“I like the plan right up until the point of me abandoning a friend.” Shade grumbled.
“I don’t care if you like the plan, Shade. I care if you follow it.” Caleb snapped. His glowered at Shade and took a half step forward. “And you will follow it. I saved your life in our prison and I’m calling in that debt. You will pay me back today by saving my daughter.”
“You are a stubborn ass.” Shade snapped before giving a grudging nod. “Fine, if everything plays out the way you expect it to then I will follow your plan. If something unexpected happens I will make my own choices without wasting time to consult you.” He added firmly and found himself silently praying that something unexpected would happen. He had no desire to follow the plan at all and today was quite possibly the only day he would ever cheer complications arising.
“I suspect that is the best I’ll get from you so I accept it. I will hold you to your word Christian Morcaillo.” Caleb’s voice was low and Shade could clearly hear the hidden threat.
“Fine, now explain to me how you are going to simply walk into the city. I may not have recognized you as the Bloody Huntsman, but I bet there are a few in Rivana that will.” Shade said lightly. There was no real reason to press the point of Caleb’s plan or his threat. Zoey was right, the man was unreasonably stubborn.
“I find myself more concerned with how you expect us to keep a very young child silent while her father is dying. We will need her to be quiet to sneak off and I don’t see how we can ask that of her.” Dray said calmly before Caleb had a chance to open his mouth.
Shade seized the moment and pointed quickly at Dray. “He has a very valid point. Are you expecting me to club your kid to keep her quiet, because I won’t.”
A faint smile formed on Caleb’s lips as he shook his head slowly at them. “Syrah is my daughter. She will understand what I am doing.” He spoke with such sincerity that Shade found himself at a loss of words. “As to the other question…” Caleb began as he pulled a small black dagger from his backpack. At first glance it looked like polished obsidian but as Caleb lifted it free of the last leather strap on his bag it began to writhe in his hand.
“Shadowsteel.” Shade breathed as he watched the dagger elongate and shift until it was vaguely sword shaped. It was nearly impossible to keep himself from reaching to touch it. He had been obsessed with Vaze’s armor and only the thought of actually touching Vaze without permission had kept him from pawing over the Shadowsteel then. He wanted desperately to know more about the metal, but now was not the right time to ask. Even knowing everything that was about to happen and what he should be focusing on Shade still found himself envisioning his ship covered with the beautiful black gleam of the sword before him. With a mental curse Shade forced his hands behind his back and clasped them tightly as he watched the edges sharpen and small details begin to appear along the blade until the object in Caleb’s hand solidified into a long sword. It was a weapon unlike any Shade had ever seen before. There was no groove where the blade met the hilt and the details of the weapon were breathtaking. Each rune on the blade was too perfect to have been crafted by human hands and the gleam along the edge spoke with deadly clarity. He had no doubt that Caleb’s sword would slice through armor as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Caleb’s expression was guarded as the shadows of the blade rose and swirled around him. The white tips of his hair darkened to pitch black while his skin changed from pale to sun baked bronze. His features blurred for a moment and then reformed into something far cruder eliminating all trace of his Elder Blood. The armor that had seemed too common just minutes before now suited him perfectly. To the casual observer he looked like nothing more than a simple mercenary. There was no trace of Caleb Faulklin left at all in the leathery skinned warrior standing before him.
“Won’t they see through illusion?” Zoelyn asked hesitantly.
“This is Shadow magic. The only one that could see through this disguise is Vaze and I highly doubt he will inform the Rivasans who I truly am.” Caleb replied quietly as he removed the common steel blade from his sword belt and slid the beautiful Shadowsteel sword into its place. With a sigh he tossed the steel sword onto one of the empty chairs and adjusted his cloak to cover the fine black hilt at his side. Without a word he lifted his bag from the floor and turned for the ship’s door.
“Caleb.” Shade said urgently as he frantically searched his mind for some last words he could offer that might save his friend.
“Leave it, Shade. Please.” Caleb’s voice was soft and he didn’t bother glancing back or slowing his steps.
Shade closed his mouth and bit back the words he had been about to speak as he watched Caleb step from the ship taking the last opportunity to talk sense with him as he left. “Well that’s that then. We have our orders.” Shade muttered as he glanced back to Zoey and Dray.