La pêcheuse d'âmes

The story opens on a twilight river where a lone officer hears a desperate, animal‑like scream. He races through reeds and marshes, gun in hand, only to meet a pallid, floating shape that vanishes as quickly as it appears. The eerie encounter leaves him uneasy, and the carriage driver urges him to leave the cursed water behind. Already, the landscape feels haunted, hinting at forces that linger beyond ordinary war.

Zésim Jadewski, recently returned from distant garrisons, finally reaches the ancient town of Kiew and heads toward his family’s estate. The journey takes him across desolate plains, a broken bridge and a ghoul‑lit village where smoke curls from stone chimneys and dogs bark at unseen threats. As night falls, the familiar sight of his childhood home and the warm glow of his mother’s window bring a fleeting sense of peace. Yet the surrounding darkness and strange lights suggest that the peace may be short‑lived.