The Broken Halo

As Simon watched the Lesser Demon he was using, he knew a few things that would most likely occur.

First of all... the Lesser Demon might be followed.

He might be captured before leaving the Old Bell Quarter, tortured for the identity of the demon who hired him, or marked with an artifact, formation, rune, or whatever so that whoever sent him could be traced.

He might also die.

Simon had considered every possibility before handing him the spatial ring.

None of them mattered.

The courier knew nothing. He had seen the face of an old one-eyed merchant who did not exist and heard a voice Simon could change whenever he wished.

Whether the Lesser Demon returned alive or became another corpse in Velmora would not affect Simon’s plan.

His corpse would simply be an addition to the mountains of corpses he was living on.

The middle-aged lesser demon entered the Old Bell Quarter with one hand pressed against the spatial ring beneath his clothes.

Cold sweat covered his face despite the night air.

The broken buildings, silent foundries, and enormous tilted bell made the abandoned quarter feel even more unsettling now that he was inside it. Every dark window looked occupied, and every gust of wind made the smaller bells among the weeds scrape against the ground.

He remembered the killing intent of the one-eyed merchant.

Twenty low-grade hell stones was more money than he had held in months.

But at that moment, he was no longer sure they were worth it.

Still, turning back seemed more dangerous.

The Lesser Demon walked into the central courtyard and approached the headless statue. His eyes moved nervously across the surrounding ruins, but he did not notice anyone.

That frightened him more.

He crouched beside the cracked pedestal, removed the spatial ring from beneath his shirt, and placed it inside a narrow opening beneath the statue’s left foot.

Then he rose and walked away.

He tried to move normally, but his hurried footsteps ruined the attempt.

From the distant storehouse, Simon watched everything through SkyEye.

None of the suspicious demons immediately approached the statue.

The supposed drunk beneath the broken eastern arch remained where he was. The scavenger who had searched the same bronze pile several times abandoned it and began following the courier from a distance.

The figure behind the collapsed chimney did not move at all.

Another demon farther outside the courtyard changed position to watch the road the Lesser Demon had taken.

They had divided their duties.

One followed the courier.

One continued watching the dead drop.

Another remained hidden in case whoever sent the ring was observing the first two.

Simon had expected something similar.

More importantly, the small changes in their movements revealed which demons were working together. The drunk beneath the eastern arch had scratched his cheek just before the scavenger began following the courier.

A simple gesture which was possibly a signal.

Simon left the storehouse.

Several streets away, the old one-eyed merchant disappeared. In his place was a thin elderly demon with a bent back, rough grey skin, and a dirty cloth wrapped around his head.

A torn sack hung from one shoulder. Broken metal, pieces of rope, and several worthless objects rattled inside it.

Simon entered the Old Bell Quarter like a scavenger searching for anything he could sell.

He did not move directly toward the eastern arch.

He searched through the remains of a workshop, picked up a cracked piece of bronze, then threw it into his sack with a dissatisfied grunt. As he moved through the courtyard, his shadow briefly touched the darkness beneath a fallen bell.

A ShadowEye opened there.

It remained hidden beneath the bell, giving Simon a closer view of the courtyard after he left.

The supposed drunk was still watching the statue.

Simon approached the broken eastern arch while searching the ground. He waited until the demon following the courier disappeared around the northern street.

Then a weak current of wind travelled toward a pile of bronze fragments on the opposite side of the courtyard.

Clatter!

Several pieces slid against one another.

The watcher beneath the arch turned toward the sound.

Simon passed behind him.

Their shadows touched beneath the broken stone.

A second ShadowEye formed inside the watcher’s shadow and immediately became dormant.

At the same time, a thin current of wind carried the real spatial ring from Simon’s sleeve and pushed it through the loose opening of the watcher’s left sleeve.

The demon felt the faint movement and turned sharply.

Simon did not panic however.

Their eyes met, and the broken black rings around Simon’s pupils rotated for less than a second.

The watcher’s eyes reflected the image of the broken black ring for a second, then he looked at the sack on Simon’s shoulder. In his mind, he felt as though the old scavenger’s sack had caught his sleeve when the wind shifted.

Nothing more.

”Watch where you’re going,” the demon growled.

Simon lowered his head and hurried away with the frightened posture of an old scavenger who did not want trouble.

The watcher looked at him for another moment before returning his attention to the statue.

Unknown to him, the genuine report now rested inside his left sleeve. He also did not know that a ShadowEye was travelling with him.

Simon left the Old Bell Quarter and changed his face twice before entering an abandoned dye workshop several streets away.

He spread ShadowSense through the surrounding buildings and was pleased when he saw that nobody had followed him.

Only then did he remove the Murmur Bone from his spatial ring and send his demonic energy into it.

The red lines beneath its surface brightened.

The Voice answered after a short delay.

”You-?”

Simon knew what she was about to say after sensing the anger in her tone, but he didn’t allow her to finish. He leaned against a cracked wall.

”The ring beneath the statue is empty.”

Silence followed.

When the Voice spoke again,her tone had become colder.

”Then why are you contacting me?”

”The report is inside the left sleeve of the demon watching from beneath the broken eastern arch.”

The Murmur Bone became completely quiet, and Simon could imagine the questions moving through her mind.

Aside from everything he had done before this dead drop, she had chosen the Old Bell Quarter, she had chosen the headless statue, and she had placed the watchers.

Yet Simon had delivered the report directly onto one of her demons without revealing which road he entered from or which face he wore.

”How did you approach him?” the Voice finally asked.

Simon did not answer.

”Unknown stranger,” she continued, her voice sharpening slightly. ”How did you place something on one of my demons without him noticing?”

”You wanted the report,” Simon replied calmly. ”You have it.”

The Voice remained silent again.

Through the dormant Shadow Eye, Simon felt the watcher’s shadow shift.

The demon beneath the arch suddenly looked down at his left sleeve. He reached inside and removed the spatial ring.

Two other demons approached him carefully.

One examined the ring with an object. Another checked it for poison, curses, tracking runes, and any connection leading back to its owner.

They found nothing of course. Then they brought out the report from the ring.

They saw Simon’s words and the torn-banner imprint on it.

A few moments later, the Voice spoke through the Murmur Bone.

”The imprint is genuine.”

Simon said nothing, but the Voice was not done.

”You have a lot of explaining to do.”