Death and the Sorceress: A Snarky Urban Fantasy by Jason Venter

Author:Jason Venter [Venter, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

XIII.

We passed through a portal that deposited us alongside a road leading toward the city near Azrael’s palace. Neither Nathan nor I wanted to travel too close to my benefactor, in case he asked inconvenient questions. That might still happen, but why invite trouble?

The early afternoon sun radiated delightful warmth, a reminder the Realm doesn’t seem to enjoy quite the variance in weather patterns I experience in and around Salem. A cool breeze, still pleasantly soft, rustled the tips of the grass on either side of the roadway.

“The last time I came this way,” I told Nathan, “I was on my way to see you and plead the case for shifter assistance at the palace. That doesn’t seem like very long ago.”

“That’s because it wasn’t,” Fuzzy said from the roadway ahead of us, where he had fallen into his usual lead position. “We haven’t even let enough time pass for a fresh disaster to arise, and look at us.”

“I work fast,” I told him.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Unless I need you to.”

Nathan smiled faintly, but he said little. I knew he had to be considering what we might find once we arrived in the city’s shifter quarter. He had grown up there, and now we were returning on potentially hostile terms. I wondered how I might feel if I had to head to the Coyle family estate, loaded for bear.

“Do we have a plan for when we get there?” Fuzzy asked after a moment of silence. “I didn’t hear anything strategic.”

“We’ll figure it out as we go,” Nathan said. “I don’t want to show up looking for a fight if I’m wrong about any of this.”

“And what if you’re right?” I asked. “What if they decide you’re not welcome?”

“I can’t promise you anything in that case. It’s the reason I didn’t want you coming. But you do your own thing. I’ve learned that about you. What could I have said to convince you to stay behind?”

“You could have tried insisting that she come,” Fuzzy suggested.

Nathan grinned. “It’s a little late for that, I guess.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess it is.”

We turned our conversation to other topics after that, which was just fine with me. None of us seemed to have our hearts in any of those exchanges, though. We spent most of the time navigating our private thoughts. Mine didn’t lead me anywhere productive.

Finally, we approached the city’s outskirts. Smaller shacks and cottages gave way to high walls, multi-story hotels, and plazas crowded by vendors hawking various wares. I saw the familiar sight of many races living together in an uneasy harmony. Few of them were shifters, who keep mostly to themselves.

“Last chance to turn around,” Nathan told me. “I’m not sure they’ll let you leave once we enter our territory, even if you are a reaper.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

We headed toward the principal thoroughfare. Crossing it took much longer than I would have liked, choked as it was with horse-drawn carts, carriages, and the wandering throngs. I wondered how many

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