Feralium — Moonlit Forest — Thief Hideout

  Sam kept pulling him through the trees like she was afraid the night would steal him again.

  The forest opened up—sudden light, sudden noise.

  A camp spread between the trunks. Fires in iron bowls. Strung lanterns swaying. Creatures of different races packed together like they’d stitched a home out of scraps—dancing, eating, laughing too loud on purpose.

  Isaac slowed, eyes scanning, shoulders still tight.

  “Wait… Sam. Slow down. Where are we?”

  She finally looked back at him, grin softening.

  “Sorry. I brought you here fast.” She pointed around with a small sweep of her hand. “This is my clan’s hideout.”

  “Clan?”

  “Yeah.” Her voice lowered, just for him. “Family. We protect each other. We survive.”

  Isaac’s gaze tracked the perimeter—lookouts on higher rocks, a few silhouettes that stopped laughing the second he noticed them.

  “Survive from what?”

  Sam’s smile turned sharper.

  “Feralium’s system.” She spat the word like it tasted rotten. “Corrupt. Hungry. It chews people up and calls it law.”

  Isaac didn’t answer right away.

  He just nodded once, like he was saving that conversation for later.

  Sam grabbed his wrist again.

  “But not now. Come on. I want you to see someone.”

  He let her pull him through the crowd.

  Faces turned. Some curious. Some wary. A few recognized him, then pretended they didn’t.

  They reached a cabana tucked behind a thicker patch of trees—quiet, guarded, warm light leaking through the cracks.

  Sam pushed the door open.

  Inside, the air smelled like herbs and old wood. Clean, but lived-in.

  Someone sat in a chair near the fire—wrapped in a blanket, posture steady, eyes bright.

  Sam stepped aside, smile wide.

  “Remember her?”

  Isaac froze.

  The chair turned slightly. A familiar face.

  His throat tightened.

  “Elana…”

  Her eyes widened like she couldn’t decide if she should laugh or cry.

  “Isaac…”

  She tried to stand.

  Her hands pushed on the chair arms—then stopped. The movement died halfway.

  Sam was already there, gentle but firm, easing her back down.

  “Easy, sis.”

  Isaac’s eyes dropped—just once—to Elana’s legs.

  They didn’t move.

  His jaw flexed.

  “What happened?”

  Elana exhaled like she’d been holding that answer in her lungs for a long time.

  “I lost the movement… from the waist down.”

  Sam’s fingers slid through Elana’s hair, slow and protective.

  “We found her after that incident.” Her voice hardened for a second. “We got her out. But…” She swallowed it back. “It cost.”

  Elana forced a smile anyway, the kind that tries to spare other people.

  “You’re alive.” Her eyes shone. “We thought you were dead.”

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  Isaac stepped closer without noticing, then caught himself—like he didn’t want to crowd her.

  “I’m here.”

  Sam leaned in, eyes narrow with sudden suspicion that looked almost like relief.

  “How did you survive?”

  Isaac let out a short breath.

  “It’s a long story.” His mouth twitched. “The only part that matters is… we made it.”

  Both of them nodded, like that was enough for now.

  Sam stared at him more closely, then smirked.

  “You look different.”

  Isaac raised an eyebrow.

  “No beard. No wild hair.” She sniffed him—shameless. “And now…”

  She paused, offended by the concept.

  “You smell like soap.”

  Elana laughed quietly. It cracked something in Isaac’s chest, just a little.

  He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

  “Yeah. A lot happened since we split.”

  He pulled a chair closer and sat, facing them, eyes still alert even when his voice softened.

  “And you two…” He looked from one to the other. “Tell me everything.”

  Sam and Elana exchanged a glance—one of those quick looks that carries years.

  Then they smiled.

  Valoon — Ridgehollow Village — Tavern

  Yae pushed through the tavern door with her head down.

  Warm lanternlight. A slow, calm song humming in the background. Only a handful of patrons—quiet laughter, low cups, a world that didn’t know her name.

  She crossed the room without looking up and sat alone at the nearest table.

  A man behind the counter glanced over, wiping a glass.

  “What’ll it be?”

  Yae didn’t answer right away.

  Her wet hair clung to her neck. The borrowed farm clothes sat wrong on her shoulders. Her hands rested on the table like they were trying not to shake.

  “What is this place called?”

  The innkeeper paused, confused by the question.

  “…We’re in Valoon. You’re not from here, are you?”

  “I’m passing through.” Her voice was flat. “And I need information.”

  He exhaled like she’d asked him to carry a mountain.

  “And I need to work, miss. If you’re not buying anything, then get out.”

  The air shifted.

  Yae’s chair scraped once.

  In a blink she was across the distance, fist twisted into his collar, dragging him halfway over the counter. His feet barely found the floor.

  Every laugh in the room died.

  Yae’s eyes stayed hidden behind her bangs.

  “My day has been hell.” Her grip tightened. “I’m tired. I’m angry. And I’m one bad breath away from tearing someone apart.”

  She leaned in, voice colder than the mountains outside.

  “So I’ll ask again.”

  The innkeeper’s hands trembled as he tried to pry her fingers off.

  “O-Okay—okay. What do you want?”

  “I’m looking for a king.” Her head tilted slightly. “Isaac.”

  The innkeeper swallowed.

  “King Isaac…? No—he’s… he’s from Olympia. Elf lands.”

  “Where?”

  “Far.” He nodded fast, desperate to live. “You can’t reach it from here. You’d have to go through Feralium—or Hell—to travel that way.”

  A chair creaked behind her.

  Boots.

  Two guards stepped in, their presence loud in the silence. A young dragon among the patrons pointed with a shaky hand.

  “That one. She’s causing trouble.”

  Yae’s fingers loosened.

  “…Damn it.”

  She released the innkeeper. He dropped to the floor, coughing, scrambling back up with a red face and wide eyes.

  “She’s crazy!” he yelled. “Get her out!”

  One guard stepped forward, trying to sound brave.

  “Miss. Come with us. You’re under arrest for assault—”

  Yae’s hand sparked.

  A thin veil of lightning crawled over her fingers, bright and sharp. She shoved her palm into the guard’s chest.

  Static exploded.

  He flew back and hit the floor hard, body seizing as electricity danced over his armor. His scream ripped through the room.

  The second guard froze, staring.

  “Wh—what are you—”

  Yae pivoted and kicked him in the face.

  He went airborne, slammed into a table, and didn’t move again.

  For a heartbeat, no one breathed.

  Then the tavern erupted—patrons stumbling over chairs, rushing the door, leaving drinks untouched, leaving coins behind.

  Silence returned as fast as fear could buy it.

  Yae exhaled slowly.

  “Finally.”

  She turned back to the innkeeper.

  He stood behind the counter now, pale, hands raised like surrender.

  Yae’s voice stayed calm—too calm.

  “We weren’t finished.”

  Feralium — Wolf Clan Cabin

  Sam sat forward, elbows on her knees, voice quieter than the camp outside.

  “…We walked for kilometers until we reached this place.”

  She exhaled, eyes drifting for a second like she was replaying every step.

  “The hardest part wasn’t the distance.” Her jaw tightened. “It was keeping her alive.”

  Elana didn’t move much. She sat the way someone sits when their body has betrayed them—still, careful, pretending it doesn’t hurt to breathe.

  Sam’s hands curled into fists.

  “We tried everything. Herbs. Stitching. We even dragged ourselves to that bastard Dorian and begged.” Her eyes sharpened. “He refused. Called us trash. Like we weren’t even people.”

  Isaac’s expression shifted.

  “…Dorian.”

  The name hit like an old bruise.

  He leaned back slightly, voice low.

  “I know who that is. Personal advisor to King Agel.”

  Sam’s head snapped up.

  Elana’s eyes widened.

  Sam’s voice dropped. “Almost no one knows that.”

  Isaac looked between them, confused by their reaction.

  “I ran into him more times than I can count.” His tone hardened. “Every time I tried to reach Agel, Dorian was there first. Smiling. Blocking doors. Saying the king was ‘busy with the burdens of the realm.’”

  He paused, as if tasting how fake it sounded.

  “And I believed it… longer than I should’ve.”

  Sam and Elana just stared at him.

  Isaac frowned. “What?”

  Elana’s voice came out careful. “How do you know any of that?”

  Sam leaned in, suspicion and disbelief mixing.

  “And how did you even get close enough to try talking to King Agel?”

  Isaac blinked once, genuinely lost.

  “…Because I’m the King of Olympia.”

  Silence slammed into the cabin.

  Even the outside noise felt farther away.

  Sam’s face drained.

  Elana’s lips parted but no sound came. Her hands gripped the edge of the chair like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

  Isaac’s brow furrowed. “You didn’t know?”

  Their fear answered for them.

  Footsteps hit the doorway.

  The rhino ducked inside, broad shoulders filling the frame. He took one look at their faces—frozen, pale—and then followed their eyes.

  To Isaac.

  His posture changed instantly, defensive like a blade being drawn.

  “…Samantha.”

  His voice carried warning and disbelief at the same time.

  “You brought him here?”

  Sam didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

  The rhino’s nostrils flared. “Are you insane?”

  No one moved.

  The rhino’s gaze flicked to Elana—then back to Isaac—then to Sam again, trying to make sense of what he was walking into.

  “…What happened to them?”

  Isaac exhaled through his nose, tired more than angry.

  “I don’t know.” He glanced at Sam and Elana, then back at the rhino.