Wraith(3)

‘Excellent. In that case I’ll leave you two to enjoy the cake on your own. I’ll take my leave so I can begin to make the necessary arrangements.’ He bowed once and ambled out of the room as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Gabriel and Rymark watched him leave. ‘Well,’ Rymark said, ‘so much for our temporary escape.’ He glanced at his smiling friend. ‘You let him stop you. Why are you so happy about it?’

Gabriel’s smile grew. ‘Because Ghrashbreg isn’t quite as good at hiding his thoughts as he thinks he is. When he said they were only trying to keep a hold on what was theirs, his left hand gave him away. He was holding onto the chair arm so tightly it’s a wonder it didn’t snap off. It wasn’t just proprietary concern over the city. It was excitement.’

Rymark was puzzled. ‘Excitement? What on earth could he be excited about? Are you sure you didn’t read him wrongly?’

Gabriel was prevented from answering by the return of the servant carrying a towering five-tier chocolate cake embellished with spun sugar and delicate decorations. She gave a nervous smile and carefully laid it on the dining table.

‘Wow,’ Rymark exclaimed.

Gabriel waited until the servant had departed. ‘Indeed. But are they trying to impress us or to divert us?’

‘You’re the one who seems to have a hotline to the goblins’ inner thoughts,’ Rymark grumbled. ‘You tell me.’

Something flickered in Gabriel’s dark eyes. He walked over to the chocolate cake and used the tip of his index finger to scoop up some icing. Rymark’s mouth dropped open at the uncharacteristic movement. Gabriel smiled then, in a sudden blur of movement, he spun to his left and snapped out a hand, muttering under his breath. His bare forearm tensed and a band of glowing symbols appeared on his previously unmarred skin, encircling his wrist then extending upwards, stretching up beyond his cuff. His hand grabbed at air, snatching shadows, while Rymark gaped further.

Gabriel hissed out an expletive and pulled a dark shape into the light. It was as insubstantial as the air itself but it writhed violently as it tried to free itself. Gabriel grunted, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead as he fought for control. The symbols on his arm grew brighter and yet still the wretched dark thing squirmed. It swiped out a long limb and Gabriel’s head whipped away from its reach just in time.

‘Cease,’ he commanded, his voice a strained whisper.

The shape tried to attack again.

‘Cease,’ Gabriel repeated. The tendons in his arm strained. ‘My pocket,’ he said to Rymark. ‘There should be a binding in there.’

His friend nipped over, doing everything he could to stay out of the reach of the flailing shadowbeast. His fingers fumbled as he searched, his face white with tension and fear.

‘Well, this is a little closer than I wanted to get to you,’ Rymark joked weakly.

Gabriel gritted his teeth. ‘Hurry. I can’t hold on for much longer.’

Rymark swallowed and nodded. Then, with an audible sigh of relief, he found what he was looking for. Drawing out a long, thin strip of leather, he pressed it into Gabriel’s free hand and stepped back.

Gabriel twisted away from the thing’s grasp before lashing out with the leather. ‘Cease,’ he said, for the third and final time as the leather wrapped itself round the darkness. The thing immediately stopped moving and sank down as if in submission.

‘Is that…?’

Gabriel nodded. ‘A wraith. A shadow assassin. No prizes for guessing who is his target.’

Rymark took an involuntary step backwards. ‘Those goblin bastards.’

Gabriel stared down at the indefinable mass of dark shadow. ‘Not the Filits. Ghrashbreg was right about one thing; they can’t afford for either of us to be hurt.’

‘You think the Gneiss sent this … thing?’

‘It’s certainly possible. They could blame my death on the Filits and then reap all the rewards from the resulting fallout. They have the numbers to force a large-scale city-wide breach if they deem the time is right. Or maybe there’s a third group we are unaware of.’

Rymark was still pale and trembling. ‘You should kill him now. Use the binding to strangle him.’

Gabriel shook his head. ‘No.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘I want to see whose shadow this is. I’ve come across wraiths before but never…’ His voice trailed off.

‘Never what?’

‘Nothing. No wraith can survive without its shadow form for more than twenty-four hours. Whoever this is, they will come here. They’ll have no choice.’ He gazed at the creature. ‘Do you hear that?’ he said softly. ‘You’ll have to come to me. Tell me who you’re working for and I’ll let you go.’

The wraith drew himself up, no doubt expending the very last of his energy to do so. Then he floated in front of Gabriel, turning his head to the side so his form sharpened and the outline of his features grew more distinct.

Rymark hissed. ‘Did he just stick out his tongue?’

Gabriel let out a sharp, short laugh. ‘Yeah. I think he did.’





Chapter One


Twenty-four hours earlier



My shadow detached itself from my body. It peeled away, its loose dark shape almost invisible against the growing dusk. It shimmered and shivered, elongating itself as it stretched, against the light thrown across the far wall. As always, the sensation of losing part of myself was faintly painful – and faintly satisfying. If anyone asked, I’d describe it as similar to the feeling when you pull off a plaster. No one ever asked, however. That’s because no one knew what I really was – or what I was truly capable of.