Shade shifted silently where he stood and tried to ignore the ankle deep filth in the alley. He wasn’t sure which was less appealing, the stench from the garbage or the smell drifting from the slave quarter of the city. It might have been bearable had he been in his true form, but in order to remain hidden well he had switched to the Blight form for its camouflage abilities. Unfortunately while the creatures were adept at hiding, they also had remarkable senses, and his sense of smell was about to make him vomit. With an effort he pushed his nausea back down and tried his best to refocus his mind on something besides his own discomfort.
His attention moved across the rotting produce and various other items he didn’t want to contemplate to settle on Caleb. The man was crouched deeper in the alley with a small swarm of rats surrounding him. All of the rodents were attentive and some even stood on hind legs as if to hear Caleb’s various squeaking noises better. In another time or place the sight would have been comical; today he couldn’t even summon a faint smile. Too many other concerns echoed through his thoughts, the foremost being how exactly Caleb would manage to explain what he was doing if they wrong sort of person walked by the alley before he was finished. Rivasan were talented with arcane magic, not druidic powers. Amongst the Elder Blood the Fae and the Shifters were the ones that excelled in the natural magic and neither of those would be welcome in Prendington.
The squeaking conversation died down and Shade let out a slow breath of relief as Caleb began handing out tiny bags of seeds to each of the rodents. He didn’t understand this part of the plan at all, but Caleb didn’t seem inclined to elaborate on any of the details of his plan so Shade had no choice but to follow blindly.
“Keep close to me and don’t get lost. I won’t pause for you I’m running out of time.” Caleb whispered as he stood slowly. He turned toward the west and began picking his way carefully through the alley taking care to avoid the clogged gutters that ran alongside the sandstone wall of the building.
He led them through alleys and backstreets for several blocks and gradually the filth lessened as well as the stench. With each turn they seemed to be moving into better parts of town and by the time Caleb stopped once more Shade couldn’t detect even a hint of the slave markets in the air. With a frown Caleb pulled a rag from his backpack and leaned back against the alley examining his boots with a critical eye.
Realizing they were going to be stopped for at least a few minutes if Caleb intended to remove the filth from himself Shade moved quietly to the mouth of the alley and glanced at the street beyond. Everything as far as he could see in both directions was clean and orderly. The southern area of the road seemed to be a merchant’s quarter and he could just make out the bright banners of an open market in the distance. To the north the shops and cafes gradually gave away to houses and apartment buildings crafted in the same reddish sandstone that seemed to comprise most of the city. Neither direction seemed a likely place to locate Derrick Rivasa. Shade glanced back at Caleb who had just finished wiping down his boots and wondered if he should even bother asking what they were doing here. Chances were good that Caleb would ignore that question as easily as he had ignored the other dozen questions Shade had asked on the way to the city.
“You should stay here. I doubt any of you will approve of this part of the plan.” Caleb murmured as he stepped from the alley into the bright sunlight of the open street. A few well-dressed passersby slowed to watch him with looks of distaste on their fine faces, but no one openly rebuked his presence.
“What part of the plan would this be?” Shade whispered just loud enough for Caleb to hear him and crossed his fingers that no one else in the area had hearing good enough to detect his words.
“Luring Derrick out. An eye for an eye and all.” Caleb returned softly before setting off at a brisk pace toward to southern end of the street.
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dray mumbled from somewhere to his left.
“I haven’t a clue, but I’m not interested in skulking in alleys and waiting.” Shade replied quietly. Carefully he stepped from the alley and ghosted after Caleb. It took most of his attention to avoid the scattered people on the street as well as anything on the road that might give his presence away. Even something as trivial as kicking an errant pebble could draw attention to him. While he didn’t think anyone in this particular area of town would notice something so small, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Caleb crossed the street swiftly with a determined stride and it took every ounce of skill Shade had just to keep him in sight. There was little chance of losing him in the crowd however even if he did manage to lose sight of him for a time. Caleb’s dark cloak and plain grey chainmail stood out like a crow in a songbird cage amongst the Rivasan nobles.
His steps veered toward one of the nicer store fronts and Shade felt a moment’s hesitation at the sight of the guard standing beside the door. The man eyed Caleb with suspicion, but Caleb simply bowed his head and whispered something before continuing toward the door. Shade hadn’t been close enough to hear whatever was said, but it seemed to do the trick as the guard didn’t protest Caleb’s entrance beyond a disgusted nod.
The door had barely closed completely behind Caleb before a woman’s scream erupted from inside. The guard at the door fumbled for his sword and rushed for the doorway just as Shade himself was gaining the stairs. With a sprint he slid inside the building behind the guard and managed to flatten himself against the wall before anyone had a chance of bumping into him.