Chapter 153: The March to Nirvana

Dawn came quietly to the West...soft, golden light spilling across the rolling hills of Victoria’s domain. Her manor rose at the crest of one such hill, an elegant structure carved from stone and framed by climbing silvervine. The estate was a masterpiece of symmetry and pride, its archways etched with runes that pulsed faintly with protective enchantments. Behind the main house, tall black pines whispered against the wind, their tips catching the first slant of morning sun like spears of fire.

Victoria stood at the balcony overlooking the courtyard, a figure of poise and venomous grace. She was dressed in a long, fitted traveling gown of deep crimson trimmed with black fur, a mantle clasped at her shoulder by a silver crescent brooch. Her hair, dark as midnight and gleaming with oil, was braided tightly behind her, giving her sharp features a fiercer edge but that did nothing to dim her beauty.

The manor she stood in was different from the one she had met Selith in. This mansion was filled with life and people...pack members who bowed in greeting when they saw her.

Below her, about two dozen armored soldiers stood at attention. The air was brisk, heavy with the scent of iron and pine sap, and the faint mist clung to their boots. Wolves in polished chestplates and leather straps, their cloaks embroidered with Victoria’s sigil a serpent coiled around a moon, waited in rigid silence. At their head stood Darius.

He was a broad man, his armor fitted to a body built from years of battle, and his face bore a long scar that stretched from his temple to the corner of his mouth, a ragged, pale line that refused to fade. His hair was cropped close, the color of burnt straw, and his eyes were flint-grey, always cold, always watching.

When Victoria descended the steps, the men bowed in unison. Her shoes clicked against the flagstone as she approached Darius, the mist curling around her ankles like wary ghosts. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Darius," she said, her voice smooth and low, "you remember what I told you?"

He inclined his head. "Yes, my lady. Retrieve the priest from the heart of Nirvana."

"And?"

He hesitated. Her lips curved faintly not in kindness, but in a warning.

"And the Nightshade Pack is secondary," he said finally. "They are not my concern."

"Good." Victoria’s eyes softened, though the smile never reached them. "Do not let their little defenses distract you, besides they can only hold on for so long when we get what we want."

Darius gave a faint, humorless smile. "You doubt me, my lady?"

"Doubt?" she repeated, circling him slowly like a cat around prey. "Never. You’ve proven your loyalty before, haven’t you? It was your clever tongue that branded your former pack as traitors. Your hand that lit the pyres. You were the one who gave my people the signal to move into the pack. It is because of you that they are now in the North."

He said nothing, but his eyes gleamed with remembered pride or perhaps the ghost of it.

Victoria tilted her head, watching him. "Sometimes," she murmured, "I wonder what it felt like to strike down your own kin. To watch their blood run into the earth and know you were the hand that ended them."

Darius’s jaw tightened. "It felt," he said slowly, "no different from slaying beasts and I’ll do it again if you need me to. I only have you as my leader."

A low chuckle slipped from her throat. "Good answer."

He shifted slightly, the metal of his gauntlet catching the weak sunlight. The scar on his face pulled when he smiled, a grotesque reminder of that night.

Victoria thought he was the one to strike down Alaric but Darius wasn’t the one. That had been someone else. A traitor too, for they were many in the pack. The pack was already rotting with plagues so they choose what was best. The one who struck Alaric died by his wife’s sword. The mark on Darius ’s face was given to him by Ryker, Daniel’s oldest son. And although Darius killed Ryker and his mother in their home, then set fire to it, he would never forget the fierce look on the boy’s face and the thought that the boy could have been a fierce warrior of let to live.

"You won’t turn on me like you did your people, will you?" Victoria asked him.

The power Darius had now, he didn’t have it when he was still a member of the Nightshade pack. Nor did he have the wealth he has now.

"You are my life, my lady." He told her.

Victoria smiled coldly. "Good answer, I hope it remains so."

A faint breeze stirred her hair, and she lifted her chin, surveying the gathered soldiers. "You will depart within now. Your path runs west through the Silent Wood, then north to the valley of Nirvana. There are reports of increased beast activity along the border, so stay alert. Any disturbance human or otherwise..."

"...is to be disposed of," Darius finished for her, a grin stretching his mouth.

Victoria smiled approvingly. "You learn well."

He knelt, lowering his head as he took her gloved hand in his and brushed his lips against her fingers. "I live to serve."

"See that you live to return," she said softly, withdrawing her hand.

He straightened, his armor gleaming faintly in the morning light. Around him, the soldiers shifted, tightening straps and adjusting weapons. The air was thick with purpose, with the anticipation of violence.

Darius turned to his men. "You heard the lady. Our path is set."

At his signal, handlers brought forward massive direwolves, their coats ranging from silvery grey to deep black. Each beast was easily the height of a man’s chest, their eyes burning with intelligence and restrained ferocity. The soldiers mounted swiftly, armor clinking, movements practiced and sure.

Victoria watched them, her expression unreadable as the soldiers departed.