Politics makes everything a pain, and based off the records we have of the First Champion’s world, that appears to be a universal truth.

  -Zareb Aleksi Barus

  Galen felt stronger after Arvad left.

  He had a newfound sense of purpose from having something he could do to help in his rescue. The only problem was figuring out how to draw intel from Morpheus and the other Shadows without them realizing what he was doing.

  Or, at the very least, without them realizing he had a way to reach Aleksi and Tufani. They didn’t seem to notice that Arvad had paid him a visit.

  How to go about this? he wondered.

  Heck, why doesn’t he just ask them? It wasn’t like time was on his side. It was less than a day now before that airship arrived for its scheduled maintenance. He’d have to ease into the questions he really wanted to bring up, of course.

  He went to the bedroom door and opened it. It turned out it was Morpheus’s turn to guard him.

  “Ah, Champion. Good morning,” he greeted.

  “Morning,” Galen took a deep breath. “So… what’s for breakfast?”

  The Shadow smiled. “My, you’re asking for it yourself this time? Normally we have to be the ones to bring it to you.”

  In response Galen’s stomach audibly grumbled. He shrugged. “Well, I’m hungry. Besides, there’s some stuff I want to ask you.”

  “Me? What else is there to talk about? Why the sudden interest?” Morpheus asked, clearly suspicious.

  “Honestly? It doesn’t have to be you specifically. I’m just asking you because you happen to be on guard duty this morning” he said truthfully. “Besides, I’m bored.”

  “Well, what kind of questions did you want to ask?”

  “Cultural and societal ones. It’s not like I was able to learn everything about the Dominion during my studies, and you personally know, Morpheus, that I quite like learning about that sort of thing.”

  The Shadow studied him for a moment before slowly nodding. “I suppose I do. Well, this will be a trip down memory lane.”

  “Are… are you nostalgic?” Galen asked, surprised.

  “Of course. Despite having to play the role of ‘Milton,’ I did quite like our discussions and studies, Champion.”

  He didn’t know if the Shadow was telling the truth. For all he knew, this was just an attempt to have Galen warm up to him. He supposed it didn’t matter.

  The two walked towards the kitchen.

  “So, Agnar told me that you’d given your staff some time off,” he then added in a jab. “The ones you didn’t kill anyway.”

  Morpheus sighed. “Yes. Given the mess that was made, I figured it’d be best to give them some time to get their minds off what happened.”

  “You almost sound regretful.”

  The Shadow paused. He’d started to speak, but then thought better of what he’d been about to say and chuckled. “For killing the knife-ears? No. Cleaning up after a massacre like that, though, tends to burden the minds of those unused to such work.”

  “Wow, you almost sound like a person,” Galen scoffed.

  “Almost?”

  “Yeah. Were it not for the murder and enslavement of elves, I’d say you were a decent sort. For a Shadow.”

  “My, my! A remarkable improvement from your attitude with me the other day.”

  “Right back at you.”

  They entered the kitchen, where Callista of all people was cooking. She was wearing an apron over ablouse and trousers. She seemed surprised to see them. “Ah. A blessed morning to you Champion, and to you Morpheus.”

  “Venus. The Champion came to ask for breakfast of his own accord.”

  “Oh, really now? I guess that talk we had yesterday wasn’t for nothing after all,” Callista smiled.

  “You know how to cook?” Galen blurted out.

  She frowned. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well, you’re nobility, aren’t you? Not to mention the fact that you’re a Shadow.”

  “I don’t see why that makes it surprising.”

  “I figured you had servants to do that sort of thing for you.”

  “We do, but Morpheus gave his some time off.”

  “So, you have servants… but you still know how to cook for yourself?”

  Callista raised a brow. “I really don’t see why that confounds you so.”

  Galen turned to Morpheus. “Do you know how to cook?”

  “Yes,” the Shadow responded with a tone that said, “that should be obvious.”

  “Okay, I expected you two to be far more… I don’t know… pampered? Spoiled? Like, you’d view cooking as something beneath you.”

  “Oh, some certainly do, but not all. We Shadows have to go undercover much of the time, and that necessitates that we learn a wide variety of skills to better blend in. There are those of us that can play the role of a blacksmith, for example. And some,” he gestured towards Callista. “Can play the role of a cook.”

  “Huh…” Galen looked between the two Shadows. “So… this isn’t just her playing at being your wife and cooking you a nice breakfast.”

  He was proud that that made the dark power couple blush.

  “Void, and I thought you were getting better with your attitude towards us,” Callista grumbled.

  “He is,” Morpheus responded. “But he’s a defiant one by nature.”

  “That wasn’t me being defiant. That was called ‘teasing.’ Though, you two do make a cute couple. As much as a pair of killing machines can be cute, anyway.”

  Unfortunately, that didn’t elicit any further embarrassment in them.

  “Come, Champion,” Morpheus gestured for him to follow. “We can speak at the dining table while Callista makes breakfast.”

  Galen followed, and was amused at the sigh of relief he heard from Callista.

  Morpheus sat at the head of the large dining table. He supposed that made sense considering this was the Shadow’s home and all. Galen sat next to him to his left.

  “So, what did you want to ask about, Champion?” Morpheus spread his hands. “I’m all ears.”

  Galen pretended to think for a moment. He decided to break the ice a bit and take the slow and steady approach to getting intel.

  “So, you’ve mentioned this is your home. I take it to mean that this is a personal home? Or is it more of a vacation one?”

  “A bit of both actually. Shadows do get time off, I’ll have you know. When I’m able to, I like to come here.”

  “Why this town?”

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  “I like the sea.”

  “It is cooler here than it is most other places,” Galen noted.

  “That’s why I like it,” Morpheus chuckled. “You’re not the only one who dislikes the ever present heat of this Realm, Champion.”

  “I doubt you hate it as much as I do.”

  “Oh, definitely not.”

  Galen had made it clear during their many discussions back in Ignis how much he hated the heat, and how he thought people who liked hotter seasons were insane.

  “Is it common for Shadows to have homes like this?”

  “Of course. As I mentioned, we are rather wealthy given our positions as Lord Athanasius’s personal enforcers. We are essentially extensions of his will, and that means we get compensated extremely well.”

  “Really now? Any others have homes in Seameet?”

  “Not really. This town isn’t the largest ocean side settlement the Realm has. Many prefer the larger ones.”

  “Why did you choose this town, then?”

  “To get away from the others,” Morpheus answered bluntly.

  Galen blinked, surprised.

  It was noted, for Morpheus chuckled. “I bet you didn’t expect that, did you, Champion? As you no doubt picked up on already, we Shadows have our own… disagreements, let’s call them. Sometimes it’s good to get away for a time.”

  Not what Galen expected at all.

  “So, can I take that to mean there aren’t any Shadows in this town? Besides you four, I mean,” he asked.

  The Shadow eyed him. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

  Galen sighed, and tried to play it cool. “Wouldn’t be much of a getaway vacation home if you knew a whole bunch of them were out and about. I can easily see you walking down the road, trying to enjoy a nice day off, when you see one of your fellow acolytes give you some kind of hand signal letting you know that you had a new mission or orders or whatever.”

  Morpheus frowned. “How did you know we do that?”

  “Wait, you actually do?” Galen scratched his head. “I was just thinking of what I’ve seen spies do in movies.”

  “Ah, that makes more sense.”

  “Hold up, do you know what a movie is?!” he leaned forward, a feeling of extreme annoyance blossoming within. “You guys have movies in the Dominion?!”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Why wasn’t I ever told that?!”

  The Shadow shrugged. “We wanted you focused on training and education.”

  “Jerk.”

  “What? Does us having motion pictures make the prospect of joining more appealing-”

  “No,” he quickly shot down. “But during the time I was with you all, knowing I could have watched a movie or two would have been nice.”

  Morpheus shrugged again, as if to say, “Whoops.”

  Galen sighed. “So, back to my earlier question.”

  “You’re awfully insistent about learning of our numbers in this town,” the Shadow pointed out.

  “And?” he crossed his arms, trying to play it cool. “Not like I’m gonna be able to do anything with the information anyway.”

  They met each other’s eyes and had a stare off.

  Galen felt tense, and hoped the Shadow didn’t notice.

  Finally, Morpheus chuckled. “True enough. As far as I’m aware, it’s only the four of us present.”

  He didn’t know if the Shadow had caught on to the fact that he was fishing for intel and had lied, or if he was telling the truth.

  “Really?” Galen asked, trying to sound surprised. “I’d figured there would be more of you here.”

  “I can see why you’d think that, but having too many of us in one location tends to draw attention. It becomes… difficult to stay in character when you know your brethren are near. That defeats our purpose as Shadows. Plus, it’d be inconvenient if too many of us have our faces known to the public. Even if under an alias.”

  “I bet. Not exactly like you guys can change your facial structures… right?”

  Morpheus smiled, but didn’t answer the question, eliciting a shudder from Galen.

  For the sake of my mental health, I’m going to assume the answer is no…

  He tried to think some more. How can he confirm if the Shadow was telling the truth without tipping him off? His mind worked overtime, until it came across a potential solution.

  Galen smiled. “Ah, I see now. The reasons you listed are good ones, yes, but another is that you don’t want another faction of the Shadows to get the credit for my retrieval.”

  It was just for an instant, but he could have sworn he saw Morpheus grimace.

  His smile widened. “That’s it, isn’t it? Agnar is part of another faction, right? Which already makes this risky. What about Eshu?”

  The Shadow smiled. “You’ve always been a sharp one. Do you have any idea how hard that made it to manipulate you back in Ignis?”

  Galen shrugged. “I was raised well. Too bad for you all.”

  Morpheus chuckled, grudging respect in his eyes. “Yes… It is as you say. Well, almost. Agnar isn’t part of any one faction, as far as I know. He’s neutral, though some of us have made moves to get him to join. Right now, he’s leaning towards my faction. He’s not with Callista and me yet, but I believe it to be only a matter of time. As for Eshu, he is part of my faction. I had to be careful that none of the others not aligned with me didn’t stick their mitts into this mission.”

  Galen nodded, before sighing, and saying with honest, sympathetic annoyance, “Politics really sucks, doesn’t it?”

  Morpheus gave a deep, weary sigh of his own. “That, Champion, is something that appears to be a universal truth. Regardless of world.”

  “I can see why you want to get away from it all from time to time,” Galen smirked. “With me, for example, it was pretty nice getting away from you all.”

  Morpheus snorted. “Ah, yes. Because you kept such great company.”

  “They aren’t bad people, Morpheus.”

  “Any and all who rebel against Lord Athanasius are scum,” the Shadow argued automatically.

  “Does that include me?” Galen challenged. “I haven’t exactly been quiet about the fact that I don’t worship your god, and that I don’t plan to.”

  Morpheus almost looked uncomfortable at that. He sighed. “Champion, do you have any idea how… unnerving it is to hear such rhetoric from you? In our doctrine, as someone in the sacred role of ‘Champion,’ you are essentially a saint to us.”

  Galen shrugged. “I didn’t exactly ask to be thrust into the role, you know. Don’t you think that might be a fault in your doctrine?”

  The Shadow scoffed. “Of course not. That’s preposterous.”

  “Have you never questioned your faith? Your religion?”

  “To do so would be sacrilege!”

  “And you don’t see an issue that one can’t even test Athurai?”

  “What of your faith, Champion? The one you still cling to?” Morpheus questioned back. “Are you allowed to question your religion?”

  “Yes,” Galen answered.

  That seemed to throw the Shadow for a loop.

  “I’m being honest, here,” he continued. “There was a time in my world’s history, yes, where one couldn’t question the church without being branded a heretic, but such things tend to happen when Church and State get a little too cozy with one another. It’s happened in the other countries of my world that follow other religions. From what I can see, it’s happened here with the Dominion and Athurai. My faith, Morpheus, actively encourages us to test our faith, to test what we hear to see if they truly are of God. My God, Morpheus, encourages us to ‘come and let us reason together.’ The fact people here aren’t allowed to so much as question Athurai? That’s another reason in a long list of why I refuse to join you all.”

  The Shadow stared at him for a long moment. They’ve had discussions regarding their different religions before back in Ignis, so both knew the other was rather stubborn in their faith. Galen held no illusions that he’d be able to convince a Shadow of all people to see and accept the flaws of their side. But maybe… just maybe he could plant a seed.

  Hopefully.

  Callista came in just then, carrying three plates of steaming, delicious smelling food. Galen raised a brow at how she held the plates, in spite of how hot the food seemed, bare handed. Ether sure was handy.

  She set the plates down, raising a brow as she noted the silent tension between the two. She frowned, “Are you two arguing again? What were you talking about?”

  “Religion,” Galen answered with a smile.

  Her lips drew to a thin line, as she looked to Morpheus, who answered, “He was asking me about testing Athurai. About faults he perceives in its doctrine.”

  Callista shuffled on her feet uncomfortably at the mere thought.

  Dang, Galen thought. It really is unnerving for them to hear me question their religion. If I am the equivalent of a “saint” to them being the Champion and all, then what I’m doing is basically like hearing Paul or Peter questioning Christianity.

  Not that he felt any guilt, of course. He made it clear he didn’t approve of how the Dominion and Athanasius ran things, and that extended to their religion. Had he believed, he’d have converted. But he hadn’t, and didn’t plan to.

  “I see…” Callista muttered, biting her lip. “Well… that’s a dangerous line of questioning.”

  “You guys are awfully squeamish when it comes to religion,” Galen noted.

  Neither responded, to which he just sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop for now. On another note, when is that damned airship coming in for maintenance again?”

  Callista looked more than happy to change topics. “It will be here within a few hours. Hopefully all the work will be done in a day or two. Then, we’ll commandeer it and use it to take us to the nearest city.”

  “And you’ll do so the instant the maintenance is done?” Galen asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. Lest we tempt something unexpected to happen.”

  “That would be a shame,” he said flatly. “Wouldn’t want some other faction of the Shadows to come barging in and claim the credit for retrieving me, now, would we?”

  To their credit, neither Shadow reacted visibly at that.

  The rest of the breakfast went by in relative silence. They briefly conversed about various things, but nothing of importance, and Galen couldn’t coax out anymore useful information that he could feed to Arvad.

  What he had figured out, assuming Morpheus had told him the truth, was that there were only the four Shadows present. He’d also learned that they planned to commandeer and board the airship the second its repairs were done.

  It admittedly wasn’t much, but something was better than nothing. He hoped Aleksi, Tufani, and the others were doing a better job on their end.

  Next chapter will be released Thursday, February 26th, 2026 at 3:00 PM PST.

  A huge thank you and special shoutout to my Page Tuner tier Patron, LOOKOUT, and my Lore Master tier Patrons, Mountain Knight, Conman2731, ThoMiCroN, MCE 2 Munchen 2, Voltrus, biburussus, and Daniel Krol. Your support is sincerely and greatly appreciated.