Mythica, book 2, Intro.

Intro.

Darvick paused his approach, crouching down in the back of the alley as another city watch patrol passed by. He trusted in the darkness of the moonless night and in his abilities to keep hidden. Despite the low chance of discovery, his hand rested on the hilt of Final Notice, the short sword granted to him by his master, Uxsabai. The weapon had been one of his rewards and it had served him well. He had struck down several rival champions with it, and now, only two remained.

The patrol passed by, never suspecting that Darvick was hidden less than five feet from them. Their lanterns were never quite able to pierce the shadows that surrounded him. It was the third patrol that Darvick had slipped past, and each consisted of four or five of the city watch in various states of alertness. A quick check of his back trail showed that the target was still moving on the path that Darvick had anticipated.

With the patrol gone, Darvick headed deeper into the alleyway and effortlessly scaled the wall. Normally, he’d prefer to travel on the rooftops, but the army attacking this city had used them to push past the outer lines of defense during an earlier battle. Now, the tallest buildings each had watch posts looking for someone skulking about the roofs of the city. It was better to use his skills on the ground and avoid the weary and distracted patrols that happened by.

Only one more street to pass and Darvick would be at his destination. Already, he could smell the familiar scent of the harbor. It was an unpleasant combination of refuse, rotting fish, and sewage that the normally crisp-smelling sea never managed to overcome. The guards were thicker here on the docks, and he had to take even more care as he proceeded to his destination.

With no more patrols in sight, Darvick crossed the last street and crouched down behind a few barrels that waited for the morning shift of stevedores to move them to their destination. More lanterns lined the harbor and even a few larger watchfires added their light to the mix. The shadows were sparse, but Darvick found a good spot to wait for his victim. If things went as planned, the merchant would pass by this very spot on his way to the ship.

It had taken Darvick several days as he stalked the various taverns that remained open before he found his mark. The man had made the mistake of boasting that he had important business in Golgotia and would be leaving as soon as the blockade was broken. After that, Darvick purchased a room at the tavern and waited for the merchant to make his move.

“Boss, when do we get paid?” One of the guards asked as the merchant and his entourage turned onto the street where Darvick was hidden. Two guards led the way and one walked behind the merchant. None were paying all that much attention, and Darvick could tell these weren’t exactly pros. The merchant had tried to save a few coins by hiring common street thugs for protection instead of well-trained bodyguards, and it was going to cost him his life.

“You will be paid the balance of what I owe you when we arrive safely in Golgotia. Until then, do your job and keep an eye on things,” the merchant snapped back.

Drawing his blades, Darvick pushed mana into his shortsword, Final Notice, and the serrated dagger he held in his off hand. The mana added piercing damage and a powerful toxin to the blades as he waited for the group to pass. Slipping out from the barrels he was hiding behind, Darvick targeted the guard at the rear of the group and drove Final Notice into the guard’s spine. The mana-enhanced blade easily pierced through bone and flesh like it was butter and the man slumped to the ground, dead in an instant.

The sound of the man falling drew the attention of the others, but before they could respond, Darvick activated Shadow Step and appeared behind the final two guards. Final Notice drove into one guard’s spine, while the dagger in his off hand pierced the back of the second guard’s skull. Both died without a whimper, but the merchant started to squeal in terror. The merchant began to back away, putting distance between himself and Darvick while frantically looking for any guard patrols.

“Quiet, or I’ll make this more painful than it has to be,” Darvick demanded.

“What do you want, I have coin, you can have it if you just leave,” the merchant whined.

“I don’t need your coin; I need your boarding pass.”

“But I need it, I have business to conduct in Golgotia. Surely, I can buy passage for you on the next ship. I’m sure more will be arriving,” the merchant tried to negotiate.

“No deal, I don’t have time to wait for another ship, I need to leave now,” Darvick said. Normally, he didn’t speak with his targets, he just killed them, but by keeping the man talking, he prevented the frightened merchant from shouting out and alerting any nearby patrols. Shadow Step was now off cooldown, and Darvick used it to appear in front of the merchant.

Darvick didn’t even need to use mana on his blades, and after a quick slash of his throat, the merchant fell to the ground, unable to shout for help as he bled out. Wasting no time, Darvick sifted through the man’s pockets, pulling out a sizeable purse as well as documents from the ruler of this town and some Golgotian official. The document granted the bearer free passage on any Golgotian vessel. It wasn’t even specifically addressed to the merchant, making Darvick’s job even easier.

Pulling the bodies behind the barrels should give him enough time to board the ship and be safely at sea before they were found. A quick check for blood splatter confirmed that he wasn’t covered in gore. Holding the boarding documents, Darvick strolled confidently toward the docks. A passing patrol stopped him, and after checking his paperwork, waved Darvick on.

In the distance, Darvick could see a pair of ships approaching the dock. They had slipped past or battled their way through the blockade. As the ships closed in, Darvick could see that one was a large cargo ship, the same as hundreds of others that carried goods back and forth between ports. The second ship was different. It was about the same length as the cargo vessel, but its lines were sleeker, and it had a predatory look to it that indicated a warship. Darvick was no expert on naval vessels, but the ship matched the description of a Golgotian war galley.

Darvick joined the small crowd queuing up near the cargo vessel. One of the many guards in the area checked his paperwork a final time before allowing him to take his place in line. Instead of dockworkers moving in to unload the cargo vessel, gangways were lowered and armored figures began to disembark. Darvick recognized the armor as Golgotian, and it must have been at least a reinforced company that formed up before marching into the city.

Whatever was going on here wasn’t Darvick’s business, he just needed to get to Golgotia and serve his master. Something was draining the power of the gods of death, and since his life was now tied to that of his master, Darvick needed to eliminate that threat. Of course, he was also tasked with eliminating the champions of the other gods.

The final two champions of the gods of death shared his task to eliminate the threat that was leeching power from the death gods. While they all might have the same task, Uxsabai demanded that Darvick eliminate the other champions. With the other champions gone, Darvick would absorb their power, making it much easier for him to end the threat that his master faced.

Darvick knew he was tasked with more than just eliminating the growing threat, Darvick also needed to seize control of the threat’s power and gift it to his master. Uxsabai would harness whatever was currently sapping his strength and turn it against his rivals. When the threat was finally dealt with, there would be only one god of death still standing, and that god would be Uxsabai.