Judgement

(Master. What is that. It smells delicious.)

Ashton gripped the dragon egg in his palm and drop of sweat ran down from his cheek. [You can smell this from inside of my shadow Judah?]

(Yes. Master. It is wonderful. May I have it.)

[You are growing a personality Judah, and that is good. But this is not food.]

Ashton had thought about what would happen if he fed Gaina's egg to Judah.

Gaina was a "Monarch Dragon", she would never bow her head to Ashton. She wasn't a companion he could keep, especially given the fact that she would have no memory of him.

Judah on the other hand was a divine beast linked to Ashton's will.

He doesn't know the limits of Judah's strength, but it was obvious that he could grow. Feeding him the egg would benefit him much more than protecting it until Gaina hatched and then flew off into nature to take her throne back.

[Maybe I should let Judah consume this... Or what changes would I see if I take it?]

Ashton tossed the egg between his hands as if it were a toy. Thinking about the power that could be gained, and the possible costs of gaining it would demand.

But ultimately, he wasn't tempted. He decided it was dangerous.

[I don't know the exact consequences, but anything I imagine is fatal... Maybe dragon kind will sense my trespass and annihilate me. Maybe consuming her essence will destroy me, or destroy her immortal identity... I said I wanted what is forbidden, but this is not what I meant.] 

Ashton dropped the egg to the ground, and it was swallowed up by his shadow.

Ashton wasn't worried as the egg was harder than steel, and could handle the impact of whatever fall it took.

The shadow realm it fell into was darker than a black nothingness, and the surface Judah and the egg stood on rippled like water but was harder than diamonds.

It dimensions stretched wider than an ocean and there was no gauging its depths, as if was infinite. 

Judah's heavenly flames, worn around his neck like a scarf, was the only light within the realm.

[Keep that egg close Judah. If we are lucky, once Gaina hatches she will like us.]

Judah didn't respond, he only dropped his head back onto the floor and closed his eyes in a grunt.

Ashton looked up the wall of the castle, with the moon out and the air dark, the men atop had lit torches to illuminate their surroundings.

Ashton walked around the outside of the walls multiple times, hoping to hear another shift change so he could hike above the wall with a natural distraction.

But he had no such luck, there was men spread every couple feet along the wall and they were focused. No one was making conversation, and everyone's guard was up.

Ashton remarked to himself how disciplined the rebel army was as he finally decided he couldn't wait any longer.

He made a final sprint around the wall focusing on finding the darkest spot instead of locating human laze this time.

The wall had four gates in each cardinal direction, each one had iron cages holding magical crystals. Hollow jewels capable of holding mana within them for a limited time, mages used them to quickly restore mana in battle, and nobles used them as a fancy lamp.

And the magical crystals held above the west gate at the back of the castle were empty.

Ashton stood in the shadow the wall casted, and with a mere thought and slight intention, his mana manifested, the shadow below is feet rose like a pillar. 

It happened so fast that the guards that witnessed the shadows movement, only rubbed their eyes and thought their minds were tired.

Ashton leapt from the shadow and landed behind the warriors on the wall without making a sound. 

He turned to look at the people on the wall and even without the Aether Systems evaluation, he could tell that the men with swords were only second rate, and the people with slender builds and wands couldn't have more than three circles.

They were the second options. The people competent enough to fight and stand watch vigilantly, but not the difference makers that need rest to stay at the top of their game.

Ashton turned his back on the watchman and glanced down into the yard. 

[Ha. These people...]

Ashton was both disappointed and amused.

He was disappointed with the structure and layout of courtyard.

He expected buildings made of the same volcanic rock that the castle is constructed from, brick pathways like any other castle, anti-siege weaponry, and open areas for invaders to funnel into.

But the reality was dimmer than his imagination.

The only construct within the wall other than the castle, was shoddy wooden huts that could only house ten at a time and pitched tents.

There weren't any paved walkways or platforms, only a mud infested ground full of rotting animal carcasses. 

At the sight, he assumed that the castle housed all of the grains, preserved meats, weapons, and the army's elite.

[These people defiantly aren't expecting a siege... They probably aren't even expecting an actual battle.]

The knights and mages within the courtyard were partying. All of them had a woman who looked uncomfortable on their laps, and a bottle to their lips. 

It was amusing to Ashton. 

Their ineptitude meant lacking leadership.

Concentrating all of his mana within his legs, Ashton jumped as far out into the courtyard as he could and landed on a raised shadow to prevent him from crashing into the mud. 

He walked through the degenerately festive atmosphere of the courtyard atop the slightly raised shadow while covering his nose.

The smell of rot and decay was overbearing, Ashton was amazed the people within the wall could ignore it. 

"I will be right back hun. You stay right here and don't wander away now." The knight Ashton was walking past pushed the woman from his lap then jumped from his chair and walked out in front of him.

Ashton paused and looked at the woman.

[She isn't a nobleman's maid and she certainly isn't here of her own free will.]

Ashton turned to look at all of the woman that were within the yard.

They were all at the edge of spilling tears with purple and orange bruises on their faces.

It became clear what had happened, clear who these women were and how they ended up in this situation.

Ashton walked along the shadows and followed the knight that cut him off. 

He walked to the outhouses, but they were all occupied. 

"Damn!" The knight cursed, "I can't hold this in any longer." He banged on the doors of the bathrooms, but all of the people inside told him to buzz off.

He kicked the ground in annoyance and walked off, trying to find a private area, which led him under the castles wall in a spot distant from the other warriors.

As he unbuckled his pants and lowered his zipper, Ashton cancelled his invisibility.

"Paralysis" A jolt of yellow mana hit the skull of the knight, and his body stiffened.

Every muscle in his body became like stone, from his toes to his tongue, the only body part he could move was his eyes.

His mana was locked within his circles as his mind was cloudy from Ashton's mana squeezing his brain.

"Did you enjoy pillaging and murdering your way through the countryside?" Ashton stepped out of the shadows, with a voice that struck fear within the crippled mind of the knight.

"Did enjoy the blood shinning from your sword in the sunlight as you dragged these women away by their hair? Did enjoy the tears they spilt as they witnessed their family's demise? Probably not judging by the marks on their bodies..."

"Mmm. Mmm. MMM." The knight couldn't speak but he tried to mumble an explanation.

"Yes, try to excuse your actions. Say you were just following orders." Ashton gripped the back of the knights neck with one hand and closed the Aether System's evaluation with the other. 

[I don't want to know this disgraces name]

Ashton pulled his arm back and threw the knight onto spikes made of shadows. He stood over the knight, counted the holes in his body, watched as he drowned in his blood as he was unable to open his mouth and spit it out.

After the knight's eyes went still and his paralysis spell broke as it didn't have a target, Ashton let the corpse fall through his shadow along with the pooled blood on the ground.

(Master.-)

Ashton pulled the castle's shadow out from its side and bended them into a staircase he used them to climb the levels of the keep.

[You may feast upon it. Don't even leave its bones behind. Burn it if you can't finish it all.]

Ashton casted his invisibility anew and used the shadows to walk around the fourth story of the castle until he could find an entrance, the weakness he found was an open window and he jumped silently onto its sill without any sound indicating his intrusion.