Alon shakes the guard by the neck, "We're all gonna die!!" he cried out.
"Please-please come down, your highness!" Helios comforted, but then he feels his hair being grabbed, his eyes turn to look at Calamite, "Your highness, I—" before he could speak his words, Calamite joins in with Alon by vehemently shaking the head of the guard, "Ahhh!!" now Helios is crying out in pain.
And while Calamite's eyes swirl in distress, Helios is trying to keep his balance, "I don't want a painful death all over again!!!" Calamite said.
"Again?!" Helios questioned, but before he could ask for more, he had to deal with the huge boulder coming their way, "Urk! Hold tight, your highnesses! I'll get us out of here!" he claimed. With no hands to hold a weapon, he can't slice the boulder in half.
'What do I do?!' Helios thought, sweating buckets as he saw the boulder coming closer and closer, 'What do I do?!—!'
With the boulder coming in closer, Alon and Calamite prepare for the worst, 'Will it feel like the debris falling on top of me?' Alon thought of his second death.
'Will the rough edges of the rock feel like the wolf's fangs sinking into my skin?' Calamite thought of his third life.
The thought of pain aches their head and decidedly hugs the guard around his neck, their back towards the boulder. Gritting their teeth as they wait for the impact, but even after waiting for so long, they hadn't been hit.
In fact, they couldn't hear anything besides a ringing in their ears. They had closed their eyes, so when they opened them slowly, they realized the guard had covered his body for them.
Calamite looks to Alon, his eyes filled with concern, and behind Alon, there was dust and snow mixed together. While from Alon's perspective, he sees the crumbles of rocks behind Calamite.
"Are-are you alright, your highnesses?" Helios asked weakly, panting heavily from the blow before.
Seeing this, Alon and Calamite frowned.
Alon then looks to Calamite, his eyes wrinkled in guilt as he points to the injured man, "I think we should reset to help him out, bro..."
Calamite deadpans, "Really? After everything we've been through?!" he replied, "He's going to be fine!"
Alon gasped, "Don't be so heartless!"
Helios coughed, "His highness, Calamite, says the truth. I will be fine." he smiled, "I promise to take you both to safety, and I will." he claimed, his back aching still from the impact, so when he straightened himself, he had to tighten his jaw.
"Let's continue, alright?" Helios weakly smiled, one foot to another, and he manages himself from stumbling over.
Alon's face contorted, "But—" before he could finish, he was cut off by the guard's painful cough almost immediately.
"Say, what did you mean by reset, your highness?" Helios asked, steadily walking through the thick snow.
Calamite pats his shoulder, earning the guard's attention, "Don't mind my brother, he says nonsense when he's anxious," he sheepishly laughed.
"Ah, I see." Helios nodded, "If it isn't rude, your highnesses, may I ask how you spend your time in this forest?" he asked, deliberately changing the topic to distract the little ones, "You may not know, but I am new to these guard duties, haha..."
Alon frowned, "So the king sent a new guard rather than a more experienced one?" he rolled his eyes at the thought of a caring father, "He must looooves us so much."
Helios flinched, "Ah! No, no! I'm sure the king has its reason to be the one to escort you all." his mind thinking, "I'm sure it's due to my exceptional skills back at my training!" he claimed, his nose sharp and chin lifting, "You guys may not know this but I was deemed as the Grand Sun Blade! I got after subjugating plenty powerful monsters back in my training days." he bragged, his smile lifted in pride.
Calamite smiled, "That's amazing. Tell us more about it!" he said, ignoring the comically hardened frown from Alon's face. It reminded Calamite of one of those comics that exaggerated a character's face for a comedic effect.
"Do you think...the king wants us to be his kids..? Or just wanted to keep up some appearances," a weary smile plastered on Calamite's face.
Helios, slightly bowing his head, "I'm sure the king would want his children back," he claimed, "After all, he wouldn't have sent a guard like me to get you from this awful winter." he sheepishly laughed.
"Pah! Awful winter? The winters we've been experiencing for the past 10 years?" Alon started, gaining attention from both the guard and Calamite. Alon crossed his arms over his chest as he said, "Skilled as you are, there's only one of you. What happens when there's another boulder coming straight at us?"
Helios, surprised, looks away from the child's eyes, 'He has a point...' he thought, then he heard Alon giggle a little.
"He probably wants to see our corpses, not living bodies." Alon said, causing the guard to widen his jaw out of shock, "I mean, it should make sense. The maid abandoned us a few years ago, then the abandoned palace collapsed, and the king must've heard the news about it. Not only that, it took days for you to come get us." Alon taps his head, "Not only that, you're new as well with no one to give back up or support if anything goes wrong." he then looks at Calamite, "Get what I'm saying?"
Calamite frowns, "...sounds like he wants us dead and brought a rookie to check if we were, and if not, then he'd have to get us to the castle."
Helios shakes his head adamantly, "No! That can't be true! If he wants you both dead, wouldn't it be easier for the king to send someone to end it all?" he reasoned, sighing, "But you're right...it doesn't make sense."
It only felt like a few minutes, but when they came to their senses, they saw that they had finally arrived.
The walls are tall and wide, with a small door right across them, and two knights are guarding it.
"We're here." The guard muttered.
"What's up with this door?" Alon questioned, "It's so small...are we at the castle's backyard or something?? For the whole time?"
Helios weakly smiled, "Yeah...I suppose you could say that."
"Now that you mentioned it, don't castles usually be surrounded by cities or towns or something? Outside is all forestry..." Calamite commented.
"Ah! That's because we're at the back of the castle." Helios explains, "The bustling people and tall buildings are way ahead of us."
Alon deadpans, "So we were abandoned, placed by the very back of the castle, and even taking away our maid who delivers food, even if she was rather mean???" he lists, "Mhm, yeah, sure, I'd love to thank my dad who gives me such beautiful hardships."
"Umm, well, I mean, the king does wish for you to come back to the castle. Isn't that important?" Helios defended.
"Great! Now we've been poisoned!" Alon shouted, "You might as well sneak us out of this place and put us somewhere far from this king!"
Helios frowned, "Don't say that! And the king would never allow his children to be poisoned!"
Alon and Calamite looked at each other before looking back at Helios. The boys' faces are filled with every ounce of despair and disbelief.
Alon looked away first, mumbling under his breath, "Tsk, four lives left..."
Helios tilted his head, "What was that?" he asked. "I apologize, I couldn't hear you, your highness." he weakly smiled, "If you're uncomfortable anywhere, I'll adjust as much as I can," he said.
"....Can you become our designated guard?" Calamite asked, "We trust you more than the king right now, and we need an adult to look up to," he claimed, and it swayed Helios.
Helios' lips twitched, "That, I would be honored, your highness!" he beamed up a smile, "I'll do everything I can to protect you both!"
Helios then releases the kids back to the ground, "Come on then, let's get you two inside the castle," he said, leading the two boys where two guards stood, reaching out a token and giving it to one of them.
Alon frowned, "Still think he's the fault that happened." he whispered to his brother, the two observing quietly on the three guards ahead of them, "Why does he need to do that? Shouldn't they know about him? Why does his token need to be checked?" he questioned, only for his brother to hush him up. Irritated, he elbowed his brother, "Don't tell me you actually believed his lies back then?!" he yelled, but in a quieter tone still.
Calamite shrugged, "I'm a little tired right now, but I can just tell he's trustworthy." he leans his head slightly to Alon, "Although, he does lie a lot, but he does it to protect us," he defended.
"Protecting us or making us ignorant." Alon replied, "Remember, we're not kids. We don't need that kind of protection."
Calamite sighed. Just then, Helios turns back to them and waves, "We're set! Let's go in," he announced, and Calamite went up first, leaving Alon to have no choice but to follow as well, though he did not forget to whisper into the ears of his brother.
"Don't eat any more sweets," Alon warned.