Toren’s nose wrinkled in disgust as he eyed the small Huffgrunt, as if the very sight of it offended him.

  “What is that thing?” he queried.

  “He’s not a thing,” Crystal replied. “His name is Fred.”

  Toren blinked. For a moment, it seemed as though he hadn’t heard her correctly. Then, he let out a sharp breath, shaking his head. “That,” he said, “is the worst name I’ve ever heard.”

  A few meters away, Aria, who had been only half-listening, suddenly stiffened. The thought of agreeing with Toren about anything irritated her.

  Fred suddenly lunged at Toren, growling. Immediately, Toren leaped back, a needle of frost in his hand.

  “What a horrible thing! The insufferable disrespect!” he yelled as he tried to keep it away.

  “Stop!” Crystal shouted as she dashed forward, pulling the cub back as she stroked its white-blue fur. It peered up at Toren innocently, as if nothing had just happened. “Don’t hurt him,” Crystal said adamantly.

  Toren scoffed. “Me? Hurt him? It would sooner rip my throat out! Did you not see that untamed beast-like nature that it just displayed? Listen Crystal, you aren’t even betrothed to me anymore, so I don’t have to—”

  His frown deepened. “Are you even listening to me?”

  Crystal wasn’t. She had sat down on the rocky floor and had begun to play a clapping game with her Huffgrunt.

  The group had just arrived back in the cave. The day had ended and dusk was beginning to creep in, painting the sky outside in deep shades of blue. In the middle of the cave, as per usual, a hot fire had started. An ice barrier had been created at the entrance of the cave to remove the threat of cold wind putting out the fire.

  Keilan had been in charge of finding the dry wood today. The task that usually only took an hour had extended to five for him. There was a silent urgency about the group now; with worsening conditions, they had to start traveling faster.

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  Now, Keilan was giving Crystal and her new— friend an inquisitive stare.

  “So you intend on keeping him?” he asked.

  Crystal nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Keilan let his eyes linger on the cub, before he sighed and began to walk to the other side of the cave. “Alright, but he’s your responsibility,” he said as he turned away.

  He leaned against the rough stone wall, then let himself sink down slowly. The fire flared in the distance, its glow just barely painting his face with an orange light. Beyond it, the others spoke in low murmurs, their voices rising and falling. Here, away from them, the cave was quiet. He enjoyed these moments of tranquility immensely.

  Unlike some of the others, he had already made peace with what had happened in the Ice Fortress.

  He had made peace with death long before they had fled, accepting it as something inevitable. Yet by some miracle, he was still here. Every so often, he had to remind himself of that fact, he had to force himself to accept his own existence. Only to repeat that same process again the next day.

  Compared to that, the actions of the Emperor and Varian felt almost distant. Not meaningless—but secondary. The questions still lingered in the recesses of his mind; so he would keep heading south to unravel the secrets that lay before him.

  He had come to understand two truths. The first was that the people he had trusted had been evil. And the second was that he needed to figure out who he truly was now that he had decided he was worthy of living.

  His eyes tracked to the side, and he caught a glance of Kaen’s small frame. He was always there, lurking in the shadows, impossible to catch. Keilan thought he was a distant person, but Kaen was far worse than him in this regard. The boy avoided others like a disease.

  Kaen had been looking at the wall at first, but upon feeling Keilan’s gaze land on him, he turned his head towards the Royal. His eyes flashed with disdain, and Keilan decided to initiate a conversation.

  “Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to kill me?” Keilan asked.

  “Maybe I still do.”

  Keilan frowned, “Then why haven’t you?”

  Kaen shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to.”

  It was clear that the young Spear wasn’t interested in engaging with this conversation at all. Keilan simply couldn’t grasp a hold of his intentions or his personality at all. Back in the Fortress, they had never spoken to each other until the Tournament. It was in that final stage where Kaen had displayed his unfiltered hostility toward him.

  But now, Kaen regarded him with an apathetic approach. There had been that small flicker of scorn, but it had only lasted a second. Keilan supposed also, assuming that he himself was truly Varian’s son, then Kaen was either his brother or half brother.

  It also meant he likely had no blood connection to anyone he regarded as his sibling beforehand.

  Yet this knowledge didn’t make him feel any closer to the boy. His thoughts were muddled, but he was certain that no matter what, nothing could separate himself and Crystal. Even if they weren’t actually siblings, he would always see and treat her as one.

  A foul stench suddenly sept into his nostrils. His gaze drifted toward the pot where Crystal and Aira hovered, both wearing matching looks of concern. The acrid scent hung heavy in the air, growing worse with each passing second.

  The others had begun to gather, drawn in by the sickening smell. They all grimaced as they stared at the bubbling stew with the same unspoken thought—this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  It seemed the bear-like creature they had caught wasn’t going to be a pleasant eating experience.