Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 182: Envoy

‎Morgan could almost imagine the people that had lived in the middle ring of the city of the Damned.

Ghostly phantoms that floated about going about their daily business oblivious of the fact they'd even passed on. But that wasn't even the case.

All that was merely a fragment, an illusion for ed from.his over active imagination.

‎Large crowds bustling on the streets and giant carriages moving along the gilded roads.

‎From what they'd been able to tell so far, the lightning moose was likely the form of transportation that had been used to drag the carriages and the people that had lived in this forsaken place.

‎Different carriages had different crests, symbols etched into their side.

‎A subtle hint that even in this civilization, there had been a pre existing hierarchy, a caste system of sorts, with a lower class at the bottom of the chain.

‎The city resembled a glorified ghost town, with the different creatures inhabiting it but no people at all.

‎There wasn't even the slightest trace of the existence of people in the city. Other than the carriages and residential areas.

‎It was almost as though the entire populace vanished overnight without a trace.

The thought of it was quite terrifying in itself.

Whatever power was capable of making an entire populace disappeae without a clue had to be a force to be reckoned with.

Morgan threw a sidelong glance at his companions, while silently pondering the obtuse nature of the city of the Damned.

‎Cassius was lazily juggling the lightning moose 's antlers throwing them into the air and the catching them.

It wasn't much in the way of entertainment but it was enough.

‎Despite the death of their original owner, the gilded horns still contained a significant amount of voltage.

‎With every flick into the air, the horns would light up with current creating an electromagnetic field around themselves and then magnetize themselves towards each other.

‎Morgan watched the spectacle in fascination and even a twinge of greed.

‎The antlers would likely make a brilliant addition to his weapons.

‎Professor Rundrik had once said that weapons could be upgraded using rare materials with mystic properties that allowed the weapons to harness the power of the elements or even further the intricate flow of umbralis through the weapons themselves.

‎ Gazing at gilded horns, he suspected they were one such material.

‎Sadly, none of them was at the level required to upgrade weapons if such a calibre since they'd been made a master weapon smith.

‎One of the boons of his battle against Azaroth was a new found ability he'd gained from using the eyes of Kazarax.

‎The ability to see enchantments.

‎And here in the middle rim of the city, nature of the enchantments was quite potent.

‎Morgan's eyes had undergone a profound change, giving him the ability to trace the sorcerous runes engraved I to the buildings within the city.

‎After exploring the water channels he'd come to the conclusion that it was the only explanation for the city's water supply.

‎Sorcerous enchantments

running through the length of the water channels pulsated with life, invisible to the eyes of the rest.

‎Morgan knelt subtly tracing the shape of the golden characters.

‎Morgan stared at his reflection in the water, immersing his wounded hands in the flowing stream.

‎The cold water did nothing to alleviate the agonizing aches cursing through his battered hands.

‎A cold wind stirred sending ripples through the crystal clear waters within the channel.

‎"What are you doing?"

‎A small smile appeared on Morgan's face.

‎Even without the ibg he knew that a particular blonde haired girl was standing behind, just enough so her reflection wouldn't been seen within the mirror like surface of the flowing water.

‎Talia stared at him with a neutral expression.

‎Morhan could feel her gaze, boring into his back.

‎The scion of House Varas had returned to her usual stoic, aloof self ever since Morgan had defeated the veliscera.

‎"I'm exploring the water channel. I found something quite interesting. Care to see?"

‎Talia walked over expressionlessly.

‎"See, there are these characters,"

he said point at a particular spot.

‎"They probably stretch all the way to the channel bed. And I think that they'll probably help master more of this strange language. If I'm able to, then who knows...it could even a way to help ya get home..."

‎Talia pierced him with a strange look for a while then turned away walking back.

‎After a while, a second presence appeared,

with it a subtle pressure.

‎Cold flames ignited within his shadow, staring at him silently.

‎" You're quite sadistic you know." Sarenus

whispered softly.

‎"Why did you tell her the truth?"

‎Morgan smiled, his teeth glinting in the light.

‎He slowly stirred the water with his hands, then dipped his hands in up to the elbow feeling it's coolness.

‎His reflection in the water distorted visibly swaying with the ripples.

‎Morgan let out a sigh then pulled out his hands.

‎"I knew she wouldn't believe me... she's probably thinking I was trying to pull her leg just now."

‎Sarenus let out a low whistle.

‎"You're truly devious, you know that..."

‎Morgan shrugged, nonchalantly leaning back. His eyes traced the outlines of the intricate runes etc

‎" Sometimes the best hidden things are those that are hidden in plain sight."

Sarenus chuckled.

A second presence appeared in the darkness of his shadow.

His eyes briefly flickered a vivid shade of gold then reverted to their original colour.

"Well, spoken my Lord, wise words for one so young."

" Kazarax."

His shadow morphed and the familiar monstrous figure of the Void walker appeared.

" My Lord, this place city was one of those under the authority of Lord Velagrew. Since you banished the Fog, one of his envoys will soon come to investigate this place."

A slight frown appeared on Morgan's face.

"And these envoys, how strong would they be?"

Kazarax went silent.

Morgan turned to him curiously.

"Well?"

"At your current state, you wouldn't last more than five seconds against an opponent of that calibre. You and your friends would likely be obliterated if you encountered such a foe."

Morgan's expression darkened at the conviction in the void walker's voice.

"From the information you acquired from Null Codex, an envoy of the Lord of the Realm Between would likely be atleast a stage above Calamity."

Morgan shivered.

"A creature worse than a calamity…"

Cassius appeared at his side, casually plopping down and dipping his feet into the river.

The Biological Talented had quickly regained his mass and fully recovered from the veliscera 's attack and even more astonishingly, he'd grown larger in size, growing much taller.

His dreadlocks had grown longer giving him a wild untamed appearance.

"Why do you keep messing with her like that?"

Only a few seconds had passed since Talia had left.

Morgan grinned, cradling his injured hands.

In the next moment, the tenebrous cracks running through his skin pulsated with a life of their own.

Morgan bit back a groan, his face turning a few shades paler.

After a few moments the feeling passed.

Let out a weary sigh, he smiled weakly.

"What's a little joke between friends? I was merely joking." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Morgan pouted, doing his best impression of Talia.

"I truly didn't mean anything by it."

Cassius chuckled shaking his head slightly.

After a while, he spoke quietly on a somber voice.

" You know, I never once thought that I'd end up in a place such as this. After getting nominated as a recruit for the Praesagius, my family was really proud.

Mum and dad are already full fledged agents, y'know. And I also have a younger sister back home."

Morgan quietly observed the Talented, silently listening to what he what he was saying.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes being here is a bit overwhelming but you, it's like you're not moved or frightened in the slightest. You're always so calm."

Morgan silently but his lip to maintain a straight face.

" And even now, when it's uncertaun whether we'll actually make it out of here, you're still really optimistic.

Cassius let out a shaky breath.

Frankly, it's quite scary at times.

Morgan smiled wistfully gazing at his reflection on the water surface.

His reflection stared back at him, with a smile.

In truth he understood what the Talented was talking about. He'd realized it himself.

It had become more pronounced with his stay in Tenebris but it had happened much earlier on.

Back then, he hadn't realized it himself.

What Cassius described wasn't a la k of fear.

Just like everybody else Morgan felt fear.

It was his fear of death that had kept him alive.

The fear of dying alone and afraid.

The fear of failing to find his father.

That same fear drove him to become stronger.

It gave him strength to train relentlesly

and push on even on the verge of death.

If there was anything different about them, it was the way they responded to fear.

Fer didn't leave him weak kneed and indecisive, on the contrary, it made him stronger. Much stronger than he'd ever been.

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