Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 83

Seeing Warlord Vidal’s fighting force laid out in front of him, Dante couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed.

They were camped out where the vast plains of the wastelands met the forest that he and Victoria had been staying for the past two months. It seemed that Warlord Vidal’s plan was to use that area as a battlefield, as he had camped his men roughly a mile away from the forest and concentrated them by the main road that ran through it.

Naturally, his disappointment lay in the lack of accommodations. He had thought, that as the defending force, they would be locked up inside some comfortable fortress. After two months’ isolation in what was practically a jungle it had sounded delightful, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The other reason he was disappointed was the size of Warlord Vidal’s force. As he and Victoria flew closer on the raptors, he tried to estimate the number and put it at around one hundred thousand. A solid fifty thousand in the main camp, and another fifty thousand spread thinly along the border of the forest for miles each way. He didn’t know how he was supposed to affect a fight of this magnitude.

Dante looked at Victoria, who was flying on the raptor ahead of him. Now that he got a better picture of the task at hand, he had hundreds of questions, but there was no way to communicate when they were flying so quickly.

On the Brightside, he had 53 caravan invoices that were ready to be turned in. At a value of 1,500 world essence a piece, that added up to 79,500 world essence. The amount made his mouth salivate.

As they neared the camp, Victoria seemed to throw caution to the wind. She sent them into a straight dive, only pulling up at the last minute to land. Inside the main camp.

Unsurprisingly, they were met with drawn swords and nocked arrows. Over one hundred combatants immediately encircled them, and the number grew every passing second.

One of the men, likely a captain judging by his air of authority, spoke up. “Who are you?” His eyes shifted between them and the raptors they were sitting on, as though he was trying to discern which was the larger threat.

Victoria didn’t reply, she just flashed her guild ring as she hopped down from the raptor. It seemed to be enough, as all of those who were pointing their swords and arrows at them tensed up and put away their weapons. Dante followed her lead, jumping down from his oversized bird. Flying so high was unnerving, and he was happy to touch solid ground again.

The captain that addressed them only moments ago walked forward and nervously saluted Victoria. “My apologies, assassin. Things have been tense, and your sudden arrival was unanticipated.” The rest of the combatants took that moment to disperse, they almost looked like they were sneaking away.

Victoria brushed it off with a wave of her hand. “Forget it. Find someone to take care of our raptors, and send for Warlord Vidal. We need to solidify the terms of our contract now that things have changed.”

One of Dante’s eyebrows quirked ever so slightly. The terms of the contract had changed?

The captain took an uncertain step forward. “If it would please you, I could lead you to him immediately.”

Victoria stared at him for several seconds, long enough to make the man sweat. “That will do.” Dante had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, it was obvious that Victoria was deliberately toying with him.

Now far more flustered, the captain jerked his head to the side. “Samson! Get over here and take care of their raptors.” The captain paused. Then, almost as an afterthought. “And don’t shirk the duty off to one of your apprentices.” He turned back towards them with a strained smile. “Please follow me.”

Victoria seemed unperturbed as they followed the captain, but he found the entire encounter to be awkward. It seemed that he had drastically underestimated the notoriety of the assassins’ guild in the wastelands. Melisandre had mentioned something about it, a disdainful comment about the guild branches in the wastelands not being much better than common mercenary groups. Apparently, it had something to do with the lack of people willing to pay for only one death.

It was strange to him. In the nobles’ territory, the assassins’ guild worked in complete secrecy and were hardly mentioned in all of the years he spent in Alazel. They were still infamous, but when it came to guilds, they were just one of many. If Victoria had flashed her guild ring there, the chances that someone would recognize it were slim.

Taking advantage of their walk through the camp, Dante began to pay attention to their surroundings. He would have done it when they were flying in, but by the time they were close enough to see details he was focused on the arrows pointed at him.

The camp was surprisingly orderly, and obviously divided by the different mercenary groups. Each section of tents was neatly lined up and had colored flags next to them indicating the group they belonged to. Even the scattered latrines had the flags. He did think it was a bit gross that the latrines were inside of the camp, but they were a distance away from any of the tents, and probably useful if the camp was besieged.

Surprisingly, being besieged was a possibility. The entire perimeter of the fifty-thousand-man camp was surrounded by a thick fifteen-foot-tall stone wall. And judging by the stone slabs that made up the wall, it was safe to say that Warlord Vidal had more than a few Geomancers.

Other than that, the camp was rather plain. There were basic areas; cooking pits, training fields, and archery ranges among other things. He spent a majority of his focus on them. Mostly just watching the combatants practice.

One thing did draw his eye though. An uncommon sight in the bustling crowd, yet one he saw a bit too frequently for comfort from the time they entered the camp. Several people were missing a hand, and not just any hand, the right one. Just above the wrist. Just the sight of it sent a shiver down his spine.

The captain led them to a massive multiroomed tent, he seemed to hesitate, but then pulled aside the tent flap and led them in all the same.

It was hard to get a feel for the monstrous size of the tent before stepping inside, but it was massive, easily the equivalent of a house built for two. Dante’s eyes wandered over the vast cavern of canvas, wondering how much of a hassle it would be to set up. The materials themselves would be easy to store, but he couldn’t decide if the luxury would be worth it if it took too long to organize.

Inside of the tent were five men standing around a map, and a girl that was slightly older than him with a bored expression sitting off to the side. She was staring at him with interest, and not seeing the harm in it, he flashed her his cocky grin. The girl wasn’t an outstanding beauty, she was slightly rugged, likely a combatant. A hypothesis that was reinforced by her somewhat harsh features, which were emphasized by her tan skin and her black hair that was slicked back into a tight ponytail. Still, as a combatant she was a cut above the women that were a part of the caravans he ambushed.

His grin brought out a sly smile from the girl, which caught Victoria’s attention. She looked back at him and cleared her throat, as if to tell him to knock it off.

Her action had the added affect of alerting the five men to their presence. The four older ones looked at them like they were uninvited guests, but the middle-aged man’s eyes lit up when he saw Victoria. “Ah, welcome, welcome.” The man smiled magnificently as he turned to the four others. “Please excuse us, I have been waiting for these particular friends for quite some time.”

The middle-aged man was clearly Warlord Vidal. Like all warlords, he was a charismatic leader, keeping a careful balance as he ruled over those that could easily kill him if they decided he was no longer needed. He seemed to take a different route than Warlord Auron though. Warlord Auron projected might, like he was an unshakable force that you were better off siding with instead of offending. From a glance, Warlord Vidal was the complete opposite. He looked amiable and charming, with handsome features. His teeth were some of the whitest that Dante had ever seen, and he had dark black hair that brought a certain air of professionalism. There was something else though, an almost psychotic gleam in his eyes that was brought out as he smiled. He looked like the kind of man that would share a carefree laugh with someone as he shoved a knife into their heart.

The captain that led them turned without a word, leaving with the four others that had been looking over the map, the only one who stayed was the female combatant.

“Victoria! It is great to see you again. You look even more resplendent than ever, I take it your time in Plieph Woodlands went well?” Apparently, that was the name of the forest that they had spent the last two months of their lives in.

Victoria’s expression stayed flat, as though the was trying to stare down Warlord Vidal. Warlord Vidal wasn’t defeated as easily as the captain from earlier though. He turned his attention to Dante, placing both of his hands on Dante’s shoulders. “Ah, the young genius apprentice of Master Victoria! After hearing so much about your ability, I have eagerly awaited the day that the two of us would meet.”

Dante glanced at Victoria, doubting the warlord’s words. She wasn’t the chatty type, and he doubted she would have given him a single word of praise if she was. He smiled sinisterly as an idea formed in his head. “Likewise, Victoria often talks about you when the two of us are alone. Your smile is every bit as charming as she described. It’s an honor to meet someone who managed to leave such an impression on my esteemed master.” He was feeling quite pleased with how he took advantage of the situation. Victoria had taken liberties with his bed, and there were consequences.

The temperature in the tent seemed to plummet, and Warlord Vidal’s hands involuntarily tightened on his shoulder, as if questioning his will to live. Despite the warlord’s now strained smile, and Victoria’s cold glance, the smile didn’t slip from his face.

Warlord Vidal was quick to recover, despite the goosebumps covering his arms. “Surely you jest. I cannot compare to your benevolent master.” He seemed to stress the word benevolent.

Victoria’s glare intensified, and Dante quickly followed up. “How could I possibly jest? I am pleased that your evaluation of my master is as high as her evaluation of you.”

Victoria stared him down, then shifted her gaze to Warlord Vidal, who flinched. “The terms of our contract have not been met. It’s time to renegotiate.”

Warlord Vidal’s head quickly bobbed up and down. “Of course, I would be happy to satisfy your terms, you only need mention them.” He turned to the girl. “Addison, take-” Warlord Vidal was clearly reaching for a name. “Master Victoria’s apprentice to the Redwing unit. I’m sure he’ll find it more than satisfactory according to the previous contract’s terms.” He meekly glanced back at Victoria. “And of course, we can still make adjustments if necessary.”

The girl, Addison, silently walked to the tent’s entrance and waited for him, but he didn’t move without some indication from Victoria. She looked at him and slightly nodded. It was enough for him, and he happily left the tent. Something told him that the negotiations would go well.