Paragon of Destruction

As Arran looked at the bodies that lay on the ground in front of him, he felt no sense of triumph or accomplishment.

He had no reason to hate these defeated foes. That they were enemies at all was a matter of chance — he had blindly chosen a side in Hillfort, and had he chosen differently, they might well have been his allies.

Perhaps they deserved to die for betraying the Shadowflame Society, but in truth, the betrayal meant little to Arran. His only reason for joining had been to gain power, and his only reason for killing these two Masters was survival — his and Snowcloud's. Beyond that, he cared little about the Society's conflicts.

Maybe Darkfire had the right of it, he thought.

While Arran had spent the past year killing countless people he didn't know for a cause that wasn't his, Darkfire had spent it in safety and comfort, a woman he loved at his side and all the fine food and ale he wanted within reach.

But then, Arran didn't have that choice. What he had were enemies. And unless he grew stronger, he would eventually meet the same fate as these two Masters.

He sighed, then began to search the bodies.

As he expected, the Masters' void bags were rich in treasure and Essence Crystals, all of which he quickly transferred to his own bags. There would be time to examine the contents later.

As he also expected, both of them wore Lifesense amulets. Since both Masters had died within the barrier, whoever held the amulets' counterparts wouldn't know about their fate just yet, and Arran stored the amulets in a separate void bag. Only when they were retrieved from the bag outside the barrier would the mages' fate be discovered.

When Arran finished looting the bodies, he saw Rockblaze emerge from the ruined treeline. Although the man had several bloody injuries and walked with a limp, none of his wounds appeared to be life-threatening, and Arran could not help but be impressed by the adept's resilience.

"You killed them," Rockblaze said as he approached Arran. Far from appearing pleased at their victory, he gazed at Arran with thinly veiled hostility.

"Glad to see you're all right, too." Whatever the reason for Rockblaze's ever-increasing antipathy toward him, Arran had no interest in indulging it.

"You killed them both," Rockblaze said again.

"That was the plan, wasn't it?" Arran looked the adept in the eyes. "But perhaps I should have let her finish you off first?"

In hindsight, perhaps that wouldn't have been the worst idea.

Rockblaze responded with a glare. "Why haven't you gotten the others yet?"

"I was just about to," Arran replied.

Without any further words, he turned around and headed toward the ruined city, glad to be rid of Rockblaze if only for a moment.

Retrieving Snowcloud and Zehava was a quick task, and although both novices had spent a long time within the city, once Arran brought them outside the barrier, they recovered in a matter of minutes.

When Zehava stood up, legs still unsteady, her eyes fell on the two dead Masters. At once, she went pale with shock.

"You knew them?" Arran asked.

She nodded silently in response, and from her pained expression, Arran suspected she knew them quite well.

Yet before he could ask who the two were, he saw Rockblaze moving in between himself and the novices. And not just that — the adept's hand reached for his sword, and Arran could Sense that he was gathering Essence.

"What are you doing?" Arran said coldly, his hand moving toward his own weapon as he spoke.

"Stay back!" The veil had been pulled from Rockblaze's earlier hostility, and now, he looked at Arran as if he was expecting battle. "I know what you are!"

"What I am?" Arran gave the adept a puzzled look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Under normal circumstances, he would have been wary of facing Rockblaze, but the man's fresh injuries meant the confrontation posed little threat to Arran. Which made the adept's behavior all the more baffling.

Rockblaze didn't reply to Arran's question. Instead, he drew his sword, then motioned for Snowcloud and Zehava to get behind him.

At that moment, Snowcloud spoke. "Whatever it is you think you're doing, it ends here." Though her voice was calm, it held a hint of danger. "Sheathe your sword, or you will die."

A frown rippled across Rockblaze's forehead, but he did not lower his weapon. "You can't stop me from protecting you. You're only a—"

"I'm an alchemist," Snowcloud interrupted him. "I poisoned you several days ago. At this moment, a single thought from me is enough to kill you where you stand. Now sheathe your sword and release your Essence."

The adept's eyes briefly went wide with shock, but then, he did as she said. Although Snowcloud spoke calmly, the tone of her voice made it clear that the threat was not an empty one.

Oddly, instead of being upset at the poisoning, it seemed as if Rockblaze had somehow been reassured by her words. "You poisoned him as well? That's how you're controlling him?"

"No," Snowcloud replied. "I trust him."

"But he's a Hunter!" Anger erupted on Rockblaze's face, and he spat the words as if they carried some horrible meaning.

"A what?" Arran gave the adept a puzzled look. Any concern he felt disappeared the moment Snowcloud revealed the ace up her sleeve, and now, he merely found himself wondering what had gotten into the adept.

"Don't deny it!" Rockblaze scowled as he spoke, but Arran saw that for all the adept's anger, he kept his hand well away from his sword. "I've seen your strength!"

"A Hunter?" Snowcloud looked at Rockblaze in disbelief. "Have you gone soft in the head?"

"How else could he have such strength?" The hostility in Rockblaze's eyes remained undiminished, but his voice slightly wavered at Snowcloud's cold admonishment.

"He joined me in the Empire," Snowcloud said. "Have you ever heard of a Hunter entering the Empire?"

"He could have—" Rockblaze began.

Before he could finish the sentence, Snowcloud continued, "Your Matriarch intends to attack the Sixth Valley if Grandfather dies, does she not?"

Rockblaze nodded silently.

"Then, to start a war between the Valleys, all Ghostblade had to do was walk away when the Masters arrived. Would a Hunter pass up such an opportunity?"

"He could still be plotting something," Rockblaze said, though there was now a trace of doubt in his expression.

"Something worse than a war between the Valleys?"

Rockblaze hesitated in answering. Finally, he said, "He has the powers of a Hunter."

"I was there when he acquired those powers," Snowcloud replied. "And lucky though he might be, he is no Hunter." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Did you honestly believe I could spend a year traveling alongside a Hunter without recognizing what he was?"

"He really isn't a Hunter?" Rockblaze looked at Arran as he asked the question, and Arran could see that the adept's earlier hostility had all but disappeared, a look of confusion having taken its place.

Arran sighed in frustration. "If we're not going to fight," he said, "would either of you care to explain what the hell you're talking about?"