Taliah looked back at the vocier.
"So, which part are we taking?"
"None."
She turned her head.
"What do you mean, none?"
"I don’t need to take anything."
"We just killed a legendary creature and you’re not planning to take proof."
"I already have the proof."
Taliah looked at her hands and then at the bracelet.
"Did you stash something without me seeing?"
"No."
"Then explain."
Draven pointed at his head.
"I have the memory."
Taliah stayed silent, and Draven stood up.
"At the academy they have artifacts that detect lies."
Taliah nodded slowly.
"I know them."
"Then you already know they don’t fail."
The artifacts used mana to analyze the response of the person being questioned, but they didn’t simply detect nerves or changes in the voice.
The reaction triggered directly when a person answered something they knew was false.
That was why they were used in certain investigations, agreements, and official proceedings, which also meant they could be used to verify extraordinary merits.
"They’ll ask me if I took part in the hunt."
"And you’ll answer yes."
"Exactly."
"And if they ask who killed it?"
Draven looked at the corpse.
"We’ll tell the truth."
Taliah smiled.
"That I did the important part."
"That both of us did it, plus I have a pretty convenient witness."
Draven pointed at her, and Taliah brought a hand to her chest.
"Me?"
"A Valdegrim stating that I participated should be enough even before the artifact."
"So now you’re using me as a witness."
"I brought you for a lot of reasons."
"How romantic."
Draven looked at her, and Taliah held a serious expression for two seconds before she started laughing.
Draven shook his head.
"I knew I shouldn’t have said that."
"Too late."
She walked over to the corpse.
"So that’s it, then."
"Yeah."
"It almost killed us."
"That’s debatable."
"It isn’t."
"But we defeated it."
Draven smiled, and for a few minutes they allowed themselves to rest, as the tension from the fight slowly faded.
Draven could feel the accumulated fatigue, and although he wasn’t completely exhausted, he wasn’t in any condition to face another enemy of the same level right away either.
Taliah seemed to be in better shape.
Even so, she also had several bruises, part of her clothes were torn, and there was dirt on her face.
Draven pointed at her.
"You look terrible."
Taliah looked at him.
"You’ve got a twig in your hair."
Draven raised a hand to his head but found nothing, at which Taliah smiled.
"Gotcha."
Draven narrowed his eyes.
"That was really childish."
"And it worked."
"I’m going to remember that."
"That’s what your good memory is for."
Draven was about to answer, but then he heard something and went still while Taliah stopped smiling.
Both of them looked toward the vegetation where footsteps that sounded human could be heard.
Taliah immediately brought a hand to her sword, and Draven summoned the Shadows of the Forgotten again.
He was tired, but it didn’t matter, since they couldn’t assume whoever was approaching was friendly.
The footsteps kept getting closer, and Taliah spoke loudly.
"Who’s there?"
There was no immediate answer.
Draven shifted slightly to one side, looking for nearby shadows.
He could still use the daggers, not many times, but enough to escape if necessary.
A figure appeared between the trees.
It was dressed completely in black clothing that covered practically its entire body, and it also wore a black mask that completely hid its face.
It had no visible emblem, nor did it wear the colors of Fernus, and it didn’t look like a soldier either.
The figure slowly raised both hands.
"Easy, I was just passing through."
Taliah didn’t lower the sword.
"Interesting place for a stroll."
The stranger looked at the vocier’s corpse.
"I was thinking the same thing."
His voice was calm, too calm.
Draven felt something strange, not because of the tone, but because of the posture, the clothes, and the mask that seemed somehow familiar.
The stranger took another step, so Draven lifted his gaze and his body went still.
’It can’t be.’
He didn’t need to see the face, because he knew it.
He had seen it too many times, had heard that voice, fought against him, died in front of him across different routes.
And he had been the last major enemy Sam defeated before arriving in this world.
’Greydarn Malikor.’
The vessel of the god of destruction.
Draven felt a chill, because it made no sense.
Greydarn shouldn’t be there, not now, not at this moment.
According to the history Sam knew, there was still time before Greydarn became an open threat.
Taliah took a step forward.
"Were you following us?"
Greydarn tilted his head slightly.
"That sounds pretty aggressive."
"It’s a question."
"And the answer is no."
He looked at the vocier again.
"But I have to congratulate you."
Taliah didn’t answer, and Greydarn continued.
"It’s not common to see two people this young defeat one of these."
Draven stayed silent, because his mind was working quickly.
They couldn’t fight, not like this, and even rested it would be a bad idea.
Greydarn Malikor was one of the most dangerous enemies in Valkaen, not only because he was powerful, but because he was the vessel of Elfin.
’We have to leave.’
Draven slightly relaxed his posture, something both Taliah and Greydarn noticed.
"Thanks."
Draven answered, at which Taliah turned her head toward him, and Draven continued before she could speak.
"The hunt is already over, so we were about to leave too."
Greydarn remained still.
"That quick?"
"We have to report the result."
"I understand."
Draven sheathed one of his daggers, but not completely, he simply reduced the visible threat.
"Taliah."
She looked at him, at which Draven made a small gesture with his head, since he didn’t want to explain anything in front of Greydarn.
He just wanted to get out.
Taliah hesitated, but finally lowered the sword slightly, and Greydarn observed the exchange.
"Interesting."
Draven felt that something was wrong.
"What is?"
"You."
Draven kept his expression calm.
"Me?"
Greydarn took a step.
"You don’t seem surprised to run into me."
Taliah frowned.
"Should we be?"
Greydarn ignored the question, since his attention was completely on Draven.
"Actually..."
He brought a hand to his chest.
"You don’t seem concerned about who I am."
Draven felt his stomach tighten.
’Idiot.’
He had tried to stay calm, but a normal person would have asked who he was, where he came from, and what he was doing there.
Draven had only tried to leave, so Greydarn had noticed.
Draven answered.
"I don’t know who you are."
The silence was tense, and Greydarn tilted his head.
"No?"
"You heard me."
"How strange."
One of his hands slowly entered one of his pockets, at which Taliah immediately raised the sword.
"Don’t make any sudden moves."
Greydarn stopped.
"Relax."
He pulled out a small object that was a sphere barely larger than a marble with a transparent surface, and inside there was something red.
Draven didn’t recognize the object, and Greydarn held it between two fingers.
"I just want to check something."
Draven frowned.
"What is that?"
Greydarn didn’t answer.
He squeezed his fingers, the sphere cracked, and a red smoke came out of its interior, which didn’t expand much.
It stayed around Greydarn’s hand for a few seconds, but then the smoke moved directly toward Draven and surrounded him briefly.
Taliah took a step.
"What did you do?"
Greydarn watched the smoke and let out a small laugh.
"So you were lying."
Draven tightened his grip on the daggers, and Taliah looked at him.
"Draven?"
He didn’t answer, and Greydarn put away the remains of the sphere.
"Interesting."
"What was that?"
Taliah asked.
"Something very useful."
Greydarn looked at Draven again.
"Now I’m curious."
Draven knew he could no longer fix it easily.
"I don’t know what you think you’ve discovered."
"I know you know me."
"I didn’t say that."
"But you lied when you said you didn’t."
Greydarn took another step, and Taliah placed herself in front of Draven.
"That’s enough."
Greydarn observed her.
"Valdegrim."
Taliah stopped, and Draven felt the situation getting worse, because Greydarn knew who she was.
’Of course he knows.’
The Valdegrim family wasn’t exactly unknown.
Greydarn moved his head slightly.
"This is getting more interesting than I expected."
Draven breathed slowly.
"Taliah."
"What?"
"Get ready."
She looked at him, but didn’t ask why, since she knew Draven well enough to notice when he was being serious.
Greydarn observed them both.
"It’s a shame."
Draven gripped his daggers firmly.
"What is?"
"That it seems you know something you shouldn’t know."
His voice remained calm.
"And I prefer that certain things stay private."
Draven felt mana in an enormous amount, because he could feel the pressure.
Taliah raised her sword, and Greydarn extended a hand.
"So..."
Dark mana began to gather around his fingers.
"It would be better if this secret stayed between us."
Draven immediately dropped into a combat stance, and Greydarn attacked.