Chapter 33 - 31- Dhull

Darian didn’t turn.

Turning implied he recognized the name, and turning meant he was that name.

Instead, he pulled Neria and Ryver by their chains, making them start walking again. From the corner of his eye, he could see Neria’s shoulders tense as she fought the urge to turn around.

Darian gave her chain a small tug.

"Keep your head down," he muttered, barely moving his lips.

Neria lowered her head immediately.

Behind him, he heard footsteps approaching, the sound of boots against the stone growing louder with every step. The noise of the market seemed to fade into the background as the man got closer, and Darian kept his pace steady, refusing to look back.

Then a hand landed on his shoulder.

Darian stopped.

The grip wasn’t hard, but it was enough to make it clear that the man expected him to stop. He slowly turned, and found himself face to face with Xanas.

The scar across the man’s face looked even more noticeable this close, cutting through his skin from near his brow and down toward his cheek. His eyes were just as cold as Darian remembered.

Darian frowned slightly.

"Do I know you?" he asked, his voice carrying the unfamiliar accent he had chosen for Zeke.

Xanas tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as though he were trying to place his face.

"Could ask you the same thing."

Xanas stared at him for a moment longer, his eyes moving over his face before they dropped briefly to the merchant’s token hanging at his waist.

"Do I know you?" he asked again.

Darian gave a small shrug, keeping his expression bored, the accent still sitting naturally in his voice. "I don’t think so."

Xanas hummed. It sounded unimpressed, unconvinced, and still suspicious.

"You look familiar."

"Must be the hair," Darian answered, gesturing vaguely toward it. "I’ve been told I have one of those faces."

Xanas gave a small nod, though he clearly wasn’t convinced. His eyes drifted past Darian to the two people standing in chains behind him, moving over Neria before settling on Ryver’s hooded form.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Darian didn’t keep interacting.

He gave the chains a firm tug, making them both move with him.

"Good day, then."

He had already turned before Xanas could say anything else. Darian didn’t bother looking back. He could still feel the man’s cold stare against his back as they walked away, following them through the buzz of the market.

They kept walking for a while, until they were deep enough inside the cave that Darian could no longer feel that piercing coldness at his back.

This part of the market was less busy than the first. There were stacks of crates and cages lined up along the walls, while merchants leaned against them as they spoke in low voices. Some were even asleep on top of the piles, their eyes closed as though they had no worries left in the world.

Darian’s eyes roamed around the area until they landed on two guards standing in front of an entrance covered by thick curtains. He watched as a merchant approached them and pulled out her token. The guards checked it, nodded, and stepped aside, parting the curtains for her.

Darian slowed.

He wasn’t completely sure what was behind there, but something told him this might be their way of finding Dhull.

He approached the entrance, and the closer he got, the louder the noise from inside became. Voices overlapped one another, mixed with the clinking of glasses and the occasional burst of laughter.

The guards raised a brow when he stepped in front of them.

"Who are you?" one asked, his tone immediately unfriendly.

Darian raised his badge and brought it close to their faces. "I am a merchant."

The guard took it from him and examined it carefully. His companion leaned over to look at it as well. They exchanged a brief glance before finally handing the token back.

Then their eyes moved toward the two hooded figures standing behind Darian, the chains around their wrists making a faint sound as they shifted.

"No goods allowed in."

Darian frowned.

He looked back at Neria and Ryver, then at the guard. "And where will I keep them?"

"With the others."

The guard pointed toward a large cage not too far away. There were already several people inside, all of them sitting or leaning against the iron bars.

"They’ll be here once you get back," the other guard added, already stretching his hand toward the chains.

He hesitated. He wasn’t sure about leaving Neria and Ryver alone in a cage surrounded by strangers.

Especially not Neria.

His eyes moved towards her for a moment. She stood quietly beside Ryver, her hood still pulled over her head, the chains hanging loosely from her wrists.

Darian looked back at the guard, who was now staring at him with clear impatience.

He knew he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to get inside.

With a quiet sigh, Darian handed the chains over.

He stepped through the curtains.

The first thing he noticed was the noise.

The room was far livelier than the rest of the market. It was some kind of tavern cave, with wooden tables scattered across the uneven stone floor and lanterns hanging from the rocky ceiling. Merchants sat around drinking, eating, and arguing over business while a few others had already gotten drunk enough to start dancing to none existent music

The air smelled of roasted meat, alcohol, sweat, and smoke, all mixed together with the damp smell of the mountain.

Darian’s eyes moved across the room as he walked further inside. He was obviously not here to enjoy himself, and judging by the way some of the merchants looked at him, he wasn’t exactly blending in either.

Their eyes followed him as he walked toward the bar. He took an empty seat in front of the bartender, a man who looked bored and completely unconcerned with whatever was happening around him.

"Beer," Darian ordered, placing a coin on the table.

The bartender took it without saying anything and turned to prepare his drink. When he came back, there were more coins waiting on the table.

Gold ones.

The bartender’s bored expression finally changed slightly as his eyes moved to the coins.

"I am looking for someone," Darian started, watching the bartender slide the coins off the table and into his hand.

"Who?"

"A man named Dhull."

The bartender frowned slightly, his eyes lifting toward Darian. "Buying information?"

"Somewhat."

The bartender studied him for another second before his eyes moved toward a man sitting only a few seats away from them.

He was slightly older, maybe in his fifties, with a thick beard and a hood pulled loosely over his head. He had a cup of something that smelled strongly of rum in his hands, and judging by the way he was drinking it, he had probably been there for quite some time.

Darian followed the bartender’s gaze.

Then he sighed.

To think he had paid money for a man sitting right beside him.

He got up and moved toward the man, taking a seat next to him. The smell of rum and smoke was much stronger now that he was beside him.

"Dhull?"

The man turned slightly toward him, his eyes briefly looking him over before he returned to his drink.

"And you are?"

Darian pulled a small pouch from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"A buyer."

Dhull’s eyes dropped to the pouch. He reached over and dragged it toward his side of the table, weighing it briefly in his hand before looking back at Darian.

"What do you want?"

Darian leaned back slightly, his eyes moving around the tavern before settling on the man again.

"Codex Draconis."

That made Dhull pause.

That was when the man’s attention was completely on him. His head snapped toward Darian, and the movement nearly made him spill the rum in his hand.

"I don’t sell that information to just anyone."

Darian turned slightly toward him, tilting his head in a way that made his amber eyes shimmer beneath the lantern light before slowly returning to brown.

"Not even the royal family?"

Dhull stared at him.

Then his lips slowly tugged into a smirk. "Grand Duke?"

Darian chuckled softly.

"Why didn’t you guess it was the Emperor?"

Dhull leaned back in his chair, looking almost amused now as he took another sip of his drink.

"The usurper will never go through the trouble of finding me himself."

"Usurper?"

Darian turned to him. The word had caught his attention more than he expected. This man obviously didn’t like the Emperor, and that was always a good thing.

"If you’re looking for the Codex Draconis, I don’t know where it is."

Darian frowned, but Dhull continued before he could say anything.

"But I know how to find it." He leaned closer, lowering his voice until it was almost lost beneath the noise of the tavern. "They say those who look for the Book of Knowledge must first find the Relics of Creation."

Of course there was more work.

Darian sighed, leaning back as his fingers moved to massage his brows. Maybe he was stupid, but a small part of him had been hoping Dhull actually had the book and would simply hand it over.

But like everything else in his life, things just had to be difficult.

"What are the Relics of Creation?"

Dhull shrugged completely unbothered. He took another slow sip of his rum before answering.

"I don’t know."

Darian stared at him. "You don’t know?"

"I know what people say." Dhull lowered his cup, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Most of it is probably nonsense anyway. But if you’re looking for the Codex, I’d start there."

Darian’s eyes narrowed slightly. "You don’t even know what they are"

Dhull raised a brow.

"i know one of them is a dragon totem."

That made Darian pause.

A dragon totem?

His uncle had asked him about a dragon totem before. At the time, Darian had thought nothing of it. Now the memory came back with an uncomfortable clarity.

Was Erik already looking for the same thing?

Darian was still trying to piece it together when the curtains behind him suddenly opened. A guard stepped into the tavern and raised his voice over the music and chatter.

"The merchant with the black hair?"

Darian looked up immediately, his expression tightening.

The guard’s eyes moved around the room until they landed on him. He walked over, scratching the back of his head with an uneasy look.

"We can’t find your slave."