Paragon of Destruction

Although the slow pace caused Arran some frustration, he didn’t particularly mind the journey.

The landscape they crossed was nothing if not beautiful, with the road leading them through endless hilly green fields, speckled with farms that reminded Arran of his childhood.

And while he had no intention of courting Muna, he could not deny that he enjoyed the attention she gave him. Even if that only added to the hostile looks he received from the other Darians.

Still, he was relieved when he finally saw the mines appear in the distance.

It was no secret that the Wolfsblood Company would face grave danger in the Desolation, and if they were to survive, they would need every bit of preparation they could get. And the sooner they could get started on that, the better.

Their welcome came sooner than expected. Near the mines lay a small town, filled with inns, taverns, and traders, and the group had barely entered it when a voice called out, "They’re back! The captain has returned!"

Arran recognized the man who had yelled as a member of the Wolfsblood Company. Apparently, Arran’s allies were no longer confined to the mining camp — and from the bottle of wine in the mercenary’s hand, he guessed that Rannoc’s troops had treated them well.

Others took up the call almost immediately, their excited cries soon causing an uproar within the small town. More of the Wolfsblood Company’s troops came flooding into the streets from the taverns, and it wasn’t long before a large crowd had formed around the captain, Arran, and Sassun.

The hardened mercenaries were giddy with excitement as they saw their captain had returned, and a dozen different questions sounded from a dozen different mouths, all at once.

Kaleesh received the attention with a broad grin, clearly just as happy to see his troops again as they were to see him.

But then, a loud voice sounded. "Captain! You’re back!"

Arran didn’t even need to look to know the voice belonged to Gar. But while Gar’s appearance did not surprise him, he raised an eyebrow when he saw the man at Gar’s side.

Every bit as large and burly as the giant commander, he was bald and clad in an untidy set of Darian armor, with a bottle of drink in his hand and a wide grin on his face. If Arran didn’t know any better, he could have thought the man was Gar’s long-lost brother.

Yet Arran Sensed immediately that the man wore a Living Shadow dagger at his side, which could only mean that despite his appearance, the giant was a Knight.

"Captain!" Gar repeated as he approached, his expression joyful. "Good to see you’ve made it back alive!"

Kaleesh nodded, amusement in his eyes. "Good to see you haven’t gotten yourself killed." He glanced at the Knight. "And who might this be?"

"Rahm," the Knight said. "Lord Rannoc put me in charge of the mines." Noticing the other Knight, he gave her a small bow. "Muna."

"Rahm," she replied with a nod. She looked around at the mercenaries, then frowned. "Hard at work keeping order?"

Rahm shrugged. "I figured they could do with some merriment. Would you believe that Kadun’s thugs kept them locked in the mines for months?" He shook his head in disgust. "Glad that bastard is dead."

"Captain," Gar interjected, a look of excitement appearing on his face. "Rahm has a present for you. One I think you’ll like."

"A present?" Kaleesh shot him a curious glance. "What is it?"

Gar gave a firm shake of his head. "You’ll see when we get to the camp," he replied, though with an eager grin.

Muna cast a curious look at Rahm. "Let’s head to the camp," she said. "And bring the others. I think the town has seen enough excitement for today."

They set off again some minutes later, more mercenaries joining the large group as they headed toward the mining camp.

As they covered the final few miles, Gar explained what had happened in their absence, which turned out to be very little. The Wolfsblood Company had remained in the mines as ordered, only emerging after Rannoc’s army had taken the mining camp.

After that, they had spent some days preparing for an attack from Kadun’s army, but it was an attack that never materialized. Word of the Lord’s demise had spread before his troops could reach the mines, and with their ruler dead, the army had soon dispersed.

Which had left Gar and Rahm with little to do but drink — a task which they’d both addressed with great enthusiasm, soon becoming staunch allies in their quest to drain the nearby town of its wine reserves.

Naturally, Gar asked the captain about the events in the city, too, and he listened with astonishment to Kaleesh’s retelling of the battle at the gate.

"You killed an entire army?" he asked Arran, his eyes wide with astonishment. "By yourself?"

"Not an entire army," Arran replied truthfully — the captain had embellished the story more than a bit. "And most of them were just common soldiers."

Rahm, however, gave him a nonplussed look. "You don’t look all that strong," he said, his expression ponderous.

At this, Muna scowled. "Rahm, you big oaf," she said, a trace of annoyance in her voice. "He has more potential than you ever did. A year or two of proper training, and he’ll be able to defeat you with ease."

"If you say so," the giant Knight said, though he still sounded skeptical. Yet from the wary manner in which he looked at Muna, Arran got the impression that she was easily the stronger of the two.

Then, finally, they reached the mining camp.

Its squat stone buildings looked no different from before, but the camp was once more filled with mercenaries, who flocked to the captain the moment word of their arrival spread.

There were plenty of Darian soldiers, too, though they looked rougher than the ones Arran had seen so far, and they glanced at the newcomers with friendly curiosity rather than the hostility he’d come to expect from Darians. Rahm’s troops, he guessed.

It took another half-hour to explain everything that had happened to Lasha and the other mercenaries, and there were few among the troops who did not go wide-eyed with awe when they heard of the battle at the gate — a battle that grew more epic with each time the captain told the tale.

There were many questions, all of which Kaleesh answered dutifully. But while the captain was patient, the same could not be said for Gar.

"Captain," he finally said, interrupting yet another question about the battle at the gate. "Your present." He gave Rahm an expectant look, which the giant Knight answered with a cheerful laugh.

"I’ll go get them," the Knight said, motioning for some soldiers to accompany him as he set off for one of the camp’s stone buildings.

Barely two minutes later, Rahm returned, this time with five bound prisoners in tow.

Arran immediately recognized them. They were Kadun’s Rangers, the ones who’d taken over the camp and banished the mercenaries to the mines.

The arrogance they’d shown before was now gone entirely. Instead, their eyes were somber, their faces bruised, and their clothes torn. Yet pitiful though they looked, Arran felt not even the slightest shred sympathy for them.

"We captured these five when we took the camp," Rahm said with a friendly look at the captain. "Gar said you’d want to be there for their executions."

"Is that so," Kaleesh replied, his expression dark as he looked at the five prisoners.

Yet before he could say anything else, the priest yelled, "There will be no executions!"

The white-haired man had said little during their journey, and he’d remained silent when they arrived in the camp. But now, he looked at the giant Knight with a red face and angry eyes.

"You will not execute these men!" he repeated. "Not without cause!"

Rahm turned to face the priest. "These Rangers," he said, annoyance in his voice, "have mistreated our allies. For that, we will punish them."

"You will do no such thing!" the priest answered angrily. "They were acting in the service of a Lord! As for your allies..." He paused to glance at the gathered mercenaries, then continued, "They are outsiders. Whatever the Rangers did to them, it matters not."

Anger showed in the Knight’s face as well, and he looked as if he was about to yell at the priest in fury. Yet before he could say anything, the captain spoke up.

"Teacher," he said, his expression respectful as he faced the priest. "Am I not a citizen? And by your hand, at that?"

The priest turned to him, the anger fleeing his face at the captain’s unexpectedly reverent tone. "You are," he said. "But that doesn’t change anything. Whatever these Rangers did to you, they did before you became a citizen."

"Of course," Kaleesh said, the sides of his mouth turned up in a smirk so slight it could only barely be seen. "But as a citizen, do I not have the right to challenge them in combat?"

At this, the priest frowned. "You have the right to challenge them," he said. "But whether they face you is their choice."

Kaleesh nodded, then turned to the five Rangers. "I challenge you — all five of you — to a duel. Should you defeat me, I ask that you will be given your freedom. Do you accept?"

"Captain!" Gar said, his voice panicked. "They’re Rangers. You can’t—"

Yet before he could finish the words, the Rangers’ leader called out, "We accept!"

Bruised though the man’s face was, his somber expression had turned to one of hope — hope, and viciousness.

"Very well," Kaleesh said. "Unbind them, and fetch them their weapons." He smiled, then added, "Let’s see how they fare against an outsider."