For Kariel, every corner of this city seemed monstrous and eerie. And although he knew it like the back of his hand...
He wasn't used to it. He could never get used to it.
Worst of all, this feeling only intensified when viewed from above. And observation from a height was an integral part of his job.
It was like forcing someone with a fear of heights to pilot an airplane – ridiculously annoying.
Along with the icy, foul-smelling wind, all these sensations merged into one, crashing down on Kariel with a deafening roar.
"I see, yes," Kariel whispered, shaking his head. He made his promise to the nameless dead again. "I will not forget my oath."
Standing on top of a gloomy tower, he began to rub the blades of two daggers with his fingers.
The Ghost behind him was gone. Fifteen minutes ago, he had disappeared, dissolving into the night mist.
In just a day and a half, he had mastered the technique that Kariel had honed for decades. Now the Ghost fully lived up to his name.
Midnight Ghost.
If he wanted to, no one could find him on such a dark night. This was a huge help in his work. Besides, the Ghost possessed terrifying strength and speed.
At this thought, Kariel smirked silently. There was something complex in his smile. He lowered his gaze. Below, a straggler moved, whom the Ghost had missed.
He exhaled quietly, stood up, and began to stretch his shoulders and arms.
A crack of bones was heard, accompanied by a slight pain. Kariel frowned with annoyance, but it didn't last long. Soon his face became inscrutable again.
He was used to enduring.
And these pains would soon pass.
The time was near.
With a single leap, Kariel jumped off the gloomy tower and, like a shadow, swept across the dark sky.
The piercing cold wind, hitting his face, was full of tiny ice shards that mercilessly cut his skin. Pain and numbness immediately began to torment his body, but the ghost remained unfazed.
He landed easily, his feet touching the dirty ground, kicking up splashes. The hem of his cloak slid along the dirty corner of the wall. Two daggers slipped out of his sleeves, and he quickly and silently approached the patrolling bandit.
The Ghost had missed him, but this time it didn't matter.
A cold gleam, and blood gushed out. The wounded man's eyes widened, but a cry of pain and horror never escaped his lips – before he could make a sound, his throat was cut by a huge wound.
Two blows, two wounds – simple arithmetic. A wave of the hand took a life – terrifyingly simple.
Violence.
The Ghost sighed silently.
He pulled out his daggers, supported the body, and dragged it to that very corner. Closing the lifeless eyes, Kariel threw the corpse into a dark alley.
He didn't need to clean up the blood – there were plenty of creatures in the Underhive who craved it. He didn't need to get rid of the body – hungry beasts lurking in the darkness would come for the smell of blood themselves.
An artificially created ecosystem.
Cruel, effective, and defying human morality. Like Nostramo itself, like an absurd joke.
Kariel squinted. He heard quiet running above. Without changing his expression, he stepped aside, and in the next second, a shadow fell from the sky.
"Kariel," the shadow called quietly. "I'm done."
"Good work, Ghost, but be more careful next time."
Kariel turned and pointed his dagger at the corpse in the darkness.
"The patrol route also needs to be fully checked. The fourth post you eliminated was on his route."
The Ghost pursed his lips displeasantly. He wanted to say something, but Kariel beat him to it.
"No, don't apologize."
"But I..."
...Don't apologize, Ghost.
Looking him in the eyes, Kariel gently and slowly shook his head.
"You've officially started working, you're gradually mastering the subtleties... So don't apologize to me. I'm not responsible for your work."
"Responsible?.."
The Ghost frowned in confusion, looking a little upset.
"But I didn't do everything perfectly, Kariel."
"Perfect is an absurd word, Ghost. Everyone has their own definition. You don't need to be perfect in my understanding; you just need to be honest with yourself."
As usual, the Ghost didn't understand his words. But he remembered them.
"Be honest with yourself." He pondered this strange expression.
There was no similar word in the Nostramo language. Kariel used a complex eight-syllable word to convey his thought precisely.
The Ghost mentally repeated it, and in the next moment, a strange tremor ran through him.
The source of this feeling was elusive, as if it came from the void. But it struck the Ghost truly. His breathing remained even, quiet, and cautious, but a dead silence stirred again in his eyes.
"Until a hand grabbed him by the wrist."
The Ghost, trembling, lowered his head and saw two blue dots flash and extinguish.
"You have to learn to refuse them, Ghost," Kariel said quietly. "This instinct, a gift or a curse, that allows you to briefly see the future – it exists because of you. You are its master."
He released his hand and calmly added, "Master it, okay?"
The Ghost nodded confusedly, even forgetting to ask where Kariel knew about his ability.
Silence fell. A cold wind blew. In the empty alley, there was no one left. In the dirty corner, shadows crawled in a dense mass, and after a moment, a quiet chewing sound was heard.
…
Returning to the same gargoyle and looking at the square below, Kariel frowned.
They didn't work in this square, which was obviously intended for the speech, for the first half of the night. Starting here now would be equivalent to scaring away the prey.
It was good to practice on some gangs in another part of the city before the main event.
After all, the Great Purge was approaching, and the gangs, as one, had imposed a curfew in their territories, set up posts and patrols.
"Their numbers don't match..."
Kariel said quietly. He didn't need to voice his thoughts. It was a habit for him.
But there was someone who needed this view from the shadows.
This someone was now sitting behind the gargoyle and listening quietly.
"This deployment has nothing to do with guarding the speech, Ghost. They clearly came here with other intentions."
Kariel fell silent and looked at the center of the square. There, as if from nowhere, an elegant metal podium appeared, on which the coat of arms of the House of Scryvok shone brightly.
"They even made the coat of arms glow. How tasteless... But... placing so many people in advance..."
"Have they suspected something already?"
Kariel squinted and became alert. He carefully examined the houses with closed windows again, then the empty square and every dark alley around.
However, he found no other evidence.
Apart from the obvious mismatch in numbers, nothing confirmed his terrible assumption.
"Kariel?"
At that moment, the Ghost spoke quietly.
"What happened?"
"I think..." the Ghost said uncertainly. "Something is wrong."
Kariel frowned sharply.
He certainly did not take the Ghost's words "something is wrong" as a conclusion about the situation below. The Ghost had not yet learned to recognize the threat hidden in the details.
But that didn't mean he should ignore the Ghost's words.
"Another episode?"
Kariel turned and asked seriously, "Two episodes in a short time? Has this happened before, Ghost? How are you feeling?"
Before he could finish, a blue light flashed in his eyes.
"No, no!" the Ghost hastily stopped him. "No, I just feel like someone..."
He didn't finish.
And Kariel saw the Ghost's face contort at that moment. In the next second, his perception of time slowed down, the second strangely split.
Kariel could have left instantly. However, for some reason, he decided to stay put.
The Ghost let out a low growl, rapidly extended his right hand, grabbed Kariel's arm, and jumped sharply.
"And the split time immediately glued itself back together."
"Bang!"
A dull shot broke the silence of the night. The bandits did not react. A huge bullet flew past, turning the gargoyle they had just been sitting on into a cloud of dust.
The Ghost dragged him along, quickly moving away from the spot with a few jumps. Kariel turned silently and managed to notice a black barrel being withdrawn from under the podium.
"Interesting."
He smirked silently.
Half a minute later, they stopped on the roof of a church a few hundred meters from the square. The Ghost lowered him, looking at him anxiously, breathing heavily. His heartbeat was clearly audible.
He was silent, but the question was written on his face.
And Kariel knew that with the Ghost's endurance, he couldn't be tired from a few jumps.
"I'm fine," Kariel replied quietly. "But it seems the head of the House of Scryvok is not the most patient man, Ghost."
The Ghost nodded silently. He didn't understand what Kariel was hinting at. His face was distorted with anger, which slowly spread across him.
"Calm down," Kariel smiled slightly. "Do you remember what I taught you, Ghost?"
After a long pause, the Ghost replied:
...Calmness is the deadliest weapon after the blade.
"Yes," Kariel said, raising his head. "Calmness is the deadliest weapon after the blade, but this phrase has a second part."
"The second part?"
"Yes..."
The Ghost stretched his lips into a strained smile, answering the Ghost's question.
"Anger is sometimes more terrifying if you know how to use it."
He turned around, and the daggers had already slipped out of his sleeves.
Is the time near?
No, the time has come.
Standing on the edge of the church, Kariel took a deep breath of the foul air. The Ghost stood behind him, silent. The former was ready and determined, and the latter knew nothing.
The night was still long, long enough for many things to happen.
***
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