Paragon of Destruction

But he could tell that they were waiting for something, and he was all but certain that that something was the Wolfsblood Army. Which meant that if he was spotted, it might alert these Darians to his companions’ approach, as well.

Still, as he came closer to the army, he began to feel some doubts about their intentions.

While he had initially thought it was an ambush, the group did not appear to have posted any lookouts, nor had they even bothered to hide themselves. Instead, they simply stood gathered on a clearing that looked to be a campsite for passing armies, with little sign that they were preparing for battle.

But if it wasn’t an ambush, it also wasn’t just another army traveling to Sacrifice. They lacked the supply carts that more than a few days of travel would require, and although they did not look like they were expecting battle, they hadn’t set up camp, either.

After a moment’s hesitation, Arran decided to risk moving close enough that he could actually lay eyes on the army. Though the Knight might be able to Sense him at such a short distance, he had to see what sort of welcome awaited them.

He quietly moved between the trees, advancing until he was only a few hundred paces away from the Darian army — near enough that he could see them through the foliage.

As soon as he laid eyes on them, he knew this wasn’t just a ragtag band of soldiers. Well-armed and dressed in uniforms of green and black, they resembled some of the wealthier armies he’d observed in Knight’s Watch, with the troops standing in neat lines as they waiting in the clearing.

Much as he’d expected, it only took a moment before the Knight — a lean man with a hard face — glanced in Arran’s direction, after which he leaned over to whisper something to the Ranger beside him.

That Ranger would be the group’s leader — probably the son or nephew of one of the Imperium’s many Lords. From the haughty expression on the young man’s face, Arran guessed it was the former.

The young man cast a bored look at the tree line where Arran was hidden, then made a dismissive gesture to the Knight. Apparently, he was unconcerned with a scout observing him.

Arran was no simple scout, of course, but there was no way for the Knight to know that. While the man had a Living Shadow weapon — which he had somehow bonded enough to share its Sense — both Arran’s magic and the nature of his sword were well-hidden. As far as the Darians knew, he was merely a lookout, sent to inspect the road ahead of the main group.

But dismissive though the Ranger appeared, now that Arran had been detected, no time could be wasted. The Wolfsblood Army would be barely a mile behind Arran, and he had to bring word of these Darians before the captain and the others arrived.

He cast a final look at the army ahead, noting the banners it flew — green, with a white sigil shaped like a stag — then turned around to leave.

Yet as he turned, he felt something from the bond he shared with his weapon. Two more Living Shadow daggers, farther away than Arran’s own Sense could reach, but close enough that his sword could still barely make them out.

More Knights, then, almost certainly with more troops to accompany them. Which could mean that the army he’d found was merely the vanguard of a larger force.

He had no time to investigate any further. Though the Wolfsblood Army moved slowly, it would be no more than a quarter-hour before they arrived here. That only barely gave Arran enough time to warn Kaleesh.

He departed at a run, no longer caring whether the Darians spotted him. By now, they already knew that the Wolfsblood Army would soon arrive, and there was little point in trying to hide the obvious.

Arran hurried back to his allies as quickly as he could, his figure rushing between the trees and brush with the speed of a wolf about to catch its prey.

Just minutes later — sooner than he would have liked — he caught sight of the Wolfsblood Army. Kaleesh and several of the Rangers headed the slow-moving column, and Arran approached the captain at once.

"Trouble," he grunted even before he came to a halt. "A Darian army awaits further up the road, less than a mile away."

Kaleesh immediately signaled for the soldiers behind him to halt, then gave Arran a sharp look. "How many? And what else did you see?"

Arran took several minutes in explaining all he had discovered, and when he finished, Kaleesh gave a thoughtful nod.

"The banners you saw are Lord Malach’s, which means the army is Garvan’s. He’s Lord Malach’s youngest son, and he should have arrived in Sacrifice some two months ago. Someone must have sent him a messenger the night before we departed." Seeing the surprise in Arran’s eyes, he gave a small smile. "I did more than just drink ale while you were busy training."

"Yet you don’t sound concerned," Arran observed.

"I’m not," Kaleesh replied. "Lord Malach was an ally of Kadun, but if Garvan planned to attack us, he would not go about it this way." He fell silent for a moment, stroking his chin as he considered the situation. "My guess is that he wants to assess our strength before committing. Lord Malach is not so powerful that his sons can afford to waste troops on a quest for vengeance."

Before Arran could respond, a Ranger stepped forward, whom Arran recognized as the one he’d sparred against in Knight’s Watch — Ifras, he vaguely recalled.

"My apologies, captain," the Ranger said in an uneasy tone. "But if Garvan wants to attack us, it won’t be vengeance that drives him."

"You know the man, then?" Kaleesh asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know of him," Ifras replied. "His ambitions reach beyond what his father’s power allows. If he wishes to fight us, it will be to build his reputation among the others in Sacrifice."

At this, Kaleesh let out a deep sigh. "So he’s an idiot who wants to prove himself, and he thinks to use us as a stepping stone." He shook his head in disgust. "It changes nothing. Whether it’s vengeance or ambition that drives him, he’ll back off once he understands that we are no easy prey."

"Do you know his strength?" Arran asked.

"He has three Knights to protect him, and four thousand troops at his command. Enough to defeat us, perhaps, but not without heavy losses." Kaleesh gave Arran a glance, then added in a softer voice, "Naturally, if they did attack, Garvan himself would be the first to die."

Arran nodded, though he wondered whether that threat would be enough of a deterrent. Kaleesh assumed their opponent had the wits to see the danger of attacking, but if Garvan proved a fool, the entire Wolfsblood Army would pay the price — a price for which the death of the man himself would be poor compensation.

And that was without taking into account the three Knights.

Supposedly, Knights would not lower themselves to face Rangers, nor would Rangers face common soldiers. To do so would be a disgrace — an indelible stain upon their honor. That was why the situation might not be as dire as it seemed, and it was likely the reason Garvan had chosen not to attack yet.

But honor was a fickle thing, and Arran was loath to bet his life on the Darians’ peculiar sense of righteousness.

If he cut a bloody path through Garvan’s forces, he wondered whether the Knights would truly remain idle. And if Garvan himself was in danger, he very much doubted that the Knights would stand silently and watch as their Lord’s son died.

Yet there was no avoiding the confrontation. Even if they still had time to retreat without provoking an attack, doing so would only put more distance between them and the relative safety of Sacrifice.

Kaleesh spent a quarter-hour rearranging the army’s formations, bringing more of their strength to the front while moving the weaker groups to the back of the column. When he was finally satisfied that the army’s vanguard looked sufficiently imposing, he gave a sharp gesture, and the soldiers set to marching once more.

At the very front of the column, Kaleesh and Arran were joined by a dozen of the strongest Rangers among the group — Barric, Arjun, and several others who had the experience to face a surprise assault without breaking.

Kaleesh gave them an appraising look. "When we meet Garvan," he said, "do not let him provoke you. Maintain your calm, and let me do the speaking. If all goes well, there will be no battle today."

"And if things don’t go well?" Barric asked. From his tone, he seemed not the least bit apprehensive of that possibility. If anything, his tone was hopeful.

Kaleesh shrugged. "Then we will make the ground run red with the blood of our enemies."

His words brought several cheers from both the Rangers as well as the soldiers behind them, but only Barric’s shout had any real conviction to it. As for the others, they knew all too well that if battle erupted, their odds would be far from great.

They’d arrived in the Desolation only a day earlier, after all, and they had yet to fully adjust to its suppression. In a battle against Rangers who’d arrived months earlier, that would be no small disadvantage.

But they weren’t given much time to linger on the danger. The Wolfsblood Army had already been within a stone’s throw of Gavran’s army when Arran reached them, and as they set off again, it took barely a quarter-hour before they reached the clearing where their opponents awaited.

Kaleesh came to a halt roughly a hundred paces from Garvan, Arran beside him as the Wolfsblood forces silently fanned out to their left and right, forming a broad line of grim-faced Rangers and soldiers to match the line of green-uniformed troops that stood opposite them.

To Arran, it seemed like a strange and pointless dance.

If there was to be a battle, then Garvan would do better to attack immediately. And if battle wasn’t what the man intended, a handful of scouts would have done just as well in sizing up the Wolfsblood Army’s strength.

But instead, the two forces merely faced each other, Garvan and his troops waiting silently as the Wolfsblood Army took position.

"Does he actually plan to do something?" Arran asked Kaleesh in a low voice. "Or will we just stand here and gawk at each other?"

"Patience," Kaleesh replied. "He’ll come forward in a moment or two, when most of our strength is laid out. Until then, use the chance to see what we’re up against."

The suggestion was unnecessary. Arran had studied the opposing army from the moment they stepped into the clearing, and although the Darians had done little to betray their skill, he thought he already had an inkling of their capabilities.

Garvan’s army comprised roughly a thousand soldiers, divided into groups of about fifty, each of which was led by an armed and armored Ranger. And although they now stood quietly, the groups’ formations were tight enough to show that they were well-practiced.

Moreover, even from a distance he could see that there was little sign of anxiousness on the faces of Garvan’s troops. They watched the Wolfsblood Army with the calm of experienced veterans, expressions alert but not the least bit fearful.

Little though that was, it was enough for Arran to know that the Wolfsblood Army would face heavy losses facing even this small force. And if thousands more soldiers like this awaited further down the road, it might well turn into a disaster.

Yet if Kaleesh was concerned, he showed little sign of it. The captain’s expression was calm as he observed the Darian army, and he nodded to himself several times, as if what he saw confirmed some silent suspicions he had.

Finally, when most of the Wolfsblood Army had lined up in a rough formation, there was some movement among the opposing army, and a moment later the Ranger leading them — Garvan, Arran surmised — walked forward, the single Knight among the troops at his side.

"That’s our sign," Kaleesh said. "Arran, come with me. But please, watch your temper."

Arran followed the captain as they stepped forward into the open space between the two armies, and they came to a halt some twenty paces from Garvan.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kaleesh called out, his voice loud enough that both armies could hear him. "What reason have you for blocking our path?"

A frown crossed Arran’s face when he heard Kaleesh’s words. There was something unnatural about the captain’s tone, almost as if he was an actor in a play.

"You were complicit in the death of Lord Kadun," came Garvan’s reply, his tone similarly formal. "I have come to seek redress for that crime."

Kaleesh gave a loud snort. "Ludicrous!" he cried out. "Lord Kadun fell by the hands of Lord Rannoc. Only a fool would think mere Rangers would dare meddle in the affairs of Lords. But if it is battle you seek, you will find our blades ready."

Garvan shot the captain a contemptuous glare. "There is one with the strength of a Knight among you. If we do battle, my Knight will face him."

Arran’s heart sank at the Ranger’s words. He’d already expected that Garvan’s Knight would not stand idle if the two armies fought, and from the sound of it, Garvan considered Arran’s presence enough of an excuse to involve a Knight.

Kaleesh sneered. "Have you no honor? To bring a Knight to bear against a mere Ranger?"

A small smile crossed Garvan’s lips. "There is no dishonor in having a Knight face one whose strength matches his own," he replied. "But if you object to facing us on equal terms, I have a proposal."

Kaleesh did not reply, and after a moment, Garvan continued, "There is no need to shed the blood of our troops. We can settle this matter with a duel — your champion against mine."

"I will allow no such—" Kaleesh began, but Arran spoke up before he could finish the words.

"I accept."

Garvan stared at him with a shocked expression. "You... accept?"

"I do," Arran replied. "But after I defeat him, his weapons are mine to keep. Do you accept these terms?"

The Ranger briefly appeared dumbstruck, then finally said in an uncertain tone, "I had not thought..." He shook his head. "Very well. If you wish to throw away your life, then I will not stop you. I agree to your terms."

Arran cast a sideways glance at Kaleesh, and saw the captain stare at him with a mixture of fury and incredulity. But Arran decided that any argument would have to wait until after the fight, and he hissed, "Bet on me!"

Kaleesh looked at him in confusion for a moment, but then understanding dawned in the captain’s eyes. Turning back to Garvan, Kaleesh produced Nisra’s coin purse, and held it up in the air. "If there is to be a duel, then we may as well place a wager. I will stake ten pure shadowmetal coins on my champion, if you are willing to do the same."

Garvan, still not fully recovered from his earlier shock, gave a slow nod in response. "I will match you."

"Perhaps we should raise the stakes," Arran interjected. He produced the Warlock’s amulet he’d received from the Governor of Knight’s Watch, and held it up in his hand. "Can you match this?"

Greed flashed across Garvan’s face as he fixed his eyes on the black amulet, and this time, he nodded eagerly. "I can," he said, fumbling through his pockets before producing a similar amulet.

The Knight’s response, however, was wholly different. Where his expression had been stolid earlier, a hint of concern now appeared in his eyes. Clearly, he understood the amulet’s meaning — or at least thought he understood.

Arran gave the man a dark smile. "Shall we begin?"

The Knight did not speak, but he unsheathed his sword, then drew the Living Shadow dagger at his side as well. From the look of it, he had no intention of underestimating his opponent.

Kaleesh gave Arran a troubled glance. "Don’t die," he finally said before stepping back.

Garvan moved back a moment later, and then, only Arran and the Knight still stood between the two armies. Yet while the Knight’s expression was one of utmost focus, Arran only showed mild amusement.

He walked forward at an almost casual pace, approaching the Knight with a disdainful confidence that caused the man’s frown to deepen even further.

When just ten paces separated them, Arran made his move.

In a sudden motion, he rushed forward, moving as if to strike a fast overhand blow with his sword. It was a simple and predictable strike, and the Knight clearly believed it to be a feint. Though he raised his sword to deflect the blow, he kept his dagger free to parry the real attack.

Yet just before the strike hit, Arran allowed his weapon to drop the concealment that hid it from his opponent’s Sense.

The Knight’s eyes went wide with shock as he Sensed the Living Shadow weapon, and he raised his dagger in a panicked attempt to block the strike that he now knew his sword could not stop.

Panicked though the block was, it held the flawlessness of Enlightenment, and it would have easily stopped Arran’s attack — had the attack not been a feint. Yet a feint it was, and as the Knight raised a both arms to block a strike that wouldn’t come, Arran’s blade suddenly changed direction, tearing through the man’s wrist with a vicious cut.

The Knight stumbled backward, his expression one of utter horror as blood gushed from the stump where his hand had been. "He—"

Arran did not let him finish the words. At once, his blade pierced the Knight’s throat, with his injured opponent too stunned to even attempt to block the attack.

As the defeated Knight slumped to the ground, there was only a shocked silence.

Though some cheers of encouragement had sounded from the Wolfsblood Army earlier, even Arran’s allies were astonished at the outcome of the battle. A Knight had died in a mere two blows, killed before he even had a chance to defend himself.

Barric was the first to break the silence, giving a jubilant roar that thundered across the clearing. And as the soldiers’ astonishment faded, a deafening cheer erupted across the battlefield.

Arran knelt down to pick up his defeated foe’s weapons, taking the opportunity to breathe a deep sigh of relief and calm his racing heart.

The truth was that he hadn’t been nearly as confident as he’d led the Knight to believe. He’d needed the man to be cautious, however — cautious enough that he would not take the initiative — which was why he’d made an effort to appear as confident as he could.

But now that the fight was over, the sudden release of tension nearly made him vomit.

He knew he could not have defeated the Knight in a fair battle — not before he’d had time to adjust to the Desolation — and so, he’d used his weapon to force his opponent into making a deadly mistake.

Enlightenment or not, even a perfect movement was useless if aimed at the wrong target.

Yet if the Knight had weathered those first few moments, the outcome could have been very different. Even if Arran had somehow won the battle, the Knight might well have betrayed his secret to the thousands who stood watching.

Arran let out another sigh, then quickly gathered himself. Though he had won the fight, the confrontation wasn’t over yet.

As he collected the Knight’s weapons, it took him some effort to prevent his weapon — once more masked from the world — from attacking the dagger. Strong though his bond with the Living Shadow weapon had grown, the sword still seemed to have a mind of its own, and his control of it remained far from perfect.

Yet after a moment’s struggle, the sword relented, falling back into its usual languid state as Arran fasted the dagger to his belt. Then, he got back up, his expression once more one of disdainful confidence.

When he got back to his feet, he was surprised to find Kaleesh already standing next to him.

"You alright?" the captain asked, a trace of worry in his eyes.

"Better than him," Arran replied with a glance at the dead Knight on the ground before them.

Kaleesh grinned. "Then let’s collect our winnings and make sure that Garvan doesn’t do anything foolish."

Arran turned his eyes to Garvan, and saw that the man’s expression was one of shocked disbelief, mixed with no small amount of anger.

But angry or not, the young Ranger took a fearful step backward when Arran and Kaleesh approached the Darians’ ranks — which did him little good, as the Rangers at his side stepped backward as well.

"Pay up," Kaleesh said, no longer bothering with the formal tone he’d used before. "Now."

"I will not!" Garvan responded, his face twisted in a grimace. "He... he must have used some sort of dishonorable trick to win the fight! I will not accept this!"

Arran sneered. "You have two more Knights, don’t you? I can fight them both, if you wish. Perhaps the two of them together will prove more of a challenge. Or maybe you would like to fight me yourself?"

The Ranger looked at him with wide eyes. "You can’t attack me," he said in a trembling voice. "My father—"

"You think your father will protect you?" Kaleesh interrupted, a dark grin on his face. "You’ve already lost one Knight, Garvan. Lose another, and your father may thank us for killing you. From what I understand, he has more sons to spare than Knights."

The captain’s words seemed to strike a nerve, as Garvan paled several shades in an instant, then nodded weakly. "I will honor my debts," he said with downcast eyes. "And I hope that with this, the disagreement between us is at an end."

Arran could not help but give the Ranger an incredulous stare. The only reason there had been trouble to begin with was because the man had come looking for it. Yet now, he had the gall to act as if he was the hapless victim of some great injustice.

Still, Arran’s mood improved a great deal when Garvan produced ten pure shadowmetal coins and a Warlock’s amulet, which he handed over without complaint — though there was a pained look in his eyes as he handed Arran the amulet.

Kaleesh gave a pleased smile. "I trust that this will be the last disagreement between us. Should there be another one, I fear it might prove far costlier."

"There won’t be," Garvan said hurriedly. "This — this is the last of it, you have my word." He glanced at the Rangers at his side, then continued, "But we should take our leave. I wish you well on your travels, and I apologize for the delay we’ve caused you."

He made no effort to retrieve the fallen Knight’s body, nor did he say anything else. Instead, he turned around instantly, motioning for his troops to follow him as he hurried off.

It took some time for the army to leave, but the soldiers and Rangers were every bit as anxious to depart as their leader, and it wasn’t long before the last of them disappeared in the distance.

"Think he’ll try anything else?" Arran asked.

"No," Kaleesh replied. "He didn’t want to fight in the first place, and after this, I don’t imagine we’ll see either him or his troops again any time soon."

Arran frowned. "You say he didn’t want to fight?"

Kaleesh let out a weary sigh. "That’s why he came with so small a force — so that he could claim to have offered us every advantage. He sought a bloodless victory, to browbeat us without ever drawing steel. He never expected you to accept his challenge."

"Huh." Arran cast a puzzled look at the empty road before them. "Didn’t work out too well for him, that."

"Indeed it didn’t."

Arran remained silent for several seconds. Finally, he said, "So when he said he’d have his Knight face me on the battlefield..."

"He was bluffing," Kaleesh replied. "He came here for honor and glory, and for a Knight to face an unwilling Ranger would bring only disgrace." He hesitated, then continued, "Of course, now that you’ve slain a Knight, things will be different. Before, you were only rumored to have a Knight’s strength. Now, you’ve actually killed one."

"I may have been a bit rash," Arran admitted.

"A bit, though I should have understood the situation sooner." Kaleesh flipped one of the shadowmetal coins in his hand. "But at least we got something out of it. Do you intend to keep that dagger?"

"I do," Arran replied.

In truth, the dagger had been a large part of the reason he’d accepted the challenge. Though he was confident in his sword’s ability to mask itself, he had little idea of what threats awaited in Sacrifice, where the church ruled supreme. And with the dagger at his side, anyone who Sensed a glimpse of Living Shadow near him would have a simple explanation.

"Then let’s hope you’re allowed to keep it," Kaleesh said. "From what I understand, Knights are usually given their daggers by the church or their Lords. I don’t know if anything like this has ever happened before."

Arran shrugged. "I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Sacrifice is only a day’s travel away."

He cast a wary look at the enormous mountain in the distance, once more boggling at the sheer size of it. Even here, dozens of miles away, the lumbering mass filled most of the horizon.

As they turned around and started back toward the Wolfsblood Army, Kaleesh shot a glance at the Knight’s body. "So how did you do it?"

"It’s just as Garvan said," Arran replied with a grin. "I used a dishonorable trick."