Argrave stood proudly beside Anneliese as they walked toward the white-haired woman, taking their sweet time. There was a tacit understanding between berserker and non-berserker that they were to meet, amply far from Traugott, to negotiate on the fate of their burgeoning alliance. That âallianceâ bit wasnât tacitâindeed, this might be misconstrued as âhostage negotiation.â Argrave had talked his way out of worse.
Only Argrave and Anneliese went, as the others werenât so readily capable of resisting the Shadowlander lieutenant. Following behind them, bound in chains of blood, was the rider. He would serve as a witness to the lieutenant, in case she needed someone of her own kind to offer some perspective into the battle Anneliese had with Traugott. Argrave had earned his own perspective on what Anneliese had done. It made him view his role a little more fondly.
âSo⊠youâre telling me you erased him?â Argrave asked her as they walked. âWiped the whiteboard clean? Sanitized his data? Degaussed his dome? Iâm beyond impressed, Anne.â
âI got lucky,â she said simply.
âOh yeah, sure,â he agreed sarcastically. âReally lucky, spending all that time reviewing the dark things that heâd done. Tons of good fortune in that act. Not deliberate at all. You accidentally studied what heâd done to figure out how to fight against him.â
âI was speaking of the battle,â she interruptedâat once, Argrave could tell she was in no mood for jokes about the subject and made his expression sterner. âMy body felt like it moved on its own in that final clash. He mightâve crushed my skull⊠but he didnât. I mightâve been forced to kill him outright, yet I subdued him. That was luck.â
âThatâs talent,â Argrave disagreed. âThough I suppose you could argue talent is luck. Either way, I think youâre awesome.â
Anneliese nodded, then moved past the issue, questioning, âWhat do you want to tell that woman?â
âI want to call her mean things until she cries.â Argrave looked ahead. âBut I canât get what I want. I doubt there are words mean enough to break that heart of stone she has. But I imagine youâre asking what I want to achieve here, now that we have the key to it all.â
Argrave looked around the devastated landscape. He wasnât fond of this place. Gray, grim, and gruesomeâthose gr words described it quite well. The people here were inhospitable. He couldnât exactly blame them for being ornery; they had an affliction that caused them immense distress. Said distress caused them to recklessly consume everything around in a bid to sate the insatiable. It was like a world of violent addicts. It would certainly be easy enough to turn tail and run away. As heâd mentioned, they had the skeleton key at hand.
Argrave looked behind himself, eyeing the one they dragged along. âOur former escort mentioned that only the Hopeful and his lieutenants know how new life comes to the Shadowlands. Considering her revolt, I think thereâs more to this situation thatâs left unknown. I donât think the Hopeful is entirely the benevolent dictator this man declares him as. And I think we can get some answers, at the very least.â
He looked upon the white-haired Shadowlander. When she wasnât trying to kill him, she looked somewhat small. âStill⊠best be prepared for flight at any moment. This oneâs a bit of a firebrand.â
âTell me what you want, give me the useless one, then fuck off,â the woman declared, waving her hand at them mere moments after they gave introductions.
Argrave studied her, still feeling some instinctive need to dodge while confronting her so closely. Rather like the Hopeful, much of her body was wreathed in shadows. Only dark red eyes shone past them. That, and her short white hair.
âWe could negotiate more amicably,â Argrave suggested.
âYou killed thousands of my men,â she reminded him, staring stalwartly. âYou won. Against my gut, Iâm refraining from continuing my attempts to end you. But now that Iâll never again speak to many I called ally, this is as amicable as I can get.â
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âAnd the man we captured has killed tens of thousands of our people,â Anneliese said, putting a hand to her heart. âThrough him, we have the means of escape from this place. Yet despite all of that, we put down our arms for dialogue. This was a battle of necessity, but neither he nor I are unsympathetic to you of yet.â
âOf yet?â she repeated.
âOf yet,â Argrave confirmed. âBut we need answers from you.â
âAnswers? Answers, while the Hopeful may march toward this place even now?â
Argrave shook his head. âHeâs too scared of what he built falling apart to try anything. He hasnât attacked you yetâhe definitely wonât now.â
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The woman shifted on her feet, looking off to the distant abyss in quiet ponderance. She looked back and said only, âAsk.â frŃewebnoŃ”el.Æoàč
Argrave looked back at the bound Shadowlanderâtheyâd brought him to help persuade her, but now he had become a rather depressing third wheel. Still, he focused back on the woman.
âShow us your face,â Argrave directed. âItâll help us know if you lie.â
She looked irritated, but brought her shadow-wreathed hands up and seemed to draw something down. Her abyssal flesh revealed itself, and soon enough all her features were clear. She looked surprisingly human, in spite of it all.
Argrave started basically. âWhat are you fighting for?â
âFreedom,â she said, looking all around. âFreedom from the lies, the horrors. The option to choose to live or die, and be free of this cursed place. Free from the constant infighting, and the will pressing on the back of your neck to make you do that which you hate. I want all that shit to go away. Itâs sickening. Itâs worse than the hunger. Those under my banner are in agreementâwe will not be the Hopefulâs slave any longer.â
In response to the Shadowlanderâs openness, Anneliese asked intently, âWhat exactly is this place?â
âA gutter,â she answered at once. âWhat it was made for, I donât knowâgutter trash arenât permitted to know the whims of those that build the gutters, you see. But it serves a purpose for someone. Perhaps itâs punishment. Whatever it is, the Hopeful knows. I intend to extract the answer from his bleeding body, or his corpse. I intend to eat him alive. Only then might I have my answers.â
Argrave looked at Anneliese to see if she noticed any lies, yet there were no indications from her.
âWhat exactly are the Shadowlanders? How does new life come here?â Anneliese continued.
The lieutenant inhaled deeply. âThe very question all of us ask. The answers to your questions made me harbor this resentment. It hints that weâre a part of the greater cycle outside of this place, outside of this realm. It hints that the Hopeful is not someone suffering the same affliction, but rather something placed here to keep us all in line.â She shook her head. âIâll tell you clear. All of us are dead gods.â
Argrave didnât know quite what he was expecting, but it certainly wasnât that. Both he and Anneliese fell silent, chewing that with active minds. Anneliese clearly thought the woman wasnât lying, and provided the Shadowlander wasnât outright wrong⊠what could be the purpose behind this place?
âI can see you thinking. Donât botherâitâs fruitless. All we have is guesswork. Gods, the best among mortals⊠and us Shadowlanders, the worst among the best. Itâs why I call this place a gutter. With those questions, you have essentially all that I know that you couldnât extract from your prisoner. Now, tell meâdoes this end in violence, or will you give me the cyst you stole?â
âYouâre talking about Traugott?â He snorted when the woman nodded, but felt the need to remind her, âDonât be overeager. You seem angered by your people being killed. Perhaps youâll understand when I say that I fear the same thing might happen to us if we let you have the key to the Shadowlands. We can work something out, but we need to know your intentions for the mortal realm. Our concern lies, bluntly put, in the living and breathing, not long dead gods warped into cursed forms.â
She crossed her arms. âThe Hopeful is the one that sends out the weakest among us to fight in the mortal realm. I have no reason to do the same.â
ââŠand if I were to say that itâs exposure to the mortal realm that breaks your shackles?â Argrave continued. âWould that change the circumstance?â
She exhaled loudly and lowered her head. âI shouldâve known.â She lifted her head back up, fire in her eyes. âConsider thisâwith the Hopeful dead, all of us would be freed. Only in the shadows, however, is our hunger abated. What need would we have to go to your realm? Why would we invite pain onto ourselves?â
âIâm not sure. And neither are you. There are a lot of unknowns in this deal. My priority is my people.â
âAs is mine,â she answered back. âI promise that I have no intention of unleashing Shadowlanders upon your land.â
âBut this could become far bigger than you alone as more join you in freedom,â Argrave countered quickly. âThatâs the nature of the word. Unless you intend to inherit the hierarchy, somehowâwhich I donât think you want to, even if you couldâyou canât control them all. Youâd be giving free will to things thatâve killed my people for millennia uncountable.â
The lieutenant didnât deny this fact, staring ahead with her red eyes in quiet consideration.
âWe need some time to think,â Argrave said. âWeâll consult, then come back with your answer.â
Argrave was prepared to turn and leave, but saw the lieutenantâs stance shift subtly. Just as he was ready to take Anneliese and get away, his queen stepped forth and put her hand on the Shadowlanderâs shoulder.
As the shadows wreathed around her hand, Anneliese said, âAlone, you couldnât defeat Argrave. But he and I are together, now. Together, itâs different,â she lowered her voice in subtle threat. âTo that end, I suggest you be careful. Freedom doesnât mean you can act without consequence. Donât make enemies where you donât have them.â
Argraveâs gaze flitted between the two of them. Anneliese kept her amber eyes fixed against that berserker glare. The former lieutenant seemed to be strongly considering whether or not to fight them here and struggle to reclaim Traugott. In the end⊠her tenseness lessened, and she pulled her shoulder from Annelieseâs hand.
âIâll wait for your answer, then. I hope you have the decency to give me one.â
Argrave thought they were strange words coming from someone whoâd considered sucker-punching them, but he held his tongue. Together, Anneliese and Argrave went to find their answer. Was there something of value here? Would they leave this realm to languish in shadow, as it so often had?
Or, perhaps, as with Traugott⊠was there another way forward altogether?