Power rippled between them.
Grandmaster Maldrith Arcane stood tall, eyes glowing brighter with each heartbeat, staff humming like a rising storm.
Axel's grip tightened on Iron Howl, armor systems humming with readiness, prepared to counter spells and cut through arcane shields.
Kyra clutched his arm. "Please don't fight… please..."
Then...
A clear, commanding voice cut through the tension like a knife through silk.
"Father, stop."
From between the robed spellcasters stepped a young witch in her twenties, her presence radiant and sharp.
She wore a long coat of dark violet silk threaded with glowing emerald runes. Her hair, deep obsidian, was tied into a high braid, swaying behind her like a tail of ink. Her left eye burned with green magic, a rune etched around it like a tear of power.
Name: Sylthea Arcane
Daughter of the Grandmaster.
Heir to the Hidden Reach.
She walked straight between Axel and her father, raising a hand toward each.
Maldrith didn't lower his staff but he hesitated.
"Look at him," Sylthea said, her voice cutting across the crowd. "He's holding the hand of a goblin child. And she's smiling."
The gathered witches murmured.
"No human would ever do that. No Exterminator ever has."
Axel watched her with caution, still coiled, but curious.
Sylthea turned slightly, addressing both sides now. "I've seen battlefields. I've seen humans in the firestorms. They don't talk. They burn. But this one? He's shown no aggression. He only reached for his sword after we surrounded him like a beast."
"He could be a scout," Maldrith replied coldly. "Using the child as a cover to get inside our defenses."
Several wizards grunted in agreement. Old wounds flared like open embers. The memories of fallen villages, scorched relics, poisoned sky.
"Our hatred burns for a reason, Sylthea," one said. "They are extinction made flesh."
But Sylthea lifted her chin. "Then explain this, why would a scout touch one of us? Let her ride on his shoulders? Walk through the wilds just to talk to us? Monsters are filth to their kind. You all know this."
Silence.
Then she said something sharper.
"You're all acting like trolls."
Gasps. A few offended coughs.
"We are scholars. Seekers of truth. If we forget how to listen, then we deserve the ignorance they cast on us."
The glow in Maldrith's eyes dimmed a little.
He studied Axel again, longer this time.
Still poised for battle. Still unreadable beneath the helmet. But his stance hadn't shifted since the start. And the goblin girl clung to him with complete trust.
Sylthea lowered her hand slowly. "We hear him out. Then decide."
A beat of heavy silence passed.
Then Maldrith turned slightly, voice rumbling like distant thunder.
"Very well."
He looked at Axel, not yet trusting, but now willing to see.
"Why are you here, Black Wolf?"
Before Axel could speak, Kyra stepped forward, hand still in his, chin up.
"We're here to get stronger," she said clearly. "So we can defeat the humans."
The words hit the courtyard like a lightning strike.
Mouths opened. Whispers erupted. One witch dropped her staff.
Even Maldrith flinched.
Sylthea blinked, stunned, but then... she smiled.
Axel raised an eyebrow under the helmet.
We?
He glanced down at Kyra, and something in his chest ached. In a good way.
She looked so sure. So unshaken.
He took a breath. "That's the reason I'm here," Axel said. "She's right. I want her to be able to defend herself. I know monsters can use magic. Humans can't. She deserves a chance."
Maldrith stepped forward again, his staff now dim.
He stared into the reflective visor of the Black Wolf, then down to Kyra's proud face.
"Very well. I'll think on this," the Grandmaster said.
He raised a hand, and the spell circle surrounding Axel collapsed into stardust.
"You'll have your answer tomorrow morning. Until then, you may stay. There is an inn at the village edge. Tell them I sent you."
He glanced at Kyra.
"The child eats and sleeps for free."
Then at Axel.
"You? Only for tonight."
The wizards slowly dispersed, still murmuring.
Axel released his grip from Iron Howl, and Kyra exhaled the breath she'd been holding.
Sylthea lingered, giving Axel a long, measuring look.
"Try not to break anything," she said, half-smiling. "We like our relics where they are."
Axel gave a quiet nod. "I'll try not to get stabbed."
Kyra tugged his hand. "Come on! I want to sleep on a floating bed and eat floating food!"
They walked together toward the glowing heart of the magical village and it was afternoon.
Afternoon shadows stretched long across the village paths as Axel and Kyra walked hand in hand toward the inn.
The village was unlike anything Axel had known, buildings that breathed, bridges made of floating stone, enchanted cats drifting through the air like drowsy spirits. Kyra stared wide-eyed at every wonder.
"That statue just winked at me," she whispered.
"Then don't blink back," Axel muttered.
They passed a pair of young witches giggling over a levitating tea set. A troll scholar hunched under a tree, scribbling complex rune equations on floating paper. The scent of roasted root and skyfruit filled the air.
Kyra tugged Axel's gauntlet. "Can we live here forever?"
He didn't answer. But the thought lingered.
At the heart of the village...
Grandmaster Maldrith stood beside his daughter, eyes scanning the horizon beyond the great crystal lake. The two were silent for a moment, then Maldrith spoke.
"You trust that man."
Sylthea folded her arms. "I trust what I see. A man walking through monster lands, hand in hand with a goblin girl. Who doesn't draw his weapon when magic's pointed at his chest. Who listens when most humans only kill."
"Or deceives when others burn," Maldrith said grimly. "He could still be a key in the lock. The opening before the axe falls."
Sylthea's gaze narrowed. "And if he's the crack in the system? The first fracture in the blade they use to cut us down?"
Before Maldrith could answer, a low hum shivered through the air. The runes in the lake flickered.
A shadow loomed over the village gates.
Five figures emerged from the mist.
Sleek. Terrifying. Coordinated like an elite dance of death.
Each one armored in chrome and duskblack steel. Their helmets gleamed with HUD-glow. Their suits moved with deadly purpose, light-bending cloaks flowing behind them like liquid moonlight.
The one in front bore a skull-like helm and a long pulse halberd across his back.
Blood Reign had arrived.
Maldrith instinctively raised his staff, a barrier forming before him.
But crack...
A streak of blue light tore through the air.
Telric-18's sniper round screamed from the treeline...
And shattered the Grandmaster's staff mid-cast.
The head of the staff exploded in a burst of crystal and light. Maldrith staggered, falling to one knee, shocked more than hurt.
Sylthea rushed to his side. "Father!"
The moment hung, then Maldrith growled, fury in his voice.
"I knew he was a scout."
The leader of the squad stepped forward, casual, unhurried.
"Where's the Black Wolf?" Xarin-09 asked, his voice modulated and metallic.
Nobody answered.
He turned to his team.
"I guess they're not taking us seriously."
He made a simple gesture, two fingers across the neck.
Ekkor-71 blurred forward, a silver streak of rage, claws humming with lightning, aimed straight for Sylthea's throat.
But before he could land a blow...
A howl of metal split the air.
CLANG!
Iron Howl came screaming in from the side...
And slammed into Ekkor's block, the force of it launching him backward through a bench, a wall, and a cluster of enchanted herbs.
Dust exploded.
All heads turned.
The Black Wolf stood between them, armor gleaming like storm-forged obsidian, the massive greatsword humming with raw energy in his hand.
Kyra stood behind him, frightened, watching wide-eyed from a distance.
Xarin stepped forward, halberd now in hand.
"Well, well..." he said. "If it ain't the legendary Black Wolf. Axel 26."
Axel tilted his head. "Took you long enough."
He planted Iron Howl into the ground. Not as a threat, as a challenge.
Xarin grinned beneath the skull-helm. "Still got that edge in your voice. Thought you'd gone soft."
"Not soft," Axel replied. "Just busy."
"Busy cuddling goblins?"
Axel didn't answer.
The rest of the squad approached in formation.
The second-in-command stepped forward, her suit phasing slightly with each movement.
"Vessa-42. Phantom Wraith."
She gave a cold nod. "Second in command."
"Telric-18. Ridgewalker."
The sniper gave a slight two-fingered salute from afar, railgun already reloading.
"Kreeva-66. Bleeding Seraph."
She twirled her wrist blades. "Still fast, Axel? Let's find out."
"Ekkor-71. Storm Ravager," came the growl from the rubble, dragging himself up with a sneer. "You owe me a jawbone."
Then Xarin stepped into center once more.
"Xarin-09," he said. "Dusk Tyrant. Leader of Blood Reign."
He pointed the halberd forward.
"And we're here to kill you for defecting."