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Port Coral is not a big city; a home to little over 6000 people leading quiet lives behind sturdy walls, its glory days are actually over. Nowadays this scenic town located at the middle point of Kora kingdom's eastern coast is more of a stopover, where the older ships sailing along the continent's southern shores would sometimes dock during their voyage; with the twin sprawling ports located at the country's southern cape, becoming their more preferred destination and too much of a competition.

In recent years -after the completion of the new coastal road, Port Coral actually saw more land than sea traffic. Being too close to the Empire's harbors, to make it a worthwhile stop for the new generation of faster merchant ships, but at just the right spot for land caravans that travel between the south and their eastern neighbors.

It is still a very nice, moderately wealthy place; with paved streets and neat houses made of white-pinkish stone mined from nearby cliffs. For its size it has a pretty big harbor - from back when it served as a transit port, where many smaller vessels and fishing boats belonging to the locals are now docked. The town's main source of income is actually its namesake coral industry, with pearls coming in close second. From medicine to jewelry; the pink corals found in nearby warm waters used to be quite a popular commodity.

Back in the day it was also a trade hub for timber and rare reagents from the nearby marshes, but that was a thing of the past; which deteriorated even further in recent years after the barony to the north started having— problems.

Overall, not a bad place to live.

But right now, its streets are overflowing with desperate looking people. Because there wasn't enough free rooms behind the walls to accommodate all those refugees, tents were erected wherever possible; the old-docks part of town seeing the highest density of them. In normal circumstances, the town's authorities would never allow for such a thing— yet these last few days were far from normal.

And today, a patrol boat that was sent to scout the coastline to the north, returned with grim news...

In the busy harbor, on one of its long piers; a merchant is currently arguing with a captain of a big trade vessel - one of a few ships currently docked here, and judging from both their faces the negotiations aren't going too well. The portly man shakes hid head one final time before returning on board.

The young man soon storms off, stomping angrily, and joins with an auburn haired woman that was waiting for him nearby. She is armed and has an air of a seasoned soldier about her.

"Do I even need to ask how did it go?" She asks with a sigh while glancing around the area.

"No good; they've all been ordered not to leave the port. Any vessel that arrived was actually grounded, and now no new ships dare to approach after the word got out. Damn it, who the hell was put in charge of this mess?" His face is grim as they both move to return to their caravan that entered the turbulent town just this morning.

Nearby -just by the shore, a black cat with a fancy collar was basking in the morning sun shining on the wharf, while having a staring contest with a big seabird perched atop a pole of the pier's railing. The big white pelican was watching it intently the entire time; even when other birds flew away, squalling loudly as soon as the feline showed up earlier. That event startled many people, making them once again look with worry toward the strange phenomena currently happening up above. The weather over Port Coral is very odd right now, making the locals nervous.

Through the day, most of the sky was covered by a thick layer of clouds that came from inland; and despite the wind blowing from the sea, this thick front stays hanging over them, unmoving and ominous. The jarringly straight border it has created with the clear skies in the south-east making it look unnatural— and soon the sun will hide behind their cover.

As they leave the harbor, the woman wearing light armor leans in to whisper. "The cat is still staying around. Didn't it claim to be in a hurry to return, and that it would be gone as soon as its business here was done?"

"Yeah, I saw him." The man nods.

She raises a brow at the simple answer, "Even after it rejected making another deal." her green eyes suspicious.

" *Ahh— He was also hanging around the caravan earlier... I'm not sure what Red is thinking, he's hard to figure out sometimes." The blonde answers after a tired sigh.

"It is still a demon; you can't trust those under normal circumstances, and this one is completely unbound— you can't even send it back!" The woman looks at him, pointing an accusatory finger at the fool; but her voice remains hushed almost to the point of whisper.

There are many stressed people around; and adding fuel to the fire, by revealing that a powerful demon strolls around the streets unsupervised, is not something any of them want - especially since they were the ones to bring it here. Frankly, the whole caravan owes the little hellion their lives; everyone that knows, is in equal parts grateful and terrified of the creature. There is a slight hope it is simply curious, so no one said anything.

*Sigh. The man's light brown eyes glance at his hired guard with a bit of perplexity in them.

"Whatever his remaining business is, we can't do anything about it. Let's hope he won't cause any trouble, and focus on our own problem; we might need this ship that the bandit- Reggie, mentioned. I don't trust the gates will hold up if there are more of those giants out there." He looks around the crowds, but his words didn't draw any unwanted attention. "Being stuck under another siege isn't something I want a repeat of so soon."

"If you can't hire a proper crew, and are sure about this idea, then we have to move quickly; before they bar the gates, or the smugglers decide to hightail away from here. I will send Greg to scout out if the ship is actually still there in that cove the guy spoke about. Meanwhile others should get ready move out."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

She stops for a moment, looking back at the masses of anxious people, and shakes her head - a sad emotion briefly flashing behind her eyes. "We likely won't rise any suspicion since other groups also started to leave the town already, hoping it will be safe further south."

Her employer nods at the proposed plan. "Yes, please do so."

"Alright."

And then both of them make their way to the now much smaller caravan in grim silence; the oddly shaped golem, standing guard over one of the carriages, making it hard to miss their waiting group among the sea of people gathered in one of the town's squares where they've parked. Most of those who traveled with them decided to stay - having faith in the tall walls, some will be moving further south - hoping to reunite with distant family; but many want to join and sail across the gulf to the Empire.

Slightly to the side, one of their convoy's smaller carts was left strangely empty and not holding much cargo; the animals pulling it were also detached—

Such an odd thing to do.

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-So, Jarred's group will have to try their luck with the smugglers.

From one of the slanted roofs overlooking the plaza, I watch the duo join up with the rest of the caravan. There's less people with them than when we entered; half of the group split off, most of the locals having had enough. -Still, will the smuggler's ship be able to fit so many? With carts and the golem at that? It's gotten smaller, but the elemental is still massive.

Well, they are on their own now; our deal was complete the moment they were safe behind the walls. Why are we even still here—? I guess making sure that my investment pays off is worth waiting few more hours...

And a certain round object - currently safely hidden in our pocket space, comes to my mind. Could all this be just a coincidence? Identify says otherwise, but I want to confirm it. The rumors shared with the guards last night gave me a lot to think about while the caravan waited for the gates to open. The timing is just too suspicious; how did we get tangled up with something so ridiculous? What did we actually get our claws on, and why the dead want it?

What is this Shadow Realm to them?

I sure as hell don't want to find out, so it will stay with me; at least in hell it should be safe from their ancient skeletal hands... That cambion sure started up a real shit storm by waking them.

I watch as one of the mercenaries starts making his way towards the gate after a brief talk with Caroline, bringing a now saddled horse with him, while the rest gets ready to move. -Are they really going to just leave my cart out here? *Grrr is this on purpose?

My loot— If I wish to stay around for a bit longer, then it needs to be brought somewhere safe. Or we can just fuck off back to hell with it right now, before it gets left behind for someone to steal it; screw the undead and what they want.

Using an illusion to stash it somewhere with all those people out on the streets would be tricky, someone might just stumble upon it; And getting it past the guards, to bring it outside by myself, could turn ugly if they see through my deception— why overcomplicate things, when an easy solution is right out there.

Choices.

Fine. There's nothing to lose; we will come with you until you board the damn ship if that's your plan, it shouldn't even be that far. And who knows, maybe the smugglers have something that would interest me. But you won't chain me with any new deals, and I'm not sailing anywhere; there's nothing to gain from that, and my earlier agreement with Jarred still stands— soon he will be summoning us again, and there should be enough time to finish setting up the tower... then we also have Angie. Right now though, I need some freedom to act, and we are out the moment shit hits the fan.

And so I make my way to where the group is getting ready to leave at moment's notice. My arrival was met with mostly positive reception.

It didn't take long for their scout to come back with good news.

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Elen is way too smug about herself after her idea on how to get us to come with them worked, and I glare back at her as we ride the carriage, to make my displeasure known - it only makes her smile even wider, *tsk.

She puts down a bundle of letters and focuses on me.

"If you hate it so much, why are you still even here, Red?" She asks completely calm while stroking her belly. "Earlier you seemed in a hurry to go back, what changed?"

"I still have some unfinished business here, that's all." Her blue eyes study me closely as I extend my sense further out. With the sun gone behind those clearly unnatural clouds, the strange mist returned— or rather it now turned into a dense fog, completely limiting the visibility outside.

Apparently Caroline thought that the plan was meant to force me to leave the mortal realm; since I wouldn't be able to secure the cart by myself - silly woman. If I were to be a bit heavy handed with it, no one would get to my things while I went to test my theory - it would just be annoying; bringing it to the smuggler's cove is so much simpler. Then they also tried to make a deal, for lending me one of the horses to pull my stuff, but I just scoffed at the idea and had the golem haul it for us; with the Rod, I'm still the one in control, even if Angie was designated as its master for the time being.

She was a bit sour at first, but after seeing the weather outside and all these groups returning back into the city when the dense mists arrived, the silly fire witch quickly changed her attitude about having me around.

"Horns look strange on a cat, why do they show up sometimes?" She sure has a lot of questions. We should have stayed with the gnomes since they are also coming. "Oh~ they are gone again!" Elen ads with a smile, and I can see she she is holding herself back from trying to touch my head to feel for them.

—Yeah, I will sometimes lose control over this form; especially when using my Abilities. It didn't take long to figure out that my suppressed Traits would show up through the transformation if we don't pay attention. Rose for example is always present, taking the shape of a choker around my neck.

Well, we didn't have this skill for very long, so that's to be expected.

I ignore her question and instead ask my own, the main reason I decided to ride with her on this short trip. "Jarred told you didn't he?" I peer her in the eyes.

"Mhm? Oh— yes, I know your name. Don't worry it is safe with us." She seems sincere - maybe a bit more worried now. There is a note of fear in her emotions now.

"It's fine, don't stress over it. Bad for the babies."

"Huh!? Wait... do you mean—" Her eyes grow wide and twinkle like little stars with expectation; the intense stare is a bit overwhelming...

So I humor her. "You have twins; congratulations, I guess."

And she smiles like a sun, delighted at the news while bringing a hand to her chest. -Damn, her happiness is almost making me dizzy. What's with her and that aura she has.

"Thank you Meow." -Such a genuine smile; and no artist in sight to capture the serene picture. The young mother fondly strokes her growing belly where I can feel two spark of new life, waiting to be born.

"Ah, don't mention it."

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Death marches through a dense fog that spread over the lands of Kora kingdom.

A tall skeleton, covered in dried blood and wearing a damaged chain-mail, leads a group of undead further south from the extensive marshlands and the rest of the macabre army; hidden from the sun's judgment by the thick veil surrounding them, they walk - looking. They now know it is somewhere around here.

Find it! Were their orders.

In one hand it carries a small round shield. In the other, its four fingers tightly grip a simple long sword, smeared with fresh blood of three unlucky fools who ran into it on an old road cutting through the swamp. There is a malevolent darkness swirling it its empty eye sockets, and it drives the thing toward the object of its burning obsession.

Despite the orders from the masters, all it wants is revenge.

It has an unfinished business.

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