Chapter 23 The Man Sent to Kill Him
A scout’s horse galloped past their position in panic. "They blocked the eastern pass! Imperial forces!"
Darius stopped walking. "Voss."
Veth cracked her knuckles. "Finally. Someone worth fighting."
Mara’s eyes narrowed. "You know this one?"
"I know the name," Darius replied. "Elite imperial general. Sent when they stop underestimating me."
They continued down the narrowing road. Supply wagons that should have been available were suddenly missing. Routes they had scouted yesterday were now blocked by fallen trees and fresh imperial patrols. Someone was herding them.
Voss watched from the tree line, hidden and silent. He had been following them for two days. What he saw made no sense.
Darius moved with calm precision, never wasting energy. Mara stayed close, watchful but not controlling. Veth, the War Incarnate herself, walked beside them without starting unnecessary fights. She actually listened when Darius spoke.
Voss muttered to himself, "This is wrong. None of this fits the reports."
That evening, as they made camp near a narrow ravine, Voss engineered another push. His men blocked the only clean water source downstream and lit signal fires on the ridges to force Darius into a specific clearing.
Darius stared at the distant fires. "He is testing us. Forcing positioning. Smart."
Veth grinned. "Let me break his little trap."
"No," Darius said. "We wait. He wants to see how we react."
Mara glanced at him. "You respect this one."
"He is competent," Darius replied. "That makes him dangerous. Previous hunters attacked blindly. This man studies first."
From his hidden vantage, Voss watched Darius organize their small camp with quiet efficiency. The man did not panic. He did not rage. He adapted.
Voss whispered to his second, "He is not what they described. The Plague Goddess follows him like a partner. War Incarnate walks beside him without trying to start a massacre. This is not manipulation. This is something else."
Night fell. Darius sat by the fire, seemingly relaxed. But his eyes kept scanning the darkness.
Voss waited until the moon was high. Then he stepped out of the shadows, alone, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Tall, broad-shouldered, with sharp intelligent eyes and armor that bore the marks of many real battles.
Darius looked up calmly. "General Voss. You took your time."
Veth rose to her full height, eager. Mara tensed but stayed seated.
Voss studied all three of them for a long moment. "You don’t survive this many attempts by accident."
He took another step forward, hand never leaving his weapon.
“So tell me what you are.”
Darius met his gaze steadily. "A man who got tired of being the joke. Sit down, General. We can talk before you try to kill me."
Voss did not sit. "I have watched you for days. You ended a sixty-year war without a single decisive battle. You carry two Calamities and they follow you willingly. You use their power with restraint instead of domination. None of this makes sense."
Veth laughed. "He is interesting, isn’t he? I thought so too."
Mara watched Voss carefully. "You are not like the others. You actually think before attacking."
Voss ignored her, eyes locked on Darius. "The empire sent me to end you before you reach the third Calamity. I planned to kill you tonight. Quietly. Efficiently. But now I need to understand what I am looking at."
Darius leaned forward slightly. "You expected a weak prince being used by monsters. Instead you found something else."
"Exactly," Voss said. "So explain it. Why do the Calamities walk with you instead of using you? Why did you dismantle that war instead of conquering it? What are you really after, Valeborn?"
Darius smiled faintly. "The same thing I have always been after. Survival. And maybe fixing a few things the Pantheon broke along the way."
Voss’s grip tightened on his sword. "Pretty words. But I have orders. And I have never failed them."
Veth stepped forward, excited. "Finally. Let us see what you can do, General."
Darius raised a hand. "Wait."
He looked at Voss directly. "You are not like the Husband Hunters who came before you. You actually care about doing this right. That makes you dangerous. But it also means you might listen."
Voss stared at him for a long time. The fire crackled between them. The night air felt heavy with tension.
"Talk then," Voss said finally. "But know this. If I decide you are still a threat to the empire, I will kill you tonight. Calamities or no Calamities."
Darius nodded. "Fair enough. Sit down, General. This conversation is going to take a while."
Mara and Veth exchanged glances. For the first time, someone sent to kill Darius had chosen to talk first.