Vladimír Holý

Shuffle Heroes: Voice from the Darkness

Česky | English
Act III
Act I | Act II | Act III | Act IV | Act V | Act VI | Akt VII

Act III

Smoke and Shadow

It was a great tragedy. Nobody survived. Some of the passengers burned to death, some drowned. Including Ekram Accius. The rest of his family remained on shore and escaped this disaster. Maybe now it will be even easier to get the book that will reveal to me the path to another world. The path to him.

I waited a few days. I have been searching for so many years. I understood that haste can only harm me. I came outside the house of the Accius family. I knocked on the door and waited to see what happens.

Accius was an ancient clan. It never belonged among the richest and most influential houses. But Ekram didn't lack ambition. He bet everything on the invention of the city in the clouds and he lost. This is also a possibility. From averageness to nothingness. Even such a fate might meet me. But it will not happen. I will rise up far above the clouds.

A young white-haired girl opened the door. All in black, as was proper. She looked quite miserable.

"Who are you, geezer?" she said. She obviously lacked manners. Or she was just overwhelmed with grief.

"I was supposed to have a business meeting with your father.... My condolences."

"I don't care about business."

"Nonsense. Everybody wants something."

Of course, I did not come uninformed. I knew that it was Casquiel, a daughter of Ekram, who was standing before me. I also found that she had a fondness for a drug called anpya. Expensive, rare, but obtainable. I showed her a few marinated leaves of anpya and she let me in immediately. I found myself in a large entrance hall full of paintings. It was dominated by a family portrait. I almost didn't recognize Ekram Accius without his wheelchair. He stood alongside his wife and besides them, there were just two little girls in the picture. The nobleman had apparently two daughters. I didn't know that, I've heard only about Casquiel.

She led me into a secluded room. She didn't talk much. She just took the anpya from me and began to prepare a hookah quite expertly.

"So what'cha want, old-timer?" she asked lazily. She carefully spread leaves of anpya on the table and began to chop them up. I sat on the couch. Suddenly, I didn't know how to talk to her. How to make her give me the book. She didn't seem too mournful. She hadn't even realized in what situation she and her family is.

"Your father owned a book which I'm interested in."

"Books have a different prices. I don't know much about them."

"This one has value only for me."

"How much?" she said curiously and looked up from the chopped up drug.

"How much you say", I answered without thinking. Obviously, I'm no merchant.

"So we have nothing to talk about", she frowned. "You want to trick me, that's for sure."

"You have to give me the book!" I screamed at her.

"I don't have to", she whispered. Suddenly, she became a frightened little girl. But she din't stop preparing hookah. She mixed the anpya with tobacco and filled a ceramic pot.

"Oh yes, you do have to, little doll", I spoke to her harshly. "Your father is dead. The family wealth is lost. Soon, you will end up on the street and a girl such as you can earn money in only one way. You'll be grateful for anything I give you today.... You do have to give me the book."

Suddenly, she began to cry. She turned her back on me and walked to the fireplace. Her sobs echoed throughout the house.

"She doesn't have to", said a child's voice. It was not Casquiel, she was still crying. This voice was clear and hard. The room darkened. Around Casquiel, black smoke spread. No, it was not smoke, but a giant shadow. It had the outlines of a man. It just didn't belong to anyone. It moved as it pleased. It was alive.

"She doesn't have to", the shadow repeated menacingly. In its black hands, a dagger appeared. I will not test how real this dark mirage is.

"I brought a gift for Casquiel", I said as calmly as I could. I took several packages of anpya from my bag and carefully put them on the table.

"He will not hurt me, little sister," Casquiel said softly. The shadow still maliciously circled around me, and I rather didn't move at all.

Casquiel took a hot piece of charcoal from the fireplace and placed it on the water pipe. She lazily lay down on the couch, took the hose in her hand and began to smoke. The more smoke she exhaled, the more the shadow shrank.

"Go to sleep, little sister", Casquiel whispered and the hookah bubbled. After a few more minutes of smoking, the shadow disappeared completely and the room was filled with only sweet smoke.

"That-That was your sister?" I stammered.

"Yes.... She died. It's been a long time now. It was an accident. It wasn't my fault.... Really. It was an accident. I tried to save her. But she just lay lifelessly on the ground.... I brought a necromancer to her. He promised that he would return her back. Everything was supposed to be as before. But it was not.... He tricked me. Her body disappeared, and since then she is only a shadow. She remains close to me, my poor little sister. Sometimes, it's hard to comfort her. She suffers a lot."

I didn't know what to say. What life could she have with this specter always behind her back? I felt pity. For a while. This is not my concern. The world is full of bad things.

"At the end of the hall is a library. Take what you want and get out", she told me, exhausted.

I did as she said. After a moment of searching the shelves in the library, I finally found that tome. On the cover lay the word Grimoire. I briefly flipped through several pages to make sure that this is the right book and I quickly vanished from this cursed house.

I've got what I came for.

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