Underland: A Dark Fantasy by Maxime J. Durand & Void Herald

Author:Maxime J. Durand & Void Herald [Durand, Maxime J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Published: 2022-09-05T14:00:00+00:00

17

THE SHOPKEEPER IS YOUR FRIEND

Are you certain . . . it was her?” Hermann asked. The disguised troglodyte attracted many curious gazes with his plague doctor outfit, with people stepping out of his way. “It could have been . . . a trick of the mind.”

“I know what I saw,” Valdemar insisted. “My True Sight protects me from illusions. I can even see Iren’s real eye color now.”

Iren put a finger on his lips, as he guided the trio through La Dorada’s narrow alleys. “Shush,” he said. “The ladies prefer me with purple eyes.”

Speaking of eyes, Valdemar had had his fill of them. The organic orbs were less common in the suburbs, but the necromancer couldn’t find an alley without at least one of them gazing at him. Attracting the entity’s attention had proven to be a mistake, as it refused to let Valdemar go out of its sight.

No wonder most of the people who had consumed an Elixir of True Sight went insane. The feeling of being watched all the time was maddening and fueled Valdemar’s paranoia. Though he valued his life enough to bear this burden in silence, he understood how some magicians might have considered death a release from the constant surveillance.

Valdemar would have been happier sailing the Lightless Ocean, but fate got in the way. The group should have taken a flesh ferry toward a half-savage island to find samples of the Colophryar plant, the last ingredient needed for the Painted Door project. Unfortunately, the ship had apparently suffered from a technical mishap, delaying their departure.

Iren had then suggested going to the Midnight Market’s local chapter and buying the plant from smugglers; Hermann had reluctantly agreed to it for a lack of a better option. Since Lady Mathilde’s own errands were more legal in nature, the group had split in half with orders to meet again at the dokkar embassy afterward.

Iren had led them to the dirtiest parts of the city. Far from the splendor of the main square and bazaar, the distant districts of La Dorada were a hive of shacks, houses in squalor, and crumbling buildings. The alleys formed a maze without rhyme or reason, though Iren seemed to know the area like the back of his hand. Beggars asked for money at every crossroad, and even the Knights of the Mind were less present in the district.

This was the lair of Astaphanos’s underclass: The pox-ridden whores unable to afford a biomancy treatment, the servants, the waiters, the carriage drivers. Valdemar suspected a few of them were miners and farmers put out of the job by the ever-increasing use of undead labor, with no choice but to migrate to the larger cities to find work.

Was his mother hiding among them? Valdemar knew he had seen her, deep within his bones; even if he couldn’t explain it himself.

Hermann noticed his unease. “Maybe it was . . . a look-alike?”

“Maybe,” Valdemar admitted. “But . . . I can’t explain why, but I know it was her.”

“It could have been her ghost paying you a visit,” Iren said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.