Paragon of Destruction

Arran was surprised at how easy the Rangers' clothes and weapons made it for him and the captain to roam the keep.

They passed several groups of guards even before leaving the dungeons, but despite their ill-fitted clothes and unfamiliar faces, none of the guards so much as spoke a word.

"They wouldn't dare question Rangers," the captain explained. "But even if they would, the thought of outsiders escaping and robbing Rangers would never occur to them."

This, Arran understood easily. In the Shadowflame Society, few novices would risk disturbing a Master, much less questioning one. And from what he had seen, the gap between common soldiers and Rangers in the Imperium was every bit as large, if not larger.

It was a weakness for both sides, and a major one at that. But interesting though that thought was to Arran, it was a matter for later concern.

Right now, there were more urgent things that needed his attention.

Escaping the dungeons proved no more difficult than walking out. With none of the guards they met stopping to question them, it wasn't long before they had left the dungeons' cramped hallways behind and emerged into the keep proper.

When they arrived, the keep's hallways had been abuzz with people, soldiers and Rangers both. But now, the wide corridors were all but abandoned, with only a few lone soldiers and guards remaining.

Arran frowned in wonder as they navigated the keep's empty passages. "It's like Kadun sent everyone who could carry a weapon to the mines."

"He did, or close enough to make no difference," the captain replied. "He had no other choice. Just suffering an attack will weaken him in the eyes of his peers, and losing the mines would turn him into a laughingstock."

"Worse than risking his entire army?" Arran asked.

"Much worse," the captain said. "An army can be rebuilt with enough time, but the stain of dishonor isn't erased so easily. But he won't lose his army — the two sides will exchange blows only until a winner is decided, and the losing side will be allowed to flee."

"Still," Arran said, "it seems foolish to attack enemies who know you're coming. If I were in Kadun's place, I'd have my troops retreat into the city, and only strike when Rannoc's forces were unprepared."

The captain smiled, then gave a shake of his head. "Effective as that would be, it would make Kadun look weak. The Lords' conflicts aren't real wars — they're fought for honor as much as they are for victory."

"That sounds like madness," Arran replied, a sour look on his face. "To fight battles as if they were games."

"Perhaps," the captain said. "But these games, as you call them, have held the Imperium together for countless centuries. They allow the Lords to challenge each other without wasting too many Darian lives, and provide their troops with experience they cannot gain through mere training."

Much to his annoyance, Arran had no answer to this. Although there was something about the idea of battle without conviction that seemed deeply wrong, he had trouble deciding exactly what it was that bothered him.

And either way, the system seemed to have worked for the Darians, at least so far.

"Although I must admit," the captain continued, "that presently, the Darians' customs pose a bit of a problem for our plans."

The captain sounded unconcerned, but Arran's expression instantly turned ugly as his eyes shot toward his companion. If Kaleesh saw a problem worth mentioning, he had little doubt that the news would be very bad indeed.

"How bad is it?" he asked, frustration rising within him as he understood that things wouldn't be as simple as he'd hoped.

"I'll explain in a moment," the captain said. "Let's leave the keep, first."

They were only a few dozen paces from the keep's entrance, and although the rest of the keep was mostly empty, its entrance was still defended by two dozen guards.

Yet although the guards looked at them curiously as they passed, none of them spoke up. Their leader seemed on the verge of saying something, but thought better of it when he saw Arran's irritated expression.

Then, just like that, they were back on the city's streets.

Arran saw that it was late in the evening, at least several hours after sundown. And although there were some people on the streets despite the late hour, Arran was relieved to see that they were few, with most of them looking to be outsiders rather than Darians.

"As I was saying," the captain continued once they were out of earshot of the guards, "the Darians' customs may prove to be a slight obstacle to my plan. Nothing we can't deal with, mind you, but an obstacle nonetheless."

Not at all reassured, Arran cast a dark look at his companion. "That bad, is it?"

Kaleesh hesitated briefly before speaking. "It's not good," he finally admitted. "Like Kadun, Rannoc holds to the Imperium's customs. And that means he won't enter the city like a thief in the night."

At this, Arran's expression darkened further. "So we'll need to defend the gate after we open it? How long?"

"Half an hour," Kaleesh replied. "A quarter-hour if we're lucky and Rannoc hurries. Which I doubt he will."

Arran cursed loudly, the sound of his voice sharp enough to cause several of the people on the street to hurry away — they had no desire to be anywhere near an angry Ranger.

It took him a moment to regain his composure, a task at which he only partly succeeded. "This is idiocy," he said. "Why wouldn't Rannoc be waiting nearby, ready to enter as soon as we open the gate?"

"For the same reason he didn't sneak into the city earlier," the captain said. "If he entered the city unnoticed and slew Kadun, it would be considered murder — and worse, dishonorable. But to enter the city with an army and take it by force? That's rightful conquest."

Arran looked at Kaleesh with wide-eyed astonishment, almost convinced that the man was leading him on. Yet there was not a trace of amusement in the captain's eyes, and Arran realized that the captain was speaking earnestly.

"That is the single stupidest thing I've heard in my life," he finally said.

The captain laughed at his reaction, then shook his head. "You're wrong — it's brilliant. The Imperium cannot afford to lose its Lords too easily, but if it forbade them from killing each other, they would take matters into their own hands. So instead, they are given a means to settle their disputes — but one that is so cumbersome that it only rarely gets used."

Arran was about to protest, but then thought better of it. Madness or genius, it didn't matter. Either way, their task remained the same. And from the sound of it, it was a more difficult task than he had expected.

He groaned in frustration. "Half an hour is long enough for half the city to be alerted," he said. "And what if a Knight comes? Or more than one?"

"If a Knight shows up, we'll have to hold him off as best we can, long enough for Rannoc to arrive," Kaleesh said. "Of course, if multiple Knights arrive, we'll have no choice but to flee — but most of them should currently be with the army, far away from the city."

"And what if Kadun himself appears?" Arran asked, his misgivings about the plan growing by the second.

"Then you'd better be a good runner," the captain replied.

Arran let out an exasperated sigh. "If we die, I'm blaming you."

"Noted," the captain said. "Now, the gate's only a few minutes away. When we get there, I will get the guards to open it. You should head up the wall and kill anyone you find there. With a bit of luck, that'll earn us a minute or two before Rannoc's approach is noticed."

"Alright," Arran said. Then, after a moment's thought, he asked, "Is this really the only option?"

He'd spent months studying the captain's manuscripts on tactics and strategy, and he'd been awed by the captain's plans — at least, up until this point. Yet the final step was wholly different, seemingly devoid of strategy.

The captain gave Arran an amused look. "Surprised?" He grinned, and continued, "No matter how well you plan your battles, sometimes, the only way forward is to roll the dice."

They arrived at the gate several minutes later, and although the streets had been empty of Darians, Arran saw that there were plenty of them here. At least two dozen armed guards stood near the closed gate, and his Sense told him that there were others still in the nearby guardhouse.

Kaleesh shot Arran a grin. "Good luck," he said in a low voice. Then, he approached the guards before them. "Soldiers! Open the gate this instant! Orders from Lord Kadun!"

As the captain set to work on convincing the guards to open the gate, Arran quickly headed to the side of the guardhouse, where a set of stone stairs led up toward the top of the wall.

While there were no Rangers at the bottom of the gate, he could already Sense that two of them stood atop the wall, starmetal weapons at their sides. And with them were another dozen guards.

Halfway up the stairs, hidden in the shadow, Arran briefly came to a halt. Then, before continuing, he stored the starmetal sword in his void ring and had his Living Shadow weapon take the familiar shape of a normal sword.

Against common soldiers and Rangers, there was no real need for so powerful a weapon. But if he risked facing Knight, he wanted every advantage he could get.

Atop the wall, he found a broad stone walkway protected by a thick battlement. And behind the battlement stood the Darian troops he'd already Sensed, their eyes focused on the lands outside the city.

One of the two Rangers in the group turned to Arran as he approached. "Brother, what reason is there for the commotion below?" he asked. But as Arran came nearer, the man narrowed his eyes. "Who are—"

In a single movement, Arran drew his sword as he lunged forward and struck with every shred of power his body held, his weapon effortlessly cleaving through the Ranger's torso. And even as the second Ranger turned toward him, panicked hand shooting toward his sword, Arran struck again, cutting the man down before he could draw his weapon.

The soldiers fared no better. With Arran no longer restraining his strength, they died before they could scream, the last of them falling only seconds after he'd drawn his weapon.

As he stood atop the wall, Arran patiently waiting for Kaleesh to finish his work. Then, finally, he heard the loud grinding sound of the massive gate slowly being opened.

Arran did not move down again immediately. With the captain having taken charge of the soldiers, it would take some time before the first of their enemies arrived.

Instead, he focused his eyes on the darkness beyond the wall, looking out over Kadun's lands much like the two dead Rangers had before him.

A minute passed, then another. And then, Arran saw it — torches being lit, several miles in the distance. First a dozen, then a hundred, then more still. Rannoc's troops. And from the look of it, they were in no hurry to charge the city.

Barely a moment later, he heard a distant call, a quarter-mile down the wall. And then another, even further. Already, the city's defenders had realized an attack was coming — and no wonder, with Rannoc's troops making no attempt to conceal their approach.

Arran cast another look at the torches in the distance, and cursed beneath his breath when he saw their slow movement. By the time Rannoc's forces arrived, half the city would already be upon them.

With a sigh, he bent over and gathered up the fallen Rangers' weapons. Then, he headed back down the stone stairs to rejoin the captain.

They had thrown the dice, and now, all that remained was to await the outcome. But whatever happened, one thing he knew for certain — before long, the ground would be red with Darian blood.