Chapter 121 - Captain’s First Order

Chapter 121: 121 - Captain’s First Order

The road fell completely silent after Marcus hit the ground.

For several seconds nobody moved, and the only sounds came from the mana engines idling behind the three cargo vehicles and the faint crackle of fire still clinging to the scorched earth where Kael’s spell had struck.

Kael stood over Marcus with his sword still in hand, blood running down the edge and gathering near the point before dripping into the dirt.

His breathing came heavy and burns marked one side of his sleeve, though he remained on his feet. He looked down at Marcus a moment longer, then dragged the sleeve of his free arm across the flat of the blade and wiped most of the blood away.

Mana flickered around the weapon a second later and the sword dissolved out of his hand, while Marcus’s body stayed where it had fallen.

The Bloodfang Wolves ringing the road seemed unsure how to react.

Some stared at their former leader, while others watched Kael as though still waiting for Marcus to push himself upright despite having seen the final strike pass through him.

The veteran mercenary who had acted as referee stepped into the circle, crouched beside Marcus, pressed two fingers against his neck and rose again. His attention crossed the whole company before stopping on Kael.

"The duel is over."

Nobody answered.

"Marcus can no longer continue. By the laws of the Bloodfang Wolves, the challenge is decided."

The veteran paused, letting the words sink in before he raised his voice.

"Welcome the new leader of the Bloodfang Wolves. Kael."

Another heartbeat of silence followed, and then somebody struck a fist against his chest. A second mercenary copied him, and within moments voices began rising along the road.

"Kael!"

"Captain!"

The uncertainty broke all at once. More than a hundred mercenaries joined in, some raising fists, others manifesting weapons briefly into the air before dismissing them again.

It was not a celebration free of doubt, and Adrien could read that plainly. Marcus had led many of these people for years, some owed him their careers and probably their lives, and even those who had wanted him gone had not expected to watch him die in front of them that morning.

Relief ran underneath it all the same, because for most of them the duel had ended something they had been too afraid to end themselves.

Kael did not celebrate with them. He stood in the centre of the road, taking in the company while the voices carried on around him.

The twenty men who had followed Marcus to the convoy reacted very differently.

They stayed near the verge, separated from the rest almost by instinct now that their leader was dead. A few glanced at one another, waiting for somebody to say what came next, and nobody did. Without Marcus they had no plan at all.

Adrien watched from beside Vikir. Umbral Root was still manifested in his hand, though he had lowered the staff once the duel ended, and Vikir’s mana rifle remained across his chest.

"Did you expect this outcome, my lord?"

Adrien kept his eyes on Kael. "I hoped for it. I wasn’t completely sure."

Vikir turned toward him. "You trusted him that much?"

"Not exactly. Kael had more to gain from winning than Marcus did, and far more to lose if he failed."

Adrien could still hear the way Kael had spoken inside the camp.

He had not challenged Marcus for a title. He had done it because the company was falling apart around him and nobody else would force the change.

"The stakes mattered to him," Adrien continued. "People fight differently when they know exactly what they’re fighting for."

Vikir gave a small nod and said nothing more.

Eventually the shouting thinned.

The mercenaries lowered their fists, conversations died out, and quiet returned to the road while Adrien waited. Kael had made one request before the duel began: if he won, Adrien was to let the company decide what happened next.

Adrien had agreed, since almost everything he had seen over the last several days told him the majority of the Bloodfang Wolves wanted a way out rather than another fight. Now that decision rested in Kael’s hands.

The young Spellblade spoke briefly with the veteran referee before turning toward Adrien, and one by one the Bloodfang Wolves followed his gaze until the whole road had turned with him.

Kael crossed the open ground between them and stopped several steps in front of Adrien.

Blood still stained his clothes and exhaustion showed in his posture now that the duel was over, though his purple eyes held steady. Adrien did not speak first.

Kael glanced back at the men behind him once, then returned his attention to Adrien. In many ways the Bloodfang Wolves had made their choice before the duel ever started.

They had followed Kael out of the camp, they had stood against Marcus’s decision, and they had watched Adrien offer them something better than robbing merchants to survive.

Kael placed one fist against his chest, then lowered himself onto one knee.

The response behind him came at once and without noise, the nearest mercenaries kneeling as he had, then more after them, row by row until almost the entire company knelt along the road behind their new leader. Even Adrien had not expected the gesture to be that direct.

Then he raised his eyes toward Adrien.

"We await your orders, my lord."

Adrien looked past him at the company.

One hundred and twenty-seven awakened mercenaries had stood outside his authority only days earlier. Now almost all of them were kneeling behind Kael, waiting for him to speak.

Their decision had already been made.

Adrien’s gaze shifted toward the twenty men who had followed Marcus to attack the convoy. They were the only Bloodfang Wolves still standing, and without Marcus among them, none seemed to know what they were supposed to do next.

Several had already gone pale.

Adrien let the silence hold for another second before giving his first order.

"Arrest everyone who followed Marcus."