Drogov found himself submerged in a world of darkness. Afloat in the void with no sense of up nor down. There was just him, and images of the world he had just escaped, which floated through this realm like shards of glass. Any place he could see was a place where shadows fell, and a place he could reach. He just had to will it and it would be so.
His eyes darted across them each, searching for his target, before stopping on one. Yes! It was perfect.
He reached out to it, and felt the void shake as he did so, but he paid that no mind. There was a quiet hum and a flash of light emanated from the shard and swept out to cover the realm. He felt his hand pass through something, and his body followed. Before he knew it, he stood facing the palace, and behind the walls that surrounded it. What's more is that he could feel the presence of every shadow within 700 meters.
He stepped out into the light, and pulled from his coat the scroll he had receive from Conrad. He opened it up and studied the inscriptions inside, occasionally glancing at the palace for comparison. When he was done, he put away the scroll and set off. He would enter the eastern tower directly.
As he followed along the edge of the palace, he paused for a moment as he heard a whisper, multiple whispers in fact.
"Down!"
"Duck!"
"Hide"
They said, and without hesitation Drogov laid prone, hidden behind a bush.
"I'm telling you! He doesn't have long left." At that very moment a two man patrol rounded the corner, one tall, one short. They wore the crest of the Duke's family on a yellow tunic over their chainmail armor.
They seemed oblivious to their surroundings, lost in the passion of their conversation.
"He'll be dead in a week's time!" The short one continued emphatically.
"And what of his wife? I hear she's quite the beauty." The tall one inquired.
"She is! Quite sweet too. I doubt she has the heart or the cunning to manage his estate after he passes."
"Then, it is likely she'll walk the streets?"
"That I do not know. I hear the Duke has his eye on her in fact."
"A shame." The tall one sighed. "Though I suppose the Duke will let us have our fun when he's done with her."
"Heh, Is that even a question?" The shorter man chuckled darkly. "The Duke always treats his men well."
As their voices disappeared behind the bend, Drogov rose to his feet. He looked in the direction they had gone, fighting back a sneer. This place was sick. He knew all people had evil within them, but in most cities and civilizations they would try to hide it. Here, it seemed as if it wasn't even an afterthought. He needed to leave this place.
"Thanks." He whispered as he turned away, letting the unpleasant emotions fade. Who was he to judge another man's evil, he was no savior himself.
As if in response to his thanks, the shadows in the area swayed slightly, as a cold wind blew by.
The man continued along his journey, once more following the castle wall, and once more hearing another chain of whispers as he arrive at the base of the eastern tower.
"Above… Balcony… Up" They said, and the man listened. He took a step back and looked upwards, spotting the balcony before scampering up the wall and grabbing hold of the ledge.
He flung himself over onto the balcony, and landed in a low stance as he looked around for any nearby guards. There were none, which made him relax a bit as he straightened up.
Ahead of him was a door which he approached, his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a lock pick and quickly got to work on the mechanism. After a few moments of fiddling around, there was a click.
He lifted the door as he swung it open to avoid any noise and stepped into the darkness of the room, closing it behind him. His eyes didn't even need to adjust, he could see everything as plain as day. It seemed to be some sort of living area, a couch here and there and a small tea table in the middle.
Everything was covered in a layer of dust. He imagined the duke did not have many visitors nor enough residents in the palace to make use of all its space. He was probably too paranoid for that either way.
Drogov took a moment to think. Based on the outline of the palace provided, where was he?
He knew there where three such living spaces in the eastern tower. Since he hadn't climbed up too high, he assumed this to be the first. If he was right, the room to his left should be an old study. He needed to confirm.
He crossed the room, and opened the door slightly, peeking out from inside. On the other side of the door was a well lit hallway, lined with a red carpet with gold accents and cobblestone walls. The hallway was empty, no sign of guards or servants anywhere.
"Safe… Empty… Go" Whispers rang out.
He stepped outside, then closed the door and moved to the other room, entering. Inside as he had suspected, was an old study in disrepair. There was an even thicker layer of dust than the room before, broken bookshelves and the strong smell of mold. With his hypothesis proven, it was time to move. The girl's room was about three floors up.
He made to leave but turned back, and glanced at some of the books scattered across the floor. He hesitated for a moment, then pocketed one. It had been a while since he had a good read.
With that he made his exit, and navigated his way through the palace. Right, left, right, another right, then left. He had just gone up his first set of stairs and on to the next floor when panicked whispers rang in his ear.
"Wait!" This time it was in unision.
He pulled himself away from the door frame and disappeared back into the stairwell as a group of guards, five men in total made their way into the hall.
"Did you see that?" A young guard who had been walking ahead of the group questioned.
"Hm?" The group stopped.
"See what?" One of them inquired.
"I just saw someone."
"Impossible." Another from the group dismissed. "You must be seeing things."
"No. I'm quite sure."
"We haven't relieved the others of duty yet, and the servants quarters are on the other side of the palace. Who could you have seen William?" He asked, with a slight hint of annoyance.
"Perhaps an intruder." William shot back.
"Hogwash! No-one would be able to even approach the gate." The other disagreed.
"Not so, don't you remember the servant boy from a few days ago? He was a spy, there could be others."
The group fell silent.
"I'm going to check." Emboldened by his victory in this war of words, the young knight strode forward, determined. He stepped into the darkness of the stairwell and looked about, but saw nothing there.
Unbeknownst to him however, was Drogov, perched above him in the ceiling, his hands and feet pressed against the walls to keep him in place. If the youth dared to look up, he would die. At that moment, another man stepped in and looked around.
"See!" He exclaimed. "Nothing."
With that, he made his way down the stairs.
"But I could have sworn…" The young man started.
"Seeing ghosts now are we, William?" Another man stepped in, placing an arm around the young knight's shoulder.
"You've been listening to too many of that desert man's stories." He teased and the rest of the group broke out in laughter as they made their way inside.
Drogov waited for them to pass. Listening as the sounds of laughter disappeared into the lower floor. When he was certain that the coast was clear, he hopped down and stepped out into the hall once more.
He made a left as he traveled along the hallway. His target was one floor up. Soon, he would have the gem.
"Guards…" The whispers came again.
"Many guards…"
He froze as he heard the words, and took a long look at the many doors on each side of the hallway. He would ensure that he did not take this route when he left, in fact, had he known about this earlier he would have tried scaling the tower from the outside instead.
He wondered how the scout had failed to note such vital information in the schematics, but seeing as the man had died, he would not have his question answered.
"Asleep…"
"Sleeping…"
The voices came again, and he relaxed at the information they carried, then moved forward with added caution. Soon enough, he found the staircase to the next floor and made his way up.
He paused as he studied the various doors on the level. He knew it was here, this was the floor, but didn't know which room it was. He hated missions like this, but with no other choice, he would have to search them all. And so, he went room to room, where he found mostly abandoned spaces, until finally at sixth door he entered and saw a luxurious room with a large yellow queen bed.
He saw a few dresses strewn across the bed and the floor along with some bags on the ground. He figured that this was the right place, so he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He took note of an open door on the far side of the room and the open wardrobe to his right.
He stepped forward and just as he did so, a man stepped in through the door on the far side.
"I told you it would happen."