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Alex closed his eyes when it happened. He could only hear the sound and feel how his imaginary sword plunged into the stranger. When Alex opened his eyes, much to his surprise, he saw a real sword with a golden hilt in his hands, not a piece of pipe. The little Alex, incredibly surprised that he had succeeded, first looked at the sword, then slowly raised his gaze, and finally looked at the face of the stranger he had struck. It seemed like everything was fine, but a moment later, someone with a disfigured face suddenly screamed, frightening Alex again. Then, from the wound of the stranger, a bright glow began to emanate. With each passing second, this someone seemed to be burning, and something radiant appeared in the place of what had burned. It illuminated the dark street around Alex more and more. Soon, instead of the dark silent stranger, someone radiant appeared in front of the boy. At that moment, the boy silently froze with fear and amazement. The radiant someone extended a hand to Alex, touched his forehead, said, «Thank you!» and then, seemingly faster than lightning, rushed towards the night sky, towards the stars, in the blink of an eye. After that, the light went out again, and silence fell. Alex, barely understanding whether he was in reality or in a dream, found himself alone in the middle of a dark street. He looked at the bloodied sword, fearfully threw it aside, and then fell to his knees, unable to believe what had happened to him.
CHAPTER 2 «DARK MANDATE»
Evening. The dark outskirts of the city were only slightly illuminated by the advertising signs of local establishments and a few street lamps. A light and wet snowfall covered the streets with snow. Few passersby silently and gloomily hurried somewhere. A seemingly seventeen-year-old guy in fairly formal attire and a wool coat walked along the sidewalk. His hair could have fluttered in the wind as it was not covered by a headgear, and they clearly reached his shoulders, but they were tightly tied in a small ponytail, preventing them from doing so.
Suddenly, out of the blue, the guy abruptly stopped and reluctantly entered a local bar. It wasn’t exactly bustling with life on this sultry evening, but there were some scantily dressed girls of easy virtue, a man desperately trying to explain something to them, and a bartender serving them. It was evident that the man’s speech didn’t appeal to the girls. As soon as the guy entered, he relieved the girls from the man’s talk, as he abruptly closed his mouth and turned towards the guy. At that moment, it seemed like the man, upon seeing this guy, was simply petrified.
«Aleks,» the man said with a smile. «Long time no see… Or should I call you „Stray Dog,“ as they’ve been calling you lately?»
Aleks looked around, and instead of answering the question, he asked his own:
«Do you know why I’m here, Nix?»
«Why be so direct about business, Aleks?» Nix replied. «Let’s sit down, have a drink, discuss everything like men… Come on,» he added, waving his hand towards himself, and then calmly walked towards the boy.
To which Aleks suddenly reached for something under his coat. In the same moment, as if possessing extremely quick reflexes, Nix did exactly the same. If before, the girls were chatting among themselves about various topics, including discussing the guest, from this second everything abruptly fell silent. The atmosphere in the bar seemed to freeze.
«Ladies, please, step aside!» Nix said, transitioning to a more serious tone.
After this, the girls timidly and slowly moved aside from the bar counter where the bartender stood, attempting to feign composure.
«You too, let’s go!» Alex said, looking at the bartender.
«Okay, okay!» the bartender exclaimed and moved in the direction of the girls.
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