Shadows in Manhattan

[00:00:07] Season 1, The Staff of Light Episode 1, Shadows in Manhattan

[00:00:19] Let's be honest, my grandfather drove me crazy. He was a kind man and all, who truly cared and looked out for me.

[00:00:26] But I was pretty much a prisoner in his townhouse. Sure, I could walk outside, but what was there to do?

[00:00:32] It took all my willpower not to sneak away on a regular basis. The only relief was the day when

[00:00:39] grandfather and I would see the latest motion picture at the Ziegfeld Theater and then walk

[00:00:44] to the Persian Garden Restaurant for dinner. I lived for those days, and it was during one of

[00:00:51] them when I forever left the prison of my grandfather's apartment behind. It was a Saturday,

[00:00:57] and it started out ordinary enough. We had just watched Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

[00:01:03] And we're on our way to the Persian Garden. I grabbed a broken broom handle off the curb

[00:01:08] and pretended I was Robin Hood, practicing sword thrusts and swings against mailboxes

[00:01:13] and trees along 6th Avenue. Sometimes, I'd have to pause as the passing horses

[00:01:18] and automobiles stirred the dust and made me cough, but I didn't mind. It was better than

[00:01:25] the dry, stale air of my grandfather's townhouse. We were walking along, and grandfather didn't

[00:01:31] seem to mind my antics until we turned into the alley leading to the restaurant,

[00:01:35] and I smacked one of the metal drums stacked at the entrance.

[00:01:40] Dark brown fluid splashed over the edge. My nose was assaulted with the noxious smell

[00:01:46] of rotting straw and horse manure. Grandfather stopped, turned, pointed his cane at me, and growled.

[00:01:54] Watch it now, Tommy. You're wearing your nice clothes. I looked at my khaki pants and white

[00:01:59] cotton shirt and then at the brown liquid on the cobblestones. While the length of the alley

[00:02:04] was mostly empty, the entrance was stacked with large metal containers filled with dirt

[00:02:09] and horse waste scraped from the streets and only emptied once a week.

[00:02:15] Mind your step, he added, and started walking again. I stepped over a pool of liquid manure.

[00:02:21] Glad none had splashed on my leather shoes. He took particular joy in our trips down the

[00:02:28] quiet alley. He once told me that before my parents passed away, they had forbidden him

[00:02:34] from taking the shortcut to the restaurant. As if that would stop him, he talked of

[00:02:39] taking the dangerous lonely road, and I humored his belief that an alley could be dangerous by

[00:02:44] stabbing at imaginary thieves as I rushed to catch up. Grandfather was a tall man with the

[00:02:50] same gray eyes we all seemed to have in my family, and he had wild white hair that he kept

[00:02:56] slicked back in the style of his youth. His hair would resist his efforts, however,

[00:03:01] and often stuck out in odd directions, causing him to constantly slide his fingers across

[00:03:06] the top of his head in an attempt to tame the unruly mess. He didn't smile much or laugh,

[00:03:13] and there was an intensity about him that was often scary. But he was a kind man,

[00:03:19] and for as much as he drove me crazy, I did love him dearly. The alley was long,

[00:03:25] running the length of the theater and the department store that backed onto it from

[00:03:29] Seventh Avenue, and was always empty, the drums of manure and dark brown clotted liquid

[00:03:35] pooling beneath them, acting as an effective deterrent to everyone but my grandfather.

[00:03:41] As always, he set a pace that was a brisk walk for his long legs and a gangly jog for me.

[00:03:48] My 14-year-old legs always a half step behind and trying to catch up. The sharp tap tap tap

[00:03:54] of his cane whenever he walked had become another part of his character like his firm

[00:03:59] handshakes and the constant fixing of his hair. The taps were so loud and distinct that everyone

[00:04:06] in the neighborhood knew when grandfather was approaching long before they saw him. I matched

[00:04:12] grandfather's stride a few steps behind him and returned my attention to stabbing and parrying

[00:04:18] imaginary foes. We were more than halfway down the alley when the rhythmic swinging

[00:04:23] and tapping of his cane ceased. My grandfather stopped so suddenly that I almost ran into him.

[00:04:30] As I regained my balance, he tossed his cane to his right hand and with his left arm pushed against

[00:04:36] my shoulder and maneuvered me behind him as he slowly turned to his left.

[00:04:42] Stay directly behind me, he whispered. Don't run, don't hide, just stay behind me.

[00:04:49] I had no idea what was happening but I did as my grandfather said, his voice calm but commanding.

[00:04:56] He glanced at me and I saw a look in his eyes that I had never seen before.

[00:05:01] He turned away and looked at the wall across the alley. I peeked around but saw nothing but

[00:05:08] a dark elongated shadow from a small balcony on the second floor. It was a sunny day so it

[00:05:14] was easy to see everything along the wall. There was nothing out of the ordinary. I gripped the

[00:05:20] broomstick in my hand, prepared for anything. Grandfather stared at the shadow, unmoving.

[00:05:26] He crouched down slightly holding his cane in both hands like a staff. His knuckles were white.

[00:05:34] Grandfather, what is it? Shhh, stay behind me. I thought I saw a flicker in the shadow and

[00:05:40] my grandfather suddenly stood upright. Vingrush, I know you are there. You may as well come down.

[00:05:48] I don't know why you are skulking about but your efforts were obviously for naught.

[00:05:52] The normal looking shadow started to move. It was not the slow natural movement of

[00:05:58] shadow reacting to light. It moved as if it had a life of its own. The darkness was so alien

[00:06:04] and unnatural that my hand started to shake. I grabbed grandfather's arm and steadied myself.

[00:06:12] Please let go Tommy. I may need to move with some suddenness and, as I said, it is safer for you

[00:06:18] behind me not holding on to me. He nudged me with the end of his cane. I felt an immense

[00:06:24] power as the cane touched me. If you've ever been near a lightning strike or inside an

[00:06:30] electricity station you'll know what I mean. It wasn't being touched by power, it was being

[00:06:35] touched by the presence of power. I peered again at the wall in the direction my grandfather was

[00:06:41] staring. The shadow spread like a black stain. What is it grandfather? Shhh, Tommy. Vingrush,

[00:06:49] I am late for a dinner appointment with my friends from Persepolis or perhaps we should

[00:06:54] join them together? My grandfather slammed the brass tip of his cane to the ground where it

[00:07:00] let out a loud crack. Immediately the shadow on the wall started to drip like fresh paint.

[00:07:06] It oozed down, crossed the alley toward us and then coalesced in front of my grandfather

[00:07:12] who was still tense but glanced back at me and winked. The shadow on the ground was roughly

[00:07:17] circular and looked like a hole in the alley. A deep baritone voice came from the hole. It had

[00:07:24] a barely perceptible echo almost like it was spoken from the end of a long pipe, its voice

[00:07:30] echoing off the sides until it got to us. I couldn't understand what it was saying but

[00:07:36] the accent was oddly English sounding. None taken my grandfather responded although I expected

[00:07:42] more from you Vingrush. The shadow spoke some more sounding almost apologetic as its words

[00:07:49] echoed from the ground. My grandfather laughed. You presumed to ask me for my staff? Do you

[00:07:57] forget all I have done for you? He tapped his cane to the ground again and the shadow appeared

[00:08:02] to get smaller but only for a moment. The shadow responded with a short phrase

[00:08:08] and my grandfather let out a short laugh. Be reasonable. What is reasonable about giving

[00:08:14] up the staff? The shadow then growled and spoke again. My grandfather no longer sounded amused

[00:08:21] as he stated in a clear, firm voice. Baseless threats do not become you Vingrush. The creature

[00:08:29] growled again and with purposeful slowness rose from the alley into a vague human-like form.

[00:08:36] An arm reached out and pointed over my grandfather's shoulder behind us. I looked around and saw

[00:08:42] another shadow seeping down the wall. My grandfather saw it too and in a blur twirled the cane in his

[00:08:48] left hand and then plunged it down against the cobblestone. It let out a crack like thunder.

[00:08:55] The shadow creature in front of us fell back a few feet while my grandfather yelled

[00:08:59] RUN TOMMY! I held my ground. Errol Flynn would not flee and neither would I.

[00:09:05] My grandfather was old. It was time for me to take care of him. I moved forward a step and swung

[00:09:11] the broomstick at the shadow. There was no resistance. The end of the stick swung through

[00:09:16] the black air followed by my hand. As my fingers touched the shadow they immediately went numb.

[00:09:22] My momentum carried the rest of my hand into the creature. I cried out and yanked my hand back.

[00:09:30] The broomstick fell from my fingers into the depths of the blackness. Thankfully,

[00:09:35] my hand emerged but it was cold and without feeling. Tommy, no!

[00:09:40] Grandfather grabbed my other arm and hauled me away. The force of his grip was painful.

[00:09:45] He dragged me behind him as he sprinted toward the theater alley entrance.

[00:09:50] I looked over my shoulder but could only see blurs of black.

[00:09:53] As suddenly as he had stopped earlier, grandfather stopped again.

[00:09:58] This time I did collide with him but before I could fall to the ground

[00:10:02] he grabbed me and held me close. Tommy, that was a very foolish thing you did.

[00:10:08] Now you must listen to me. Whatever you do, do not move. I need you to stay as close to

[00:10:14] me as possible. I couldn't tell why we had stopped. We were just outside one of the emergency

[00:10:20] exits from the theater, standing close to the door. I looked back and squeezed my hand into a

[00:10:26] fist even though I couldn't feel it. The entire alley was an oozing mass of black

[00:10:31] moving toward us. The horrific thought of being engulfed by unfeeling nothingness

[00:10:37] took away any thought of fighting the shadows off.

[00:10:41] Grandfather, shouldn't we try to run or maybe break in through that door to get away?

[00:10:47] My grandfather looked at me. He didn't seem scared but he had a grim look on his face.

[00:10:53] No Tommy, these are shadows. The only thing that can stop them is light.

[00:10:58] I looked around. The entire alley was bathed in light. The sun wasn't directly overhead

[00:11:05] but it was still well before nightfall. But we're surrounded by light. Artificial, light.

[00:11:13] He pointed with his cane and above the exit door was a floodlight which glowed dullly.

[00:11:18] It was meant to illuminate the door and surroundings at night but had little effect

[00:11:22] during the day. I looked down and couldn't see the outline of the floodlight on the ground

[00:11:27] even though I knew it was shining down on us. You may not see it Tommy but the light from

[00:11:33] that bulb above is protecting us from the shadows. He paused as if considering his options.

[00:11:40] He ran his hand over his head putting his disheveled hair back in place.

[00:11:45] In a quieter tone seemingly more to himself than to me he added,

[00:11:50] now how to escape? Shadows are powerful. He knotted grimly. Powerful.

[00:11:58] What are shadows? Should we call for help? We weren't far from the theater end of the alley and I was

[00:12:04] certain we could get someone's attention. They are magical creatures Tommy and no we cannot

[00:12:10] call for help. We would just put others at risk. Magical creatures, of course they were.

[00:12:18] I had always been told that they had disappeared from earth decades before I was born and yet

[00:12:23] here they were. I looked up at my grandfather. He stared intently down the alley. How could my

[00:12:30] grandfather who walked with a cane and rarely left our apartment know anything about magical

[00:12:35] creatures? My curiosity left me as I followed my grandfather's gaze down the alley. From a distance

[00:12:43] what looked like a wall of black was actually an approaching collection of individual moving

[00:12:48] shapes. Several came directly up to us but wouldn't get any closer than a couple of feet.

[00:12:55] Two of them grew into the vaguely human shape I had seen earlier while the rest surrounded us in

[00:13:01] a sea of black. One of the shadows spoke but my grandfather didn't reply. What did he say

[00:13:08] grandfather? He said I'm clever. He paused. Clearly the shadow said something else that

[00:13:16] grandfather didn't want to relay to me. I looked around a shadow ooze toward us from further down

[00:13:22] the alley. I watched as it stretched and twisted itself into a human form. It pulled its arm back

[00:13:29] and then whipped it forward. A rock clattered off the wall above the door. They were trying

[00:13:35] to break the light bulb. They could do it too. It was a bare bulb unprotected from vandals

[00:13:41] by a cover or metal cage. Another rock flew over our heads. Grandfather stood tall and grasped

[00:13:49] his cane in both hands. He pulled his arms in opposite directions. Over his right shoulder

[00:13:55] I could see the top of his cane which now ended in a bright sword while in his left hand was the

[00:14:01] bottom of his wooden cane. The engravings glowed. As soon as the sword was free

[00:14:06] I noticed that my grandfather was twisting it oddly in his hand. There were murmurs coming from

[00:14:12] the shadows and as I looked out I saw several of the standing ones dart one way or another.

[00:14:18] Another rock flew but as it clattered off the mark I realized what my grandfather was doing.

[00:14:23] He was using the bright steel of his blade as a mirror reflecting the light from the floodlight

[00:14:28] out toward the shadows that were throwing rocks. The light didn't appear strong enough to do

[00:14:34] more than cause pain but it was working. More shadows joined in throwing rocks but my grandfather's

[00:14:41] hand waved like a symphony conductor wielding a baton sending invisible light across the alley

[00:14:47] in all directions. Even more shadows arose. I felt like I was on some alien landscape

[00:14:53] surrounded by black stalagmites. To my horror a rock struck my grandfather in the shoulder

[00:14:59] twisting his body back the blow clearly hurt but did not knock him off his feet.

[00:15:05] Grandfather smiled. I wondered how long it would take them to think of that.

[00:15:11] He made a gesture with the fingers holding the wooden part of the cane in his left hand.

[00:15:16] Immediately a warmth surrounded us. Another rock flew toward grandfather but it thudded

[00:15:23] as if it hit a mattress or heavy draperies. It slid harmlessly to the ground.

[00:15:28] What was that? I whispered the words to myself but grandfather answered.

[00:15:35] It is my sad excuse for a shield spell. Never was much good at magic about the only thing

[00:15:42] I can stop are slowly thrown rocks. I never thought it would actually come in handy.

[00:15:49] Seeing that their rocks couldn't harm us the shadows redoubled their efforts

[00:15:53] at smashing the light bulb. They made very little progress with my grandfather reflecting

[00:15:59] rays of artificial light at them. Can you stop them from hitting the light? I asked.

[00:16:05] In a grim voice grandfather replied. We're lucky I am stopping them from hitting us.

[00:16:11] I asked him what he meant but he ignored me. After what seemed like an hour my legs were

[00:16:17] burning. The feeling was returning to the hand that had touched the shadow while it

[00:16:22] was leaving my legs. I don't know how long a human can stand in one spot but I felt that

[00:16:28] I was near my limit. All the while my grandfather held his ground waving his sword around in a

[00:16:34] series of graceful and never-ending arcs. I couldn't imagine how his arms let alone

[00:16:40] his legs felt. He must have been tiring however as a rock hit the floodlight with

[00:16:46] a horrifying clink. It flickered but did not break. This seemed to spur the shadows on

[00:16:52] and more of them braved the reflected light from my grandfather's sword to hurl rocks.

[00:16:58] Several of the shadows were within arm's reach waiting for our protective light to

[00:17:03] shatter into darkness. I couldn't stop myself from staring at them. They're black

[00:17:08] so complete that I felt myself on the edge of a bottomless dark pit.

[00:17:13] They made no sound but I felt warm air like a breath against my cheek.

[00:17:18] The urge to run was nearly overwhelming. The shadows became too much for my grandfather

[00:17:24] to control with his sword. Another rock hit the light. But again it didn't break.

[00:17:30] I looked up at him. His face was frozen in intense concentration. I heard the sound of glass

[00:17:36] shattering and prepared myself for whatever death a shadow would deliver. But I didn't feel glass

[00:17:42] shards falling on us. And when I looked up I saw that the light was still glowing. It wasn't the

[00:17:49] sound of glass shattering I heard but a shriek. All around us the shadows flowed with great

[00:17:55] speed up the walls and down the alley. Toward the restaurant end a large smiling man approached.

[00:18:02] It was Mr. Oz the Metru D from the Persian Garden Restaurant. His name was actually

[00:18:07] Bear Oz but I had called him Mr. Oz for as long as I could remember. He was carrying a box flashlight

[00:18:14] and as he pointed it at a shadow he would laugh and say boo. My grandfather sheathed

[00:18:21] the sword back in his cane and walked up to Mr. Oz who seemed to find the whole situation

[00:18:26] quite amusing. I followed with my hand gripping my grandfather's shirt sleeve.

[00:18:32] Every normal shadow we passed looked ominous. My goodness what is the world coming to?

[00:18:39] There isn't a worse race I can think of for assassinating someone in the city that never

[00:18:43] sleeps than shadows. Mr. Oz laughed again. They should have just waited for you to

[00:18:49] take a camping trip. He turned to me. What do you think Tommy? He flipped on the flashlight

[00:18:56] and shown it in my face. Boo! Grandfather wasn't amused. He stopped in front of Mr. Oz and replied

[00:19:04] well apparently they didn't want to wait. Sighing he added I'm getting old and careless Baras.

[00:19:11] Why would I leave the house without a flashlight? Mr. Oz slapped grandfather on the back and

[00:19:17] held up the box connected to the electric lamp. You would walk around the city carrying this?

[00:19:23] He smiled. Besides why would you leave the house with a flashlight? We've had 20 years of peace

[00:19:29] and much of that is due to your kindness to the shadows. My grandfather grunted

[00:19:36] peace, kindness. The fact that we are using these words tells me how old and careless we

[00:19:42] have gotten Baras. Mr. Oz nodded solemnly but immediately smiled again. You are too hard

[00:19:49] on yourself. Who would expect the shadows to do such a thing? They have been quiet for all this time.

[00:19:56] No Baras, I was foolish to expect, to hope, for peace and quiet. He looked at me and his frown

[00:20:03] lessened a bit. I could feel the tension leaving his body under the iron grip I had on his sleeve.

[00:20:10] This is no one's fault but my own. He reached down and put his hand on my shoulder.

[00:20:17] It's about time Tommy learned about his legacy. Come, let's talk about this over dinner. It is

[00:20:23] dangerous business when the shadows not only break their treaty but attack the one who saved them.

[00:20:29] Mr. Oz fell in step with grandfather. Indeed my friend. The shadows are lucky Vingrosh was

[00:20:36] not there. He would have torn them to shreds for attacking their savior. Vingrosh was there.

[00:20:43] The news must have stunned him. As Mr. Oz stopped suddenly, grabbed my grandfather's shoulder and

[00:20:50] spun him around to face him. Are you sure, Pelavon? I find this almost impossible to believe.

[00:20:57] I am sure. He said that my time was done in this world and that he wanted the staff.

[00:21:02] My grandfather shrugged and started walking toward the restaurant.

[00:21:07] He was surprised. I didn't just give it to him and I can't blame him. My time is done, Baras.

[00:21:14] Mr. Oz was quiet but I noticed him shaking his head. As he entered the door in front of us,

[00:21:20] he turned over the sign in the window so that it showed closed.