The Nekropolis Archives Read Online Free

one of the upper rooms, they shoved Finn onto the floor and bound him in manacles made from the same enchanted obsidian as their Dire Blades, rendering him helpless. Then Maera received her instructions on just how much money she had to make and how fast she had to make it in order to pay back the debt Finn owed the Dominari and save his life. And she was warned that if she so much as looked in a Sentinel's direction, let alone told her tale of woe to one of the golems, Finn would die for certain, and she'd be next.
      Filled with despair but seeing no other choice, Maera returned to her usual stomping grounds in the Sprawl, picked out a street corner to conduct business on, and prepared to do what she had to do. But before she could attract her first customer, Kyra saw her and came over to talk, specifically, to tell her about what this zombie PI she'd hired had done to a certain greedy cyclops earlier. Maera realized then that she did have another choice, and after asking Kyra where I could be found, the demoness abandoned her street corner and hurried off to search for me.
      At least, that's the story Maera told. But she was a demon, and her kind had been known to tell a fib now and again. I was withholding judgment on her tale until I'd had a chance to check it out more thoroughly.
      "You stay here and keep out of sight," I told her. "I'll go see how the land lays."
      Without waiting for her to reply, I left the alley and started across the street. Instead of walking, though, I shuffled, dragging my left leg and allowing my arms to dangle loosely at my sides. I canted my head to the left and let my mouth gape open. If I'd been able to produce any saliva, I'd have drooled. There aren't many benefits to being a zombie, but instant camouflage was one of them. Walking – or rather shuffling – dead are common in Nekropolis, so much so that people pay them little attention. As long as I don't moan " Braaaaaaaiiiinssssss …" and try to take a bite out of someone's skull, once I go into my act, I might as well be invisible.
      I made it to the sidewalk in front of the Dominari sharks' hideout without drawing any undue attention to myself. I doubted I'd done so unobserved, though. The sharks would either have sentry wards on the building to warn them of anyone's approach, or if they were too cheap to pay for the spellwork, one of them would be keeping watch on the street through a window, mostly likely one of the two on the second story facing the street. I couldn't simply look up and check without risking blowing my disguise. Regular zombies aren't bright enough to recognize a building for what it is, let alone understand what windows are. But there was a way to make that work for me.
      I continued shuffling toward the building and bumped into the wall, like a goldfish bopping its nose against the glass of its bowl. I was careful to avoid the leech-vine clinging to the front of the building. It couldn't do much to me since I was already dead, but it would snag hold of me nevertheless, and I couldn't fight my way free without ruining my act. I stumbled back from the wall, waving my arms erratically and looking around in confusion: right, left, down, and then up. If anyone was watching, all they would see is another brain-dead zombie perplexed by the seemingly magical appearance of a large solid object in his path. And when that zombie looked up, he saw a dingy, tattered curtain drawn away from the right second-floor window, and then a second later, he saw it fall back into place. I didn't get a look at whoever had been standing at the window. Considering the dark light cast by Umbriel, everyone in Nekropolis is usually standing in shadow of one sort or another. But the movement of the curtain was enough to let me know that someone was indeed on the second floor of the building, and that whoever it was knew a zombie had come calling. I just hoped they bought my act and decided I was a harmless nuisance to be