Star Angels. The New World. Viktor Khorunzhy

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СКАЧАТЬ started telling Katy everything she knew about knives. Comparing to her sister she was a real expert when it came to weapons.

      “Want to have a closer look at something?” the shop-assistant – a tall brawny guy in camouflage – appeared practically out of nowhere. “What is that you’re interested in?” he granted both girls with a dazzling smile.

      “No, sorry,” Katy got confused. “We’re just looking.”

      The shop-assistant was eyeing her closely.

      “Oh, can I have a look at this dagger?” Alice shifted her admiring glance from the handsome shop-assistant to a no less attractive narrow dagger with a long straight blade and ornate handle.

      The shop-assistant opened the case:

      “That’s dirk, a Scottish cutlass,” he explained, handing it over to Alice. “Carefully, it’s sharp!”

      Alice took the dirk with delight. The shop-assistant then turned to Katy.

      “Well, what would you like to see, young lady?”

      She shook her head.

      “I don’t know a thing about weapons…”

      The guy glared at her with a strange grin.

      “I don’t think that’s really so,” he uttered in a soft voice, as if talking to himself. Then he added. “I would like to show you something anyway…”

      He approached a short wooden stand in the far corner of the room, beckoning Katy to follow. She followed him, feeling strangely worried.

      A sword of wondrous beauty was resting on black velvet. It was about half a meter long, but the fact had not diminished its grandeur one bit. Hemispherical blade was made of greenish metal, its handle made of ivory. Massive and elegant at the same time, it held thousands of unbelievable stories of the battles won and lost, of the great warlords, of life and death…

      “That’s khopesh,” the guy said, “an Egyptiac short sword. It even has a name: Miracle… Can you see the metal’s colour? That’s copper.”

      Katy couldn’t turn her eyes away from the blade. Then she thrust her hand out and took the sword. The cool handle lied in her hand as if it had always been there. Katy made several quite confident kick-offs and lunges. She felt highly weird: as if all of a sudden the sword became a part of her. Perhaps, not her herself, but a part of her memory – the one that had been passed from generation to generation over thousands of years and was now secured somewhere in the farthest corner of her consciousness.

      Katy gave the sword back to the shop-assistant, though she felt no desire to part herself from khopesh. Her body quivered, as if some electrical impulses were running through it.

      The guy in camouflage pretended nothing had happened. As if skillful moves with an ancient sword, performed by a girl that couldn’t make head or tail of weapons, was something quite common and beneath notice. Without looking at Katy, the guy took khopesh and put it into its place.

      Being like in some kind of a magic dream, Katy proceeded to the exit past swords, sabres, daggers and court swords. She felt it – something had changed… She had somehow changed. Having been a slug to her only five minutes ago, the thing came to life now. The weapon had addressed her, now she knew it. Somehow Katy knew that if a rapier, a spear or a dagger had come to her hands, she would have managed either of those weapons as easily as she managed her pans and pots in the kitchen.

      It resembled some kind of delusion, but none the less… “Maybe, should I test it?!” she thought, feeling somehow anxious. She was sure that, as soon as she pointed to any weapon, the shop-assistant would instantly give it to her. What if these feelings were true?… Then her world would turn upside down and her rational and logical mind would fall…

      “Let’s do without adventures,” she grabbed hold of her own escaping argument and sped outside, where Alice had been already waiting for her.

      As in a fog, Katy approached her sister.

      “Where have you been? I’ve lost you,” she said cheerfully. “Have been talked away be the shop-assistant? He’s quite a hottie, just like some kind of a superhero from an action movie!”

      Out in fresh air, Katy felt entirely different. As if charms, had brought up by that magic shop, lost its power over her here, in her usual noisy human world.

      Katy pulled herself together. “Now that’s a kind of imagining…” she thought, feeling glad she hadn’t told her sister anything. Alice would have poked fun at her all day long!

      But still something was happening within, slowly and imperceptibly, leaving her soul with that common anxious feeling of fatal changes…

      The girls had approached a cozy mini-park. Feeling pretty tired, they settled themselves onto a bench opposite a large fountain that rumbled joyfully throwing up water sprays, shining in sunlight.

      “Phew… Now that was one great walk!”

      “Yeah, not bad,” Katy admitted.

      “What do we do now?”

      “Have you forgotten about the report?”

      “Oh, that’s it!” Alice slapped her forehead. “Indeed, how could I forget?”

      “Let’s go!” Katy ruled the roost, having gone up from the bench determinedly. She had her common sense fully recovered: talking about education, she felt on her own ground.

      “Okay then, let’s go,” Alice agreed, less than enthusiastic though. “But after the library we are going for amusement ride. Is that settled?”

      “That is settled,” Katy agreed.

      Striding the alley airily and chattering cheerfully, the girls hadn’t known yet that nothing was settled and their plans were not meant to come true…

      Chapter 3

      A Mysterious Book

      The university library wasn’t just big – it was huge. Daylight pouring through the windows wasn’t enough, so roomy halls were lit by rows of electric lamps, stretched along the ceiling.

      It was truly a book realm. Each one entering here lowered one’s voice involuntarily and strived to tread more silently. A kind of special atmosphere of science, wisdom and imagination was flowing around here. Katy always felt as if not books, but people who had written them were eyeing her from the numerous bookshelves. For this reason, thrusting out her hand to take another folio, she was choosing whom she would like to have a chat with.

      The library had been one of Katy’s favourite places. Consequently, she was glad to have come here today of all days after the chain of weird and mysterious events, had been taking place with disturbing regularity lately. She hoped to relax, having lost herself in the flow of some interesting information.

      Alice had some contrary opinion on that account. She was looking cheerlessly at long bookcases, packed up with books. Three of them – terribly long shelves – were solely devoted to Ancient Egypt themed literature.

      “Now why in the world have I truckled myself to that report?” she thought with aggravation.

      Not СКАЧАТЬ