Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 25 Sir Cla’Cen,

Macken Cla’Cen’s cell had seen some improvements. Most noticeably he was entirely free save for four free hanging cuffs that adorned his wrists and ankles as well as an iron collar around his neck. The cuffs were the same as the ones that Fen L’Vore was forced to wear but the collar was different. Unlike Fen, Macken was not able to simply speak and cause someone to die. On the other hand, Fen was not able to strengthen himself with his aura. The collar worked on a simple principle. If Macken used his aura, at all, at any time, the collar would shrink down to half its usual size. Supposedly there was a way to reverse the shrinking to allow strong enough healing to still save his life but Macken certainly wasn’t going to test it.

Another improvement was made not to his cell directly but just outside of it. Up against the outside of his cell there were a pair of old wooden chairs that had been brought down specifically for Isaac and Lenna. Their visits had gotten longer over the previous week and the chairs had been a welcome surprise. Most of their time together had been spent filling in Macken on everything that had happened to Lenna after she had left Contantis. A bit of time had been spent doing the inverse as there were some minor things that had happened in Contantis after Lenna had left. Apparently Lenna’s cousin had been promoted to temporary heir apparent until Lenna could be brought back. That was the official story anyway but it was clear that the entire situation was a bit more complicated than that.

Jallen hadn’t wanted to make his nephew the heir apparent as, to be frank, the boy was an idiot. The issue was that he was incredibly physically strong and just as strong willed. This meant that he had the potential to reach maximum level if he was guided properly. That and he had the same number of status points as Lenna. Jallen had placed him in the position just to fill it until he found someone that wasn’t a moron. He had never wanted to actually bring Lenna back. No, Jallen V’Nova would have dropped the mountain they were under on her if he could have. None of that mattered now though. Jallen was dead, sanctified, cremated, and used as fertilizer.

Lenna and Macken had finally caught up when Macken shifted his attention to Isaac. They had talked a bit during everything but Isaac had always just been a tag-along during the dark elves’ conversations. “Isaac-” Macken was cut off by Isaac before he could truly even start.

“We aren’t close enough for that.” Isaac replied. Something about Macken just put him on edge. Maybe it was his jealousy getting the better of him or maybe it was something else but Isaac couldn’t be sure. One thing he was sure of was that he was never going to let Lenna visit him alone.

“As I was saying, I haven’t approved of you yet. Fight me.” Macken told Isaac.

“What?” Isaac asked with genuine surprise.

“What?!” Lenna exclaimed. She could not imagine what idiocy had just gone through Macken’s head to challenge Isaac of all people to a fight.

“No real weapons.” Macken said and waved her off. “I just want to see how this…” He gestured at Isaac from top to bottom. “killed Lord V’Nova.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Isaac asked a little defensively.

“It means that if you don’t prove to me that you aren’t a fraud then I won’t approve of you mating with Lenna.” Macken explained.

“Hah!” Isaac cackled. He was completely blindsided by how utterly ridiculous what Macken had just said was. “You?!” Isaac said in disbelief. “Why-I don’t even know where to start?”

Macken’s face went from a casual smirk to slight irritation. “Yes, me.”

“I have no reason to fight you.” Isaac said simply. “What would I gain from it?” He asked. “You aren’t strong enough to pose a challenge, it won’t even be a fun fight, I won’t get anything out of it.” Isaac went on. “If Jallen hadn’t had an entire small country’s worth of magic items on him I would have killed him without needing that godsawful potion. You? In normal gear? Are you serious?”

“Yes.” Macken replied. “I want to see for myself this so-called ‘Legend Slayer’ the guards keep going on about.”

Lenna had been looking back and forth between her mate and her first real friend. “Please don’t kill him.” Lenna asked Isaac with only the slightest hint of concern.

Macken looked at her like she had just betrayed him. “You make it sound like I don’t have a chance.” He accused her.

“I have to ask him not to tear you in half Macken.” Lenna explained. “Because he can. I’m surprised he hasn’t done it to someone yet.”

“If you can convince Michael to take off your cuffs and collar long enough for me to beat you so hard your ancestors abandon you, then I will do so.” Isaac told Macken while looking down his nose at him. “But I want you to remember, Macken. For the audacity of saying that you have to approve of me, I will make you feel weak and powerless.”

Macken was scowling at Isaac by the time the mage had finished speaking. “I think, I think I really don’t like your mate, Lenna.”

“Macken, don’t act like you didn’t start this.” Lenna retorted. “I won’t protect you from him unless he is actually being unreasonable. He isn’t. Yes, it would feel nice to know that someone important to me approves of my mate but it isn’t necessary. You picked a fight. You can lose it.” She explained simply before she turned to Isaac. “Again, please don’t kill him.”

Isaac nodded. “I won’t kill him.” He replied. Lenna looked like she was about to say something else so Isaac continued: “He’ll have all of his limbs still attached.” He assured her.

Lenna nodded. “Thank you.” She replied and stood up. “I think it is a good time to leave before Macken puts his foot in his mouth again.”

“I… did you just choose a human over me?” Macken asked.

Lenna looked and felt so utterly perplexed that it took her a moment to respond. “Yes, Macken, I did.” She replied. “He is my mate. What part of that don’t you understand? He is not going to be my mate. He is my mate. It already happened.”

Macken looked taken aback. “What? Why?” He asked with a slightly wrinkled nose.

“I can’t deal with you right now.” Lenna said and turned on her heel before she marched off towards the exit.

“Dumbass.” Isaac said and vanished.

“What?” Macken said in confusion to himself. “A human of all things?” He wondered aloud. “What fucked up mushrooms did she eat?” He continued before he scoffed. “She thinks he is going to beat me without any gear? She’s lost her damn mind.” He stood up and banged his cuff on the bars. “Oi!” He called the guard who was stationed a few dozen feet from him. “Get your boss back down here. I have something to say to him.”

The guard eyed him up and down incredulously. “I’ll let him know.” He said with that same feeling lacing his voice.

—

“You want to do what?” Michael questioned.

“Fight that bastard Lenna bound herself to.” Macken replied.

Michael ran his hand down his face in exasperation. “And he agreed to this?” He asked.

“He said if I could get you to take off my collar and cuffs long enough for us to fight then he would fight me.” Macken explained.

Michael took a deep breath. “Fine.” He acquiesced. “But, I need to know the exact number of standing troops you left behind when you left to come here.”

“Sixty soldiers, twelve knights, three of them were late additions so they are multiclassed into paladin from different warrior variants, six wizards to maintain all of the city’s defenses.” Macken rattled off. “Now set up our fight.” He demanded.

Michael just stared at him for a long moment. He had been trying to get that information out of Macken for a week. Macken had this way of answering every question vaguely enough that the information couldn’t be used in a military operation but informative enough to be considered cooperating. This specific question he had expertly dodged around time and time again but now he had just blurted it out like he had been hanging onto it so he could use the information to purchase something in the future. It appeared that ‘future’ was now and that ‘something’ was a fight that he was bound to lose. “I will set something up.” Michael replied and turned to leave. He stopped himself before he had taken more than a step. “Sir Cla’Cen, I will do as you asked but I will warn you, you have just made a very bad mistake. Whether or not you feel divinity from that man, you should fight him as if you were fighting a demigod, because he very well might be one.” With that final word Sir Michael left Macken to his own devices.

Macken was starting to wonder if maybe he actually had made a mistake. At first he just thought they were trying to scare him, like it had been an act or something. Surely there must have been some trick that they used, some spell or something, to allow that man to kill Jallen V’Nova. That is what Macken had believed. Maybe they had found a way through Jallen’s mental magic defenses and then disoriented him or maybe half a dozen mages casted boosting spells on Isaac before the fight. No matter what, Macken simply couldn’t wrap his mind around Jallen losing in a fair fight.

Now though, the more people warned him to go all out, to give Isaac everything he had, that told him that he was going to lose completely and spectacularly, Macken was starting to think that maybe he in fact did bite off a bit more than he could chew. But even if he did, that didn’t mean that Lenna should have chosen a human to be her mate.

It was preposterous, idiotic, shortsighted. But it was too late for her. That was something else that Macken would have to make peace with. He rubbed his chest as he felt his power try to flair on its own. His ancestors were rolling in their graves, especially after he had told Michael the information the other paladin had been asking for. Macken had a feeling deep in his chest that his fight with Isaac was going to be ‘do or die’ in more ways than one. The worst part was that he had no idea how long he would have to wait.