Leon wore the same grey, worn-out robes, but his staff was new—sleek, spear-like, topped with an amethyst crystal that caught the dim light.

  Jorguh, now that I got a proper look at him, was exactly what I expected—and not at all.

  Long, messy red hair. Even longer, messier red beard. Heavy plate armor, runes scorched across the surface, glowing like embers.

  A Royal Dwarf, no doubt. One of the cursed kin from Deeporb, the northern city. The runes let them mimic magic—fire, stone, frost. But true magic? That was lost to them. Their curse stripped them of the arcane, made them immune to it in return.

  And of course, red hair and fire runes. Cliché, I thought.

  Still. He carried a warhammer. A big one. I liked that.

  Leliana stepped forward.

  "Here they—"

  "Well, you look like piss," Jorguh cut in, voice rough and deep.

  Leon opened his mouth.

  "I'm just glad—"

  Jorguh sniffed. Actually sniffed me.

  "You smell like piss too," he muttered, chuckling.

  Leliana stayed silent, arms crossed, enjoying the show.

  I sighed. "I assume we haven't officially met. Let me introdu—"

  "Oi. My momma gave birth to a mouth," Jorguh interrupted, stepping right into my space. "Name’s Rockcut. Jorguh Rockcut. And yeah, I do cut rocks."

  I was starting to dislike him already. Too rough, too loud.

  "The pleasure is mine. I am—"

  "You’re the blockhead snow-sniffer that saved my ass and got his and his little sister's ass handed to them." Jorguh grinned. "Now I’m here to get you back to snow-sniffing."

  I wasn’t even sure if I should be offended. Never heard someone call me a snow-sniffer before.

  "Jorguh, please," Leon said, ever the polite one. "We were called here. We owe Koch here your life."

  Leliana just smiled. She was enjoying this.

  I wasn’t. I had questions.

  "Let’s skip this dull conversation," I muttered. "I have questions. You have answers."

  Leon nodded.

  "Answers? All I have are two giant stones in my pants that need a release," Jorguh quipped, turning to Leliana.

  Leon smacked him upside the head.

  Leliana wrinkled her nose. "Disgusting."

  Jorguh just smiled.

  "Enough of this," I snapped.

  Surprisingly, Jorguh’s expression changed. Was that... gratitude? Hard to tell.

  "First question," I said, turning to Leon. "Did you use your healing magic on me?"

  Leon nodded.

  "Of course. But by the time I got to you, it was too late for it to have any sudden effect. My magic’s weak against wounds like yours—especially after you’d been lying there for a day without treatment."

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  A day.

  I gave myself credit for that.

  "Jorguh," I said, shifting my focus. "You used your runes to heat yourself in that cold?"

  "Just barely." He shuddered. "That cold bit my insides. You fucker."

  I almost smiled. Almost.

  "What happened after?"

  Jorguh sighed.

  "Well, since you two saved my ass, I figured I’d save yours. But—I ain't a doctor. I make people go to the doctor. So, after about... two seconds of thinking, I left. Found Leon. Told him you were fucked up. He did his usual worried thing."

  Leon nodded.

  "I immobilized your bodies. Used what resources I had to stabilize you. But I was too weak to do much more. We got you out of the cave, past the bodies, and then... we ran into some elves." He paused. "They helped. No questions asked. Gave us proper gear, protected us on the road to Lampis."

  I frowned.

  "I don’t remember it that way," Jorguh said.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

  Leon sighed.

  "Because he was drunk."

  Jorguh scratched his head. "Oh. Yeah. I was hammered. I remember... ears. Some words. Something about pigeons?"

  Leon looked at him, exasperated. "There was nothing about pigeons."

  Jorguh squinted.

  "I’m pretty damn sure there were pigeons involved."

  Leon shook his head. "No pigeons."

  "You saying I’m deaf? I know I heard something about pigeons! If I heard it, then it happened!"

  "Enough about the goddamn pigeons!" Leliana snapped.

  Silence.

  Jorguh and Leon both looked at her.

  Jorguh leaned in, grinning. "Feisty."

  Leliana glared at me.

  "Are you satisfied with your answers, Koch? Or are we going to keep talking about pigeons?"

  This was... strange. I’d never had conversations like this back home.

  "I’m not a nitwick," Leon said proudly.

  "Yeah, he’s not a nitwick," Jorguh agreed.

  Leon blinked. "Thank you."

  Jorguh smirked.

  "He’s just an idiot."

  He burst out laughing.

  I sighed.

  This was going to be hell.

  Five minutes of Jorguh’s incessant chatter, and finally, the focus shifted—thankfully—back to business.

  I took a deep breath and outlined the plan. "Manach’s situation is priority. Then there’s Arnell, and Leliana." I paused, letting the words sink in. "We need to find his alchemist station. That's the goal."

  Leon gave a quick nod, focused, serious. "Understood."

  Jorguh just grinned. "Tavern. I like it."

  "Find Arnell’s station," I added firmly, "No detours."

  Leon looked like he might argue but kept it to himself. He just nodded formally, always the professional. "We’ll handle it. A thank you for saving Jorguh’s life."

  I locked eyes with him. "Then we go our separate ways."

  Leon’s expression soured a little. I could tell he had something to say—some objection—but he swallowed it. He just nodded again. "Whatever suits your snow-sniffing."

  Jorguh gave a huff of amusement. "What will you do with your free time, anyway?" His voice dripped with genuine curiosity.

  "I’ll spend time with Leliana," I replied, calm. "Healing, training. I need to get back in shape. At least close to it."

  Jorguh’s eyebrows shot up, and a quiet chuckle escaped him.

  Leon didn’t let it slide. With a swift motion, he smacked Jorguh on the back of the head.

  "What was that for?" Jorguh snapped, eyes narrowed.

  "You know," Leon said, his tone heavy with a warning.

  "I don’t know," Jorguh growled, returning the glare.

  Leon’s patience snapped. "Tell Koch then what he’ll be doing with his free time," he said, pointing at Jorguh.

  Jorguh just grinned. "Leliana."

  "Get out," Leliana snapped, turning toward them with a fire in her eyes.

  There was no argument. Within moments, both Leon and Jorguh were thrown out, like unwanted pieces of trash.

  Leliana shut the door behind them and walked over to check on Manach one last time before turning to me. Her eyes softened, though there was a hint of amusement in them.

  "You coldian’s sure have rude and weird friends," she said, smiling, her tone lighter.

  I managed a small smile. "Not my friends," I replied, my voice a little too calm. "And sorry about that. If I were able, I’d have knocked him out myself."

  "Don’t worry about it," she said, clearly not holding it against me. "I’ve met a lot of dwarves. This Jorguh... he fascinates me, actually. He’s so much duller than the rest of his kind."

  I chuckled, sharing the moment with her. It was hard to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

  "Tell me, Koch," Leliana said, her voice quiet now. "Do you need anything from me? Besides, you know... taking care of you?"

  I hesitated for a moment before responding. "Actually, yes. I need you to take my armor and get it to the first coldian you can find. Tell him I sent you to have it fixed."

  Her smile widened. "Don’t worry. I can do that."

  After a quick clean-up, Leliana left the room. I locked the door behind her, then sat there for a long while, staring at nothing in particular. My body was healing, slowly, but my mind... my mind was restless. I didn’t have the strength for much else, so I turned to the only thing that made sense—writing. It calmed me, gave me something to focus on, even if the rest of the world felt like it was slipping away.

  The next month passed in a haze of uneventful days. The slow ache of recovery. Leliana continued taking care of me. Manach didn’t wake. Leon and Jorguh were still at work, but I didn’t hear much more than that.

  But I could walk now. That was something. Things were changing, even if it felt like time had ground to a halt.

  It was a strange feeling, knowing the pace was shifting. I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I knew one thing: the world was moving forward, whether I was ready for it or not.