Chapter 31

Still, Darras would not miss the chance of dealing with a shadow and darted forward to grasp its neck and wrench it from the rutting man. This naturally caused him to collapse, and the courtesan drew breath to scream, only to stop when she saw the ten-gold coin Darras was holding up. Darras dealt with the wildly struggling shadow before handing over the coin.

“He’s not dead,” Darras said, indicating the merchant. “This is for your silence.”

The courtesan nodded before Darras withdrew and padded back to his entry point.

‘Well done, my love, ’ Erren congratulated Darras. ‘She will say nothing and is currently rousing Dalit, who remembers nothing.’

“I figured it would be a nice bonus for her,” Darras chuckled as he leapt onto the roof of the closest building.

‘It was, ’ Erren agreed. ‘Almost as much as she’d make in a month.’

“Guess the shadow wasn’t active?”

‘Pandering to its host’s needs.’

“Right.”

‘Your next target is the reclusive one, but that’s for tomorrow night.’

“Yes, my love.”

The following evening, Darras headed through the still bustling streets of the merchants’ quarter, heading towards the more affluent area occupied by the self-styled merchant princes. The closely packed nature of the city’s bulk gives way to a more open plan, hence Darras’s travels on foot.

The affluent area was naturally a sealed community, though Darras was not too worried as he’d already been there once and knew a hidden way in, assuming it was still there. It was, and Darras pulled up the entrance before descending into the narrow, well-built tunnel leading into the exclusive area. From there, he sought an exit, as the merchant Zimm was not connected to the extensive network, preferring to live in luxurious isolation.

“Has he noticed his missing group yet?” Darras asked Erren out of curiosity.

‘I believe so, but it feels safe here at the centre of the spider’s web.’

“Against me?” Darras chuckled.

‘Don’t get cocky, my love, ’ Erren chided. ‘Pride comes before a fall.’

“Yes, my love,” Darras smiled.

Darras found an exit leading upwards into a landscaped park and, despite the twilight, admired the view. Darras then slipped away towards Zimm’s walled dwelling, noticing several similar-styled buildings where the elite of Sulimas lived. Once outside and carefully concealed, Darras observed the tall wall surrounding the building, looking for a way over it. Its only gate was guarded by an awake man, who did not appear sleepy.

“Not going to be easy,” Darras murmured.

‘True, but I believe you can get to the top of the wall.’

“Yes, just need to ensure no observers,” Darras replied.

There was a short wait before Erren indicated to Darras that the coast was clear. Darras then raced forward to leap, catch the top of the wall, and silently heave himself over it. From there, Darras slipped into the darkness, heading towards the large house set within beautifully maintained gardens. Darras soon found a side entrance, which, though locked, he could cut the hasp with his mithril blade.

“Step two,” Darras breathed out softly.

‘It’s on a lower floor, and others are moving around as yet, ’ Erren warned.

“I can wait,” Darras replied. “Just need somewhere not in use to do it.”

‘There’s a storeroom here; I doubt it will be used at night, ’ Erren advised.

“Good enough,” Darras nodded before slipping into the room.

Finally, Erren indicated that the house was settled down for the night. Darras then began the hunt for the shadow. It was immediately apparent that security within the house was tight, with many internal doors being locked to prevent access to various areas. However, Darras figured this was to keep honest people in check, not someone determined to gain access no matter what. The sharpness, strength, and slim width of the stiletto-like mithril blade enabled Darras to slice effortlessly through the brass of the door hasps and access the central stairwell. Nor were there any internal guards or a watchman.

‘This is because Zimm is paranoid about being murdered in his sleep, ’ Erren explained.

“Well, I’m not here to murder him,” Darras chuckled. “Not unless he tries to murder me.”

‘The shadow almost certainly will.’

“True.”

Darras explored the lower level, though found it deserted. A stairwell led down to servants’ quarters, though his target was not down there, so Darras ignored it. Once checked, Darras made his way up the stairs, his senses feeling the shadow and its proximity. Only when he reached Zimm’s room did Darras realise he had a problem. The door was locked, not unusually so for this house, but the lock itself was crafted from mithril, and there was no way Darras could cut through it.

‘The hinges aren’t, my love, ’ Erren advised, making Darras smile.

“Well spotted,” Darras murmured, taking the stiletto and using his strength to cut open the hinge.

‘Careful, it does not occupy Zimm at the moment, ’ Erren warned.

“Hope Zimm is not a light sleeper then.”

Fortunately for Darras, the moment he started easing the door from its frame, the shadow made the mistake of attacking him. Hence, Darras could grab the creature’s forming throat and drag it through the narrow gap. That, however, was the easy part as this was an incredibly strong scale, and although Darras’s touch was deadly to it, it fought back desperately, causing Darras a lot of bruising and cuts to his hands and face. Eventually, it went down, its dark form dissipating into the floorboards, and Darras could relax.

“Strong,” Darras murmured as he wrapped a particularly deep cut with a piece of cloth.

‘Yes, it must have been a leader of some kind, ’ Erren agreed. ‘Time to leave now, my love.’

“On my way,” Darras replied, retracing his steps.

Darras left undisturbed, quickly scaling the wall to drop silently down onto the street and return to the park where the hidden entrance was. Though spotting several dark figures moving around, Darras ignored them as they did not approach, correctly suspecting they were either thieves or paramours. The concealed entrance was clear when Darras got to it, and he slipped into the tunnel and swiftly made his way to the other side and safety. From there, Darras made his way to the inn where he was staying, avoiding with Erren’s help any patrols, who, though unlikely to detain Darras, would delay his progress and no doubt look for a bribe to allow him on his way.

After a restful night’s sleep, Darras made his way back to the gateway house and to return to Erren. Though early, the city was awash with rumours of a robbery within the sealed-off merchants’ quarter. That said, there was no mention of a culprit or what, if anything, had been stolen. So, Darras was un-accosted as he paid his levy to enter the gateway and back to his lady.

“Our operations in Sulimas have been disrupted again with the death of three scales, one of them a senior,” Challis informed Casal, the enthroned one.

“A curse upon this agent of the weak goddess,” Casal snarled. “Do we know how?”

“Not as yet; our human resources tell us of a break-in at the residence of the senior scale but little else.”

“What if any extra security measures can we put in place?” Casal asked. “The corruption of Azul to the Dark Lord is important.”

“Other than extra guards, there is little else we can do. Azul is a Human country; our stronger servants would not be welcome there.”

“A pity, but advise the scales to be better on their guard.”

“Welcome back, my love,” Erren greeted Darras as he emerged onto the lawn.

“Good to be home, my Erren,” Darras replied.

“Our friends will be around later, so just relax and get clean for the moment.”

“Council of war?”

“In a sense, though only Rachtelin is currently at war and, at the moment, is not of great concern,” Erren replied.

“Yes, Rigilo will win,” Darras nodded. “The only issue is the looting and theft of anything of value from Rachtelin city itself.”

“A concern, but the economy is recovering nicely in his territories.”

“True, and there’s only so much they can steal, after all.”

“Currently, they are also moving the wealth of Tolner, Tremina and Trasgel to the capital,” Erren replied. “They may well try to burn it to the ground once finished; they’ve lost the Fordelian mercenaries, too.”

“Still a lot of knights under their banners,” Darras nodded.

“True, but desertions grow daily, as do casualties.”

“Timeframe?”

“Another month, I expect,” Erren replied thoughtfully. “Then they’ll run as they will no longer be able to fund their forces from what they have left.”

“Taking Joffar with them?”

“Seems likely,” Erren nodded. “Joffar will allow them a veneer of legitimacy,” Erren replied thoughtfully. “They do have a core of loyalist knights, though even that is dwindling due to a lack of victories.”

“No pitched battle at the end?” Darras asked.

“Seems unlikely now, even then, Rigilo would win.”

“I see.”

The other gods turned up after Darras had eaten a hearty meal. Those who had an agent had brought them along, too. Most were relaxing in the pool, though Pelegard and Klavin were relaxing with Darras and Erren at the poolside.

“Good work in Sulimas,” Pelegard said to Darras. “Those shadows were influencing their merchant guild into supporting and expanding the slave trade by raids into Terrenac and inflaming the Elves there.”

“True,” Erren agreed. “The resulting war would have brought Crusal in and wrecked the economies of all, allowing further extreme measures to control a restless population.”

“Why merchants, though?” Darras asked. “Would it not be better to go after nobles, as they did in Crusal?”