Gleam - Chapter 147 (Patreon)

They fought two more groups of Strandwalkers before the night was done. Fortunately, both groups only had four monsters and Chance’s team got the jump on the disgusting creatures, killing them before they could put up a proper fight.

Each fight was, by Chance’s estimate, around two hours apart from the previous one. Ocie was clearly doing her best to make sure they didn’t run into more than what they could handle at once, and Chance was grateful for it.

He didn’t mind fighting, but using the Essence in his Center drained him quickly, and he wasn’t so sure he would have been able to handle multiple rounds of fighting Strandwalkers without slipping up or losing his ability to properly fight back.

Yeo was in the same boat – his attacks were flashy and intense, but he ran out of energy just as quickly as Chance did. Bella seemed to have a little more endurance than the two of them, but not by enough to handle wave after wave of the Strandwalkers.

Chance was just starting to wonder how many more of the monsters they’d have to fight before the Old City finally reached the spot that they were meant to arrive at when they all came to a stop at the end of an alleyway with reddish-purple light glowing from just around the corner.

“What is that?” Yeo whispered, lowering his stance and drawing his kusarigama.

“Light,” Bella said helpfully. “Not something I think is meant to be in the Old City, unless I’m mistaken. I’m far from an expert on it.”

“No, you’re right,” Chance said. “It ends. I think we’ve arrived.”

“Where exactly have we arrived at?” Yeo asked.

“I haven’t figured that part out yet.” Chance edged forward, his urumi jumping out of its bracelet form to take shape in the palm of his hand. He poked his head out around the corner, drawing on his Essence in case something nasty was waiting for him.

What greeted Chance was a relatively normal – at least by Gleam’s standards – street. A few passersby were heading in either direction, but it was far quieter than Shikari Lane. The light came from several signs floating before storefronts, flickering as the Essence within them pulsed and sputtered in a desperate attempt to remain powered.

Carts were scattered throughout the street, many of them abandoned. Vendors stood beside them, but most looked like they’d finished their work for the day and were already packing up. The air hung heavy with a strange, buzzing melancholy.

A cool breeze ran along Chance’s arms, setting his hair on end. There was no sign of a monster or really of any threat. It just looked like an abandoned market.

“Where are we?” Yeo asked, sliding out from behind Chance and looking around. “Did we leave the Old City?”

“Yeah,” Chance said with a slow nod. Bella poked her head out as well, and the three of them looked into the street, waiting for something to happen.

“A little… anticlimactic,” Yeo said hesitantly, glancing from side to side before stepping out of the alleyway. “I was expecting something else.”

“Me too,” Chance admitted.

The three of them walked out to stand at the edge of the street. Chance could just barely pick up the smell of greasy meat and sugar in the air, left over from some food vendors or restaurants that had probably closed an hour ago.

Even the other passersby didn’t seem interested in what was going on. They rushed through the dancing shadows and purple-red hues, moving to get out of the still scene before they could leave a lasting mark on it.

“It’s kind of pretty, in an odd way,” Bella observed. The buzz of a sign above them droned over her words. “Is this really where we were meant to find the monster?”

“We’ll have to be careful. There are people in the area,” Chance said, chewing his lower lip. “If anyone notices anything out of place, use a Ward immediately. I don’t want someone to get caught up in this.”

“Will do,” Yeo said. He drummed his fingers against the hilt of his kusarigama. “Where to? I don’t suppose you can magic us right into it?”

“That’s not exactly how it works. The monster technically might not even be here. This is just the spot we’re meant to be in.”

“Like the spot that we get the best rewards from?” Yeo asked.

Chance waggled a hand in the air and shook his head. “Not really. I’m not manipulating Karma right now. I’m letting it guide me. That doesn’t mean we’re going to come out on top at all. It means this is the spot that the universe feels we should be in, if that makes sense?”

“As in, if I happened to steal some kid’s candy, it could have brought us here so I could get punished for it?” Yeo asked cautiously.

“Yeah. That was an oddly specific example, though.”

“Perish the thought. I’d never steal from someone helpless,” Yeo said defensively. “I might be willing to challenge someone, though. It’s not like I did it recently!”

“Now you definitely sound guilty,” Bella said. “What did you do?”

“I think we can guess,” Chance said dryly. “I don’t think we’re here because you bullied someone out of a snack, Yeo. You really shouldn’t do that, though.”

“We were twelve, and it was my brother. I was justified.”

“Either way, I highly doubt that generated enough of a karmic debt that we’d be pulled into a place where you could pay for it today. This is something to do with the marble,” Chance said with a shake of his head. He looked around the street, then frowned. “I just don’t know what. Come on. Follow me but keep your guard up.”

He headed down the street, choosing a direction at random. Essence coiled at his body with just enough power to leave faint glowing footprints in his wake. He lowered his urumi to avoid making it look like he was about to mug a passerby, but nobody paid them any attention anyway.

They made their way past the dilapidated buildings and abandoned carts. It struck Chance how much this area reminded him of the Old City. It wasn’t anything like the crumbling streets and musty, tight alleyways – but the feeling of abandonment was still there.

It was like the area was becoming part of the Old City, but it hadn’t quite degraded to the point to reach it yet. The other people in the area seemed to feel the same way, because nobody was lingering to talk or look around. Every single person in the area was quiet and rushed, as if making too much noise would be an affront.

Chance let his karma guide him down the street and past most of the carts. The buildings grew darker and progressively less lit until he had to bring a small ball of swirling golden mist into the air above his hand just to have enough to see by.

For some reason, the moonlight didn’t seem to reach the area where they walked. Dark clouds blocked everything out, and the only shadows they cast came from the light in Chance’s hands.

“This place is creepy,” Yeo muttered. He spun his kusarigama at his side idly, his eyes darting about the many spots of darkness that sat outside the reaches of Chance’s illumination. “How much farther is this thing?”

“I might actually agree with Yeo,” Bella said, keeping her voice low. “Maybe it’s just me, but I actually like this area less than the Old City. At least it felt like we were mostly alone there. This feels like…”

“We’re being watched,” Yeo finished, and Chance couldn’t help but agree. The skin on the back of his neck prickled and his hair stood on end. There weren’t any more people walking down the streets.

It was completely empty. The occasional flicker of light came from a dull sign, but they were so few and far in between that all they did was add a dull buzz to the air that ground at Chance’s ears.

He felt the Essence within him shifting and churning. He wasn’t sure if it had a personality or feelings, but if it did, then he would have said it was nervous. The soft echoes of their steps rang through the street no matter how softly they tried to walk, each one sounding unnaturally loud.

“How far away are we?” Bella whispered, moving closer to Chance and tightening her grip around the hilt of her sword. “If you know, that is.”

“I don’t,” Chance replied. “But I’d imagine we’re fairly close. Just keep your guard up. I don’t know what we’re up against, but it’s making me uneasy.”

Yeo and Bella both nodded. The three walked for a few more minutes, coming up beside an old, fading sign of what looked to once been a tavern. The Essence stored within it was so faint that the sign’s hum was more of a dull whimper.

A tug pulled in the center of Chance’s chest when he drew up to the doorway. The door had fallen in, revealing just the dark interior of the building. He held a hand up.

“What is it?” Bella whispered.

“We’re here,” Chance said. He squinted through the doorway. The chill enveloping his body seemed to grow stronger as he edged toward the doorway, letting the light in his hands fade to avoid drawing too much attention – he would have snuffed it entirely, but walking into the dark without any light at all was such a monumentally bad idea that he refused to consider it.

The sensation prickling at his spine intensified, and for the first time, Chance realized it felt slightly familiar. It only took an instant for him to place it. His breath caught in his chest and he repressed a curse, grabbing Yeo’s shoulder as he stepped forward.

“What?” Yeo whispered. “We have to go in, right?”

“No. We need to get out of here,” Chance hissed, pulling Yeo away from the door. “I don’t think we’re up against any Strandwalkers.”

“What is it, then?”

A sliver of darkness moved in the doorway. The blood froze in Chance’s veins as a humanoid form appeared in the shadows. It wasn’t just dark – it was pitch black, to the point where he could just barely make out the area where absolutely no light dared to touch.

“Oh, shit,” Bella breathed, taking a step back. “It’s an Essence Eater.”