Quasimodo, and you know, the white uniform suits you, you dont erase it, Egor mocked.
Philip went into the room trying to forget about all the bad things, because now he had to turn all his attention to his sick grandmother.
Filippok, my boy, how are you doing at school? «What is it?» she asked gently and quietly.
«Im fine, Grandma,» he said, turning away to wipe away a few tears.
Grandma croaked something else and closed her eyes.
I feel bad for my granddaughters. I probably wont keep my promise to live long Filippok. Im sorry, bunny.
Grandma hold on, Ill put you on your feet, youll see, the boy said firmly and left the room.
Philip took out of his briefcase a piece of paper with a phone number that Natasha had written to him yesterday.
«Its time to call everything,» he thought decisively and took the home phone in the hallway, then went to his room and closed the door so that grandma wouldnt hear anything.
Philip dialed the number.
No one answered the phone for a long time, but they still picked up the phone.
«Hello,» a mans voice said into the phone and fell silent.
Hello, are you a sorcerer?
There was a slight silence on that wire, then it was interrupted by a deep sigh and the voice continued.
I have a name, young man, just like you.
Im sorry, I was probably tactless just now. My name is Philip, my grandmother is seriously ill. They called an ambulance yesterday, but I didnt give my grandmother to them. And your neighbor Natasha gave me your phone number last night.
«My name is Celestine. Im a witcher, I did the right thing by calling me. Describe everything in detail now?
Philip, in a low voice, sometimes even turning to a whisper, began to describe the condition of his grandmother.
Soon Celestine interrupted him:
Ill make a decoction for Grandma now and Ill be there in three hours.
Exactly three hours later, the doorbell rang.
On the threshold, as it seemed to Philip, there was a beautiful woman with long hair.
The boy froze in surprise, silently examining his guest. But the witcher broke the silence first.
So I came, Philip, in three hours as promised.
The witchers voice was male, exactly the same as on the phone.
Come in, said Philip and let the guest into the apartment.
The boy looked at Celestin in surprise and somehow incredulously, so the witcher understood the situation, and in order to destroy the young mans doubts, he said:
There is one rule that will definitely be useful to you and not once. Looks are very deceptive. And as for me, my appearance is always different. Sometimes Im even um an insect.
Are you kidding? Philip asked incredulously.
Im not a simple person, I have huge magical abilities, you cant even imagine how strong a sorcerer I am, answered mysteriously Celestine.
«I wish I had that kind of strength,» the boy said dreamily.
Celestins smile appeared briefly on his face and soon disappeared.
Well, my friend, shall we proceed to the magic ritual? «Whats the matter?» the witcher asked.
Philip wanted to answer that he should start, but a quiet grandmothers voice was heard from the room.
Philip, my boy, are you at home?
Y-s-s grandmother, you must not know anything, Philip took Celestine by the hand and led him to his room. Stay here for now.
The boy left the witcher alone for a while and went to his grandmother.
«Granddaughters, youve done your homework, because you have to go to school tomorrow,» she said softly
Dont worry, Grandma, everything is fine. Can I go to my room now?
Go, honey, go, and Ill take a nap for now.
Philip found the witcher in his room, looking at a painting that depicted a castle and a girl with a candelabra in her hands and burning candles.
You draw beautifully, you are a very talented young man, I want to tell you, Celestin said without even turning his head in his direction.
And how did you know that I drew it?
Who did you invite to your place? The Witcher! But you doubt his abilities yourself. Why is that? I know for a fact that this is your job, he said. Now lets get down to business. Since your grandmother is not sleeping right now, I will not be able to perform this magic ritual at the moment. Therefore, I give you this vessel, in which there is a decoction.
«What am I supposed to do with him?» Philip asked, confused.
You have to do everything yourself.
Im not a witcher. «Thats why I wont be able to do magic,» Philip said softly so that his grandmother wouldnt hear him.
«You dont have to do magic. I brought a decoction, you will lightly apply it on your wrists, forehead, smear your temples and add two drops of tea, compote, jelly to the drink. But I crushed this bag of herbs and roots, and you put a pinch in a metal saucer, hold it over a burning candle and walk around the apartment, but not for more than a minute.
What if its longer?
Dont do that, there is a mandrake root added.
Philip did not understand what kind of root it was, he was not interested in it at all and he did not ask anything else.
Well, how much will I owe for your work?
And in return, I will only ask for a picture, I need it, which is hanging on the wall in your room.
«Take whatever you want, but not her,» the boy said.
Since she is so dear to you, then draw me a similar one.
«Ill try, Philip said.
At that moment their eyes met, and Philip realized how strong and domineering the witchers character was.
Ill go, if you need my help, call. «And dont forget Ill be waiting for the painting,» Celestine said, hiding behind the front door.
Her voice came from Grandmas room again:
Philip Philip
Im coming Grandma.
Philip quickly put away everything that the witcher had given him and went to his grandmother.
I just now saw in my granddaughters dream a huge, beautiful palace, and in the circle of this palace, right on its walls, huge scary birds were sitting, they looked like gargoyles. Another black crow circled in the sky. And the palace, despite all its splendor, for some reason seemed alarming and dangerous.
«Whatever Grandma dreams about, theyre all dreams and dont pay attention to them,» Philip tried to calm her down.
«Thats right. Yes, thats just not the first time I have this dream.
Grandma, well, where in our city is such a palace, and even with gargoyles? «Well, tell me from where?» asked Philip with a smile on his face.
Yes, what are you? I didnt say he was from our city. Our houses are crookedly built, what magnificent castles there can be. The one that I dreamed about, its like a fairy tale. And Im not ready to tell you anything reasonable about it yet. But one thing I can say is that he is fraught with some kind of danger.
«Youre my grandmothers storyteller,» Philip laughed.
Go, granddaughter, its already late. And you need to get some sleep, get up early tomorrow and go to school again.
Good night, Grandma.
Good night, granddaughter.
The next day Philip came home from school, Grandma was lying quietly on the bed, apparently asleep.
He took out the hidden vessel in his room in the table and quietly approached his grandmother. I dripped liquid on cotton wool and anointed it everywhere.
Good night, granddaughter.
The next day Philip came home from school, Grandma was lying quietly on the bed, apparently asleep.
He took out the hidden vessel in his room in the table and quietly approached his grandmother. I dripped liquid on cotton wool and anointed it everywhere.
Then he took a pinch of the mixture out of the bag and put it on a metal saucer, lit a candle and walked quietly around the apartment. Philip walked around his grandmothers room, then he slowly wandered into his own and stood by his favorite painting.
Suddenly, a purple mist appeared in the room, it completely covered the floor from below, and then began to rise even higher and soon it just covered Philip.
The smoke penetrated his lungs, he felt a burning pain at first, and then it became easier for him and the fog dissipated.
Before Philip appeared a huge forest, with its tall, sturdy trees and mighty branches.
Where am I? Philip said unexpectedly to himself, he was so confused that he even began to talk to himself.
«Youre a young man in Elbrus,» someone from the forest immediately answered him.
Whos here? The young man croaked in fright.
Turn around,» a voice answered him.
Philip turned around, but there was no one around.
What kind of jokes are you having,» Philip said sternly and took the stick that was next to him.
Yes, what kind of jokes can there be, look in front of you and you will see me.
The young man was taken aback when he saw a huge living eye in front of him. He was looking right out from under a large root of a tree that looked like an oak.
«Wow, how did you get in there, Philip said.
And you, young man, think less, eat more. In our country, its only like that. And this place is called the Kingdom of Shadows, which is located in the city of Elbrus.
Thats how it is. Even the castle. It turns out that my grandmother predicted me correctly.
«Is Grandma here too?» the eye was surprised.
No, Im alone. And youre generally who and how you talk to me, you only have one eye sticking out from under a tree.
My name is Wise Zri and I am already two hundred and ten years old.
Philip laughed.
And dont be afraid of the inhabitants of the castle. Go straight down the path, youll see a small bridge, cross the road, and youre already there.
Thank you, Philip said.
But the Wise Man did not answer him, he lowered his eyelid and became completely invisible.
Philip confidently went on and then he felt lightness in his body, the old stooping posture was gone, his body obeyed and it was easy to breathe.
Im not a hunchback anymore! it was spinning in his head. Im not a hunchback!
CHAPTER 2
SHADOW CASTLE
Philip walked along the path that led to the river, it stretched along the high and dense grass. As the Wise Zri said, she led him to a small bridge that connected the two banks, and on the opposite side stood a gloomy and majestic castle.
Of course, Philip immediately realized that he had fallen into the picture that he had painted, and not so long ago hung it on the wall in his small room.
Here in this environment that now surrounded him, only one thing is missing, his beloved girl with a candelabra and burning candles. Philip, despite the soul-searing cold that this place exuded, went forward to be closer to the lonely, gloomy castle.
The young man walked up to the castle and raised his head high up. It was a high castle, it consisted of a donjon a high tower and several small towers. And on the walls sat like living gargoyles made of steel.
Well, well,» said Philip in amazement. How could it happen that I ended up in my painting?
But most of all he was struck by the silence and silence that reigned next to this strange and frightening castle.
Philip passed by small towers, between them there was a drawbridge on chains with a falling lattice. Then he walked along a smooth stone path that led to the main entrance.
He took hold of the handle and pulled the huge, iron door towards him, it creaked loudly and began to open slowly, obediently. The door was so heavy that he had to put a lot of effort.
When the young man went inside, he opened his mouth in amazement, so luxurious was the castle inside. But in all this fabulous splendor there was only one thing missing life.
«Is anyone here?» The young man shouted, looking around.
And only his last words echoed.
Anyone
A huge table with many chairs attached to it stood in the center, a crystal chandelier hung on the ceiling, it was turned on and illuminated the hall.
The owner of the house or the hostess! Philip shouted loudly again and went forward, there was a white door at the end of the hall, he easily opened it and entered the room.
There was no response.
There was a cozy bedroom in the other room. The bed was covered with a dazzlingly beautiful pink bedspread and the room itself was in artificial colors. The owner of such a bedroom had exquisite taste.
Alerted in all this decoration that it was not at all cozy.
And a huge spider web hung in clusters in the corners, and the spiders were the main owners of the castle.
The young man saw a staircase at the exit of the room, which led to the second floor. He slowly climbed it and froze.
There was a picture of him on the wall next to the stairs, but his clothes were not the same as they are now, but old, similar in style to the 18th century.