One of the biggest drawbacks of her bat form was that her range of vision was drastically reduced. She could only see about twenty metres ahead of her, anything beyond that was a hazy, red fog. On the flip side, her hearing range was much bigger now. If she focused hard she could make out a conversation halfway across town. She used her ears mostly for navigation, as they created 3D shapes in her mind that were impossible to replicate even with her normal eyes.

This particular evening she was looking for a man named Kerney, who goes by the name Knifey. Clementine had said that the man was infamous, albeit rarely seen outside his home turf in the slums. He was a big man, with estimates ranging from six to ten feet tall. I’ll just have to see for myself to be sure.

High above in the sky, she was practically blind, but the soundscape of the slums created a clear picture in her mind. Druscilla flew over the shanties, listening for an unnaturally big man. Most of the residents were sleeping; it was near midnight after all. The ones who were awake, however, were revelling in groups in particular shanties. The proliferation of these dens put a smile on Druscilla’s face, though it looked vicious on a bat’s visage. The setting is just perfect for my little scheme…I’d wager Knifey is in one of those dens.

Soon, she found what she was looking for. The den was partially underground, covered with flimsy cloth walls held up by a frame of wood. Inside there were about thirty men seated on the floor in a semicircle radiating from the only man in a chair. It looked like a classroom with some mean children. The oddest thing was that everybody was silent – but Druscilla could hear their heavy breathing.

She flapped down to the ground. The narrow passages between dwellings were empty, so there was no need to be cautious. Druscilla willed her body back into normal form. The bat morphed into a cloud of dark miasma, then the cloud coalesced into a humanoid shape. Druscilla felt dizzy and a bit nauseous after returning to normal. After experiencing the senses of the bat Druscilla now felt deaf in her humanoid form. She also winced at the moonlight before her eyes adjusted.

Now, how shall I do this? First impressions mattered. As a former office lady, she was no stranger to leaving a mark on others – it was essential for her job. This shouldn’t be too different.

She pulled aside the flap at the entrance and went in. The only sources of light were some candles on the floor near the walls of the room – a strange choice given the walls were cloth. Nobody noticed her come in until the man on the chair looked up at her. His face was a tapestry of scars old and new. Half his left ear was missing too. His dead gaze made Druscilla feel like a stone golem was staring back at her.

As if by some telepathic means all the men turned around and looked at her. The ones nearest her reached for their waists as Druscilla help her arms up to disarm the situation.

“Easy now, I come in peace.” Druscilla nodded at the man on the chair. “You must be Knifey, right?”

“And who are you?”

“Someone with a common interest – you may call me Druscilla.”

“Am I supposed to know who you are?”

“I would be very surprised if you do, so no.”

“Are you here to assassinate me?”

“I just told you we have a common interest – it’s about your fellow ‘Claws’”

The man’s eyebrow went up the tiniest bit – the closest thing to an expression that Druscilla had seen. All around her, the occupants of the room tensed up. “How do you know about the Terrys?”

“Who?”

“Don’t play games with me.” Knifey stood up. He walked over to Druscilla and towered over her. The lighting cast menacing shadows over his face – giving him an even more villainous visage. For the first time since she woke up here, Druscilla felt the slightest bit intimidated. It was a fleeting feeling, however, and it dissipated in an instant.

“I’m not toying with you. I genuinely don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m not from around here; I only came to the city about three days ago.” It felt a lot longer than three days though…

“Then how did you find this place? Nobody outside this room knows which location we will meet next.”

“See, I have a very particular set of skills – skills acquired from a power far above your mortal ken – skills that would make me your worst nightmare, or your bestest friend depending on how you respond to the offer I’m about to make.” Druscilla met Knifey’s eyes and held them.

Druscilla tried mind-controlling Knifey then and there, but her efforts were thwarted by an item around the man’s neck. Another talisman? This would have been so much easier if I could just mind control everyone.

“A question, Miss Druscilla,” Knifey said in a deadpan voice that gave no indication he was offended at her words.

A shame; I was hoping to see him provoked. “Ask aw-” Knifey lowered his stance as his hand shot up from his side straight at her face. She was able to tilt her head to the left to avoid the ball of flesh and bone from colliding with her face. The force of the punch created a shockwave of air that made the flimsy frame of the shanty creak and sway. Had the blow connected her face would probably have been turned to mush.

Druscilla heard soft gasps from the men around her. “If you’re trying to kill me,” Druscilla said, “it’s going to be a lot harder than that.”

Knifey straightened up, his face emotionless as ever. “No one has survived that blow before. It was a test of your strength. My pride cannot let a weakling speak to me in such a way and walk away unscathed. But I knew you were no weakling. Nobody heard you come in – yet we were all on alert. You didn’t cower when I tried to intimidate you – when the hardiest of men would have pissed their pants. And I can feel my necklace burning up. You must be the witch they were looking for the other day – no, are you even human?”

Damn, I really should have covered my tracks better. “None of that is important at the moment.” Druscilla ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out. “I’m here about you Knifey. How would you like to be in charge of Clan Redclaw.”

“Vice would never allow it.”

“But what if I removed him from the picture?”

“We were in the middle of trying to figure out how to off him ourselves when you showed up.”

That makes things easier.

“Revenge for what he did to the Terrys – the lying bastard.”

“Who are the Terrys? And what did he do to them?”

“They were twins in my employ. They disappeared a few nights ago. I assumed they ran off until one of their bodies was found at a temple. From what I hear the corpse was blue and ghostly – like some sort of unholy arcane ritual had been done on it. Ring any bells?”

“No.”

“Those boys were good in a fight, so we figured whoever killed them was better. That narrowed down the possibilities to Vice’s men and His Majesty’s guard. From what I gather the authorities are at a loss too – so it had to be Vice.”

“So you were planning to kill him for revenge?”

“Yes, but it’s not that simple. He had been talking about training some arcane mages a while ago. Safe to assume he succeeded. That could be a major problem.”

“What if I were to get rid of Vice for you? Would that be enough to buy your fealty?”

“You? Alone? It’s a fool’s errand. But if you were to somehow succeed my men and I would be in your debt.”

“Excellent. Now, where can I find him?”

“He has a manor in the Upper City.”

“Isn’t that where nobles live?” Clearwater’s city estate was there too.

“Yes, but you should be warned, the security is heavy. He has about eighty men at arms, about a dozen hounds, and who knows how many mages. If you go there, don’t expect to make it out alive. That begs the question: what does my loyalty mean to you? What are your plans?”

“If the other leaders of Clan Redclaw die – you will be left in charge, right?”

“Some of Vice’s men would never recognize me as their leader.”

“But they’ll be disorganized in the wake of his death, no? Surely you can handle that?”

“All this is assuming you somehow kill Vice, which is very unlikely if not impossible.”

“I’m not the one doing the killing…” Behind her, a monstrosity took form from the shadows. Somebody let out a muffled scream from the crowd. Last time I summoned a wolf – how very off-brand. This time she had called forth a bat. It was similar in dimensions to the Wolf Tulpa she had summoned two days ago. The key difference was a pair of dark wings under its arms and a distinctly bat-like face. “Knifey, tell me exactly where Vice’s house is, and exactly what he looks like.”

The big man was visibly uneasy. “What is that thing?”

“A shadow demon – now answer my questions before it turns on you.”

“His place is the only Redstone house in the Upper City that touches the Inner Walls. The man himself is slightly taller than you with a sinewy body. His face is full of scars – more than mine – and he has black hair tied in a bun.”

Come to think of it, almost everybody is blond around here. Druscilla turned to her Tulpa. “Go.” It disappeared into the shadows to go do her bidding. It felt like a pressure lifted from the room. “Be ready to move on Vice’s holding by sunrise,” she told Knifey.

“When this is over – will you use us as human sacrifices?”

“No, I don’t need that sort of thing. I’m going to use you and your men to give myself the life I deserve.”

“Just who exactly are you?”

“I already told you.” She smiled at them. “I’m Druscilla. I’ll be back in about a week. Make sure you’ve handled Vice by then. Afterwards, we can talk about Kissyface.”

“I wouldn’t worry about him, Miss.”

“Oh? Is he your friend or something?”

“Something like that. He’ll listen to me – there’s no need to hurt him.”

“If you say so. Bring him with you to the Clearwater estate in a week.”

Knifey did not even question the venue. “Understood.”