Chapter 45

Dremmech, the central port city of Crusal, was a powder keg of tension. The past week had been marred by a relentless series of clashes with Asulian ships, leaving most, if not all, inhabitants bracing for an inevitable war. The actions of the Khedivate, the ruling class of Crusal, once seen as benign if corrupt, were now viewed with cynical suspicion. The common folk, their trust eroded, speculated on how the Khedivate would exploit the escalating tensions for their own gain.

Darras, whose skin tones were as similar to Asulian’s as ever, got a lot of attention at the gateway, though fortunately, his accent did mark him as non-Asulian. Nevertheless, Darras got a lot of attention and hostile looks as he made his way to the central market to set up a stall selling the gaudy jewellery the Crusalians preferred.

Fortunately, the market manager, a familiar face from his last visit, offered Darras a booth without hesitation. As he sold his wares and gathered information, the air was thick with discontent. The common folk, their voices a chorus of grumbling, directed their ire at the High Admiral and his cabal. Unusually, they were not attempting to quell the tensions but were fanning the flames.

“Guess we know where the shadows are,” Darras murmured after a particularly good sale.

‘Yes, my love, just as we suspected.’

“Sinking ships won’t win a war, though, and we know their armies can’t easily get to Asul.”

‘True, they just don’t have the capacity to do more than raid.’

“No grumbling about press gangs either.”

‘Or reports on Asulian agitators.’

“Don’t suppose this is just a trap to draw me out?”

‘It might be; it appears more smoke than flames.’ Erren agreed.

“I’ll still check the Admiralty compound,” Darras murmured before turning to a customer.

The Admiralty compound was typical of Crusalian construction in that it was a self-contained district separate from the various other districts of the town. It was also heavily guarded, and many alert guards guarded it.

“If it’s a trap, they are going about it the wrong way,” Darras chuckled as he observed the compound from a high vantage point.

‘Yes, there looks to be no easy way in to trap you.’

“There are shadows in there, though.”

‘Yes, I can sense six of them, ’

“Hello, they appear to have an official visitor,” Darras replied, noting an ornate carriage. “Do you recognise the crest?”

‘The great seal of Korch, ’ Erren sighed. ‘So that’s what they are up to ... again.’

“Negotiating passage for their troops?” Darras asked.

‘Yes, and likely to get it too; that will be why the shadows are here, ’ Erren replied.

“I’ll deal with the Korchians if they get possessed, as is likely,” Darras murmured.

‘More than likely, though these negotiations will take some time, even with the shadows meddling.’

“I’ll make a start tonight; making an attempt in daylight is out of the question.”

Darkness fell shortly after, and Darras noted the carriage of the Korchian delegation pulling away. Erren confirmed there were no obvious possessed amongst them. The number of guards decreased, and with the delegation gone, the need for security was not that great. Hence, Darras ghosted through the grounds and entered through the side of the building, silently forcing the outside door open.

‘There are still six here, ’ Erren confirmed.

Darras remained silent as he moved between various offices, occasionally avoiding foot traffic through the building. All his senses told him the shadows were on an upper level, and this was part of his plan if he had to make a quick exit. What foot traffic there was were cleaning staff, and they, for the most part, were going from one room to the other, mopping and dusting. These Darras easily avoided as he finally made his way up the stairs, his faint sense of nausea at the proximity of the shadows growing at every step.

‘They are in here, ’ Erren confirmed as Darras reached a sturdy door.

“Let’s hope this goes quietly,” Darras replied before opening the door.

The possessed were sitting around a table, strewn with documents and were slow to react as Darras shut the door behind him and moved to the nearer possessed to rip the shadow from his body. The now free man slumped unconscious in his seat as Darras moved towards the next nearest possessed, ensuring none could leave the room.

“Get him, kill him!” a shadow cried out in hissing tones just before Darras ripped it from its host. The first shadow was now dissipating into nothingness.

“Not happening,” Darras muttered as he rounded against a now-armed possessed who collapsed at a blow from Darras, who stripped the possessing shadow from the man.

This delayed the process of extermination, as Darras could only deal with two shadows at a time. However, this did not stop Darras from using the shadows as shields, and he landed several powerful blows against the now desperate possessed. Darras’s armour stood him in good stead as a sword blow cut into its upper layer but could not penetrate the mithril lining. This did focus Darras’s attention on the creature as he dodged another blow and used his now free hand to deal with the shadow possessing the man. The remaining two shadows were now looking to escape, though Darras was able to quickly deal with them, leaving six unconscious men on the ground.

‘Well done, my love, ’ Erren congratulated Darras. ‘The room is soundproofed to prevent eavesdroppers and spies; no one knows you were here.’

Just got to get out now,” Darras smiled, coming down from an adrenaline high.

‘I’d like you to burn some of these documents to prevent any ideas getting ... regurgitated.’

“Of course, my love,” Darras replied, moving the selected documents into a lit stove.

‘Now you need to check the Korchian delegation, just in case.’

“Hopefully uninfected, but best to check,” Darras nodded.

‘Yes, they conceal themselves well when they want to, ’ Erren agreed.

“True,” Darras murmured as he slipped from the room and silently left the building, avoiding the few still moving about.

The Korchian delegation was staying in their trade delegation compound, which seemed odd to Darras as he had expected any talks or negotiations to occur in Hilliam, the capital of Crusal.

‘It’s because these are supposedly secret negotiations, ’ Erren explained.

“By the high Admiral?”

‘Yes, if it were the High General, Asul would be warned.’

“Ah,” Darras smiled

The Korchian compound was semi-dark, with only a few lamps, mostly above entrances. This made it easy for Darras to climb the wall and stay concealed as he checked over the various doors until he found access to the cellar by a hatchway. From there, he went upstairs past a dozing guard and checked the occupants of each room he came to.

“Yes, we have one,” Darras murmured, his senses finally detecting the traces of a shadow.

‘Yes, my love, very well concealed, ’ Erren agreed.

Following his senses, Darras tracked down the shadow’s host, eventually tracking the man to a room where he was using a scrying stone to communicate with Challis, the second in command of the mortal side of the Dark Lord’s machinations.

“How goes the plan to influence Korch to permit Crusalian troops to cross their borders?” Challis asked.

“It appeared to be going well, though I have lost the link between my fellow scales,” the shadow replied in hissing tones.

“You suspect this agent of a lesser goddess is involved?”

“As it is the only thing that can affect us other than magic, I would be unwise to think otherwise.”

“True, withdraw for now; the plan can be resurrected at a later stage.”

“As you command,” the shadow replied, just as Darras ripped it from its host.

This was one of the more powerful of its kind, on a par with the shadow that had possessed the hermit Danaib. This was offset by Darras having caught it off guard, and it could not hit Darras with any powerful blows. Neither, thanks to the blessed silk lining the underside of Darras’s armour, could it affect Darras other than his hands with its curse mantra. With it dead and dissipating on the floor, Darras turned to the scrying stone and faced Challis.

“So, it was you,” Challis sneered.

“Who else,” Darras smiled as a ghostly hand from Erren reached out to touch the scrying device, unseen by Challis.

“Your days are numbered; the fools you protect will all fall by the wayside.”

“As always, your threats fail to impress,” Darras smiled. “You can also tell the Dark Lord how easily I took down one of your more powerful scales; he seemed to doubt my ability to do so, last I heard.”

“Boast all you like; we are many, you are but one.”

“You didn’t notice the allies I had when I captured you?” Darras chuckled. “Oh, I forgot, you were in stasis.”

“That will never happen again!”

“You’re right,” Darras smiled. “Next time we meet, I’ll likely kill you.”

“Pah! Such idle boasting,” Challis sneered as he cut the link.

‘Well done, my love, ’ Erren said. ‘I was able to find his location.’

“Glad you did, is he accessible?”

‘He’s not near a gateway, but somewhere in the extreme north of Keelem, above the Orcish Plains.’

“Good spot to keep safe from me,” Darras chuckled as he carefully retreated from the Korchian compound.

‘It is, nor could I get a precise location, just a general area.’

“At least we know where to look, assuming we do.”

‘Yes, for the minute, he’s safe enough.’

“A pity, still a promise is a promise; and one day...”

‘Yes, my love, now hurry home, and I’ll fix your hands.’

“Lucky I caught it off guard,” Darras noted.

‘Yes, otherwise you might have roused the compound as well as being damaged in the process, ’ Erren agreed. ‘Still, seeing the shadow would have given you some leeway.’

“Assuming they grasped what they were looking at,” Darras chuckled despite the ache in his hands growing.

Darras returned to his room and gathered his goods, using his silk gloves to cover his badly scarred hands. He then set off for the gateway building and waited until dawn broke before paying a customs fee and being allowed to leave.

“So, once again, this agent interfered in our plans in Crusal?” Casal hissed in dissatisfied tones as Challis reported to him.

“He did; he even dealt with a medium scale with ease,” Challis confirmed.

“Disturbing,” Casal snarled. “The Dark Lord insists a medium scale is too powerful for this agent.”

“He has been known to be wrong on several occasions,” Challis replied indifferently.

“Also true, though I’d avoid saying that in his presence.”

“For a supposed god, his abilities seem somewhat ... less than those he opposes.”