Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 641: Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Argrave walked out of the makeshift interrogation room a great deal later, his gray eyes looking somewhat darker after what he’d learned. Others, who’d not participated in the interrogation so as not to make it overbearing and overcrowded, walked up to him.

“Have we learned any useful information?” Bhaltair questioned.

Argrave stood, searching in his own head for how he might answer that question. After a long while of many waiting expectantly, he finally said, “I think we may have a new ally.”

“What?” People looked between each other. “You got that one to turn against his kind?”

“No,” Argrave shook his head. “But they’re fighting against someone they call the Manumitter at the same time as us. This person is apparently capable of liberating Shadowlanders from their hierarchy. Anneliese and I… after reviewing all the information, and making some admittedly big leaps in logic…”

She nodded to back up his point. “We think that it’s Traugott they’re fighting against.”

Argrave looked between everyone. “Guessing that, I proposed a collaboration. This Manumitter has amassed a sizable force of Shadowlanders, freed of the hierarchy. He’s apparently attempting to break the chains that bind them once and for all, bringing free will to everyone in the Shadowlands.” Argrave rubbed his chin.

“And?” Ghislain pressed.

“Our little dark knight friend with a flesh wound wanted me to meet his boss.” Argrave crossed his arms. “The big boss. The Hopeful, he called it. He’s physically incapable of breaking protocol and working with me independently. Only the big boss has free will. And the way he told it, it sounds like the Hopeful’s responsible for holding this whole realm together. If the Manumitter takes him down—and that’s not out of the realm of possibility—we might have bigger problems than a few stragglers coming to our world. The whole damned Shadowlands could leak out to our world.”

“If he can’t break protocol, why’s he talking to you?” Aurore asked prudently.

are, and only within the domain Anneliese establishes after I burn away the shadow.” Argrave

what such a thing

the man go so he could deliver word,

“Do you

of his intent, but eyes can only say so much, and this realm is nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before. Besides, if he is slave to a larger system, then it doesn’t particularly matter what he

can rely upon. He wants us dead, pure and simple.” The Archchief shook his head. “Only a fool lets an enemy go when they have them at their mercy. We should use him

small part of a larger picture; one part of a grand hierarchy. We’ve shown that we’re capable of subduing him. If he cooperates, we gain an in with their leader.

black knight had been fighting him in the sky. But others seemed to appreciate Balzat’s words much more than Argrave himself—they

it’s foolish, all of you, but I’m the one that bled to get

Head to Royal Road for the

Archchief who’d been most adamant. Argrave didn’t know much about this black knight. But from all he’d heard, the Shadowlanders never came

Shadowlanders had such a profound impact in their surroundings. They seemed to eat light, color, sensation, sounds, and smells. Why? It was because their very presence was a craving for existence that could never be fulfilled. Their entire life was that of hunger, of consumption, and of desire. They possessed an insatiable desire to exist, but were denied that sensation. Their body constantly imposed itself on the world around it, eating away at sensations of existence to fill a void

cultivated an atmosphere where no sensations could be felt, and where all was different from the mortal world, to keep them from their suffering. He did all of this under the hope that

how the world was created. If the Hopeful was capable of sustaining such a realm, perhaps he could give the answers that

the Hopeful would never allow that to lie for after the Manumitter was slain. They could collaborate with them to deal with the larger problem that was Traugott, but at the end of the road, there was a reckoning in store. Of what scale… well, perhaps he’d have to ask the

#####

a child releasing a wounded animal he’d found back into the wild after its injuries were tended to. Like a child, he secretly hoped the pet would come wandering back. Ultimately, it was a calculated risk. If nothing came of it, so be it. If something did, they’d gain. Either way, torture wasn’t

the edge of the realm they’d carved out of the Shadowlands, doing nothing. Argrave coped by suggesting that he was having someone else send the message, but