In Shadows We Hide: The Swarming Death, #9

By Steffen Larken

Shadows come to life in the streets of Aruvan. Deadly shadows.

Having finally escaped the madness of Exalithen, Veric looks for a new lead...

His investigation takes him back to the palace, and to his historian friend.

But as he grasps at straws, he finds himself dragged into the affairs of murderous shadows.

How far will he go to help them--and, more importantly, why would he?

• Language: English
• Publisher: ASG Worlds
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9782493671103

Book preview

1.

The world had not dissolved in my absence. Luksia was still there, and whole. At least from what I could see.

The morning following my return to Aruvan, I visited my historian friend, Raved.

As expected, it was his young servant Ava who answered the door. She smiled when she recognized me.

Sir Veric! You have returned.

It was odd that she would call me ‘sir’, as I was neither a lord nor a noble—let alone a human.

I have, I said. Is Raved home?

Please, come in. I am sure he will be pleased to see you.

I stepped into the hall as she closed the door behind me. She took me directly into the sitting room without announcing me.

Sir! she called out happily. Look who has come to visit.

The historian glanced up and grinned.

Veric! It is good to see you. I have often wondered where you were and how you were doing.

He stood and shook my hand.

It has been a long journey, I said.

Have you found the answers you sought?

He motioned for me to sit down, so I did.

I fear I have found more questions than answers. What about you? Have you learned more about the parchments?

Raved smiled as he returned to his seat. As for that, I must say that I have. At least, to some extent. My friend has confirmed that they are indeed, as I had suspected, extracts from the Book of Brevin.

I rubbed my neck as I mulled over his words.

To some extent?

Well, it seems that the pages have been tampered with.

How so?

There are other writings, mixed in with the original.

How can you be sure they are not part of the original?

Ava stepped back into the room, carrying a tray with some glasses and a pitcher of wine. The historian waited for her to pour us our drinks and leave the room before he responded.

The age of the ink was studied, and clearly some parts of the text were written much more recently.

What does it mean?

I’m not sure, he said, as he took a sip from his glass. But I suspect that’s what Devan is after.

Why?

Because the Book of Brevin would have no value to him, especially in such a fragmented form. Whereas that added writing could have any meaning and is most likely complete.

I take it you don’t know what it says?

No, he admitted. Though it is still being studied as we speak, and I hope to have some answers soon.

What about Devan? Have you kept an eye on him?

We have. You were right about the bathhouse. He goes there once a week. Harrus followed him inside several times, and each time he met with the same three men.

Were you able to identify them?

Yes. We followed all of them back to their homes. They’re all nobles, Veric. Not as powerful as Devan himself, but still... This is troubling.

Was Harrus able to overhear their conversations?

Sadly, no. He dared not get too close for fear of being spotted.

I sighed as I grabbed my own glass and drank some of the wine.

Aside from them meeting at the bathhouse, have you found any other connections between the four of them?

We could find none.

Four rich men, with no obvious connection, meeting secretly in a bathhouse, with one of them a member of the queen’s Head Advisors... It was starting to feel a lot like a conspiracy.

What were these people up to?

The answer was likely in those parchments.

Devan had wanted them, after all.

Bad enough that he had been prepared to kill for them.

I wondered then if the queen knew what her advisor was up to? Could she be in on this? Did it have something to do with the orb, or with her political ambitions?

Thinking of the queen reminded me of the dreadful events that had occurred the day I’d set out for the Sangar Sea.

You know, I said, that day when I left, the world seemed to break apart... I was half expecting to come back to find the entire kingdom sunken to the depths of the sea.

He shook his head. There were tremors, some fairly large ones, especially at the outskirts of Aruvan and, from what I’ve heard, further toward the sea and even more up north.

So... no damage here?

Some, but nothing major. The brunt of it missed us. But a lot of land near the coast sunk into the sea. Entire villages were destroyed. Hundreds of people went missing, and only a handful of bodies were recovered. It was like nothing we’d ever seen...

Not even in your history books?

He frowned at the question. There have been many disasters in the past, but I couldn’t say how this one compares to them.

We drank quietly for a moment.

So what are you going to do now? he asked me.

I’m not sure. I’ve followed the only lead I had and come back pretty much empty-handed... unless you count more mysteries. That said, I need to check if my friend Sandrin has made it back. I left with her, but we got separated while we were journeying through Exalithen.

He blinked