Chapter 520: 520: After the Blood part three
---
"Barely," Luna said. "If either of you decides to die now, it is going to get very complicated. So do not."
He gave her a sideways look.
"I will put it on the list," he said.
Before she could retort, a pulse flickered through the Net.
"Lord," Shadeclaw’s voice came, not quite hiding his relief at feeling Kai awake. "The scarlet camp sends a message. Vorak is awake. He requests a meeting. Two men. No weapons. No guards within spear length. In the circle."
Luna went rigid.
"He requests what," she demanded. "Absolutely not. He already punched you into a collection of loose parts once today. He does not get a second go without the spear rule."
Kai stared at the ceiling for a few breaths.
"Shadeclaw," he said. "Ask their messenger to wait."
He closed his eyes briefly.
System, he thought. How suicidal would it be to stand up and walk down to the circle.
[Analysis: risk of immediate systemic collapse from slow walking: low.
Risk from standing up too quickly: moderate.
Risk from taking another Vorak grade punch: please do not.
Advisory: if subject insists, move slowly, avoid sudden twisting, and do not attempt dramatic flourishes. The ribs are watching you.]
"Noted," he thought.
He swung his legs over the side of the pallet.
Pain spat up his spine, but the world did not spin as badly as he had expected. His feet touched cool stone; his knees wobbled.
Luna made a strangled noise.
"I will kill you," she said. "I will absolutely kill you. Get back down."
He reached out and caught her forearm, using her as leverage.
"If Vorak is awake and still keeping his army on the leash," Kai said quietly, "it is better we talk now, while today’s bruises are fresh, than later, when some officer with more ambition than sense decides to test the parley."
She glared at him.
"This is a terrible idea," she said.
"Probably," he said. "I am going anyway."
She stared at him another couple of seconds, jaw clenched, then swore.
"Fine," she said. "But I am walking behind you. If you fall over, I will tell everyone I pushed you by accident."
"That seems fair," he said.
Shadeclaw met them at the entrance to the hall.
Seeing Kai upright physically took something out of the old warrior’s face. His shoulders dropped a fraction; his antennae relaxed.
"You look like something the desert chewed and regretted," Shadeclaw said, but there was rough affection in it.
"You look better than you should," Kai replied. "Lead the way."
They did not go with a procession.
That was part of the deal.
Only three figures came down the ramp: Kai, Shadeclaw half a step behind and to the side, Luna at his other shoulder.
At the base, Shadeclaw stopped.
"Any closer and I break your orders about no guards," he said.
Kai nodded.
"Hold the ramp," he said. "If I do not come back within an hour, assume I have decided to start a new life as a decorative hostage and plan accordingly."
Shadeclaw snorted.
"If you do not come back in an hour," he said, "I will assume you fell asleep in the sand out of spite and send Miryam to drag you home by your ankle."
Kai stepped off the stone and onto sand again.
Each step hurt.
Not the sharp, immediate pain of fresh injury, but the deep, throbbing ache of a body that had been asked to do more than it should.
On the opposite side of the circle, a lone figure walked out from the Scarlet lines.
Vorak.
He moved stiffly.
His chest was tightly bandaged under an open front of his armor, the plates strapped on only where they would not press his wound. His right arm was in a sling. His left hand was heavily wrapped, only the tips of his fingers visible, stained faintly red.
He looked, Kai thought, marginally less dead than he felt.
They met near the center, where the sand still bore the marks of their fight. Splintered wood lay half buried. A dark patch where blood had soaked in had dried to a dull brown.
Up close, the lines at the edges of Vorak’s eyes seemed deeper.
He studied Kai for a long moment.
"You got up sooner than my clerk bet on," he said at last.
"My people bet the other way," Kai said. "They have low expectations."
Vorak huffed a laugh that made him wince and put a hand to his chest.
"Do not make me laugh," he said. "It feels like my ribs are trying to resign."
"Likewise," Kai said.
They stood in silence for a few breaths, both letting the reality of the other’s existence soak in without an audience’s roar.
Vorak broke it first.
"You know," he said conversationally, "when we marched out of the capital, if someone had told me I would lose a ledger duel to a seven star who lives in a rock, I would have docked their pay for stupidity."
"You did not lose," Kai said. "You are still breathing. We both fell."
Vorak tilted his head.
"You are very kind to my pride," he said. "Unfortunately for it, I am still capable of arithmetic. I am an eighth star general with three decades of field work. You are a newly minted Lord, one tier down in star, one whole kingdom down in resources, and you kept pace with me until I had to cash in everything the army gave me just to stand even. That is not a draw. That is me discovering an unpleasant upward slope."
Kai shook his head carefully.
"You are overmeasuring," he said. "You know as well as I do that battles are not clean math. If we fought again, different day, different wind, one of us might trip. The other might remember a trick at the wrong time. We do not know what would happen."
Vorak watched him, eyes narrow with faint amusement.
"You are not good at taking compliments," he observed.
"I get suspicious," Kai said. "They usually mean someone wants something."
Vorak’s mouth quirked.
Note: Check out the new book "Dawn Walker" it is related to Ant lord and Void lord.
Check below 👇 👇 👇 👇
