Shadow Clone Sorcery
Chapter 22: Half Truths and Full Lies (2)

It wasn’t long before Bass returned, dragging a charred and shredded mass. Lukas couldn’t begin to imagine what the entity once was or what it looked like. Given what he had read about the sorcerer’s staff, it surprised anything remained of the beast.

“Mutated Dream Eater,” Lukas read out loud as words appeared on the journal’s luminous pages. “Usually docile creatures. Dream Eaters live in and around civilization, giving people and creatures pleasant dreams. They feed on psychic energies, leaving their victims lethargic and with headaches. Unusually long, dreamless sleep followed by the aforementioned symptoms is often a sign of a dream eater. Never corner a dream eater without ample psychic defenses. When threatened, they utilize illusions and ego constructs to lash out at attackers and then consume their brains.

“This specimen has mutated from exposure to draconic magic. It has gained physical might at the cost of its psychic abilities. The loss of potent dream-eating abilities has driven it mad and violent.”

“Dream Eaters tend to be child-sized,” Penelope said. “This thing was almost as big as Bass in his original form.” She pointed at a lump with tentacles hanging from it. “Take a cube out of its head for me, please.”

“Got it, boss,” Elvis said, rising with a chunk of the phaser. “What do you want me to do with this?”

Penelope flicked her fingers, and the flesh froze instantly. “Carry it until I say otherwise. It will stay frozen until I dispel the magic.”

“Got it.”

The dream eater was significantly easier to cut. Having developed a feel for it, El-Two didn’t take long to finish the assigned task. Penelope froze the second cube, and the clone stored it in the small satchel he carried. They had brought rags and butcher paper, expecting biological samples. The sight of them amused their employer.

The sorcerer had Lukas inspect a bunch of miscellaneous objects while the clone worked. She continued afterward as they retraced their steps through the undercity. His targets ranged from luminous crystals to fungi and ancient building materials. In the meantime, she explained how hollow shards came to be.

“Any powerful magical phenomena can birth an essence. It is the physical manifestation of an arcane concept, and it doesn’t take much for one to form naturally. Certain essence types are more common than others. Lightning. Repulsion. Shadow.” Penelope nodded at his belt. “Blood. Meanwhile—”

“What about the Essence of Change?”

“Not as rare as the others, but still relatively uncommon,” Penelope answered before continuing. “Meanwhile, shards are born from natural magic users. I’m talking about dragons, dryads, powerful dream eaters, and similar magical entities. They start as hollow shards, and the contents are slowly formed over several decades if not years. Lesser shards are generally not as well-aged or born from weaker entities or even natural magical phenomena.”

“Can people create shards, too?” the clone asked. “We saw one for blacksmithing in the market.”

“It’s more likely born from a living forge that gained sentience or an immortal who has long transcended humanity,” Penelope answered. “I’ve read literature claiming powerful confluence abilities also creating them under the right conditions but never seen it in practice. It might be idle musings or a forgotten craft.

“Our ritual might create a new shard. But it requires at least a hollow shard. The cracked shard will improve its quality and potency and give it body. Without it, we'd most likely end up with a basic shard or a mid-tier at best.”

“Could your ritual upgrade a basic shard into something more potent?”

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“I—” Penelope frowned, looking between him in Bass. “I've never really tried. It is likely a waste of essence since the basic shard’s energy will overwhelm all other ingredients. Theoretically, at least. You'll probably just end up with a slightly more powerful version of the basic shard you had in the beginning.”

It didn’t take the party long to find their way back to the cavern. Penelope triggered a hidden rune panel near the elevator shaft while Lukas and ‘Elvis’ packed all the valuable bits they’d picked off the corpses. Much to their surprise, the bodies had disappeared. There was no trace of anyone moving them or them being dragged away. They were just gone. Penelope seemed unbothered and unsurprised. Lukas didn’t question it. Either undercity dwellers had dragged them away, or the after-effects of the spiral runes had disintegrated their bodies.

A school of merman—fishy heads and torso, human-like limbs—launched a probing attack while the party waited for the elevator. Penelope and Bass stayed back, letting the Zauns fend them off. Support and barrier spells made their life easier, but it was still hard work. Things got out of hand toward the end when a crude spear found Lukas’s right calf. An ice barrier sprouted from the ground, breaking the shaft and knocking the beast away.

Bass took it out, and his full form encouraged a retreat. The elevator appeared soon after, and Lukas was glad for the break. He used the enchanted belt buckle to fix the wound.

“That’s a tidy bit of healing magic,” Penelope stated. “The vet’s work, I presume?”

Lukas nodded. “She made it for me since I don’t have Elvis’s freakish healing abilities.”

“I can see how you improved so rapidly.” Her eyes glowed, focused on his calf. “Simple, but effective and potent. She’s a wizard, I’m guessing.”

No one checked their luggage. The guards didn’t question the group about their activities. In fact, none of them looked directly at Bass or Penelope. The man who had protested Lukas and the clone heading into the undercity shot them a surprised look and nodded at both. He seemed hesitant when Penelope flagged him down but rushed over, shoulders stiff and back straight.

“Did anyone follow us down?”

“No, ma’am,” he answered.

“Did anyone go down to the same level before us?”

“No, ma’am.” The guard checked his clipboard. “No one has been down that deep in a few days. The closest was two levels up.”

“We were ambushed on arrival.” Penelope had Lukas hand over all the minor guild logos they had collected. “They all bore a curse seal and were equipped with antimage weapons. We, of course, took them out, and the corpses were gone by the time we finished.”

“Oh.” He struggled to get out any other words, eyes wide as he checked all the individual pieces. “I’ll report it to Captain Santana,” the man said. “I apologize, my lady. This was a security failure on our part. My men and I will take full responsibility.”

“That won’t be necessary. However, I’d like you to send patrols down next time we notify you of an upcoming delve. They need to scan for ambushes, traps, and the like.” Penelope paused, eyes cold as she stared the man down. “You know what I’m doing in Iskander, yes? You understand why my work is so important?”

“Yes, ma’am. Of course, ma’am.”

“Good. I hope there won’t be a repeat of what just happened. Have you added Lukas and Elvis Zaun to the registry?”

“Yes, ma’am. The word has been sent up through Iskander's command. All our men will be informed during shift changes. I’m not sure if they’ll be allowed to avoid exit inspections unless you’re with them.”

“I understand you have no say on the matter,” Penelope said. “However, inform your superiors that they’re capable and working for me and might need to extract samples. Your people are awful gossips, and we can’t have intelligence leaks. I doubt your superiors want the civilian population panicking.”

“No, they don’t,” the guard replied. He made swift notes and held the clipboard out for Penelope. She burned a blue thumbprint onto the parchment just as she had when they entered.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“Beautiful and terrifying,” El-Two whispered as they worked their way up tunnels and stairs out of the guard house’s lower levels. “That’s just your type, Lukey.”

“I heard that,” Bass said without looking back at the ‘twins.’

“I thought you might’ve. Nothing escapes those cute kitty ears.”

“No, they don’t. I’ll eat your fingers if you even think about touching Penny.”

Penelope appeared amused but didn’t directly look at Lukas or the clone. Her eyes remained focused ahead. She didn’t join them for dinner when they reached the inn. Instead, she took the cracked shard and essences, ordered the landlady to prepare a bath, and retired to the room. El-Two received a sharp shin kick once Penelope and her familiar were out of sight and hearing range. The clone only grinned before flagging the barmaid down for a stein of mead.