Limits

Irsa noticed my pursue, and shock was plastered on her face. She ran even faster, and took her bow out to shoot. Her archery skills were great, I had a hard time avoiding the arrows, but she couldn't escape anymore. The Shade I was carrying asked, "Isn't that Irsa? Why is she shooting at us?". I replied, "She betrayed you guys. She is a spy, and obviously doesn't want to get caught".

The Shade was visibly shocked. I continued the pursuit, while she utilised some sort of skill, and melded into the Sludge Factory. 'Hmmm, I can't sense her at all' I thought and asked the Shade, "Can you locate her?". He shook his head, and replied "No, I'm not as strong as you guys. I never saw anyone disappear into the sludge either". That was a problem. I had no doubt she was still escaping, the problem was direction. 'She headed towards the Dead Forest before, but would she head there now as well' I thought. Surely she wasn't stupid enough. I tried using my Power of Ice, but nothing happened.

I could guess the reason. 'Fire will work as well' I thought, and formed a ball of flame atop my palm. The Shade got scared, they were afraid of fire after all. "Don't worry, it's not to hurt you" I said, and threw the ball of flames in front of me. "Boom!". The area of Sludge Factory caught fire and the eyes revealed themselves screeching. "Sorry guys, but I need to find her" I said quietly. The Sludge spew something out further in the distance. It was Irsa. She was even more shocked than before, but I didn't wait anymore. With my daggers ready, I threw them as hard as I could. A few daggers akin to beams of light, flew through the air straight at Irsa.

Those daggers weren't intended to kill her, but distract her. I sped forwards, and released another ball of flames, at her this time. I could hear a slight creak, as I threw the ball. The Formation was broken. I wouldn't be able to use it anymore. That didn't matter though, she had to evade the ball of flame and that gave me time to use Blink Formation.

"Swoosh!", I appeared next to her with a dagger on her neck. She froze in place, while I tapped on few pressure points, to my surprise she fainted. 'Good thing Shades have pressure points too. I wasn't entirely sure it would work' I thought. While I held her, I released the other Shade. "That was crazy you know… How did you know that Sludge wouldn't attack?". I replied, "Because I did that in the past already. Anyway, we should return. I still need to interrogate her. Will you manage by yourself, or do you need a lift?". He shook his head a few times, and replied "No, no. I will return by myself". I added "Don't tell anyone what happened here. I'm serious, there may be more spies inside the city, we don't need to alarm them. If need be, you can account for her actions today, right?". He nodded quickly, and agreed.

I nodded, and left him there. 'I knew cities would have spies, but not that strong. She broke through her Inner Limits, and isn't the usual Shade. No matter, we will soon find out everything' I thought, as I headed back to the gate. Before I entered though, I wrapped her in animal skins. I didn't want to alert other spies, if such existed inside the city. I searched for Lerry, he might've been aware where Crow or his people gathered.

Lerry worked on the walls, therefore it didn't take long for me to find him. "Hey Lerry, I have a question" I said. He turned around, and noticed the "package" I was carrying. "Oh hey...What's up with the animal furs?". I replied, "Don't worry about them. Can you tell me where to find Crow, or in the least where I find his people?". He replied, "I don't know where Crow is, but his people occupy a certain building". He pointed in a specific direction, and said "See this tall building over there? That's where his house is".

I knew the place perfectly well. It was the building which used to belong to Overseers. I thanked him, and left. I quickly made my way to the Overseers building, and entered inside. One of the Shades was surprised to see me, and asked "Are you looking for Crow?". I replied, "Him, or someone who has higher ranking. If no one's there, that's fine too. I just want to use your basement". He invited me inside, and asked me to wait a bit. The Shade headed upstairs, then returned with another familiar Shade. It was the female I once met, when I decided to test the people of Sedon. She was the one who apologized to me for the misunderstanding.

She said, rather coldly I might add. "Crow is not around, which you should be fully aware of. What is your business here?". I replied, "Drop the attitude, I need to use your basement. Do you still have those torture rooms?". She scoffed, "No. We don't torture people". I said, "Doesn't matter, I need some privacy. I can find my way to the basement by myself". She stopped me, and asked "What's inside those animal furs?".

I replied, "Come with me, and you will find out". I then headed to the basement, and chose one of the rooms. Indeed, the basement acted as a storage now, no torture devices or anything of that sort was around. 'A shame, I could use them now' I thought. The female Shade entered the room, and closed the doors behind. I dropped the "package" onto the floor, and undid the furs covering it.

The Shade who came in with me, was rather shocked to see Irsa fainted on the floor. She asked with clear anger in her voice. "What do you think you are doing?". I replied, "A job you clearly can't do. She is a spy. She tried to steal the secrets of the new weapon of war we designed". She continued asking, "Do you have a proof?". I replied "Not only proof, a witness too. While I chased after her, I grabbed one Shade to come with me. He can tell you what happened. As for the proof?". I searched her body, and retrieved the crumpled paper.

"Here it is, your proof". She took the paper and looked at it for a while. "That is the new weapon of war?". I replied by asking, "What else, a sack of potatoes? Now, it's time for her interrogation. I know she can meld into the Sludge Factory, I don't know if she can repeat that on any terrain. Keep an eye on her, and don't let her escape".

I tapped on a few pressure points, and let her wake up. Irsa looked around disorientated, but quickly realised she was caught. She also saw the other Shade inside the room, and screamed. "Help me! He is crazy! He wanted to kill me!". I walked up to her, and served her a punch. "Yea, will not work missy. Now, how about you tell me where were you going with my design?".

She replied, "What design, I know nothing of any design! Please help me!". I grabbed her by the neck and said, "I have a few methods to make you sing, but I'm playing nice so far. Tell me, and I will not kill you. You have my word". She still feigned ignorance, and pleaded to the Shade behind me.

I said, "It's your choice". I only had a few bottles of medicine left. One bottle of the best medicine I could make, and the other which was second best. I only had three bottles of that left, but I was willing to sacrifice that in exchange for some answers. I was about to pour the medicine onto Irsa, when the Shade behind me said. "Are you sure she is a spy? Perhaps she had that design, but where did she get it from? What were the circumstances? Why did she run away?".

I replied, "Shade, just because you work for Crow, I have no problem neutralising you. Don't test my patience". She replied angrily, "You have no right to be the judge here! Give her to us, we will deal with it. If she is a traitor, we will punish her of course. I will not allow you to do whatever you like inside our city".

I released both my Auras, and appeared next to her. "I told you not to test my patience". She couldn't escape anymore, as I tapped a few of her pressure points. She fell to the ground unconscious, while I said "Consider this a gift. If not for Crow, you would be dead already". I turned towards Irsa, who had difficulty moving. She was still trying to meld into the ground, but wasn't fast enough. I grabbed her by her hair, and dragged her out of the ground. "Where do you think you are going? Your tricks might work on weak minded, but not me. I'm no idiot Irsa, and I can be ruthless too. Tell me what I want to know, and I will let you live".

She snorted while replying, "Go fuck yourself". 'Have it your way then' I thought, and poured my medicine all over her body. She screamed as the medicine burned her. I tapped her throat, and blocked any sound from coming out. "I don't take pleasure in torture, I'm not like that Eterian. I do what needs to be done. The sooner you answer, the sooner this will be over". The hate in her eyes intensified.

I undid another bottle of medicine, and slowly poured that on her too. I knew she wanted to scream, but I didn't want to listen to her screams. I wasn't interested in screams, but answers.