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.

being able to speak. It seems like only the higher-ranking ones are, and only within the domain Anneliese establishes after I burn away the shadow.” Argrave shook his head. “But I’d only be guessing. Question is, I suppose… do we meet with big boss?” He raised a finger. “Speak now, or

what such a

letting the man go so he could deliver

at Anneliese. “Do you have any

of his intent, but eyes can only say so much, and this realm is nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before.

fate and death and all of that. He’s not someone that we 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

crossed his arms as he looked between everyone. “He’s only a 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. If he doesn’t, then all we’ve done is let loose an enemy

opinion of him. In reality, he’d been on the backfoot the entire time that black knight had been fighting him in the sky. But others seemed to appreciate Balzat’s words much more than Argrave himself—they were persuasive. At the end of the day, it was only one enemy of many. Roland still had this horseman

the man. But once he’s all talked out, I’m going to let him go. You might think it’s foolish, all of you,

reading stolen content. Head

adamant. Argrave didn’t know much about this black knight. But from all he’d heard, the Shadowlanders never came to their realm out of malice.

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

their suffering. He did all of this under the hope that one day, a cure for these sensations might one day present itself, allowing them to exist as they so desperately craved. It

come to be… their captive knew as little as the average human knew about how the world was created. If the Hopeful was capable of sustaining such a realm,

overwritten, 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,

#####

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.

the first few hours, Argrave’s company thought that nothing had come of it. Roland noted that the horseman was staying on 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 he secretly thought that he might’ve been played by