The forest trail was soft beneath Axel's boots, carpeted with leaves and old moss. Sunlight shimmered through the high canopy in broken shafts, dancing across the path like liquid gold.
Kyra sat on his shoulders, arms draped lazily around his helmet.
But something was... off.
She wasn't humming like usual. Or kicking her legs. Or babbling about animals she'd never seen.
Her cheeks puffed out. Her brows were furrowed in deep, heroic concentration.
Axel raised an eyebrow behind his visor. "You good?"
Kyra squirmed slightly. "...No."
"Talk to me."
She groaned and tapped her knuckles against the top of his helmet. "I think I'm dying."
"That bad, huh?"
"It's the meat," she said solemnly. "I ate too much meat yesterday. My belly is fighting a war."
Axel couldn't help it, he chuckled. "You're not dying. You just need to poop."
"I tried! But it's stuck! I don't think goblins were made to eat bear ribs and lizard jerky and lava beans all in one day!"
She squeezed his head slightly. "I feel it coming though. Like... like thunder in the mountains."
Axel sighed. "Alright. Let's set up base camp, Poop General."
He gently lifted her off his shoulders and set her down beside the trail. She held her stomach and waddled toward a nearby bush, eyeing it with great suspicion.
Then paused.
Turned.
Her eyes wide and pleading.
"Axel…"
"Yeah?"
She stuck a small green hand through the bush. "I'm scared. Hold my hand?"
He looked up at the sky for a long moment, then knelt beside the bush, his armoured gloved hand reaching through.
Her tiny fingers gripped his hard.
Then the straining began.
Long.
Drawn-out.
Labored like a dying mule.
Axel tried to keep a straight face.
"You know," he said calmly, "if you push too hard, you can get hemorrhoids."
"What's that?, is it a food?" she gasped.
"It's not food."
"Oh." She grunted. "Okay. That's disappointing."
Another minute passed.
Then two.
A small groan of pure agony. "Uggghh... wait... wait... I think it's out!"
She released his hand dramatically.
"You can go now! I have to wipe with some leaves. Alone. With honor."
"Understood," Axel said, rising like a solemn guardian.
A few minutes later, she re-emerged from the foliage like a battle-worn soldier. Hair a bit messy. Eyes squinting at the sun. She held up a clean-ish hand and took his.
They walked on.
Silence for a while.
Then Axel glanced down. "Not riding anymore? Thought your feet were gonna fall off."
Kyra frowned, cheeks red. "They're fine."
"Really?"
She nodded quickly. Then muttered, "My butt hurts more."
Axel barked out a laugh. A deep one, like gravel and joy.
Kyra smiled in embarrassment but didn't let go of his hand.
And so they continued down the trail, hand in hand, child and Exterminator, one lighter from her burden, the other heavier with his own.
The wind whispered through the trees again.
But this time, it sounded like laughter.
They crested a low hill, and the trees opened to a valley carved with wonder.
Floating lanterns drifted lazily through the air. Buildings twisted upward like vines, their roofs covered in silver moss and glowing runes. A lake shimmered at the village's center, and suspended above it, a crystal orb spun slowly in place, reflecting the sky like a second sun.
Witches and wizards walked in pairs and trios along curved stone paths, their robes a mix of color and elegance, trailing embroidered sigils. They spoke softly, laughing, sharing books, or debating over the fine points of alchemical theory.
As Axel stepped forward, helmet still on, his armored form clanking softly, heads began to turn.
Not at Kyra.
But at him.
A ripple of tension passed through the crowd.
Someone whispered, "A demon..."
Another, louder, "Get the wards."
Axel narrowed his eyes beneath the helmet.
Kyra noticed the shift and gently tugged his hand.
"They're not talking about me," she said calmly.
Axel glanced down. "That's a first."
Kyra smiled. "Wizards and witches know the truth. Goblins, ogres, trolls, we're smart. We love stories. Learning. My uncle was friends with a warlock once. He brought scrolls to our cave. Trolls built their own calendar system, you know?"
"They don't think you're diseased or dirty?" Axel asked.
Kyra shook her head. "Nope. They respect the savage races."
Axel smiled beneath his visor. The warmth caught him off guard.
"Good," he said. "You deserve to be somewhere like this."
But the moment cracked.
A ring of cloaked figures emerged from between buildings. Robes of blue and violet. Wands and staffs at the ready. Glyphs shimmered in the air around them, hovering defensive circles, charged with power.
In seconds, Axel was surrounded.
He didn't move. But his fingers slipped toward his greatsword.
From among the robed figures stepped a man taller than the rest.
His cloak shimmered like oil and fire. Long gray hair tied behind a head adorned with antler-shaped ornaments made of starlight crystal. His eyes burned gold, not with light, but with layered, ancient power.
Grandmaster Maldrith Arcane.
Keeper of the Arcane Oath. Lord of the Hidden Reach.
He stepped forward, his voice smooth as velvet, sharp as frost.
"So… the demon finally finds our hidden village."
Axel's stance tightened. "I'm not a demon."
Maldrith's eyes narrowed. "You wear steel shaped by death. Carry the name of the Black Wolf. You smell of extinction. I have seen the trails your kind leave, ashes where children used to sleep."
Kyra stepped forward quickly. "He's not like them! He saved me...!"
Maldrith raised one hand gently, not in anger, but with solemnity.
"I see the goblin child is unharmed. I will not harm her."
Then his gaze returned to Axel.
"But I won't be killed without a fight."
His staff twisted in his hand, its top erupting in layered rings of sigils. A low hum pulsed through the earth.
His eyes glowed like suns preparing to rise.
Axel's fingers wrapped around the hilt of Iron Howl.
The blade hissed within its housing on his back.
"Then I won't be underestimated," he said, voice cold through the helmet.
A crackle of energy surged through the air.
The two powers stood, locked in a silent moment of rising storm.
And from behind Axel, Kyra whispered...
"Please… don't hurt each other."