Arlenna woke slowly, expecting quiet.
Instead, she heard soft giggles. Whispering. Solace's excited little gasps.
She pushed herself upright and blinked.
Solace lay on her stomach, feet kicking behind her like a kid. Two little children, Wine, the girl, and Dine, the boy, were lying the same way beside her, all of them gathered in a tight circle like they were running a secret club.
They were drawing shapes in the dirt with sticks, little scribbles and drawings of their favorite tree, their house "next to the blue rock," the bakery that smells like berries, the big bridge near their school, and "the nice man with the beard who fixes windows."
Solace was eating it up. Eyes bright. Head bobbing.
She was asking questions like, "Wait, so is it cold? It SOUNDS cold."
The three kids burst into laughter.
"No! It's not cold!"
"It's hot sometimes!"
"It only gets cold when the big river floods!"
"And it's called Frostpeak 'cause the king likes the color white!"
Solace blinked, processing. "...Oh."
Thiago, half-awake and dragging himself out of sleep, muttered, "How do you get up before the sun and immediately adopt two children?"
Solace didn't look away from the dirt drawings. "They're showing me... stuff."
Thiago rubbed his eyes. "What kind of stuff?"
Solace pointed at the ground, dead serious. "Important stuff."
Dine proudly pointed to a dirt drawing, a picture of a chicken wearing a crown.
Solace nodded solemnly at Thiago. "See? Very important."
An hour had passed now. Arlenna finished stirring the pot. She wiped her hands on her pants, glanced over her shoulder, and sighed. Solace was still on the ground with the kids.
"Food," Arlenna called gently.
Wine and Dine scrambled over immediately. Solace didn't. She lifted her head, sniffed once, and made a face.
"Is it... mushy?"
Arlenna didn't bother answering. Her expression was the answer.
Solace flopped back onto her stomach. "Pass."
Arlenna rolled her eyes but didn't push it. Solace never ate stew, or soup, or anything soft. Or meat. Or anything that felt "weird" or "too warm" or "too spongy." Arlenna and Thiago had accepted it by now. One cooked for the group, the other cooked for the kids, and Solace ate her own rotation of fruit, nuts, dried vegetables, and anything crunchy enough to break teeth.
Thiago sat cross-legged by the fire, rummaging through his pouch, muttering to himself.
"I know I had it... I know I had three bags... where is—oh."
He pulled out a tiny, shrunken packet the size of a coin.
Arlenna smirked. "You keep losing things in your own inventory."
Thiago shrugged. "When you can shrink half a pantry into a handful of marbles, things get... complicated."
He tapped the tiny packet against his palm. It expanded to the size of his head. He tore it open and tossed Solace a handful of dried fruit.
She perked up immediately. "YES."
She popped a piece into her mouth like it was treasure. "See? This is real food."
Thiago rolled his eyes but looked pleased. "Good thing I packed extra," he said. "You burn through this stuff like oxygen."
Solace grinned, cheeks puffed like a chipmunk. "Fruits never betray you."
Thiago raised an eyebrow. "I might betray you if I run out."
Solace paused mid-chew. "You wouldn't."
Thiago hesitated. "...I might lose the bag, though."
Arlenna laughed. "You'd lose your actual arm if you could shrink it."
Thiago opened his mouth to argue, then shut it. "...Okay, fair."
Solace crawled over, dragging the fruit pouch with her. She tugged on Arlenna's sleeve.
"Hey. Try this one."
Arlenna leaned down, curious. Solace fed her a piece.
Arlenna's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. That's actually... good."
Thiago squinted. "I didn't think you'd like that flavor."
Solace shrugged. "It's not mushy."
Arlenna smiled softly. This part always got her. Solace wouldn't cook the group meals, but she would help with everything else: tents, firewood, carrying kids, scouting paths, patching blankets. And when it came to food Solace could eat, she always shared without question.
Solace nudged Arlenna again. "You made food," she said, voice warm. "Thank you."
Arlenna nodded. "Someone has to keep you alive."
Thiago added, mouth full, "Barely."
Solace stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his back. Arlenna shook her head.
"I swear, it's like I'm raising children."
"But I come with free fruit," Solace said proudly.
Thiago held up the pouch. "Correction, shrunk fruit."
Arlenna grinned. "You know, you should fix that disaster you call an inventory."
Thiago frowned. "What disaster?"
Arlenna pointed. Solace pointed. Wine and Dine pointed.
Thiago looked at them, betrayed. "Traitors."
Solace laughed, loud, unguarded, real, and the kids laughed with her. Just a strange little crew having breakfast in the woods.
Later, as the kids still ate, the three crew members sat together.
"We avoid big towns," Arlenna said. "Every checkpoint has DOPO. Every tavern has rumors."
"Frostpeak Dwelling's safe enough, but I'd rather not meet anyone important," Thiago said. "Stay small. Quiet."
Solace nodded. She was rubbing her ribs, still in pain, still listening.
"We'll just rest, resupply, and go," Solace spoke softly. "Then get the kids home."
Arlenna agreed. "No roads. No guards. No crowds. We stick to the forest line and circle in."
"Just don't draw attention," Thiago said.
All three nodded, sharing the same silent agreement. A good plan. A careful plan. A smart plan.
They packed quickly. Arlenna divided the last of the food into rations. Thiago shrank their supplies, tucking dried fruit into Solace's hands, enough to last her hours without fuss.
Wine and Dine helped in the only ways kids could, holding sticks, carrying pebbles, proudly guarding Solace's fruit like it was treasure.
When everything was ready, Solace knelt and tied Wine's boot.
"You two stay between us. No wandering."
Wine nodded hard. Dine copied her, a beat late.
They set off, Solace leading, Arlenna guarding the rear, Thiago walking beside the kids, one hand on his pouch at all times.
The moment the group stepped past the tree line, the entire energy changed.
Frostpeak soil was different. Dark, rich, packed, cold on the surface. The instant Solace's boot touched it, someone saw.
They walked along the edge of the forest, thinking they were being cautious, thinking they were invisible.
They had no idea Frostpeak Dwelling didn't use DOPO. It didn't have soldiers patrolling the borders. It didn't need them.
Frostpeak had watchers. Not guards. Not fighters. Just locals, farmers, hunters, traders, who volunteered to keep an eye on the outer paths for simple things. lost travelers, storms rolling in, bandits creeping too close, injured wildlife, and most importantly, missing children.
They weren't trained. They weren't armed. But they cared.
One of them, a middle-aged man with steady hands and sharp eyes, was sitting on a rock near the treeline when he noticed movement.
At first, he thought it was just another group of travelers. As they stepped fully into the light, he went still.
Two small silhouettes he knew instantly. Wine and Dine. Children whose posters he had helped hang only a week ago. Children whose father rode through here every day searching for them. Children the whole kingdom had been quietly praying for.
And walking with them, a girl in mustard yellow. Hair wild. Eyes bright. Face unmistakable.
Solace.
Her arena broadcast had already reached Frostpeak that morning. No one here knew the full story, only that a girl had defied a king and saved children who weren't even hers.
The watcher stared, heart hammering. "...No way."
This was important. Too important for him to handle.
In Frostpeak, there was one rule for situations like this, a rule older than DOPO itself. If missing children are found, or someone of potential royal interest appears, you report directly to the castle. Not the town. Not the market. Not the outpost.
The King.
So the watcher didn't wave, didn't call out, didn't approach.
He turned on his heel, sprinted for his horse, and kicked up a spray of dirt as he bolted down the nearest road. He took the fastest trail up the mountainside himself.
By the time Solace and the crew crossed the river into Frostpeak's outer farms, King Wonek already knew.
Inside the Frostpeak Dwelling castle, a messenger knelt. "My King, the missing children have been seen."
The King stood immediately.
The messenger swallowed. "And... the ones who rescued them... are the ones from the Asteria incident."
Silence.
"Take me to them."
He thought, These are the kids' rescuers. And DOPO will be right behind them. If they enter my land, I am responsible.
The Pinnacle Crew moved through the trees slow and careful, doing everything right, keeping to the shade, footsteps light, voices barely above whispers despite the bright daylight.
Or so they thought.
"We're doing good. No one's seen us," Solace whispered.
Thiago nodded like a general approving a strategy. Arlenna adjusted her blades, scanning the woods.
Nothing moved. No alarms. No DOPO. No noise except birds and wind.
Safe.
Or so they thought.
Every step they took, every branch they avoided, every pause they made to check the map they didn't have, someone was already watching them.
Not from up close. Not from the trees.
From miles away.
A lone Frostpeak watcher, the same one who had sprinted off earlier, stood with a courier at the ridge, pointing down through the forest.
"There," he said, breathless, still wild-eyed. "They're right where I said. The two kids. And... her."
The truth was, the watcher's directions only got them halfway.
What really confirmed the location were the birds.
Frostpeak's crows, jays, and snowfinches circled above the treeline, not controlled, not commanded, just responding. King Wonek never used power on wildlife. He didn't have to. He fed them. He talked to them. He treated them like neighbors.
When he asked them, softly, to keep an eye out for two missing children, they listened.
A pair of black-feathered crows dipped low over the forest, circling in a tight pattern, a Frostpeak signal as old as the kingdom itself. A simple message.
Found.
The courier saw it first. "My King... the birds confirm it."
News traveled fast in Frostpeak. Even faster to the King.
Which meant, right now, while Solace, Thiago, and Arlenna crouched behind fallen logs thinking they were undetectable, a massive man on horseback was already thundering toward them.
They had no idea.
Arlenna crouched low, whispering, "Stay quiet. We avoid contact. No people. No patrols."
Thiago nodded, shifting his weapon. Solace tugged Wine and Dine closer.
Everything seemed fine.
Until—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The ground shook in slow, heavy rhythm.
Thiago's head snapped up. Arlenna stiffened.
"Please be a deer. Please be a deer. Please be a deer..." Solace whispered.
It was not a deer.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Closer.
Arlenna stepped in front of Solace, blocking her with a sharp, protective motion. Thiago raised his spear.
The trees rustled. Branches groaned. A massive man stepped through the line of pines.
He stood around six foot seven, built like someone carved from lumber rather than raised among people. Broad chest, thick arms scarred by years of real work, not battle drills. His clothes were patched by hand, worn from long days and weathered seasons. His boots were caked in mud meant for fields, not arenas.
Short dark-blonde hair , and a stubbly beard shadowed his jaw, giving him a rugged, honest look. Every part of him said strength without showmanship, power without trying.
He looked like the kind of man who could lift a tree if he really needed to.
On his head, a crooked, iron royal crown.
Solace blinked. "...That's a king?"
"No king dresses like that," Thiago whispered.
"...He's huge," Arlenna said.
The crown slid over his eyebrow. He grunted. "Ah, damn thing."
He casually plucked it off his head and clipped it to his hip like it was a wrench.
Before anyone could react, King Wonek dropped to one knee. Both hands open. Head lowered. No weapons. No armor. Just respect.
Arlenna froze mid-step. Thiago almost dropped his spear. Solace's mouth fell open completely.
"I don't want a fight. I don't want trouble. You're injured. You're hunted. You brought children home. That's all I need to know," Wonek said, voice low, steady, sincere.
He lifted his eyes. "You're safe here."
Slowly, very slowly, Wonek rose to his feet. The crew didn't relax, not at first.
Thiago's spear was still half-raised. Arlenna's stance stayed tight. Solace's shoulders were coiled, ready to shift density at any second.
Wonek noticed all of it. He rubbed the back of his neck, nodding like he expected the reaction.
"I know who those children are," he said gently. "Wine and Dine. Their father is a Mender, one of the best healers we have. If someone breaks a bone, he fixes it. If someone's dying, he pulls them back. When the kingdom hurts, he's the one who puts it right again."
Wine perked up. Dine gasped.
Solace narrowed her eyes, still not convinced. "Then why don't they recognize you?"
Wonek blinked, then laughed, an easy, rumbling sound. "Oh, they would. It's just been a while."
He turned to the children. "Hey, remember when I let you two eat an entire cart of frost-sweets before your father caught you?"
Wine froze. Dine lit up.
"THE CANDY MAN!!"
Both kids tackled his leg like he was some kind of festival mascot.
Solace, Arlenna, and Thiago just stared.
"...Candy man?" Solace whispered, confused.
"The title stuck," Wonek said with a shrug.
The tension finally cracked. Arlenna lowered her blade slightly. Thiago relaxed his shoulders. Solace's breathing evened out.
They all began talking at once.
"How long have the kids been gone?"
"Are you sure we're safe here?"
"You don't look like a king"
"Where's their father now?"
"Why didn't DOPO come find them?"
Wonek raised both hands, chuckling. "One at a time. I promise, Frostpeak Dwelling isn't your enemy."
Solace's guard lowered just an inch.
That was when it hit.
A deep horn blast rolled over the trees. Not a Frostpeak sound.
A DOPO horn.
Solace jolted, heart cracking open in panic. She stepped back, density spiking in her legs.
"It's a setup," she yelled. "I knew it..."
Arlenna reacted first. She didn't hesitate. She grabbed Wine and Dine by their shoulders and pulled them behind her, shielding their bodies with her own. Her blades were out before Solace even blinked.
Thiago moved next. He stepped directly in front of Solace, spear forward, posture locked, like he expected the entire DOPO force to crash through the woods at any second.
Solace staggered back a half-step, stunned at how fast they moved around her, protecting her.
"Don't move," Thiago murmured to her, not looking away from the trees. "Not until we know what direction they're coming from."
"They're close. Too close," Arlenna said, voice low and sharp.
Another horn blared, closer this time, vibrating the ground.
Wine whimpered. Dine pressed against her leg, terrified.
Red patches shimmered through the trees before the sound even reached them.
Then, thud after thud, boots and armor.
A full DOPO Crown Guard unit dropped in from all angles, white patches blinking between the trees as they closed the circle.
Boots hit the ground. Helmets turned in unison. Shields locked.
Stepping forward ahead of them all, one Cross-Kingdom officer stood with a stance sharper than the rest.
"By continental protocol, we demand you hand over—" he began.
King Wonek stood.
No crown. No armor. Just a giant mountain of a man with rolled-up sleeves, mud on his boots, and the confidence of someone who had never lost on his own soil.
"I don't care whose jurisdiction it is," Wonek said, voice steady. "You don't own this soil. You don't govern these people. You don't command my kingdom."
"...holy shit," Arlenna whispered under her breath.
Wonek kept walking, slow and deliberate, until the DOPO line was forced to back up.
"You can leave," he said plainly, "or you can test me."
Silence.
The Cross-Kingdom officer looked at him, then at the terrain, then at the two rescued children standing behind him. He recalculated everything.
"Understood. We will return with updated orders," he said at last.
They pulled back, retreating into the trees, red armor flickering between branches until they were gone.
The forest breathed again.
Wonek turned back to the crew and finally noticed they were all staring at him like he had just chased off a hurricane.
"What?" he grunted.
"You just scared off DOPO," Arlenna said.
"If they want a fight, they can try again with steadier hands," Wonek replied with a shrug.
"...I like him," Solace said softly.
"He's terrifying," Thiago muttered.
"Same thing," Solace answered.
Everyone started heading toward the castle.