8 Shadows

Li Mei climbed into the stable rafters in a haze of adrenaline and pain, collapsing into the netting holding the horse's feed. Her entire body trembled, and despite many burns on her flesh a deep chill pervaded her very bones. She pulled a blanket out of storage, wrapped herself tightly in its cozy embrace, and closed her eyes.

In her previous life Li Mei killed one man. It was entirely self-defense and she had no regrets about the experience - he had it coming even in the eyes of the law and the media that covered the incident. Chang Yezi was a revolting man who kidnapped, imprisoned, and eventually tortured helpless teenage girls to death.

He chose poorly when he picked Li Mei for a target.

She wasn't proud of having killed, but she was proud that the person she killed was scum of the Earth. As far as she was concerned the slaves and everyone else who abused 44 were just as guilty as that vile man. The pain, the fear, the loss of self worth. Nights of terror and shame. Days of hunger and abuse.

Every emotional and physical wound inflicted on 44 formed a list of sins those people could never cleanse, digging deep into an unhealed scar Li Mei kept buried in the darkest shadows.

When she saw the slave's faces and remembered what they did to 44, Chang Yezi's laugh surfaced in her memories, haunting her every movement.

Once the rush of adrenaline wore off and fatigue settled in, she couldn't stop waves of nausea and dizziness from crashing into her tiny body. Lives were lives, and she intentionally ended them with her own two hands. She was a strong-willed woman who made a decision, formed a plan, and followed through to the end.

But she still bore a human heart, no matter how strong.

The stink of vinegar and bleach, burning charcoal and flesh, mixed with the thick cloying aroma of blood lingered like an aggrieved ghost. She couldn't make out the relaxing scent of mint that wafted from the feed making up her impromptu bedding.

Li Mei took deep breaths and counted multiples of three, forcing memories out of her mind with cold numbers. If she let herself fall into that familiar dark mire...

No. She wouldn't let those sharp claws sink into her again.

'44 suffered and died because of them, and she was just a kid who never did anything wrong! It's only fair they suffered and died in exchange. They deserved it. They deserved it!' Li Mei repeated the comforting sentiment over and over in her head until she fell fast asleep.

...

Vigen stroked his long white mustache, twirling the end of the right side in a nervous gesture. The charred skeleton of Master Agilo's manor house coughed smoke, ash, and fire well into the morning hours. Entire rooms crumbled away, the base foundation of the manor completely compromised by the series of explosions that took it out.

Guards wore filtered masks as they struggled to extinguish hot tongues of flame with handheld devices meant for tackling stray kitchen fires. Hounds pawed at rubble, sniffing around for signs of life or the trail of the assailant.

"Why the house?" Elle, the head housekeeper, asked while folding her pudgy arms over an ample chest. "Of all places on the estate... Could it be them? Did they find us? Or could it be..."

Vigen sighed. Sneaking into the estate was no easy feat, doing so just to torch the manor seemed anticlimactic. "Don't think to much, our job isn't to speculate. Have the hounds found anything?"

A guard standing behind the pair held a crystal tablet, colorful graphs of data fluctuating on its transparent surface. "Negative, sir. No foreign mana signatures, no recovered magitech. There's no residue from expended Circuits. Preliminary scans indicate the manor suffered a series of dust explosions that began in the basement and spread throughout the area, compromising the internal structure. All signs point to this being an accident, sir."

"Are you willing to report that to Master Agilo?" Vigen scowled, causing the guard to shiver under such an intense stare.

"I-I'll need time to gather some more information before I can draw a definite conclusion, sir. Please excuse me." The guard ran so fast he almost left a dust cloud in his wake.

"All those antiques, up in smoke..." Elle craned her neck to look up at the manor, brushing bits of ash off her shoulders. It drifted in the air like greasy black snow, clinging to anything it touched with surprising tenacity.

"If the servants did their jobs properly, there wouldn't have been enough dust to cause a problem. We'll have to supervise them more strictly in the future." Vigen's intense gaze switched to the plump housekeeper who shrank in on herself in response. Satisfied that she got the point without further scolding being necessary, he returned to looking at the manor.

Five slaves wasn't a loss for the estate, they were just household help without particular skills or specializations. Even a commoner could afford to buy a contract for one of those! Of the slaves, Aviva was the most beautiful, ruthless, and eager to please him. A capable woman who fulfilled his every request, but she was just a slave in the end. Her charming smile lit up the steward's memory for a moment before he shoved it away without a second thought.

She was a distraction. Enjoyable dalliances, nothing more. But the priceless collection of antiques, ancient books full of valuable knowledge, the latest prototype magitech computer in the study... Vigen felt the pain of their loss far more deeply than that of Aviva or the other dead slaves.

"What a pity," he sighed, shaking his head. "Master Agilo will be disappointed in me."

Elle took a cautious step back, fearful of the old steward's clenched fists and stiff shoulders. The man's temper was a storm of lightning - fierce, brutal, and quick to strike at anything in range. Most of the time the housekeeper preferred to have a few slaves or servants between her and Vigen.

"I'll round up the staff for questioning!" She left in a hurry just like the guard did, leaving Vigen standing alone before the smoldering manor with a despondent expression on his weathered face. Guards and hounds alike bustled to and fro in the ruins, but no clues were unearthed even after hours of searching.

If one of the servants he hired and supervised torched the manor, he might as well wash his neck and wait for death.

Vigen sighed heavily. It seemed a dark shadow crouched above the estate, claws poised and ready to strike. The question was, could he find the beast before it devoured them all?