Night had fallen on the Order's caravan camp, several groups had formed around the many campfires, chatting and commenting on something they had seen during the day... Although Omar was worried that Rafael had not returned from Stygai, he deduced that he had either met with Zhang or was working on the problem that prevented them from communicating...
Among the many groups that were chatting, the one centered around Salim was the most popular; both the apprentices and the civilians of the Order were very interested in his stories. And this time, Salim was explaining about the demons of the Shadowlands...
Tomorrow, we will enter the territory where sightings of Shadow Demons are more frequent. You must follow all the instructions I gave about the lights we use during the walk, and also pay attention to the signs in the shadows that we will encounter.
"Salim, which creature do you consider the most dangerous in this place?" Asked a young apprentice who was quite beautiful and popular among the others.
"Of course it's the dragons, don't waste Salim's time with stupid questions." Answered an older female apprentice who didn't like the beautiful, popular young woman.
Two young apprentices who were standing next to the girl glared at the older apprentice. But before they could say anything, Salim interrupted them with his words.
"Of course it would be the Stalkers[1]*…"
"Hm? But you said they were quite weak and cowardly…" The beautiful apprentice replied while everyone else in the group pricked up their ears to hear why the Stalkers would be the most dangerous in their eyes.
"They are indeed weak and cowardly, and would never dare to attack a large and strong group like ours, but imagine if our group was attacked by a dragon or a Demon? We will survive, but we will be very vulnerable after the fight, with weak and injured people…
…And that is when those bastards will attack us. They attack the weakest and most injured of the group, dragging them into the middle of the forest of dead trees, even cooperating to make simultaneous attacks. That is why I consider them the most dangerous in this place…"
"You said 'Demons', are they different from the shadow demons we will encounter tomorrow?" Asked the older apprentice, noticing a different Asshai'i pronunciation in the word Demon used by Salim.
"Yes, you heard right. As dangerous as dragons, first-generation Demons are at the top of the list of land predators. Unlike shadow demons, which are the corpses of humans who died in the Shadowlands and were not cremated or devoured. Demons are monsters with powerful bodies and are immune to magic. They are the survivors of the first Calamity of Asshai."
"Are there still monsters from the first Calamity around?" the young apprentice asked, looking at the entrance to the camp, a little worried.
"Don't worry, although they are troublesome and immune to magic, we have Omar in our group… His light magic and Valyrian Steel sword are powerful weapons against these monsters… Besides, I heard that Sir Arthur is one of the legendary Knights of Valyria, and he is with us too."
At that moment, everyone looked with respect at the now Young Knight with beautiful armor symbolizing the Velaryon house. Not even the apprentices were an exception. Rumors that Sir Arthur had defeated several apprentices from the Beast Garden single-handedly, even though he was not an apprentice, spread throughout the Order of Sages, making Arthur extremely popular. Both the younger and older apprentices looked at him with eyes that went beyond admiration...
The two young apprentices, seeing the girl they liked, looking at Arthur in this way, also comforted her while bragging…
"Don't worry, I'm also very good with the sword, my father was the third son of a noble house in Ghis, and I was trained by the best knight in the region…" Said the first apprentice, who wore an elegant robe with a face full of pride.
The other young man smiled and said:
"I'm not a nobleman, nor was I trained by some fancy knight, but I was a slave in the Pentos coliseum who survived 10 life-or-death battles and was freed… If any Demon shows up, I'll show him that he's messing with the wrong person!"
"Ohh"
The young woman's eyes showed great admiration for the two young men's past, and this made them quite confident again…
Their interaction also made everyone around the campfire laugh, and soon everyone went to sleep…
***
Stygai had such a terrifying aura that no monster from the Shadowlands dared to approach the city, not even the dragons…
This was because animals did have a sharper instinct for danger, and avoided places that exuded this kind of aura, the same was true in Asshai.
But among the monsters of the Shadowlands, there was one that ignored its most primitive instincts. Perhaps due to its higher intelligence, which was similar to that of cavemen. These monsters knew that the outside of the city was not so dangerous, and with luck, they could even catch an injured target that left the dangerous city from time to time.
Of course, these were the Lurkers, green-skinned creatures similar to goblins. They wore the skins and hides of Shadowlands monsters sewn and tied directly to their skin, giving them the ability to move undetected through the shadows.
And at that moment, a group of eight of them were slowly approaching Rafael's unconscious body that was still lying at the entrance to Corpse City…
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magical Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!
[1] I couldn't find a better name that matches the original (Espreitadores)