Chapter 196 - The Spider's Web (Patreon)

Talia watched as the refugees stumbled through the gates of Jariq. She had chosen to remain outside, preferring solitude over the way the people in the city reacted to her. Usually, she could avoid them, but every now and then, someone would see beneath her hood and rightly determine that she wasn’t human. Sometimes, panic would ensue. And given the horde of undead only a day or so behind them, she thought it best if she didn’t give the citizens of Jariq more opportunities to hate her.

In some ways, she understood. She wasn’t human, after all. And though Talia had come to accept that – mostly, at least – she knew that it set her apart. Being a revenant had come with a host of benefits, and it had given her precisely the power she’d always wanted. However, it had also set her apart. It had also turned her into a monster. A subject of fear. An other.

Because of that other-ness, she was unable to walk around in public without concealing her identity. In a crowded city like Jariq, though, it was impossible to remain anonymous for long. People there knew what she was. They knew she was undead. They also knew that she’d fought for them, saving hundreds during the demon invasion. That counted for little, given her nature.

“It’s not their fault,” said Carlos, standing beside her.

“I know,” was her response. She didn’t look at the handsome man. It hurt too much, knowing that her race also prevented anything from happening. Perhaps, if she had been human, he might have considered her as an option.  But now? After the things he’d seen her do? There was little chance of that. Instead, she settled for a tentative friendship, but even then, he kept her at arm’s length.

Talia didn’t blame him, though. More than anyone, save her other companions, he knew what she was. He had seen her devouring the hearts of their enemies. He had seen the monster. And he had been disgusted. Of course, he hadn’t said it aloud, but it was still there, written all across his face. There was no coming back from that.

At least Zeke never looked at her like that.

Not that she harbored any romantic feelings for the man. He was so far removed from her type that she couldn’t even bring herself to think of him in that way. Nor did he see her like that. Instead, their relationship was one of mutual respect. He accepted her how she was, without reservation, even embracing all the things everyone else feared so much.

Even Abby, who had become something of a big sister to her, sometimes looked afraid of her. But not Zeke.

On top of that, he was everything she wanted to be. Heroic. Honest. Accepting. And deadly. In that way, they were alike.

“Go with them,” she said. “I will be fine out here.”

Carlos glanced in her direction, and she pretended that she didn’t notice. It was easy, keeping her feelings bottled up. They were muted, and it had taken her months to adjust. And even though she had learned to interpret the subtle shifts in her mood that, they were still muffled by her undead nature. As such, it wasn’t difficult to keep her face impassive.

“You sure?” he asked, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I am,” she said. “Go.”

For a moment, he looked as if he was going to argue, but then thought better of it. With a sigh, he said, “Fine. Stay safe.”

“I will.”

Then, the black-clad man melted into a nearby shadow, reappearing a quarter of a mile away. After that, she lost sight of him and focused on the refugees as they hurried into the city. The plan was simple – Abby and Carlos would get the refugees settled, then leave the city. Once they didn’t have a few dozen people to protect, avoiding the undead horde would be easy, and they would return to the tower and continue along on their quest.

But as the hours wore on, and night fell, Talia began to worry. That anxiety built throughout the night, and, when the next night fell, it had become fear. Abby and Carlos should have long since returned. Something had clearly gone wrong.

She had no choice but to enter the city and investigate. So, on silent feet, she stalked toward the wall. Zeke’s convalescence had taken quite some time, which had afforded Talia the opportunity to thoroughly explore the city. At first, she’d merely been curious. After all, she’d lived in Beacon for her entire life; even on the occasions when she had been allowed to leave, she had never had the chance to explore other cultures. Given that, she had been excited to do so in Jariq.

Of course, her undead nature made that difficult, so she had been forced to confine her exploration to the structure of the city itself. She watched the people, too, but there was only so much one could learn from observation. Desperately, she wished she could have interacted with them, but that was an impossibility she’d had no choice but accept. The moment anyone saw her pale, green-veined skin, they would label her a monster – a humanoid one, to be sure, but a monster all the same.

Abby had tried to help her with makeup, but it was useless. Besides, Talia felt a little offended that it was even necessary. She shouldn’t have to hide who she was.

Whatever the case, her exploration of the city had borne fruit, and as a result, she knew precisely where the defenses were weakest. The wall itself was decorated with powerful runes that kept monsters out. However, they didn’t affect her, which didn’t bode well for the city’s defenses against an undead horde. She wasn’t sure how they would react to the once-human zombies.

Not that it mattered to her current task, of course.

Climbing the wall was child’s play. Avoiding the guards patrolling atop it was even easier. And within minutes, she was inside.

While Talia wasn’t as stealthy as Carlos, she’d had a lot of practice in the city. So, she had little difficulty remaining unseen. However, when she started to move through the narrow alleys, Talia found the first flaw in her plan.

She had no idea where she was going.

Neither Abby nor Carlos had had any idea what kind of reception they would get when they brought the refugees into the city, so they hadn’t let her know where they would be. In fact, the idea was to simply drop the group off at the first opportunity before heading back out of the city.

That had been two days ago, so clearly, something had gone awry.

After thinking on it for a few minutes, Talia considered the most likely options. The first, and probably the one she felt surest about, was that Carlos would have escorted the refugees to his guild’s headquarters. Despite the Crystal Spiders’ reputation in the rest of the Radiant Isles, they were a much more traditional guild within Jariq. In fact, the organization was responsible for much of the law and order in the city. Nominally, the Sultanate was in charge, but they rarely exercised their power. As a member of the Crystal Spiders himself, Carlos would have wanted to take the refugees to the guild’s headquarters.

Abby would have objected, probably suggesting that they head to the Union, the guild acknowledged as the best crafters in the city. Raphael Taggert was a member, and he’d been nothing but helpful to them, even going so far as to give Zeke access to the Pools of Serenity which had been responsible for his relatively rapid healing. Without them, his recovery would have taken years.

But the Foundry, which was the territory owned by the Union, was on the other side of the city. If something had gone wrong, Abby, Carlos, and the refugees never would have made it that far.

Talia ground her teeth in frustration. She was not a detective. She didn’t want to solve mysteries. She was only good at one thing – fighting, and though she excelled in that arena, it didn’t seem to fit her current predicament very well.

As far as she saw it, she had three options. First, head to the Union, find Raphael, and ask him what had happened. That came with its own issues, not least of which was that she got the sense that the only reason the Union members hadn’t attacked her was because of Zeke. The same could be said for the entire city; not a surprise, really, considering that he had destroyed a good portion of it with one attack. They had no idea that he couldn’t replicate the feat, and so, they’d given him whatever he wanted.

The second option, which consisted of the same strategy, but applied to the Crystal Spiders, was even worse, if only because they were far more dangerous than Union members. Heading into the Nest, which was their territory, could go very wrong, and very quickly. But it was also the most likely to bear fruit; Carlos had a blind spot when it came to his guild, and it wasn’t out of the question that he’d lead the refugees there.

Finally, she could abduct a guard and interrogate them. The idea appealed to her because they would have few reasons to lie. Plus, it would take advantage of her unique advantages. What kind of person would lie when confronted with an undead monster? It was far more likely that they would spill everything they knew.

And she had to admit that the third option would allow her to take out some of her building frustration. The guards had not been kind to her during her last visit, and so, she wouldn’t mind a little payback.

For a while, she stood in an alley, mulling over her choices. If she’d had more time, she would have simply observed from afar, but after two days, Talia had a feeling that her friends were in danger. It weighed on her until, at last, she made her choice.

Predictably, she chose the more monstrous option. But in her defense, she was a monster, wasn’t she? Was it really so surprising that she would act as one?

Talia crept back toward the gate and settled down to watch the guards. There were seven of them – six low-ranking guards and one evolved, level sixteen captain. At her current level, she would have no trouble dealing with the man, so she watched for her opportunity. It came only an hour later, when there was a shift change. The off-duty guards dispersed into the city, and Talia followed the captain, waiting for him to stray too close to a dark alley.

When the man finally did, she wasted no time before pouncing. She took him with barely a sound, clamping her hand over his mouth and dragging him back into the alley. She had activated [Alacrity of Undeath], so the whole thing had taken less than a second. An unevolved person would have had their neck snapped from whiplash, but the captain survived just fine.

Once they were nestled in the shadowy alley, Talia turned him around and shoved him against the sandstone wall.

“A group of refugees entered the city two days ago,” she said, staring him in the eyes. His gaze flicked to her pale skin – or more likely, the prominent green veins – and an expression of terror plastered itself across his face. That suited Talia just fine. “Where did they go?”

“I…I don’t…know…”

Talia activated [Plague Strike], coating her claws in liquid death. She raised her hand to the man’s face and dragged her claw down his cheek. She didn’t apply enough pressure for it to penetrate his skin, but the poison associated with her skill sizzled when it made contact with his flesh. A minor injury, but a painful one.

“Are you sure?” she asked, leaning closer. “I will find them, one way or another. The only question is whether or not you live to see the sunrise. Choose.”

The man’s eyes darted around, almost as if he was looking for someone to help him. There was no one there. Only Talia.

Finally, he said, “They…they were taken,” he said. “By the Crystal Spiders. I don’t know exactly what happened, but there was some kind of confrontation. Two of the refugees were put into suppression shackles.”

Inwardly, Talia grimaced. The Spiders had taken one of their own into custody? And Abby, too? Why?

“Do you know why?” she asked.

“I…I don’t know…they just…they just showed up,” the man stammered. “Please don’t kill me. I have a wife. Kids. I have a –”

Talia didn’t need to hear anymore, so she backhanded the man. When she was sure he was out, she dumped him into a nearby pile of garbage. She’d contemplated killing him. It probably would have been the smart move. After all, he wouldn’t be out for long, and there was every chance that he would inform someone of her presence in the city as soon as he woke up. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

If she’d had some rope or some other restraint, she might have tied him up. But even that would probably result in the man’s death. Jariq was not nearly as orderly as Beacon, and the criminals who called the city home would look at a helpless, bound man and only see opportunity. And they were unlikely to share Talia’s aversion to murder.

So, as bad of an idea as it probably was, Talia chose to leave the guard captain in the alley before setting off toward the Nest. During her previous stay in the city, she had taken the opportunity to scout the Spiders’ territory, so she knew precisely where they were likely to have taken Abby and Carlos.

Leaving the unconscious guard captain behind, Talia crossed the city. Even with her inhuman agility, it took some time for her to make her way to the Nest. At first glance, the Spiders’ territory looked little different from the rest of the city. There was no identifying graffiti, like was common in the now-destroyed Jungle. Just normal, sandstone buildings. Because of the lateness, though, it seemed virtually deserted, save for a few people staggering home from various bars.

Talia climbed to the top of one of the taller buildings, clamoring up the wall with relative ease, before settling in to get a good look at the territory’s layout. In the center of the territory was a tall, octagonal building; Talia had few doubts that it was where Abby and Carlos had been taken.

The only question was how she would infiltrate the building. A frontal assault? It might work, so long as she went in hard and fast. But the Spiders were a powerful group, and it was likely that they counted multiple people among them who could stand up to her. So, stealth was clearly the better option, even if she preferred something more straightforward. For all her abilities, she hated skulking in the shadows.

Pushing her reservations to the side, she ran forward, leaping from one building’s roof to another as she made her way to the assassin’s guild’s headquarters.