I, as my video game character in our world.

“Why did your grandfather draw so many paintings of my mother? Where is he? I want to ask him myself."

Desmond shook his head.

Hmm?

"You can't do that anymore."

His voice lost volume so that his last word was nothing more than a low whisper. Still, I could understand everything...

"What happened, Desmond?"

"He fell asleep peacefully on the porch, forever."

A shock went through my body. I know nothing about his grandfather, but he still had a connection with my mother.

"It... I'm sorry."

I didn't know the right words, so I left it at that. I was looking at the other pictures when Desmond interrupted me.

"Here."

He held out two pieces of paper. I took it and began to read.

I'm sorry, I lied to you. Each of you.

The woman... an illusion, especially... world. Your present... hidden in the basement. The other half is in the barn, which she...

I hope... forgive.

Some places of the letters were smeared and therefore illegible.

“That's why I looked in the basement. But the second note is new and not written by Grandpa."

"How do you know it wasn't your grandpa?"

“Look at it, and you will understand. I think this note was left for you."

I opened the note and wanted to start reading, but the letters were utterly unknown to me. Without me doing anything, the letters lit up and turned into words that I could read.

Hello Siana,

Are you all right? I hope so. Still, I would like to apologize... I sent you away to protect you, but some of the shadows found out where you are.

Desmond still has something of me in his possession. Initially, it was meant for you, but I think you don't need it anymore. You could leave it to someone you trust. I don't know where Desmond hid it, but you will find it if you look for traces of magic.

The moment I read the last line, the note ignited on its own, and in the blink of an eye, there was only a pile of ash left.

"What's going on!?"

Desmond turned around when he heard the hiss from the burning of the note.

"The note was for me."

I answered without twisting the mine. I let my concentration wander away from Desmond and, with a snap of my fingers, created a magical shock wave that reacted to magic. It worked like a sound wave, that when it should hit a magical object, it would be thrown back.

There it is!

A reaction came from the corner of the room.

"Did you discover anything?"

Desmond was curious when I cleared the wooden planks out of the corner.

"I guess so."

 

=== In front of Siana's house, POV third-person ===

 

Siana had left Fen and Avila an hour and a half ago. It was time for Fen's walk, so Avila had to go instead of Siana. Fen and Avila had a rather bad relationship, but Siana was missing, so they needed to cooperate.

"Not so fast!"

Avila was being pulled through the park by Fen. His direction was unusually obvious. He was nearing the edge of the forest at the other end of the park.

“Fen what wil-! What? Who are you!?"

Three figures, cloaked in shadows, appeared around them.

"Miss Avila... you must die here!"

One of the shadows jumped towards them, but before it reached them, it was knocked down by Fen. He changed into his original form and pressed the shade down.

“A Fenris Wolf!? Quickly inform the master!"

The second shadow sent the third away, but before he could react. Fen bit the third shadow and let him hung between his teeth.

"Shit!"

The second shadow cursed and wanted to flee when everything turned black around him. Without seeing anything coming, his heart had stopped beating. His body fell lifeless to the ground. Avila looked emotionless at the dead body, and Fen looked a little confused. The other two shadows had committed suicide before Avila could ask the first question.

The shadows were servants who could be created by contract. Their bodies consisted of a black mass, so they were called merely shadow or shadow servants.

"Fen, I think this won't be the last attack!"

 

=== The forest near Desmond Senior's house

 

Seven figures were within sight of the house where Siana was. Six of them were only shadows, but the seventh was their summoner and master. He hid his body under a long hooded coat. Only the lower half of his face could be seen.

"Damn it! Avila destroyed the three shadows. Nevertheless, I will put a damper on her with the death of her servant."

He sent one of the shadows to spy out the house while he created new shadows. His maximum capacity was the ten that he tried to maintain permanently. As he was about to begin, a voice echoed in his head.

“How long does it take!?”

His Master's voice sounded angry, but he knew how the Master could be appeased.

“Master, three of my shadows failed to kill Avila, but her servant is separated from her. I want to catch and torture the servant before we kill her!"

"Well, I want to hear that the mission was a success because I will not tolerate failure!"

The Master's voice disappeared from his head, and he created a new shadow without a problem.

“You two attack from over there. You two from there. And you three are staying here!"

He pointed to the seven shadows and showed them how to proceed. These parted to wait for his order to attack. But he started digging something out of his pocket. He pulled out of his pocket a dark blue stone that resembled a dark sapphire in terms of color. He raised his hand into the air, and the stone lit up, and a huge dome-formed barrier of 1 km in diameter appeared.

He looked at the posted shadows and command to attack! The shadows stormed towards the house.

Suddenly, a light in the house lit up. A magical shock wave followed the light.

"Crap!"

He cursed and created a barrier in front of him and the shadows next to him, but the other shades were worse off because they were instantly destroyed.