Chapter 43 Pell
Pell appeared at the edge of camp carrying two heavy sacks over his shoulder like they had personally offended him.
"Found you," he grunted, dropping the sacks with a loud thud. "Took three different rumors and one very talkative drunk to track your ridiculous circus down."
Darius looked up from the fire, and for the first time in weeks, the tension in his shoulders eased slightly. "Pell."
"Yeah, yeah. Save the warm reunion. I brought actual decent supplies instead of whatever ash-tasting garbage you’ve been eating." Pell wiped sweat from his brow and finally looked at the three women standing near Darius.
He pointed at Veth. "You must be the loud one. War, right? Try not to break my spine just because I exist."
Veth barked a surprised laugh. "I like this one. He has a death wish and a spine. Refreshing."
Pell turned to Mara. "And you’re Plague. Great. Try not to breathe on the food." He looked at Solis last. "You… I don’t even know what you are, but you look like you make people sad just by existing. Charming."
Solis tilted her head, watching him with quiet fascination. Pell treated Darius like a person, not a symbol, not a threat, not a walking disaster. Just his old, slightly useless friend.
Mara stared at Pell like he was a mathematical equation that refused to balance. "You are not afraid."
"Afraid?" Pell snorted. "I’ve seen this idiot try to carry three crates at once and drop all of them. If he survived that, he can survive you lot." He turned back to Darius. "Speaking of surviving… you look like shit. Worse than usual. What’s wrong with you?"
The directness landed heavily.
Veth laughed again. "Finally someone says it!"
Darius gave a small, tired smile. "It’s been a long few weeks."
"Bullshit," Pell said bluntly. "You’ve got black veins crawling under your skin when you think no one’s looking. You’re moving like every bone in your body hurts. And you’re still pretending everything’s fine. Same old Darius."
Mara’s golden eyes sharpened. Solis watched Pell with renewed interest. Veth crossed her arms, amused but also paying attention.
Darius didn’t deny it. Around Pell, he didn’t feel the need to. For the first time in a long while, he visibly relaxed, shoulders dropping, the constant calculating tension in his face easing just a fraction.
Pell sat down by the fire without being invited. "So. Three Calamities. The whole continent is losing its mind over you. And you’re still the same quiet bastard who used to fix my terrible handwriting in the ledgers." He shook his head. "Only you could make becoming a walking apocalypse look exhausting instead of exciting."
Veth dropped down beside him. "I like you. You insult people to their faces. We should drink together."
"Later," Pell said. "When your husband stops pretending he isn’t falling apart."
Darius chuckled softly, a real sound. "It’s good to see you, Pell."
"Yeah, well," Pell muttered, digging through one of the sacks. "Someone has to make sure you don’t get yourself killed being noble and stupid."
The group settled into an oddly comfortable silence around the fire. Pell treated the Calamities with the same blunt normalcy he treated everyone else. No worship. No terror. Just mild annoyance and practicality. It grounded the entire dynamic in a way nothing else had.
Later that night, when Mara, Veth, and Solis had moved a short distance away to speak privately, Pell sat across from Darius and asked the question no one else had dared to voice directly.
"How many of them can your body actually survive?"
Darius didn’t answer immediately.
He stared into the fire for a long moment, the light flickering across his tired face. The hesitation was enough.
Pell’s expression hardened. "That long, huh?"
Darius finally looked at his old friend. "I don’t know anymore."
Pell noticed the way Darius’s hand trembled slightly as he gripped the waterskin. He noticed the faint shadow of black veins flickering under the skin of his wrist before vanishing again.
And Pell understood.
His oldest friend was carrying something that was slowly, steadily killing him.
And he was still walking forward anyway.