

The minds of all mankind will be ignited again.

Peleas came to the young man who was still sleeping, and the shadow covered the light on the man's face.

He stroked the young man's face, the gentle curve of the eyelids, the eyelashes and the tip of the brow.Pelias turned slightly to let out a little light, and the sleeping face of the young man appeared in the darkness.

What a handsome boy, Peleas thought when he first met the boy.When those innocent blue eyes look at something with delight, you feel that he must be looking at the best in the world.And when he looks at you, there's no reason why you shouldn't hug him, be close to him.Nothing could be more natural than this.

Thinking of this, Peleas pushed the young man's hair back.

"Are you going to wake up today, Neil?"

He smiled and leaned over to kiss the man's eyelids.

Thousands of days and nights ago, he had never seen those blue eyes again.

I'm afraid it won't happen in the future.

I. ~Twilight Triumph~

The imperial capital is close at hand.The zircon blue banner was hoisted, and the knights returning from the expedition walked across the wilderness without haste.The almost transparent half-moon has been waiting for a long time.

It's time to calm down, polish the scabbard, and wash off the dust on your face.

The gates of the city filled with toasts are about to open, and the king's flag of the golden snake on a blue background is flying high. They should silently dedicate their military exploits.

"I'm so hungry..." Trande Muawia looked at the height of the sun and decided not to let the team move any faster.

Trand is a strong young man.An epee was pinned at his waist, and the dirty scabbard on his back was empty, as if he had lost it on this expedition.

But as an officer, he was too coquettish or frivolous.With a laid-back demeanor, wheat-colored skin, black hair that hasn't been trimmed for a long time is messy and curly, half covering the high forehead.If one had met him in a tavern, one might have thought he was a charlatan, a pimp, or a poet with a good skin.In fact, Trand also likes to give people this impression.

Trand whistled and looked at the sun.It is best for them to enter the city at dusk.The Sibyls love this moment, when the setting sun will shine on the armor and make their victory look more solemn.Yes, the triumph of the golden red... He thought of Egg's letter.

So the head of the Seventh Knights of the Empire, Captain of Thousand Riders, "Lion Tamer", "Star of the Oasis"-Trand Muawia raised his left hand and ordered the team to stop for a final rest.

He looked around at those close to him and shouted, "Where's my adjutant? Neil Bernhard!"

The sound of horseshoes came from behind, and the knights gave way one after another.A healthy horse came galloping, and the young man on the horse pulled the rein suddenly, and the bay red horse immediately stopped and turned to the knight commander.

Everyone knew that this blond young man had an extremely honorable surname, and his martial arts skills had never brought shame to the Bernhard family.The coat of arms of the winged peregrine is carved on his shoulder armor, and on his waist is the famous sword of Venus "Ederel"-his father's sword.Back then, the Duke of Ulkan brought the broken sword back to the country of the archipelago, and ordered people to recast the broken sword with Hippocrates steel.

Neil Bernhard straightened his back and nodded to the Knight Commander.His face was clean, but it was a little red from the cold, and there were almost no traces of the battle for more than a year.

"Where did you go, kid?" Trander knocked on the scabbard with a helpless expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Trander curled his lips and stopped asking.He waved his hand and said, "Bring water, I have to wash my face."

Neil took out the water bottle from his luggage and handed it to the knight commander.

At this time, there is no need to be stingy with water, Trander washes it carefully, shaves off the stubble slightly, and then combs his hair with camellia powder.He looked at himself in the reflection of the shield (for the first time in months) and was satisfied with it, at least as a young and strong man should be.Egg should be watching from the crowd, he didn't want to ride his horse into the city with a sloppy face, Egg would definitely hate it.

Neil didn't say a word, looking a little melancholy.

Trand smiled and said, "Neil Bernhard, what kind of icon painting are you with a halo on your head? Last time you were stabbed by a barbarian, I didn't see that you didn't suffer like this. You're almost home, but you seem to be like this." It's like going to the execution ground."

The young man shook his head, still absent-minded.

Trand curled his lips and patted Neil's buttocks, "Does the kid miss his parents? Miss your teacher? The little golden retriever."

Neil ignored it, as if he had long been used to the knight commander's frivolous style.

Trander was not reconciled to being so frustrated, he put his arm around Neil's shoulder and smiled, "That scholar is really beautiful, isn't he still single? It looks so delicious, if only I were single too. You are nervous What? Why don't you show him the letters you wrote? I'll also tell people that you were drowsy after the injury, and you were calling his name in your sleep. We all heard it, didn't we brothers? You all moved It’s been two years since you’ve been in the imperial capital, and you lived together again, didn’t anything happen? Everyone can tell who your sweetheart is, doesn’t that person know?”

Neil's face darkened, he wanted to speak a few times and held back, and finally rode angrily to the back of the team.The knights laughed and called out his name, and Trand, who succeeded in the prank, proudly sang "Secret on the Second Floor of Gretchen's Tavern".Everyone laughed happily and sang this rather unscrupulous ballad together.Hops, red-haired girls, plump white breasts, the smell of rye... The men sang more and more passionately, and finally even abandoned the melody, howled at the top of their voices, and hugged each other's shoulders like happy drunks.

Indeed, there was nothing that should not belong to joy at this moment, after all, they were going home.

Victory and glory belong to them.

As we all know, only the Sibyls can tame the north, and only the cavalry of the Empire can break through the frozen soil of the Great Ice Sheet.Long before the Sibyl, the land was inhabited by light-haired savages, and the harsh winter was a barrier, and the swords of the expeditionaries froze in the extreme day: the Ibanese, the Tramigals, the Baracas, the Di The Trians...the bones of the losers are forgotten by the snow year after year.But the invincible Sybyls came, they were so brave, and they were born like winter.The golden snake rings on the blue banners intertwined, and the white fields on the map dedicated to the emperor gradually spread until the cartographer drew the northernmost ocean-the savages were driven to the east, deep in the barren land. "Sybyl's Battle Song" begins with the song:

"A great principle of violence governs our morals."

Trund Muawia sighed, clutching the lion's roar helmet.Egg accompanied him to fight this decorative helmet, but he never wore it once, because he believed that the best protection for a sword bearer was martial arts... But this moment was worth it, yes, Trand took another deep breath, Put on the silver helmet.

The man raised his head, and under the lion teeth of the silver helmet was a pair of wild green eyes, and his slightly curly black hair was slightly exposed.He had a Sibyl build and a deep face, but his complexion was the wheaten color common in the western highlands.Evidently he was a half-Sybyl, one who bore his mother's surname.However, at the heart of his breastplate, there is a golden snake ring symbolizing imperial power.

He deliberately took out the amulet that Egg had given him from his inner coat, exposing it to the outside.It was the canine tooth of a black panther, and the inscription was engraved on it: "No sword can wound it, no darkness can fear it".Facing the city gate, Trand recalled the anger he felt when he stood here for the first time when he was young.

Yes, now he's going through the door.The lover waits for him among the crowd, and the sunset is at its peak.

Trander called the adjutant's name, but Neal didn't show up, probably still angry with him.Trander didn't care, he puffed out his chest, waiting for the city gate to open and the horns to sound—

But the closed city gate did not move at all, not even the sound of its hinges turning.what happened?The knights endured for a while, but there was still no movement, and whispers grew in the increasingly anxious waiting.The Seventh Order of Knights led by Sir Trande Muawia returned triumphantly, but the gates of the city have not been opened for a long time?The knights' breathing became rough, and the sound of metal shaking rose and fell in the awkward silence.

Neil rushed to the side of the knight commander, and the two whispered to each other.The young man couldn't bear it anymore, he half-raised the horn in front of his chest, his lips were slightly parted, and his angry breath was like an arrow on the string.

"Wait a little longer, I'll check the situation." Trand pressed the adjutant's hand.

Ten minutes later, the violent "Golden Bear" couldn't hold his breath anymore, and shouted at the soldiers on the city gate: "Idiot, open the door!" The soldiers guarding the city remained indifferent, as if there was no one outside the city.A soldier couldn't help but chuckled, and looked down with his head hooked.When he smiled like this, the knights were instantly enraged, and some even put their hands on their swords——

What an insult!

The returnee's anger was about to overflow when Trande Muawia made a gesture:

Quiet.

The knights had to grit their teeth and obey the man's instructions.Needless to say, they also knew that the one in charge of the north gate was their deadly enemy—the third knight order led by Larmon Xiu Praslier, commander of thousands of cavalry.The Praslier family can be regarded as one of the oldest bloodlines of the empire, the guardians of the royal power.Nicknamed "Magic Banner", this haughty Larmon Hugh Prasrier also belonged to the "Pure-Blood faction" and extremely despised half-Sybyls and ordinary humans.He was always against the Seventh Knights led by Trand, laughing at them as a mob of common people and filth.

The night wind blew more fiercely, and on the violently fluttering flag, the coat of arms of the Praslier family "Girl with a Gun" seemed to be jumping left and right.The soldiers on the tower smiled maliciously, and their knight commander "Magic Banner" walked to the wall and looked down on them contemptuously.Trand saw him too.The man hated Trand like poison in a wine glass or a snake in a couch.

At this time, a soldier on the city wall actually drew his bow and aimed at Trand.

"you!"

Without waiting for everyone to react, Neil took a step forward, and the bowstring trembled crisply——

Fei Shi came out in response, like a swift and violent will, forgetting the physical body in the instant of scorching air.The soldiers on the city wall were terrified, not knowing who the menacing arrows were aimed at.The soldier who was going to aim at Trander was also stunned, frantically groping his chest, as if looking for a wound.Suddenly, the flagpole broke, and the flag of the girl with the gun fell off the tower, kicking up dust.Platinum turned green all of a sudden.

Neil lowered his bow and looked up at those disrespectful people, with the blue sky reflected in his eyes.

The cavaliers burst into laughter and whistled for him.Trander put his hand on Neil's shoulder, his light green pupils looked very bright in the dimness, like arrogant bronze.He smiled to his adjutant:

"Neil Bernhard, go teach the boys how to be polite."

It should have been so!

Neil rode forward and raised the horn to his lips—he had been silent for too long, but the sea could not stop rolling, an answer was still far away, and the flame in his chest was formed long before the question was asked.

The townspeople who were waiting to watch the excitement had long been irritated, and the sky was gradually getting dark. The knights might not return until night, or it might be tomorrow.Anyway, now that the crows have returned to their nests, the women have already gone back to prepare dinner, and the peddlers are unwilling to waste time, leaving only some children and idle old people waiting by the roadside.

The three men stood among a group of bored boys, looking a little awkward.Mr. Kaloyalo sighed: "It's impossible to be late, didn't Tland and the others say in their letter that everything went well?"

The black knight fiddled with the musk leather gloves lazily: "Ha, maybe he died halfway."

"Yigo, don't be angry... hold on..." Duke Kaloyalo swallowed tremblingly, and turned to another companion who had been silent all along: "Pelias, can you use magic to see what's going on?" ?”

The scholar bowed his head in silence, holding the unopened letter.The young man's carefully braided silver hair disturbed passers-by. After all, his light hair looked a bit like a barbarian on the ice field.He wears a "college" book-shaped collar button, and wears a light blue burqa and a silk narrow-sleeved gown. It is obvious at a glance that he is the kind of person who only lives in the candlelight of his study.Dusk was upon him, and the silk was heavy with shadows.The Duke sighed and stopped asking.This man is like a silent mercury lamp, and when he refuses to speak, his expression is so cold that you think you may have asked a stupid question.

It was already dark, the sense of boredom gathered on one's eyelids, and the hymn that the singer had thought up at noon was now almost forgotten.A few onlookers walked away, and Egg was not very happy.

Just when everyone was drowsy, the sound of the horn suddenly came from outside the city——

It is like a long-awaited enlightenment, which makes the whole city enlightened from the darkness of ignorance!

Everyone raised their heads. They didn't understand why the horn of victory would be blown outside the city first. Before that, the guard of honor who opened the city gate would play it first, and then both inside and outside the city would sound it.

The horn sounded again, like a savage urging.Egg thought it was extremely aggressive, something must have happened.

It was not until the horn sounded for the third time that the city gate opened unwillingly, and the knights waited quietly for the night outside the gate.

The guard of honor in the city finally came to their senses and began to follow the procedures.

"Back! The 'Lion Tamer' is back!" The crowd erupted.

The Duke of Kaloyalo excitedly picked up the strange little boy beside him, and carried him on his shoulders without any explanation (only for a short while)!He pointed out to Peleas the knight behind:

"Look, Neil!"

However, Peleas just glanced at him in panic, then turned and fled.

Trand rode his horse among the knights, the gold pattern on the breastplate was still shining in the night, people couldn't see his face clearly, but they all jumped for joy!Facing the admiration of the crowd, Trande behaved calmly, which is what should be done, he must have achieved success and fame. When he was 12 years old, he and Egg watched the knights triumph from the Winter Gate together. At that time, the relationship between the two teenagers was still master and servant.He once patted his chest and declared that one day he would take the position of knight commander and enter the winter gate under the chanting of hymns. "And you, Son of the West Wind, my Young Master Egg," Trant smiled and pointed to his shoulder, "you will definitely be with me at that time."

Because we are like two edges of a sword.

Trander moved his helmet up a little so that he could see better—across the crowd, he could see Egg standing in the middle of a group of children from a distance.The red-eyed Duke stood aside and waved his hands excitedly.

Egg saw him too, and nodded slightly.

As always, Trand winked at his lover.He felt that this guy's thoughts and appearance were highly consistent. When people saw Yi Ge for the first time, they would think that he was a beautiful and mean man.In fact, they were right, Yi Ge was this kind of person!Trand pouted, he clearly saw some kind of disdain in Egg's eyes.Seeing the other party's lips move a few times, Trander restored the words: "Dirty little lion".As soon as he finished speaking, Trander laughed angrily, and his young master was still as difficult to serve as ever.If there weren't so many people watching, he would have done that ear-bobbing trick for Egg.

The two stared at each other for a moment, then quietly missed.After all, it is not the time yet.

The shouts of the crowd gradually crescendoed.

"It's Bernhard! Neil Bernhard!"

Children ran after his horse, girls threw flowers at him, many townspeople knew this Neil Bernhard, and extended their hands to him, and Neil smiled at everyone.Neil was very different from other cold knights, and people especially loved him.In the past, when he was a low-level patrol knight, he often dealt with the citizens and helped many people.

Someone raised a banner, it was the "Burning Heart" coat of arms - the former Knights of Petriar's Defense of the Country!Neil was a little surprised. Does anyone still remember his father...Petriar has been subjugated for more than [-] years!He tried to see who was raising his father's banner, but it was gone in no time.

Neil looked around, trying to find his friends among the cheering crowd.He saw Mr. Kaloyalo waving his arms first.Egg was next to him, still with that cold expression, but he must be happy in his heart, after all, Trander had just passed by.But the teacher wasn't with them...how come?

Neil ignored the solemnity on the surface, and searched in the crowd in a panic.Children running and jumping for joy, spectators, people with tattoos, perfume dealers, hawkers, old women holding pots, dressers, swindlers selling treasures, people who are about to argue, beggars, people who are deceived into buying fakes, people who are afraid Wives, oil buyers, child coaxers, prostitutes, Omegas newcomers, caravans from the Western Highlands, sailors, butchers, missionaries, unsophisticated young farmers (he thought of himself), Dark messengers, servants, thieves, bakers, carolers, salt merchants, loafers, just lost money, hangovers, women of color like Trander, court musicians, strangers Slave traders, drug sellers, near-sighted people, persuaders, light-haired icelanders, people from the pope's state, warlocks...

Warlock!

Neil saw a tall and burly woman, she was wearing a dark green dark-striped warlock hunting suit, and the magical Abelvin was constantly changing on the edge of the shawl.That woman was at least 1.8 meters five, about the same height as Neil himself.With her back to the crowd, she was talking to someone... Looking over the shoulder of the giantess, Neil saw that person's face. He couldn't have mistaken it, the silver-white hair color was too conspicuous.Neal slowed down, hoping to see Peleas from the side.However, the figure of that person is always covered by the giantess, as if he is deliberately avoiding... No, it must be.

"Sure enough..." Neil lowered his eyes.What should I do when I get home tonight?What should he do when he stands in front of the teacher again?The issue between them was suspended for a while because of the battle, but now they are still forced to a dead end.

————————————————————

[Character introduction]: {Neil}: Gong, the protagonist of the prequel and this work, a brave and upright young knight who loves his teacher tenderly.Hobbies are shopping, cooking and baking.I love golden retrievers.

{Peleas}: Shou, a shy and stubborn scholar.He and Neil's father Hein are bamboo horses. After Hein's death, Pelias brought up Neil, but his life hangs by a thread because he ran out of spells.Later, he was rescued by Neil and shared the "roster" with Neil.Because of Hein, he couldn't accept Neil's love for a while.

{Carloyalo}: Everyone's good friend, Duke.

{Ego}: The knight of Kaloyalo, Neil's swordsmanship teacher, the Sybil knight of the chaotic evil department, and the secret lover of Trand.

{Trand}: Commander of the Seventh Knights of the Empire, Ego's gong, Neil's boss.He is a man who always likes to die and takes pleasure in angering his lover.

The author has something to say: [Summary] The prequel "Atlas·Twilight Book" (the pdf download address is placed at the top of my Weibo, and Changpei will block the link TAT) @卡罗_Jalo

Peleas is a mage who left the academy. He rescued a little boy: Neil and raised him.

Neil's father was the mage's most important friend when he was a child - Hein, once the head of the Petriar Knights.But because of political struggles, Hein was assassinated, and the young Neil was also hunted down. Fortunately, the mage took the boy to the northern town, and the two lived incognito.

Later Neil grew up and became a young knight.The teenager has a crush on the teacher, but finds out that the teacher has run out of magic points and his time is numbered.

Peleas decides to die alone, a fact Neal refuses to accept.The boy embarked on a journey, trying his best to find a way to save the teacher.

Finally, with the help of everyone, Neil found a way.He killed the giant beast, performed miracles, and saved the teacher.But Neal himself was also cursed, and never woke up from sleep.

Neil's drowsiness caused a great blow to the teacher. From then on, he guarded Neil's body, shut the door in the tower, and did not speak for 7 years.

Seven years later, Neil awoke from his long sleep, and the long-term despair had nearly destroyed Peleas' health.

In order for the teacher to take a good rest, the two came to live in the empire.Neil joins the Knights of the Empire while Peleas conducts independent research.

At the beginning of "Book of Two Stars", Neil returns from an expedition and finally decides to confess his feelings to his teacher.