The Ghostly Nerod Laptsev

Ghostly echo of a man
she once trusted.
A shadow from her past whispers lies.
She senses the danger, but doesn’t know why.

“Ha, ha,” the old man chuckled with satisfaction. “I see you haven’t forgotten your old acquaintances. You didn’t expect to meet me here, did you?”

Anne remained silent, still completely paralyzed with fear. The hunched, withered old man in front of her — a pale shadow of the tall, elegant wizard he had once been — filled her with such revulsion that she could barely look at him.

His eyes looked like two black holes in his deathly pale, axe-hewn face. His hair hung to his shoulders in dirty, matted locks, and his skin seemed ready to peel away at any moment, like the cracked facade of an old plaster wall.

“No one expects to meet me here,” he went on, stroking his scruffy beard. “And that’s just one of the pleasures of my transformation.”

“What... what does that mean?” Anne rasped. “Aren’t you a good wizard anymore?”

“I am the master of this forest,” said Mr. Laptsev quietly. “Good and evil are things that no longer interest me. I am the one who decides everything here — who lives, who dies, even what the weather will be tomorrow. Ha, ha, ha... Do you understand, little red-haired clever girl?”

“No,” Anne answered softly. Her head was spinning, and she felt like vomiting the whole time.

“Very good! Excellent! The less you understand, the better. Because I have serious plans for you, little red-haired devil. You’ll be surprised to hear it, but I’ve chosen you to be...”

“... my first assistant. Yes, yes, that’s right. And someday, if you perform well, maybe something more awaits you...”

“Mr. Laptsev, you must be mad!” Anne snapped. “To become your servant? You couldn’t be more wrong!”

“Are you really going to disappoint me? So I’ve overestimated your intelligence after all? Pity, such a pity. But wait! Perhaps you still don’t realize exactly what you’re turning down.”

He stepped up to a massive desk and picked up a small, elongated object that looked like a TV remote.

“And now, your attention please!” he said solemnly. “No one before you has ever seen what I’m about to show you. What it means — I’ll leave for you to decide.”

Reflections on the scene

⸻ ❦ ⸻

– ❦ –

In this crucial confrontation, Anne comes face-to-face not with an enemy, but with a hero turned monstrous—Mr. Nerod Laptsev, once the kind and mysterious wizard, now transformed into a menacing figure of absolute power. Yet beneath his shocking change lies something even darker: the seductive idea that power alone can control nature and destiny.

The imagery of the black light—a twisted echo of the once life-giving Fire of Eternal Change—is no mere fantasy device. It symbolizes humanity’s dangerous flirtation with forces it cannot truly master. Laptsev believes he can control even volcanic eruptions, harnessing destructive energy without consequence. It’s a chillingly modern allegory for our own reckless faith in technology and control.

Anne’s defiance is equally symbolic. She refuses not only personal power but also the illusion of security offered by tyranny. Her rejection is simple yet profound: she understands the true nature of freedom, which cannot exist in a world ruled by absolute force. This moment is her moral awakening, the choice that defines her growth from child-hero to ethical individual.

Ultimately, this scene warns us that behind every utopian dream of control lies the danger of hubris. True strength is not in domination, but in recognizing the limits of our own power.