Corsic’s POV
Damn that Dorvan! He had one fucking job and couldn’t manage it. Now I had a soul mark branded on me, and by someone that was pushing demigod power, if they weren’t there already! I managed to keep my frustration off my face as we underwent the horrible disorientation of the portal though, as it wouldn’t do to show the underlings things went wrong. Of course, the giant hand mark on my chest gave it away, and I saw several of the less disciplined that formed the honor arch for us to walk through flinch. Well, with the ocelot out of the sack I might as well take advantage of things. I locked eyes with Thunik, my second, and gave a nigh imperceptible bounce with my pupils. He obligingly lowered his halberd and I grabbed it on the way past.
While Dorvan was distracted, basking in the glow of adoration from the honor guard, I slammed the heel of the halberd right into his solar plexus. As he bent over in pain, I swung the head around. Not wanting to deal with any fallout from actually crippling him, I made sure the axe head missed his knee, slamming it with the haft. Of course, the beard of the axe then made a great hook for ripping his leg out from beneath him. As he slammed down on his back, breathless and disoriented, I flipped the halberd around to disentangle it from his leg, then jabbed it into the ground so that the spike grazed one jaw, and the upper point of the axe grazed the other, forcing his mouth shut.
“YOU INCOMPETENT BUFFOON!” I yelled, shocking everyone into not moving. “We had one job, and you couldn’t even do that right!”
“What are you talking about? We got it done, didn’t we?”
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“This right here is the problem. You don’t care about collateral so long as your mission gets done. You were supposed to get in fast, kill and mark the two souls, and get out. Instead you dallied around a bit and now we have a soul mark from a demigod! Depending on how strong he is he can trace us no matter where we are on this world! And since I got a glimpse of his soul, I’m not willing to bet that he isn’t strong.”
“So I didn’t rush the job and we got marked. We aren’t hurt and Apophis can protect us.”
“Fine. If you are going to trivialize this, then I have no choice. By your own actions, I dissolve our agreement with Apophis. In exchange for the ability to defend ourselves, the Nightwatcher clan has served Apophis for seven generations and more. Since the Champion of Apophis in training refuses to acknowledge the harm his actions have caused to the Guard Captain of the Nightwatchers, we hereby call the agreement fulfilled. For the next 100 years, neither side will initiate hostilities with the other, either directly or indirectly. Further aid must be bargained for.”
“You can’t do that!” The sniveling bastard cried.
I leaned in so that I was in his face. “I. Just. Did.” I smiled as I backed away. “Escort the Champion in training to the stables, where he may retrieve his ride. You have until sundown to leave our city.” Having said my piece, and not wanting to hear his whining, I turned and walked away.
“How bad’s the fallout gonna be on this?” Thunik asked, having fallen in behind me.
“From Apophis? Probably not too bad. He’s spiteful, but we didn’t break the contract in a way that is detrimental to him. From whatever managed to mark me? I have no idea. Luckily it’s a crude mark, and I should be able to feel him approach. Hopefully I can get far enough away that the city isn’t in danger.”
“And if he comes back to the city?”
“Let’s just pray he doesn’t. None of us can stop a demigod.