Vayne licked his lips. Edric was fighting him—rather fiercely, at that—and all it did was stoke his arousal even further. For all that the boy had grown in the time that they had known each other, the hellborn had honed Vayne’s body beyond mortal limits, and he had had many years of experience on Edric, besides.

He slid his hand along the landscape of Edric’s back, his fingers dipping into the valleys and riding over the ridges of those sinewy muscles. His grip curled over Edric’s shoulder, his palm cupping the thick, bulging delts as he secured his hold on the squire.

Edric wriggled against Vayne. “Punishment? If anyone needs punishment here, it’s you!” he hissed through gritted teeth. There was impressive strength in his struggling, but there was also a glaring naïveté. The Order taught its initiates only how to fight. It took training with a unit that ranged beyond the walls of Fort Radiance—like Vayne’s Brighthand Regiment—and real combat experience to learn how to win.

Vayne had truthfully expected more trouble from Edric, given how much the boy had grown in the time that he had known him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so surprised that the squire was so easy to subjugate. Edric was young, after all, and strength gained unnaturally quickly was bound to have shaky foundations.

“I thought you were a tamed bitch, but clearly I was mistaken,” Edric growled. “You submit so sweetly I never imagined you still had such audacity in you.”

“Such venom. Such conviction.” Vayne laughed. He truly hadn’t expected Edric to have such a strong reaction to the tables being turned. He’d indulged his need for submission too much, it seemed, and neglected his duty to his squire.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Vayne’s mouth. Edric’s cheeks were stained red, though whether that was from arousal, humiliation, or anger wasn’t entirely clear. If he had to guess, it was likely all three.

The flush of Edric’s face spread down his neck and over his back and shoulders. Even his ears glowed red. It was adorable, Vayne had to admit. He hadn’t imagined the current Edric to still be capable of such… cuteness.

With a laugh, Vayne said, “I cannot fault you for lack of resolve, squire Edric, but as I have said before, I say again—know your place! So far, I have indulged my desires, but I have been remiss in fulfilling my duties.”

“You certainly have,” Edric groused. “Now unhand me, kneel, and suck my fat cock like you are supposed to while I decide what sort of punishment you deserve for this sort of insubordination!”

Vayne cocked an eyebrow, but he could sense that Edric had more to say. He didn’t want to interrupt, as he was rather enjoying the futile threats.

“Shall I have you run laps naked around the training grounds until your knees give way? Or shall I have you kneel on barleycorns in the chapel while worshipping my cock?” said Edric.

Creative punishments, Vayne had to admit. The prospect sent a twinge of arousal through him. Once his task was complete, he might enjoy indulging Edric’s fantasy—Edric’s cock had throbbed so deliciously as he described the torment that he wanted to inflict on Vayne—but for the moment, such an undertaking represented an intolerable risk to his work.

“Ah, I think I know what would be most effective.” There was a sadistic glint in Edric’s eyes as he said the words. “Maybe I should take you over my knee in front of the Great Hall, yank your breeches down, and beat your tight ass until you’re yowling for your mother!”

Vayne chuckled at that one. The idea made his dick twitch, but it also exposed how far Edric had taken things. “Bold words for one who can’t even escape my grasp,” he said.

“Given but a taste of true power, you now think yourself the king of this castle, but in reality, you are nothing but a frog in a well. You have the makings of a warrior, my dearest squire, but you mistake yourself for a honed blade when you have yet to feel the kiss of the forge.”

“Presumptuous little bit—!” Whatever else Edric might have said was lost as the crisp smack of Vayne’s hand landing across his ass rang out. The force of the blow was such that Edric’s entire body tensed at the impact.

Vayne sucked down a sharp breath. Seeing all those muscles pull taut the moment his palm met Edric’s ass was priceless. It made his cock throb, and it took significantly more willpower than he was expecting to restrain himself.

“You are a novice, Edric. A squire. You are yet green behind the ears. Do not pretend at wisdom and ability yet beyond your ken,” said Vayne. He was being playful, yes, but there was genuine advice in what he was saying.

“As the Brother Knight to whom you have been pledged, I have been remiss in my solemn duty to educate you.” Vayne felt a frisson of excitement work its way through his body as he tightened his grip on Edric’s shoulder and hip. “This is an intolerable oversight, and one that I intend to correct posthaste.”

“Sh-shut the fuck up, bitch, who gave you the audacity to talk to me like th—!”

Vayne used his hips, pushing his crotch against Edric’s ass to pin the squire’s lower body between him and the wall under the window. He removed the hand that he’d been using to grip Edric’s hip and used it instead to cover the squire’s mouth. “Enough,” he said. “Lesson number one: learn to discern when it is prudent to keep silent and listen, and when it is wise to speak your mind and be heard.”

Edric’s muffled voice came through the gaps in Vayne’s fingers. He wasn’t simply unhappy; he was seething.

There was something about that raw, impotent fury that sent shivers of delight down Vayne’s spine. It was honestly impressive that Edric wasn’t trying to bite his hand.

Vayne’s dick twitched. It had been a long time since he last had a man in such a vulnerable position under him. He had to admit, there was a part of him that was excited about what he was about to do. “I have not given you leave or invitation to speak so you will have to remain silent for now—one way or another.”

He leaned forward, balancing his weight precariously on top of Edric so that neither of them went spilling over the windowsill. He brought his lips to Edric’s ear. He wanted to ensure that his words could not go unheard, or, worse yet, be misheard.

“You seek to lay a claim on that which isn’t yours, Edric. By what right? The mere fact I have submitted to you on some handful of occasions?” Vayne snorted. Perhaps he might have been able to get the point across without sounding so scornful, but to properly check Edric’s overgrown ego, this much was only reasonable.

Vayne continued with a sneer. “Or did you perhaps come to truly believe yourself my superior? You, who have never seen a single day of combat, nor endured a single day of hardship in the hell that is war? Surely, you could not have been so stupid.”

Edric pushed against Vayne with renewed vigor, but Vayne was in the indisputable advantage and gave him no quarter. His indignant growl was loud enough to be heard—albeit muffled—through the hand clapped over his mouth.

Vayne chuckled. “Did you think yourself anointed by the heavens, somehow? Did you imagine that your exceptional growth in this past short while was a sign that you had been chosen by those I serve for special purpose?”

Edric wriggled futilely against Vayne’s suppression, but he could not an opening to exploit. He couldn’t struggle recklessly either when he was in such a precarious position. The slightest mistake was sure to send him tumbling out the window to his doom.

Vayne pressed a kiss to the sensitive patch of skin just behind the lobe of Edric’s ear. He nipped the spot and delighted in the way that the squire flinched. He hadn’t meant it to be painful, but he had been forceful enough to ensure it would give Edric a bit of a start.

“Everything that you are is my Master’s will wrought through the medium of my hands. Everything you possess now is yours in my Master’s name and by his grace, given you through me.” Vayne rubbed his thumb over the contours of Edric’s bulging traps. “Without this body, without this unearned confidence, what is left? Simply Edric. A squire of no particular renown. A novice of no great talent.”

Vayne’s words struck a chord. Edric’s indignation grew stronger and more intense than before, but the truth of what Vayne had said could not be denied. As Edric struggled against Vayne anew, perhaps in defiance of what had just been asserted, all the buckling and wiggling of his futile attempts resulted in Vayne’s cock surging to its full hardness.

“I will admit that few have ever taken so well to my Master’s influence, and in that regard, you are exceptional. However, you would do well to remember that there is a time and a place for confidence, and a price to pay for arrogance.”

Vayne bared his teeth in a feral grin. He was going to enjoy this very much. It had been a while, but he had taken great joy in breaking particularly stubborn subjects. Master Azzagg had given him such tasks only sparingly, but he had relished each opportunity.

He briefly released Edric’s shoulder and used his hand to guide his cock into position. He felt Edric’s tight hole clench on the tip of his dick as he pressed up against it. He’d taken enough virgins to know what they felt like on the end of his cock, and just as he’d expected, Edric was as cherry as they came.

Once he was properly lined up, Vayne moved his hand to Edric’s hip. Vayne held on tight with his other hand and pulled, forcing Edric to not just tilt his head back, but also arch his spine.

“Did you think yourself immune to consequence?” Vayne’s voice was low and mocking. “Did you imagine yourself invincible just because you grew taller and stronger? Ah, to be young and stupid enough to think oneself untouchable once again.”

Vayne pushed his hips forward, applying a steady and unyielding pressure on the ring of Edric’s hole. It was tight, and only made moreso because Edric was fighting him, but he enjoyed the challenge.

He tightened his grip, his fingers digging into the meat of Edric’s hips. Already, Vayne could feel the boy starting to yield to him, that tight ring loosening gradually as he pushed against it. In every meaningful respect, he had the upper hand, and it was only a matter of time before Edric caved.

“Fight me all you wish, but the result will be the same,” said Vayne. “You will be reminded of your true place, and perhaps, this time, you will also learn to think before you flap your tongue and insult the very being who gave you those things which you have come to prize.”

His scornful tone only incited further vitriol from Edric. The squire continuously spewed a vehement stream of vile, indignant curses into his hand. The unrelenting parade of invectives had so far been muffled to the point of being unintelligible, but Vayne’s enhanced hearing had ensured that he heard every word.

Vayne had to admit, Edric’s creativity was impressive. The boy had seemed so sheltered and sincere before he was corrupted. Now, Edric was capable of putting a sailor to shame with that mouth of his. Vayne hadn’t even yet considered all the deliciously creative ways that Edric had promised to punish him for this perceived affront. He’d created a monster, and in truth, he wanted nothing more than to be ravaged by that beast. Alas, there were more important things that demanded his attention.

As Vayne pushed his hips forward, however, the steady rhythm of Edric’s insults, demands, and threats faltered. His face split into a wicked grin. Edric was yielding to him. In short order, he felt that tight hole open up to him; he felt the kiss of that virginal heat as Edric slowly, inexorably, yielded to him.

Vayne was waiting for a sharp intake of breath. Soon enough, he got what he wanted. He waited for a beat, then he jolted his hips forward. That short, sharp thrust was all that he needed to turn that lungful of air into a strangled moan, and he knew then that he had Edric right where he wanted him.

With a devilish grin splitting his face, Vayne tightened his grip on Edric’s hip. He pushed in, forcing the head of his cock into the tightness of Edric’s cherry. “Fuck,” Vayne said under his breath, “You grip me like a vise.”

Vayne didn’t relent. He didn’t give Edric even a moment to adjust. He pushed in, dry, stretching the squire’s tight virgin hole around the girth of his considerable cock.

When Edric resumed his furious diatribe, Vayne remained undeterred. If anything, the clear anger in Edric’s voice only encouraged Vayne to continue.

Vayne hissed through his teeth as the heat of Edric’s cherry squeezed tight around the first couple of inches of his cock. “Hells,” he muttered, casting his eyes briefly skyward while simultaneously tightening his grip on Edric’s hip.

“I had always wondered why the most profane of occult rituals so often demand virgins, but I think I have come to understand why,” Vayne all but growled as he bore down on Edric’s tight hole with his cock.

“So tight. So hot. And those little noises that spill from you”—despite Edric’s best attempts to spit venom and bile, it was true, he couldn’t help but moan or whimper on one occasion or another—“fuck. They are like fuel on a flame.”

Before long, half of Vayne’s cock was buried in the heat of Edric’s virgin hole. He had intended to feed himself inch by inch into Edric, but he was struggling to hold back. The feeling of those velvet walls wrapped so tightly around his cock was a temptation like no other, and he was more than certain that he was fighting a losing battle.

In that case, Vayne could only lean further into what his body desired to do. He took a breath. He licked his lips. Without giving the boy so much as a word of warning, he snapped his hips forward, hilting himself in Edric’s ass in one swift, brutal motion.

The result was immediate and expected. Edric’s eyes widened, nearly bulging out of their sockets. His strangled scream was barely muffled by the hand clapped over his mouth. His spine arched as every muscle in his body tensed, his hole in particular clamping tightly around the girth of Vayne’s fat cock.

Perhaps it was cruel, or maybe even needlessly sadistic, but Vayne felt an almighty shiver run down his spine, straight to the tip of his cock when that scream tore free of Edric’s throat. He was reminded of when a similar sound had spilled from him—the first time that Master Azzagg had taken him.

The shiver of delight that shook through Vayne’s body made his cock throb. At the time, he’d felt as if he were being split in half by Master Azzagg’s dick. He had thought himself dead, killed by impalement on an obscenely large hellborn cock. Now, the memory was one of his fondest.

Had he not known that Edric was made of sterner stock, Vayne might have been more merciful. Unfortunately for the squire, Vayne was well aware of how sturdy Edric had become. He had fully intended to give the boy a minute or so to get used to having his ass filled, but hearing that scream had changed his mind.

Vayne removed his hand from Edric’s mouth. While he knew full well that the tirade was likely to soon resume, as a result, he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to give the boy the opportunity to even start.

Edric tensed as Vayne pulled out of him. His body visibly trembled. He had opened his mouth to say something, but the sensation of his inner walls dragging along the sides of Vayne’s fat cock thanks to the friction must have given him pause.

Vayne tangled his fingers in Edric’s hair and yanked the squire’s head back toward him. He moved his other hand up from Edric’s hip to splay his fingers along the hollow of the boy’s lower back. He withdrew until only the head of his cock was left inside the tight, gripping heat of Edric’s ass.

“Let this be a lesson to you,” he said, leaning forward once again to speak the words right into Edric’s ear. “That which you are so willing to inflict, you should learn how to take in turn.”

That was the only warning that Vayne gave to Edric before he snapped his hips forward a second time. With nearly the entire length of his dick slamming mercilessly into Edric’s hole, however, the sensation this time was bound to be considerably more intense.

Edric’s back arched. His toes curled. A raw, ragged scream tore free from his throat. It sounded like an agonized cry, but his cock, forced down between his legs because of the windowsill he was pinned against, betrayed the truth: he was hard. Not only that, he was leaking.

Vayne didn’t relent. He’d come this far, after all. He pulled out again. Well, almost.

“You were only too happy to bitch me out with that veritable club between your legs…” he said, trailing off as he wound up for another powerful thrust. “…so take mine like a man!” he finished, slamming his hips into Edric’s ass with such force that the crisp smack of the impact rang out across the fort.

Every muscle in Edric’s body locked up. He half-moaned, half-screamed, every ounce of air in his lungs expelled in a single, wordless exclamation. He was so loud that Vayne’s hand barely muffled his voice, and the scant handful of Brothers going about their business below all stopped to look around in confusion as a result.

Vayne chuckled to himself. It was a good thing that his quarters were high enough up that anyone who did manage to pinpoint the source of the sound would have difficulty figuring out what was happening.

Like any lesson, the one Vayne wanted to teach Edric required more than just a single thrust. He slid his cock from Edric’s ass once again, leaving just the head inside. He pumped his hips forward, slamming Edric’s pelvis against the windowsill.

With a low and gravelly voice, Vayne growled, “Drill this sensation into your skull,” leaving Edric not even a moment to recover before driving his cock deep into the squire’s virgin hole.

Repetition—that was the key element in ensuring that a lesson was learned and internalized. Baring his teeth in a feral grin, Vayne launched into a furious rut. He was determined to teach Edric a lesson the squire would never forget.

Vayne’s hips were a blur as he mercilessly rearranged Edric’s guts with his fat cock. Gone were the threats, insults, and vicious promises of punishment. Now, only moans, grunts, and the most pitiful of whimpers were spilling from Edric’s lips, so he pulled back his hand, wanting to enjoy those noises without them being muffled.

“S-Sir, Vayne. P-please! I-it’s too much!” Edric whined. “I-I’ve learned my lesson! N-no more!”

Fuck. Vayne shivered as he heard those words. His cock throbbed and swelled inside the heat of Edric’s virgin hole. On this occasion, and the handful of times he’d been given men to break by Master Azzagg, there had been no hotter moment than when the men first begged for mercy.

Vayne had no intention of granting the relief that Edric was asking for. If anything, hearing the boy beg him to stop only made him burn hotter.

A wild, mad light shone in Vayne’s eyes as he grabbed Edric’s hair with his free hand. He yanked the squire’s head back and tightened his grip on the boy’s hip. “Mercy?” he said, his voice tinged with lust and malice, “There will be no mercy.”

Harder. Faster. In and out. In and out. Vayne jackhammered his cock into Edric’s hole. “The next time you think yourself somehow the king of the world just because you’ve grown, remember this sensation. Remember this humiliation! Perhaps then you’ll spare yourself the pain of offending someone you shouldn’t have.”

With those words, Vayne changed his angle. There was nothing more arousing, or more effective at breaking a man than pressing that bitch-button hidden deep inside him. In this regard, Vayne was deadly accurate.

Edric’s spine arched as his mouth opened in a wordless, soundless howl of pleasure. Every muscle in his body locked up. His toes curled. His stiff cock, pinned against the wall under the window, pulsed and throbbed as his balls drew up against his crotch, churning with what was sure to be a fat load.

Vayne himself was close, and seeing the signs of Edric’s imminent orgasm brought him right to the edge. It didn’t help that Edric’s asshole had clamped tight around his fat cock, those inner walls milking him for everything he was worth as he rammed into that special spot over and over and over again.

The brutal rhythm of Vayne’s hips faltered. He leaned forward, sweat dripping from his brow into the hollow of Edric’s back. He fucked hard, pouring every ounce of strength that he had into the last couple of ragged thrusts.

With a roar, Vayne slammed his dick hilt-deep into Edric one last time and came. As soon as the first shot of his cum painted Edric’s insides, the squire came, too.

Both men moaned as powerful orgasms wracked their bodies. Vayne’s balls bounced with every shot as he unloaded. So much cum flooded from him into Edric’s guts that some of it squirted out past the tight ring clamped around the base of his cock.

Edric’s orgasm was no less intense. He was shaking, moaning, and gasping for air as his dick all but exploded. Shot after shot after shot of thick, molten cum burst out of his cock to stain the wall white, dripping down to form a considerable puddle.

“Have you learned your lesson?” Vayne said, his voice low and breathy as he leaned forward to speak the words right into Edric’s ear.

Edric gulped audibly and nodded—to the extent that Vayne’s grip on his hair allowed, in any case. “I-I have, Sir,” he said, his dick twitching as his asshole involuntarily clenched around Vayne’s considerable girth. “I-I’ll never forget my place again, Sir.”

Vayne grinned. “Good, good…” Keeping his grip on Edric’s hip, he slowly pulled out. His cock won free with a lewd squelch, cum gushing out of the squire’s abused hole as soon as he wasn’t plugging it.

“But how will I know that you’re not simply saying what I want to hear?” Vayne mused out loud. The way that Edric stiffened at those words was downright adorable. “Ah. I think I know…”

Vayne released Edric’s hair, but in return, he grabbed Edric by the shoulder. With one sharp motion, he yanked the squire out of the window. He held him firmly in place, teeth bared in a wide, wicked grin. “Time for a test. Let’s see how well you’ve comprehended the lesson. If you have, at all.”

With less effort than was probably normal, Vayne tossed Edric into his bed. The boy landed hard, eliciting a grunt, but perhaps more concerning was the way the bedframe creaked from the impact.

Vayne didn’t care. He loved breaking beds, after all. He crawled onto the bed and grabbed Edric’s legs. He forced them apart and into the air, folding the squire nearly in half. “Question number one: who do I belong to?”

Edric shivered, tilting his head back to bare his throat as a moan bubbled up from deep inside him. “Master Azzagg, Sir!” he said almost breathlessly, his eyes going wide as Vayne slid into him once again.

“That’s right. Good boy, Edric. Good boy. Perhaps there’s hope for you yet,” said Vayne with a laugh. “Second question: Who do you belong to?”

Edric’s soft cock surged to full hardness. He took a breath and licked his lips, his eyes meeting Vayne’s. His words caught in his throat for a moment, but eventually he said exactly the right answer, his cheeks taking on a tinge of pink. “I belong to Master Azzagg too, Sir!”

Vayne chuckled. “Good boy,” he said, before snapping his hips forward to bury himself hilt-deep inside Edric once again. He was going to have such fun testing how well the squire had learned the lesson.

---

Vayne left his chambers late the next morning feeling like a man renewed. He hadn’t realized how much resentment about being separated from Master Azzagg had built up inside him until he had an outlet.

Suffice it to say, but Edric didn’t make it back to the novice quarters the previous evening. In fact, the squire’s first task of the day—besides fetching and serving Vayne breakfast—was getting things in order to have Vayne’s bed replaced.

The previous night’s…activities…had resulted in the bedframe breaking in several places. The mattress, too, was a loss. It was soaked through with fluids, reeked of sex, sweat, and cum, and was hardly fit for human use at this point—not that Vayne would have had too many objections to sleeping in a bed with that sort of musk to it.

In any case, Vayne had already sent Edric off to the Quartermaster of the Fort with a mission: obtain a new bed and an actually comfortable mattress, no matter the cost. Chances were, he was going to be rather occupied for much of the day, so it only made sense to delegate the task to the squire.

As for himself, Vayne was heading deep into the bowels of Fort Radiance. It was a journey he’d made only a handful of times before, but this time he was heading far deeper than just the dungeons.

In the deepest parts of Fort Radiance was a natural pool said to be filled with the tears of Mireillor. All Brothers of the Radiant Order knew of the fabled treasure, of the waters brimming with such potent healing magics they could cure any ailment bar death.

Vayne recalled that upon returning to his duties after his “rescue,” Arthur had alleged that it was that very pool, Restoration, that had saved Vayne from his injuries. In truth, Vayne remembered no such thing. The days after his “rescue” were blurry in his head, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall anything that had happened then.

Just past where the masonry of the Fort gave way to the smooth stone of a natural cave was a heavy iron gate hung between two metal posts anchored into the floor and ceiling of the cave. A small brass bell hung off the right post, a short length of rope dangling from the clapper.

Vayne licked his lips. If he had been down here before, he was certain he would have remembered. He reached over and rang the bell. The tinkling of the small bell reverberated from the cave walls, the soothing sound of it lingering in the air for a good deal longer than Vayne anticipated.

A minute or so later, Vayne heard the rasp and clang of a deadbolt being slid out of its sheath. The heavy iron gate swung inward on well-oiled hinges, revealing a rather elderly man on the other side.

The elder’s shoulders were hunched, and what showed of his arms past the sleeves of the simple white robe he was wearing were thin and frail. By all accounts, Vayne should have been able to overpower the old man many times over, but he felt a strange and incongruent sense of danger radiating from that nigh-skeletal frame.

“To whom do I owe this most gracious visit, Brother?” said the old man. His voice was surprisingly strong for the way he looked. Although he spoke softly, his tone never wavered, and there was a clarity in his eyes that belied his age. “I should hope you understand that this is not a place for trivialities.”

Vayne gave the old man a small smile. “I am Brother Vayne, Knight-Captain of the Brighthand Regiment. I was told that I owed my recovery to the waters beyond, and had hoped to give my gratitude to whoever it was that saw me back to health,” he said.

“Ah!” the old man chuckled. “Brother Vayne. I was told to expect you.”

Vayne blinked at that. “You were?” he said.

With an inscrutable smile, the old man stepped aside and opened the gate the rest of the way. He gestured and said, “Please, enter. The Lord Commander suggested that you might find your way back.”

This was an unexpected development. “He did?” said Vayne. Perhaps Arthur had made overtures to the Lord Commander. But then again, he hadn’t mentioned any details of his plan to Arthur, so Arthur couldn’t have known that he meant to pay a visit to Restoration.

“Yes,” said the old man. “Restoration may have potent healing properties, but it is not infallible. Often, those who suffered considerable injuries may experience pain and other symptoms even after bathing in the sacred waters, necessitating a second, or perhaps even a third, soak. That is why you have come, no?”

“Ah, yes… I have been experiencing pain, especially on cold nights. It feels like my flesh is afire. The very sheets on my bed feel like torture on such occasions—as if I am being flayed on the coarse linen. I had hoped that the pain might fade with time, but…”

The old man shook his head. He closed the gate, which, come to think of it, was definitely far too heavy for a man of his apparent frailty to be closing with such ease. “Yes… I have heard that this can happen on rare occasions. As I recall, you came here the first time very badly burned. Perhaps some of the deeper damage has yet to fully heal.”

Vayne pretended at a moment of quiet introspection before nodding. “Perhaps you’re right…” he trailed off for a moment. “My apologies, but I don’t believe I have caught your name, Brother.”

The old man chuckled. “You may call me Brother Morgan, Brother Vayne.”

Vayne shivered. “Brother… Morgan? As in… Morgan Verre?”

The old man said no words, but the small smile that tugged at his lips told Vayne everything he needed to know. Morgan Verre was a legendary Brother of the Order, Knight-Captain of the Brighthand Regiment two generations before Vayne. It was said that he had been killed in a confrontation with the Demon Lord of Gluttony.

“You were alive?” said Vayne.

“The Lord Commander at the time believed it more prudent to let the world think that I had perished. And who better to protect the Order’s most sacred treasure, besides?” said Morgan with a laugh. “You join a very rare few who know of my true identity, Brother Vayne. I trust that you understand the meaning of discretion.”

Vayne nodded. “I shan’t tell another soul, Brother Morgan,” he lied. “But why tell me?”

Morgan waved his hand. “Think of it as a senior Brother showing goodwill to his junior,” he said. “From one commander of the Brighthands to another, it seemed only an appropriate courtesy.”

Vayne gave his most convincing smile to Morgan, though inwardly, he was rather shaken. Morgan had been known to be a monstrous warrior during his time. Old age should have weakened him, but given everything Vayne had seen, it seemed old age had only honed Morgan’s abilities.

On the one hand, it was great news. If Vayne managed to corrupt Morgan to his side, he would have a devastating trump card to unleash, in case anything went wrong. On the other hand, he very much doubted it would be that easy to take Morgan down, when even the Demon Lord of Gluttony had failed to slay him.

It did now make a lot more sense why there was only a single old man guarding Restoration. If the stories were to be believed, Morgan, at the peak of his prime, was said to have been a veritable one-man army.

Many of the tales were likely to be exaggerations for propaganda’s sake, but the aura that surrounded Morgan even in his advanced age certainly called to mind stories about the champion of the Order who could erase a whole legion of hellborn with a single swing of his sword.

Vayne would have to be more careful now than ever before. He bowed his head and saluted as he said, “I am in your care, Brother Morgan.”