Anatoly

Anatoly was presumably in a large stupor when he heard the bell ring on his door! He was nonchalant in reaching for the door as he contemplated to finish the drink in his hand before he did anything else. But the ringing of the bell did not stop. It continued to ring, which irritated Anatoly. He gulped the drink that he had in his hand with furor and sprang forward. He opened the door and he saw no one at the doorstep. Cussing in Russian, he was about to shut the door. But a leg stopped him

from doing so. Large furry legs that was barefoot. He looked straight ahead and there was no one. He was shocked and looked down to see if the leg was there. It was, but this time he looked up at waist height. What he saw caused him to go unconscious, mostly because of the copious amount of vodka he had consumed.

When he woke up he saw two masked people sitting in his living room and a creature he had heard stories of, but never encountered one prior. Vlohrir was trying his hardest to adjust to the comfortable cushion he found himself seated on! He was much more comfortable on the rougher surfaces, it could easily be noticed. Akira was a lot more chirpy getting accustomed to the surrounding around her. She was fascinated by all the glitter and light around her. Even cold Russia seemed to be place of wonder to her. Anatoly watched them with curiosity as he continued to remain silent! Their peculiar habits fascinated him

yet made him remember of his own childhood. Their behaviour was such. Except for the man in the mask, he resembled of someone he knew a king time ago. Not as a child, but as a man much older than that of a child. Cold, remorseless and vengeful! He could not see the eyes of Seronn, but he very well knew that he was staring dead cold at him. He knew that for sure. He felt a tingling sensation creep up his spine as he turned his attention away from the masked man! Akira

Slowly removed her mask and Pashkin was struck by her beauty. She looked like a human but more ethereal and pure. Anatoly was glued and shaken at the same time. He turned his head slowly and looked at the photo they hung on the right side to him. A light that adorned the walls of his magnificent home. A smile beamed out of his face and was instantly wiped away. A feeling of sadness engulfed him and he was vulnerable. You are not the man I thought you were! Said Seronn. What? asked Anatoly still in disbelief of the people that surrounded him. Why did you bring them here? He asked Seronn. Implying that Seronn was a human and the others not! For your box, he simply said. What box? asked Anatoly in all earnestness. The box that makes light, he said. Why would you want that? asked Anatoly as he got a bit wary. Anatoly got up and Vlohrir picked his axe up. Relax! said Seronn to the dwarf calming him down. Vlohrir put his axe down but his eyes stood firm on the human. As Anatoly paced up and down the living room, so did the eyes of Vlohrir! Tell him to look away, Anatoly shouted at Seronn assuming that he was a soldier wounded by war. Seronn kept quiet! Who sent you here? said Anatoly who was visibly furious. No one, replied Seronn with a very calm voice! Anatoly stared at him. That is enough! Shouted Vlohrir and fixed his axe on the neck of Anatoly! Seronn still remained silent. Anatoly started to sweat. He whispered in a limp tone "I never took your kind to be murderers" he said. What kind! Said Vlohrir as he pressed the axe a little harder on the neck of Anatoly! Dwarves! Said Anatoly with pride in his tone, showing the reverence he had for them! Vlohrir was ashamed and he took the axe of his neck and sat down! He pressed his hand against his forehead and sat with a quietness that too wasn't expected from a dwarf. Akira looked at him and placed her hands on his shoulder showing her support for him. She looked up at the dwarves like no one else did! He knew of their innate goodness and that the circumstances was what changed them to be people of such danger. And you ? asked Seronn to Anatoly. Are your kind people of such danger! He stood up and faced the Russian! Of murder, of pillage, he asked him and removed his mask. Anatoly was shaken. An ethereal light shone out of him! Who are you? asked Anatoly and took a few steps back. I'm a man, just like you! he said to the Russian! The light quickly dissipated and darkness of insufferable magnitude poured out of him! I asked you a question, said Seronn. The aura around his was so dark, that even Vlohrir and Akira were shaken. Our mind is capable of many things , good and bad, Anatoly splurted the words without any hesitant. He was childlike and his true self washed over his many faces that he had built over the years. Some are born good and some are born bad! he said. And what kind are you? he asked him. A bad man who spent his whole life trying to be good, said Anatoly fully broken. As he too went and sat opposite the dwarf with his hands in his forehead. There was no hand on his shoulder to console him or lift him up. He had lost everyone in his life. The good people left him when he was a bad man. And the bad left him, when he turned good! A magnificent castle you reside in, and no one to share it with! he said to the Russian. Anatoly looked at Seronn like a helpless child would! Join me! He simply said to him. Anatoly nodded!