When consciousness returned, Kai was awakened by a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs.
He struggled to open his eyes. What greeted him was a simple tent made of animal hides. Thin shafts of daylight filtered through the vent at the top, while the howling wind and snow could still be heard outside. Beneath him lay thick reindeer pelts, warmth slowly spreading along his spine and driving away the bone-deep cold. The positioning crystal at his neck was still slightly warm. The pocket watch rested quietly against his chest, the glow of the two Starcore fragments having settled, no longer surging restlessly as before.
"You're awake?" Ironhammer's voice came from nearby, a little hoarse.
Kai turned his head and saw the dwarf sitting by a campfire, holding a smoothly polished wooden stick as he stirred a clay pot filled with herbs. His arm was wrapped in thick bandages, dark red blood faintly seeping through the edges—clearly the laser burn from earlier.
"We… survived?" Kai asked, his voice unbearably dry, his throat feeling as if it had been scraped by sandpaper.
Ironhammer grinned and handed him the pot. "Drink it. Elven healing herbs—Linor left them behind before she went. Works far better than my strong liquor."
Kai took the pot. The warm liquid slid down his throat, and a wave of heat spread instantly through his body, easing much of the aching pain in his limbs. He looked around but did not see the guardian dragon, and tension rose in his chest.
"The dragon—where is it? Is it alright?"
"Relax. That old fellow's tough," Ironhammer said, pointing outside the tent. "It was badly injured, but it held on long enough to protect us. It's outside now, recovering. Those guards who escaped won't dare come back anytime soon. We're safe for now."
Kai finally let out a breath of relief and looked down at his own palm. A lingering heat from the Starcore energy still remained. The image of hurling the wrench flashed through his mind, leaving his emotions tangled. It was the first time he had truly fused magic with technology. The destructive power both awed him—and unsettled him.
"Don't overthink it," Ironhammer said, as if reading his thoughts. "Power itself isn't right or wrong. What matters is how you use it. You used it to protect us and to protect the Starcore fragments. That's enough."
Kai nodded and drained the rest of the herbal medicine. He struggled to sit up and noticed the meteor-iron wrench lying beside him. Faint blue light still lingered along its engraved runes. When he reached out and grasped it, a familiar surge of energy returned—gentler than before.
"Oh, right. There's something else for you." Ironhammer pulled a crumpled parchment scroll from his chest pocket and handed it over. "Found it in Victor's mech cockpit. It was hidden in the inside pocket of his suit—looks important."
Kai took the parchment and carefully unrolled it. Dense lines of strange symbols covered the page, written in an obscure script. It was neither the common language of the Eros Continent nor the elven tongue of Aurora. He frowned, staring at it for a long time without recognizing a single character.
"What language is this?" Kai asked.
Ironhammer shook his head. "I don't know either. But these symbols look a bit like the ancient runes I saw in old dwarven texts when I was young—just far more complex." He paused, then added, "Victor kept this hidden all along. It must be connected to the Starcore fragments—maybe even clues to the final fragment."
Kai's heart leapt. The whereabouts of the last Starcore fragment had always been their greatest challenge. If they could decipher this secret message, it might hold the key.
He clenched the parchment tightly, his fingers tracing the unfamiliar runes as he silently resolved to uncover their meaning no matter what.
Just then, a crisp bird call suddenly sounded outside the tent.
Kai and Ironhammer exchanged glances, both instantly alert. The extreme northern icefields were desolate—how could there be birds?
Ironhammer gripped his ice-breaking axe. Kai picked up the meteor-iron wrench. Together, they moved toward the tent entrance and lifted the hide curtain.
The wind and snow had eased considerably. Sunlight broke through the clouds, gilding the endless white icefields in gold. Standing on the snow outside was a pure-white owl, tilting its head as it looked at them. A small bamboo tube was tied to its talon.
"A messenger bird? No—an owl!" Ironhammer exclaimed. "This is how the elves send secret messages. They only use it for important news."
Kai stepped forward and carefully removed the bamboo tube from the owl's talon. Inside was a rolled slip of paper. He unrolled it and immediately recognized Linor's familiar handwriting:
Ambushed in the volcanic interior. The fragment was taken. The enemy is—
The message ended abruptly. The ink had smeared, as if something sudden had happened while it was being written.
Kai's face turned pale in an instant.
Linor had been ambushed. The fragment was stolen.
Ironhammer read the note as well, his dark face heavy with worry. "Damn it. Victor's people must have been watching the volcanic interior all along. Linor… she may be in serious danger."
Kai clenched the note, his knuckles turning white. He remembered Linor's expression when she left, the focus potion she had handed him. A surge of guilt rose within him. If he hadn't agreed to split up, Linor wouldn't have been put in danger.
"We have to save her," Kai said. His voice trembled slightly, but his resolve was unshakable.
Ironhammer nodded solemnly. "The volcanic interior is at the southern end of the Aurora Continent. We'll need to find a way back first. But before that, we must figure out what those ancient runes in this secret letter actually say."
Kai looked at the parchment in his hand, then at the unfinished message on the note. A vague sense of unease settled in his heart.
The enemy Linor had encountered was likely more than just Victor's people.
And this secret letter might be the key to unraveling everything.
The wind swept across the icefields once more, lifting snow into the air and rattling against the tent with a soft hiss. The sunlight vanished behind the clouds, and the world sank back into gloom.
A new crisis was quietly drawing near.