Clockwork. Part one

Introduction

Prologue.

In the Middle Ages, everyone was afraid of magic and sorcerers... But sorcerers eventually learned to control their abilities, and all these events take place in the twelfth century.  Sorcerers hoped to show that magic is not always evil, and therefore light magic fought on two fronts: against ordinary people and against dark power.

In a small family of wizards...

Alice went into Mark's room.

Hello, Mark, - greeted Alice.

Hello, - answered Mark.

what are you doing  At such a late hour?  - asked Alice.

Brewing a "Potion of Lightness", - answered Mark lightly.

What is its action?  - asked Alice with a little curiosity.

Suddenly, the father ran into the room and shouted: "Run, they are here!"

How did they find us this time?  - Mark said in a panic, gathering his things.

Mark, leave the things, take only the money, and Alice, - said the father, frightened to the point of terror.

When everyone was ready to go down the secret passage, knights run into the room.  The father pushed the children as they went, and he himself blocked the entrance with the help of magic.  The guards, seeing this, seized their father and began to grope him and ask where this passage led, but the Father spoke only two words: "Ignis explosio", and everything around him ignited with heavenly fire.

The end of the prologue.

Chapter 1

Mark and Alice didn't see what happened to their father, but Mark knew what could have happened to his father there.  He didn't want Alice to find out, and that's why Mark started walking down the tunnel to the exit, with Alice in tow.  Mark was glad they were alone for the moment, he knew where they could go, where their relatives were waiting for them on the German border, but they had a long way to go and the last letter indicated that there were suspicions that their  exposed  But these were just suspicions, not reality, Mark reassured himself.

Alice was quietly following her brother at that moment, wondering what had happened to her father and whether he had been caught by accident, but she quickly dismissed these thoughts and uttered the first words to Mark.

Mark, where are we going?  - Alice wanted to know if Mark had any ideas.

I don't know myself yet, but I think we'll probably go to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Stu's - Mark wasn't sure if they were all right, but he had high hopes that they were okay.

Sarah and Stu settled in well, and they were lucky to find a small village where they were not afraid of wizards.  Even more, they were asked to prepare potions for diseases, but the church eventually reached small villages, but the villagers did not give Sarah and Stu dinner.  Mark was glad that Alice didn't get her hands on magic and she couldn't cast spells.  Alice was not very happy about this, she knew many spells, but none of them worked.  No matter how hard she tried, they didn't work.  And Alice did not understand why Mark and Father were happy about it.  She wanted to have magic because not everyone could have it and also because magic can help in many things.  Coming out of hiding, they set off in the direction of the nearest small village where they were known.  On the way, Mark and Alice came across an abandoned house.  Apparently no one has lived there for a long time.  So Mark decided to stay in this abandoned house.
Meanwhile, the weather began to deteriorate little by little for no apparent reason, and in five minutes the sunny sky was nothing but a memory.  Soon a heavy downpour began, which surprised Mark, who did not expect such a rapid change of weather from warm to cold and terrible.  Alice decided to see what was inside the house, and going into one of the rooms, she saw an old bookcase with many old books.  Deciding to relax and read, Alice sat down in an old chair near the closet and immersed herself in reading.