Shadow gazed at the spiral stairs that laid out before him. He hated stairs, he would much rather change into his shadow form and crawl up than use his aching legs.
Not just that, he wanted to get this done as fast as possible. The two remaining groups and a vault lay ahead.
He wasn't in a hurry because he knew why they couldn't open it.
Soon he saw the door up ahead, it was closed shut, but he felt the presence of eight more people just beyond it.
More lives to reap.
He walked towards the door and felt at the dried out oak wood, he had been the one that dragged in the numerous bags of gold in here. It had been tedious work, but now it paid off.
His goal was to gather the remnants of the attackers to a point of no retreat in the castle. The tallest spire in the castle, that was where they were.
He pulled his hand away and infused mana into his body and legs, this was his last hurdle. If he survived this, he would be a free man. Almost.
He matched the door down in half with enough force to break the wood into splinters. With no moment of hesitation.
He flung the throwing axe at the man who stood furthest away, then threw a second axe at the man beside him.
His aim was flawless as the edge of the axe buried itself at the bridge of both their noses. Killing them instantly.
They plopped to the floor with their blood pooling around them.
Two down!
The others then reacted, pulling out their weapons and aiming them at him.
Shadow hesitated.
He knew that these were no killers or soldiers.
These were thieves. They stood at awkward stances, holding their weapons at odd angles. Their hands shook slightly as though they were unsure of their situation.
Looking left and right amongst themselves for a solution, they nervously took frightened steps backward as if to escape the man who stood at the door.
Shadow bent his head and sighed. Why hadn't he realized this sooner?
The group was made of two groups of killers and mercenaries, while the other two were made of thieves and looters.
It all made sense now, they were meant to protect themselves, but something has gone wrong along the way, making the two groups split unevenly.
He raised his head and looked at them.
"Who's the leader amongst you all?" He asked with a calm voice that denied how tired he was.
They all looked towards the first man Shadow had killed, he still had the axe lodged in his skull.
"Aah, and the leader of the second group?"
A scrawny looking man pointed towards the second dead man.
Shadow didn't even bother, he found a stool and dragged it across the room, placed it against the door and sat on it.
"Now let's get this over with. I'm sure you know that the other guys are all dead. Each one of them" Shadow said tiredly.
Silence.
None of them said anything, neither did one of them come out to represent the group. With a slow sense of growing irritation, Shadow pointed at a gaudy looking woman in their group.
She yelped in surprise.
"What's your name?" Shadow asked, unperturbed, while playing with his dagger in one hand.
"M.. Mia, it's Mia" she stammered while trying her best to maintain a lick of composure. Her eyes never met with that of Shadows, as though she feared the inevitable.
"You're the leader now, if anyone has a problem with it. They're welcome to try" he threw the dagger to the floorboards beneath him, the only sounds that could be heard were the reverberations of the dagger striking hard wood.
"Good" he sighed. He had decided not to kill the thieves. For whatever it was worth, he was sure they didn't do it of their own freewill.
"Would you like to escape?" He asked without looking as he picked up his dagger. He raised his head to bountiful nods from every one of them.
"Hmmm. Who was the Lord that sent you to us?" He asked, he needed to know. If someone could plan this far ahead just to loot from another Lord. Then he'd better be wary of them.
At that point, Shadow decided that he knew nothing about the way this world worked. He was aware, but truly knew nothing.
Maybe a little politicking would be nice. But after a moment's notice, he dropped the idea like a bad habit.
"We… We don't know…" The woman whispered.
"You… Don't know?" Shadow asked the woman just to be sure.
She shook her head.
"Then why are you here? Why would you risk your life for someone whose existence you're not even aware of?" He scratched his head.
Mia tipped from one toe to another whilst biting her lower lip. It seemed like a habit of hers when nervous.
"We needed the money" she confessed.
Huh? That doesn't sound right.
"Aren't you here to steal money?" He asked with an uncertain voice. He was starting to lose his cool. Had Lord Draven lied to him?
"No, we came for a different kind of debt. We were told to retrieve a dark cedar wooden box with an engraved floral seal on it "she said looking up, she seemed more lively, as though she knew she wasn't going to die.
A memory flashed through Shadows mind, on the day of the Lord's Departure, clung tightly to his side was a small wooden box with a floral seal on it. Shadow had thought nothing of it, but now it made sense.
Shadow gritted his teeth in anger. He hated being lied to, especially when it involved the life of others and himself.
Shadow stood up abruptly and kicked away the stool with rage, he walked across the room while the others steered clear of him.
He reached the vault and reached his hand into the side, he rolled the digits that were affixed into the safe. The door clicked open and swung back lightly.
"You all not only get to keep your lives, but have the damn money as well" he spat at them and walked out of the room.