210 Strange Negotiations (1/2)

The space between two armies is usually the spot where the most blood is shed. However, at the start of every conflict, this same space is used as chance for de-escalation. More often than not, unfortunately, it's the spot where leaders come to taunt each other and show off which of them had bigger balls.

That late afternoon was no exception as we came face to face with Great General Garm Trickhaven, Marshall of the West and member of the Trickster's Ruling Council. Well, I should say former member for it was very clear to me that this bastard was a traitorous snake who'd just betrayed his clan to its worst enemy.

As soon as our two parties met at the center space between the two armies, I stared daggers at the half-elf who I suspected held a bit of giant's blood in him. How else could he be so damn bulky?

Garm sent a steely-eyed glare back at me, and if I wasn't so numb to the feeling of someone much stronger than me giving me the stink-eye — because I've had a lot of those encounters over the past year — I might actually have pissed my pants. That was how menacing his aura was.

Still, I managed to hold my ground while keeping Myth Chaser steady despite his foot-stomping display of nervousness.

I glanced to the right of Garm and noticed he'd brought the Masked Rider with him. She was another one of my rivals, someone I owed a beating to.

”Traitor,” Aura hissed, and I'd never before heard her sound so angry.

I glanced sideways at her, and despite the mask partially hiding her face, Aura bit her lip in a sign of obvious frustration.

”And so you give yourself away, niece,” Garm answered in a voice that was neither angry nor caring.

Aura didn't respond. She just glared at him from behind her mask with her clear blue eyes.

I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention.

”You're outnumbered general,” I said casually. ”If you'd like to turn tail and run, now would be the time to do it.”

Even when he'd addressed Aura, Garm's eyes never left mine. If anything, he'd narrowed them even more at my comment.

”You really are all bravado, aren't you, boy,” he commented.

Why does every bad guy I ever meet call me boy as if it were some derogatory term? Yeah, I was a boy, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who could whoop most people's butts, just saying.

Garm raised his hand forward. ”Do you think those fools you have behind you will scare me? They're nothing more than ants waiting to be crushed under the heel of my boot.”

”Ah, I see we're going to compare d*ck sizes now, huh,” I bantered. ”Just to remind you, your earlier victories in your war with the Dominion happened because of me.”

Huh, as dastardly devious evil plans went, that was a good one, if it were true, and it probably was. This thought made me sweat a little, but I soldiered on.

”Puhlease,” I scoffed. ”Haven't you heard the saying, every day is an opportunity to improve… So all I need to do is surpass the me of yesterday that I might surpass your expectations of me.”

”Then you may yet entertain me tonight,” Garm guffawed. ”Try your best at least make this battle less boring.”

”Why are you doing this?” It was Aura again, and this time, there were tears falling down her cheeks. ”Why would you betray your own family…”

For the first time, Garm turned his eyes away from me and onto her, and for a split second, I thought I saw genuine concern there although it was quickly replaced by pity.

”Your father and I were never on good terms… I was always the half-breed, the shame of the family who was born to a mother who'd been raped by human scum,” he admitted almost like he couldn't help himself. ”Indeed, it was a surprise for your father and the rest of them when I climbed all the way to my seat of Great General. They never did think I'd amount to much…”

His face turned hard and angry.

”So tell me, niece,” Garm continued, ”why would I be loyal to a house that has shunned me since my birth?”

”Auranos and I have never shunned you,” Aura insisted. ”Even after you challenged him for the seat of Patriarch and lost, my brother didn't strip you of your title.”

I don't think Aura realized that she'd just given herself away.

”Your brother is soft and weak… like his father before him,” Garm mocked. ”It was my brother's undoing, and it'll be Auranos' fate as well.”

”So this is all just a hungry power grab from the dude who got left out during playtime when he was a kid?” I interrupted them because I couldn't keep watching Aura get emotional like that. She was the calm one. I was the emotional one. That was our dynamic. ”That's as cliché as cliché gets… what an unoriginal story…”

Yep, mocking him definitely allowed me to steal Garm's attention again, and that icy stare he sent my way also sent a chill running up my spine.

”We have definitive proof now that you've aligned yourself with the Scarlet Moon,” I pointed at his companion, ”and betrayed the clan… I'll make sure Darah learns about your betrayal.”

At the mention of Darah, there was a visible change in Grimthorn's face, almost as if he'd been worried for a second there.