Osiris stood up, casually dusting off his pants as the others finished eating and settled into the awkward silence that followed a battle. The fire crackled beside the half-devoured carcass of the mutated bird. Grease clung to their fingers, and the air was thick with tension, smoke, and the subtle undertone of confusion about what came next.
He stretched his arms over his head and sighed, speaking like someone about to ask a group of toddlers to clean their toys. "Alright. Everyone up. We're moving soon."
A groan echoed from the back.
"Can't we rest a little longer?"
"No," Osiris replied flatly. "Unless you want the next thing with teeth to come play with us."
Someone muttered something unintelligible about food preservation. Another added, "What do we do with the rest of the meat? We can't carry it raw. It'll rot."
Osiris slowly turned to them like he couldn't believe the words coming out of their mouths.
"You do realize we have a literal royal here whose power is freezing things, right?"
Blank stares.
"Cryokinesis?" Osiris raised an eyebrow. "Ring a bell?"
He pointed a thumb toward Elira. She blinked, mid-sip of water, like a deer caught in headlights.
"Oh. Me?"
"Yes, you." Osiris approached her and crouched slightly, keeping it calm. "You're gonna freeze the meat. Make a little ice dome or whatever fancy snow castle thing you people do. Keep it sealed. You good with that?"
Elira nodded slowly. "I can do that... I think. It'll take a lot of focus, though."
"You'll manage," he said. "Ael, slice the meat into manageable chunks. Something that won't slow us down."
"Sure," Ael responded, pulling out his daggers, eyes still soft. "How small?"
"Think ration size. We're not running a buffet."
Elira stood and wiped her hands. "I'll make the dome, but we'll need something to carry it with."
"Chain. Rope. Whatever we've got. We hook it to the ice dome. Two people volunteer to drag it."
That's when the murmurs started. Complaints, low and rising like a hive buzzing with the onset of rebellion.
"This is stupid," someone finally said out loud. A tall guy with a sharp jaw and even sharper tone. "Why should we do it? The royals should handle all this crap. That's what they're here for."
"Excuse me?" Kaelyn stepped forward, her hands balled into fists. "You're saying we should do nothing while they carry your lazy ass?"
"They have powers! They're stronger! That's their job!" the guy shot back.
Theron looked ready to slap him. "You entitled piece of trash—if you think just because someone's royal they owe you something, maybe you should grow a spine and get off your damn ass!"
The man scoffed, standing taller, puffing out his chest. "All I'm saying is, they were born with advantages. Let them use them."
"Oh my god, shut up," someone in the back groaned.
The argument heated up. Words flew. Names were called. People started picking sides.
Osiris didn't even raise his voice. He just walked over to the guy.
Ael looked up but didn't intervene, just watched quietly, his eyes almost amused.
"Hey, uh, maybe let's not—" Theron started, but Osiris had already placed a hand on the guy's shoulder.
The man turned to him, confused. "What?"
Then the screaming started.
The guy dropped to his knees, howling in pain. Blood gushed from his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. His body convulsed. Panic rippled through the group like a wave hitting dry sand.
"What's happening to him?" someone shouted.
Osiris just stood there, watching blankly as the man thrashed and bled out, the grass beneath him soaking red.
The guy's screams grew weaker, and within seconds, he crumpled fully. Dead. His body twitching for the last time.
Silence.
Even Kaelyn shut up. Everyone just stared.
Osiris crouched down, took the man's shirt, and calmly wiped the blood off his boots.
Then he stood, turned to the group with a casual expression and a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Alright," he said, clapping his hands once. "New rule. Everyone pulls their weight around here. We're not your parents. You follow orders, no whining. That's how we all get out of this mess fast."
A few people nodded, trembling. Others just stared, wide-eyed.
He took a step forward, voice still cool and collected. "Also, try not to provoke me. I'm short on patience, and none of your lives matter to me. So don't ever question me again. Understood?"
A few gasped. A girl in the back teared up. But every head nodded.
"Perfect," Osiris said cheerfully, almost as if nothing had happened. "Let's get moving. It's not safe here."
Everyone scrambled.
Elira started channeling her mana, freezing the chunks of meat Ael passed to her with steady hands. Together, they worked like clockwork, carving and freezing, then shaping the dome.
Two volunteers—without needing to be told—found rope and fashioned a makeshift sled system to drag the ice container.
Kaelyn and Theron stood guard, still shell-shocked but silent.
Off to the side, Delythera watched everything unfold. Her expression unreadable.
Then she smirked, just a little, a soft laugh leaving her lips.
"Well... I think I like him even more now," she murmured to herself.
___
Elira had finished sealing the last chunk of meat into the frosty dome, a thick mist swirling off her fingertips as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Ael was crouched nearby, casually scraping blood off one of the knives using a leaf like he was cleaning a paintbrush, not a blade that had butchered a mutated bird. His sleeves were rolled up, forearms spotted with crimson and glinting in the light.
Kaelyn paced near the edge of the group, glancing over her shoulder now and then. "We need a headcount," she muttered. "And we need to figure out formation. We can't just stumble through the forest like a bunch of idiots."
Theron crossed his arms. "Agreed. I'll take rear guard with two others."
"I'll take the front." Osiris said plainly, arms folded. His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chatter like a razor.
No one objected.
Elira straightened up and walked over. "The meat's frozen solid. We'll need two people to drag it, and someone to keep the rope from tangling. It's not light."
"Cool," Osiris said. "Volunteers?"
Dead silence.
Of course.
He scanned them slowly. Half of them were pretending to tie shoelaces they weren't wearing. Others were suddenly fascinated by the sky.
He raised a brow. "I'm not going to ask again."
Kaelyn's hand shot up. "I'll help drag it."
"Me too," muttered Theron, stepping beside her. "We're already halfway in this mess, might as well commit."
A murmur of relief swept through the group. Until Osiris pointed to a lanky guy near the back. The same guy who tried defending the "royals should do everything" logic.
"You. You're rope duty."
The guy blinked. "Huh?"
"You heard me."
He looked like he was about to protest again—then remembered the bloody corpse that used to be his buddy. "Y-yeah. Okay. Sure."
Del floated lazily above them, legs crossed midair like she was lounging on a couch. "Oh, now that's efficiency. See what a little corpse can do for morale?"
Osiris didn't respond, but the faint smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth was enough to make her grin widen.
Ael walked up beside him, still all sunshine and softness. "You didn't have to kill him, you know."
Osiris turned slightly, eyes locked on the path ahead. "Didn't have to. Wanted to. He annoyed me."
Ael tilted his head. "You're interesting."
Osiris shot him a sideways glance. "You're not so simple yourself."
Del hovered lower, clearly eavesdropping. "Boys, please. At least flirt properly if you're gonna keep up this tension."
Osiris groaned.
Kaelyn returned, hauling a long, thick vine she'd ripped down from a tree. "This'll work as a makeshift rope. We're latching the ice dome to it now."
Theron walked past with a chain he scavenged off an old fence, tossing it beside the vine. "More reinforcement."
"Good," Osiris said. "We move in ten."
"Where exactly are we going?" someone finally asked, timidly.
"There's a ridge northwest," Theron answered, pointing. "Old satellite tower. If it's still standing, we might get signal. Or at least a higher vantage point."
"Then we head there," Osiris said simply. "No detours. We avoid fighting unless we have to. And if anything attacks us…" He looked toward the melting blood puddle still staining the earth. "Well. You already know."
Everyone shuffled to their places. The vibe was tense. Controlled. Like they were all walking around a sleeping bear.
As they set off, Del hovered beside Osiris.
"You know, I think you're finally embracing your inner tyrant."
"Don't push it."
She grinned. "What? I'm proud of you. That whole 'we're not your parents' line? Iconic."
He didn't respond.
Del floated backward, upside down now, her long white hair swaying like seaweed. "Still don't like Ael?"
Osiris's eyes narrowed, watching the boy ahead of him—who was calmly carrying three ropes and humming a little tune under his breath like they weren't in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
"He's unpredictable."
" aren't you?."
"That's not the same."
"He doesn't want to hurt anyone. He's just... not built right."
"Exactly."
Del's smile faded just a little. "You're going to need him, you know. Eventually."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
A beat.
"Osiris." Her voice dropped, low and steady.
He finally looked at her.
Del's crimson eyes locked with his. "You think you're the most dangerous thing here. But he... he's not held together by logic or survival instinct. He acts on something else. That kind of person doesn't snap. They shatter."
Osiris said nothing for a while.
Then: "Good. If he shatters, I'll be there to sweep up the pieces."
Del blinked, then cracked up. "fuck, you're dramatic. You ever think about writing poetry?"
He grunted. "Don't start."
And just like that, they moved through the ruins. Quiet. Controlled. Like wolves with a plan.