She took me to places I had never set foot in. Which was hard to do, because as a mercenary, I had a good amount of distance covered. In a pretty large radius around Kendara, I had roamed, traversed, and talked to people, but where the Shadow made business didn’t align with my areas.

She had her device back on her throat and wore the same attire I had first met her in. We walked in unused streets, with barely anyone visible, as if this part of town had been abandoned a long time ago.

We advanced in a particular way, and had to deviate often. She had her habits when it came to be invisible and my large stature wasn’t really matching with her. So, she would appear from time to time in my vision, and disappear into the alley that I had to choose. Until one point where we arrived at a little store, with a blue door. She opened it, waited for me to enter, and closed it. She gestured for me to keep the hood on and stand behind.

After a while, a man welcomed our arrival, with a cordiality I had rarely seen. “Shadow! Already back?”

“Business calls,” she answered, and I could now hear the tint of her voice behind the distortion. Although the machine was working perfectly for someone unaware. “I need supplies.”

“You know I always love doing business with you, Shadow, but my stock isn’t filled this quickly.” He laughed, his smile reaching his eyes, sincere. They drifted from Kâl to me and he pointed at me with a finger. “Is he with you?”

She looked over her shoulder, her eyes piercing me with their bright irises, before turning back towards the seller. “I’ll pay you double if you can collect what I need by tomorrow.”

He lifted his brows, and I wondered how many coins Kâl had on her, the capital that she possessed, how she obtained it. “Tomorrow? I… Depends on what you ask.”

“The usual. And a little something more,” she dropped her elbows on the counter to be a little closer to him. I figured it was a strategy to instill some fear inside the man. And by the look of his terrified face, it worked. “Could you find me a little black crystalized powder?”

His eyes widened. “What? You know I don’t have that. Ask Olionan. He’s more capable of finding this stuff. What’s going on?” he slurred and looked away.

“I don’t pay to chit chat about my plans. Olionan and I had a… disagreement.”

“Maybe because your whims are putting our activity in danger.” He whined. Tried to hide behind his counter.

Kâl straightened and crossed her fingers. “My whims have brought you tons of coins since I started working with you.”

“My coins won’t follow me to the grave.”

True.

“Who’s menacing you?” Kâl asked calmly. I was still leaning on the wall right next to the door when someone tried to open it. It took me just one second to understand my purpose, Kâl’s look over her shoulder unmistakable. With the flat of my palm, I slammed the door and put my body weight on it. The person tried a second time, but not a third. “Come on. If this goes well, it’ll be the last time I ask you for a favor.”

“And if it doesn’t?” He exclaimed, completely horrified. A few seconds of silence passed before Kâl answered.

“Then I’ll be dead. And I won’t be able to ask you for anything.”

The man had his eyes wide and mouth gaping. After a while, he sighed and watched a book he held in front of his eyes. “Triple cost. And you’ll have it by morning light tomorrow.”

“Add me some ammo for my tranquilizer, in that case. Don’t fuck with me Ventris, you know I’m already offering way more.” Her tone increased drastically and he quieted. “Normal price. With an extra thousand. Final word.”

They ogled each other with fierceness until Ventris nodded slowly and they shook hands. Kâl repositioned her hood and her mask before turning back, right at me and the door. “See you tomorrow.” She concluded and went out after I opened it for her.

Again, she winnowed and disappeared from my vision until I saw her waiting in front of another store. I stopped her hand from engaging the door knob, with soft fingers over her wrists. “What is that powder?” I whispered, searching for her light green eyes but she kept her head low and stayed focused on getting us invisible.

“I’ll explain once we’ll be alone. It’s part of the plan,” she answered, her voice softer and sweeter than the tone she used with her sellers.

Finally, we entered, and again, she bargained for some new steel, knives and other weapons. This time went smoother than the previous and she left less menacing.

We navigated to a few more, before we stopped at a place close to a pub or a bar. A counter with drunk people seated on stools, an equivalently drunken bartender behind, and few people in the room. Light music filled the place and it had been a long time since I had listened to this. I felt uncomfortable. Kâl entered and everyone looked, but didn’t really move or react. She walked to the barman and waited for the man completely ravaged to end his conversation with him.

“I’m telling you! They are no joke.” He spit on his beverage and I winced from disgust. Kâl interposed.

“Hello Saf, two shots and three bottles.”

“The regular?”

“Of course.”

He served us a transparent liquid into tiny glasses and dropped three bottles of said alcohol next to it, while Kâl dropped coins over the counter. She handed me a glass and slammed hers into it. “Bottom’s up.” She said, and drank all of it in one go, hiding from prying eyes to remove the mask. By the smell, only, I could tell this was about to destroy my throat.

I never consumed alcohol, in any situations, because of the dangers it implied. I had to be aware of my surroundings at all times, and that kind of beverage wasn’t recommended for my activity.

“You saw the freaks at Halei’s?'' The man talked to no one in particular. “They yelled all night yesterday, I almost got out of the house and slapped them in the face.”

“You couldn’t even if you tried,” Saf responded, “you drunk idiot.”

“Shut up,” he answered laughing. “We have other problems than a fucking god. Nobody cares for us here.”

Finally, some truth coming out of this mouth. He shook his head before noticing me. He scrunched his eyes and brows, taking too much time because of all the shots he ingested. “You’re the Weapon.”

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The boozed-up man pointed his finger and mumbled some words I didn’t get because of how wasted he was. “I suggest you take that finger off my face,” I snarled and lifted my drink to my mouth, the fire fuelling inside my stomach and along the whole ride. I cleared my throat once and dropped the glass on the counter. “Are we done?” I asked Kâl and was the only one capable of seeing the amusement in her eyes.

“Yeah.” She answered before the guy stood up in his seat and blocked the passage out.

“The Weapon… Collector’s son. You don’t remember me?”

I didn’t. “No.”

He fake-laughed. “Your father robbed me of my legacy before I had a chance to touch it. Sorry, you robbed me, since you’re the one doing his dirty work.” It was a calamity listening to his words, spitting, stuttering and almost falling on the floor with all the drinks he had. The bartender intervened.

“Last one, sir, you’re drenched.”

The man lifted his glass and gulped the rest of it. “Aren’t you sick of being daddy’s little fucking dog? How old are you, twenty-three? Five?”

I clenched my fists twice and decided it wasn’t worth the fight. I was here with the Shadow, we both had a reputation and I couldn’t just throw it away because of some idiotic male who would probably finish his day with his head over the toilet. Kâl stepped next to me and hovered, just in case. “I demand retribution for what you did.”

“Get out of my way,” was all I answered. He persevered.

“The Shadow and the Weapon together. What is this little reunion?”

“Drop it, man, you’re out of your league,” the barman added, still serving the others and drying glasses. The rest of the pub seemed unfazed by the moment but I could feel their eyes ogling from the side. They didn’t want any problems.

“You had balls coming here,” he continued, showing teeth. “There are ears everywhere in this part of town.”

Shadow walked closer and lured. “If it’s coins that you want, I think you know where you can shove them.”

He smiled. “But you can’t give me anything. Next time you come here, you’ll be received.” And after that, he sat back onto his stool and tapped twice for another drink. The bartender served him.

֍

“We’ll have to be more than careful tomorrow,” she said, dropping everything she had bought during our little venture outside over her small table in the living room and withdrawing her gear and mask again, letting her long hair out of her braid for once, tying a bun loose at the top of her head, collapsing on the sofa, chest heavy.

“You think he was serious?” I asked, taking off the hood and the cape, leaning on the wall next to the door.

Her shoulders sagged and she shrugged. “We can’t be cautious enough. Even a drunk fucker could put us in danger. For a few coins, he might sell his butt to the Jalyons. They know I trade here but they never come to verify.”

“Why?”

“How could I know? Their brains are smaller than their dicks.” She said that without one hint of humor, yet I pinched my lips to avoid any problems. “My people don’t want to see the Jalyons covering this area so they stay quiet. And the others would probably crap in their pants seeing one of them. Or would die at my hand for snitching on me.” She was serious. Too serious.

“What’s on your mind?” I queried, her attitude and expression betraying her worry. She lifted her eyes over my face and let seconds pass without saying a word. Her lips parted slightly, thinking of the words to use. “If we need the plan to go as expected, we should be honest with each other,” I added, convinced her doubts were related to this.

She shook her head. “The powder,” she changed the subject and deviated her stare once she saw me frowning my brows, “it is used to fog an area. I’ll use it there to start the attack. I’ll warn you.” She stood and walked past me to reach her bedroom. I grabbed her wrist again.

“Is there something you are not telling me?” I insisted. She looked at our contact before meeting my gaze.

“Nothing that concerns you,” she snatched her hand back with a bit of force and I imagined this was private. I sighed. Lying on the couch, I realized she hadn’t entered her bedroom yet and lingered at the threshold. I waited, silently. “Tomorrow, we’ll retrieve the Nyx powder, and make a statement to Vishan, that you seek a meeting. The next steps are crucial.”

“I know,” I said, hands behind my head. She was tapping her fingers over her sliding door, still not moving. “Are you scared?” the words had floated out of my mouth with, I hoped, enough sincerity she wouldn’t take offense. But when her stare met mine with great speed, I winced.

“Scared is not the word.” She replied with her eyes back on the floor and I was left alone with more questions than answers.

The night was long and dreamless. And the next morning was quiet. We ate on the go before putting on our whole arsenal of clothes and weapons. We did not talk to each other, almost didn’t look at one another, only furtive glances while she wasn’t watching. Her mind was somewhere else, somewhere she did not wish to share. My own was drifting to where this mission was about to lead us. To my possible freedom. To the end of our partnership. I really didn’t know what to think about all of this. Was I ready to give a last glare to this city I’d know for my whole twenty-five years? What would happen to Kâl after she had executed her vengeance? I’d pity myself for being so alone all these years only to be looking forward to the end of this.

The path to Ventris shop had been even longer than the day before, Kâl taking extra deviations to avoid any dangerous threats, being almost invisible with her reflecting gear. Some moments she had to move, or make a gesture, for my eyes to acknowledge her presence. When she was perfectly still, I was oblivious.

Ventris had left his door open but the inside of his shop had been immersed in darkness, taking no risks of anyone entering during the deal. Kâl’s eyes were so much more piercing with the black around and I stayed close enough to the door so we wouldn’t have any surprises. “Come, Shadow, quickly.” The owner whispered behind the counter.

Through the closed windows, the rays of the sun were still traversing the cracks of the rotten panels outside, giving us little, but enough, awareness of our surroundings. Kâl executed herself and Ventris handed her a black satchel with the rest of what they agreed on yesterday. “Were you followed?” he asked, utterly frightened.

“Of course not. Something happened?” she breathed, giving me a quick glance on where I was standing. She grabbed what Ventris was giving her and exchanged it with her own pouch full of coins.

“I could feel the dreadful atmosphere this morning. The ware has been silent. So quiet.”

“More than usual?”

“You know how it works here. The ears, the murmurs. The voices rose with no one in sight.” Ventris backed away toward the double doors, most certainly leading to his back shop. “This is our last transaction. Don’t ever show your face here again.”

“Ventris,” Kâl called, stepping once forward but the seller lifted his hand between them.

“I’m serious, Shadow. It’s not safe anymore.”

“I’ll keep you safe,” she insisted.

“You’ve said it yourself. Either your plan works or not, you won’t need me anymore. I’m telling you I accept no more bargaining from you. Leave.”

And he disappeared, the sound of the doors latching onto one another the only sound resonating between the walls of the store. Kâl stayed very still, playing with the laces of the satchel she had in her hand, the engines in her head whirling fast and furious. Even without the light to shine inside her eyes, I could see everything. “We should go,” I finally said after minutes had passed, waiting.

She nodded once and walked toward the door that I opened.

Only, a surprise welcomed us outside.

Jalyons. Their fabulous grins stretched to their ears at the sight of my being countered by them. My arm immediately launched behind, to protect Kâl from them, only one look above my shoulder informed me of her disappearance. In quick seconds, I pretended I wasn’t in pure disbelief so the Jalyons wouldn’t think I wasn’t alone.

Whines reached my ears and when they spread apart, I could see my father, forcefully gripped by the elbows by two of them, his face already beaten up. I felt nothing. “There you are,” one Jalyon with markings over his neck and shoulders boasted. “Vishan wants to see you, Hidramma.”