It was quiet.
The kind of quiet that only follows extreme violence.
The kind that even birds avoid, because they've collectively decided "nope, not worth it."
Nyxar and Vespera were still standing there, serene as ever, dripping in blood that absolutely wasn't theirs.
Behind them, the Umbrajaguar looked like it had gone ten rounds with a blender and lost.
No one spoke.
No one breathed.
The forest held its breath too, because it, like the rest of us, was afraid of getting involved.
Then Ember finally broke the silence.
Ember: "Okay. I'm just gonna… ask it. What did you two kill this time?"
Nyxar: "Assassins."
Vespera: [Head tilt, blood still glistening on her chin] "What are assassins?"
Nyxar: "People who want to kill Belos."
Vespera: "Ohhh, okay. Makes sense."
She said it so casually you'd think she was identifying a type of mushroom.
Ember blinked. Twice.
Ember: "Huh. I guess… we're doing our job then?"
Before she could mentally process what "job" meant in this context, Sylas finally found his voice—well, more accurately, he lost it spectacularly.
Sylas: "WHAT—WHAT JOB?! THEY JUST MURDERED A PERSON!"
Nyxar: "Multiple."
Sylas: "WHAT?!"
Vespera: "Multiple people."
There was an ominous grrrr from the dead Umbrajaguar's corpse.
Everyone stared at it.
The growl faded.
Sylas: "Did… did it just agree with you?!"
Ember: "Honestly, wouldn't be surprised at this point."
Sylas: "Okay, hold on—WHAT JOB ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Ember: "Right, right! So, me and Nyxar—or, uh, mostly me, Nyxar just kinda nodded—are escorting Belos."
Sylas: "Escorting?"
Ember: "Yeah, so the kid's being hunted by assassins. Which we kinda found out after… um…"
Cue the world's most uncomfortable flashback:
Midnight. Ember's cabin.
A small figure sneaks in through the window.
Nyxar, in full sleep-deprived silence, appears behind him like a ghost and almost slits his throat before Ember screams, "WAIT THAT'S A CHILD."
Cue chaos. Cue crying. Cue Nyxar vanishing into the woods and returning with four bodies. Two still alive. One interrogation later, those two decided death was preferable and took care of that themselves.
Flashback over.
Ember: "…So, yeah. Turns out he was being hunted by assassins. So we're protecting him while taking him to the next kingdom. That's the job."
[Gestures to the fancy butler adjusting his gloves by the carriage.]
"That's Sebastian. Belos's master-slash-chaperone."
Sebastian nodded politely, completely unfazed that two humanoid killing machines were dripping on his shoes.
Sylas: "Oh! Okay, okay, so that's—WAIT. THE NEXT KINGDOM OVER?!"
Ember: "Yup!"
Sylas: "Oh, hella no! We are SO going back!"
Vespera: "No. This is better than being in a cave all day and talking to you."
Sylas: "Okay, one—ow, that hurt. And two—you can have fun outside without crossing an entire kingdom!"
From up front, the driver (who had clearly accepted death as part of his employment contract) timidly raised his hand.
Driver: "Uh, if I may interrupt, sir? The miss and her companions boarded a while back. We're already several hours past that point. It's roughly a day or two by carriage to the border. Longer on foot. Also… since the assassins caught up, you're probably all targets now."
There was a pause.
A long, dreadful pause.
Then Sylas's face went through all five stages of grief in three seconds.
Sylas: "...We're what?"
Driver: "Targets."
Sylas: [screams into the void] "GOD DAMMIT!"
Several minutes later…
The carriage rattled down the dirt road again, now escorted by a massive armored Bell Beast and the general sense that everyone had collectively lost control of their lives.
Sylas sat in the carriage, arms crossed, glaring out the window like an angry cat in a rainstorm.
Was he mad? Sad? Emotionally broken?
Unclear. Possibly all three.
Meanwhile, outside, chaos thrived as usual.
Nyxar and Vespera had resumed what could only be described as "playing" with the mini summons—tiny magical recreations of their familiars. There was a mini deer, three mini mantises, and a disturbingly smug mini Umbrajaguar that, by all laws of magic, should not exist.
Bug: "I swear that mini jaguar just winked at me."
Spirit: "It winked because it's CURSED, Bug! That thing's radiating afterlife energy! Put it back in whatever cursed dimension it crawled out of!"
Mini Jaguar: [lets out a tiny growl that sounds like a cat gargling marbles.]
Bug: "SEE?! SEE, IT'S DOING IT AGAIN!"
Spirit: "I'M GETTING HOLY WATER. I DON'T EVEN BELIEVE IN IT, BUT I'M GETTING IT!"
Belos, meanwhile, was sitting nearby, happily making his two mini steel bears bonk heads together like little metallic toddlers. The real Bella followed beside the group, each heavy step punctuated by a low, bell-like chime that somehow made everything feel… almost peaceful.
Almost.
Inside the carriage, Ember and Sebastian were trapped in the world's most painfully awkward small talk.
Ember: "Sooo… uh, how long have you been… butler-ing?"
Sebastian: "All my life, miss."
Ember: "Cool. Cool. Same, but with… fire and chaos."
Sebastian: "...Ah."
[They both nod silently for an awkward eternity.]
inside, Sylas groaned loudly enough to startle a crow.
Sylas: "This is insane. I'm traveling with assassins, a murder spider, a blood wizard, a literal child, two mini steel bears, a Bell Beast the size of a barn, and something that purrs like a blender!"
Ember: "Welcome to the team!"
Sylas: "I hate the team!"
Vespera: [calmly petting the mini jaguar] "He'll adjust."
Nyxar: "Or not."
Narrator: "Statistically speaking, not."
By the time the sun started dipping below the trees, the carriage was rolling along in that strange, uneasy peace the group had mastered—where everyone was technically calm but emotionally unstable.
Bella's bells chimed softly in rhythm with the wheels.
The forest rustled.
And for the briefest moment, the narrator dared to hope maybe—maybe—nothing else would go wrong tonight.
Which, of course, meant something absolutely would.