Snow Mountain's Hideout (6)
Owen's question was met with a sinister reply.
"This body is akin to an ancient fragment."
"What does that even mean? Spit it out straight."
"Use the key. You shall find your answers, mortal."
"Pass. I refuse."
Owen had no intention of tampering with this suspicious seal.
It reeked of malice at first glance.
There had to be a reason it was sealed away—opening it would bring nothing good.
"Heroicus!"
A high-pitched voice rang out from behind him then.
He turned to see Arwen approaching with her subordinates, scouting the surroundings.
"How'd you find this place?"
"...So much for basic courtesy now, huh."
At Owen's remark, Arwen glanced at her crew and shrugged.
"They all know already, so whatever. Did you find the key, though?"
Arwen hurried over to Owen, eyes wide. But then she spotted the sealed door and paled.
"This place gives me the creeps... Never felt anything this ominous before."
"Something's sealed inside."
Owen tried calling out to the enigmatic presence inwardly, but there was no response.
It seemed to have vanished into the distance the moment Arwen's group appeared.
The sinister tendrils of energy that had reached out were gone too.
"Let's get out of here first. No point sticking around—I'll fill you in on what happened."
Owen led them outside and explained everything.
Arwen's face grew grave at once.
"That sounds pretty dangerous, doesn't it?"
"Maybe. Couldn't pin down what it was, but it had this hypnotic pull even from afar. Best to stay cautious. We've got the key anyway—time to leave."
His words sent chills through the group, so they hurriedly packed up.
No reason to linger in a dangerous spot harboring an unknown entity now that they had the key.
"We should consult the Queen about this."
Arwen nodded at Owen's suggestion.
"Yeah, Her Majesty might know something. Let's move."
"Oh, right—the prisoner?"
"Left one guard watching her, tied up near the entrance. To keep her from catching on to what we're doing inside."
"Good call."
The group swiftly abandoned the witch's hideout.
But just then, a faint voice whispered into Owen's ears alone.
"We shall meet again, mortal."
A few days later, the group arrived safely in Trollhetan.
"A successful expedition."
Owen raised his glass, and Arwen clinked hers against it with a grin.
"You bet. But the real fun starts now—gotta figure out how to sell this bitch."
The prisoner Bete was bound in the corner of the room.
She'd been starved for days now, given only a bit of wine earlier.
She'd been glaring daggers at Arwen, who seemed to relish it.
Owen found himself reminded just how terrifying dark elves could be.
"Alright, time for some intel gathering. Owen, you stay put like a good boy."
Arwen soon led a few subordinates into Trollhetan proper.
Exiled as she was, she was out of touch with mainland affairs.
She returned late that night, face flushed red.
She was clearly hammered.
"Oooowen Leeeire! Oooowen Leeeire!"
Her slurred words shook awake the sleeping Owen as she grabbed and jostled him.
Owen scowled.
"It's rude to wake people when you're drunk. And it's Owen Leire."
"Ehehehat! Got it, Heeeroiicus."
"Heroicus."
"Ah... What a boring guy."
Arwen kicked off her boots and flopped down haphazardly beside Owen, then let out a weird noise.
"Eung!"
"...What?"
"Mm, not quite? Ekyuuung!"
"...Don't tell me you're imitating my dragon."
"Ung ung!"
"......"
Owen was speechless.
He just hoped he'd never see her touch another drink.
"Sleep... "
"Et ung!"
Arwen passed out right there.
It wasn't until the next day that Owen could talk to her properly—and her cheeks were still rosy.
She was trying to act serious, but all Owen could picture was her drunken antics.
"Bet that embarrasses you."
"Shut it!"
"...You really say anything to Heroicus, huh. Anyway, spill what you found out."
Arwen fanned her cheeks and dove into her report.
"After the rebellion succeeded, the rebels split into two factions. One following the prisoner's family, the Black Briar, and the other opposing them, the Moon Shadow crew."
"Are both houses big deals?"
"Yeah, like dukes in human terms."
"So Bete's basically a duke's daughter. Way more valuable prisoner than I thought."
She was isolated in a private room now.
To keep her from eavesdropping on sensitive talks.
"Spot on. Anyway, the feud between these two houses has turned into something like a civil war."
"The longer it drags on, the better for Her Majesty."
"Exactly. But word is, the civil war's hit a stalemate lately. They fought like mad for a while but couldn't settle it, so things cooled off."
"Sounds like a truce brewing?"
"Couldn't confirm that far. Which brings me to..."
"We fan the flames of their civil war?"
Arwen clapped at Owen's guess.
"Kyahaha, we really click! Heroicus!"
"Heroicus."
"......"
Arwen's face soured like she'd eaten shit.
"And you're still calling me Owen Leire."
"...Fuck. Cut back on the booze or something."
Anyway, Arwen figured stoking the civil war would make for a far better gift to the Queen than anything from the hideout—and Bete was the key to pulling it off.
"If we hand Bete over to Moon Shadow, what'll Black Briar think? That Moon Shadow got lucky and scooped up their heir?"
"Nah, they'll assume it was a kidnapping plot."
"Right. The heir hostage issue will have the two houses at each other's throats again."
"But isn't that risky? Your family's exiles. Stepping in to broker a deal might get you caught too."
"I've got that covered, actually."
Arwen laid out her plan, and Owen nodded along intently.
She'd thought this through for the risky trade.
"Hmm... Could work."
Owen mulled over her bold scheme all that night.
Plenty of time until New Year's. Success here meant major merit.
The catch was the huge risk.
One slip, and they might end up buried in dark elf soil forever.
But for revenge, Owen made the bold call.
"Alright. Let's do it."
The group left Trollhetan and returned to the ship.
Next stop: Stenstaten, a coastal city.
It meant "Stone City," ruled by Moon Shadow.
They wouldn't head straight there, though—planning to dock at a nearby uninhabited islet first.
"Arwen, how're you contacting their matron? With the war on, security's gotta be tight."
"Don't sweat it, Heroicus. Truth is, I know her."
"What? For real? You're with the Queen, they're rebels."
"Yeah, but... we share ancestors. Shadow Bat for me, Moon Shadow for them—same shadow family line."
Originally, shadow families were the biggest, most promising houses in dark elf society.
But over time, they splintered into branches.
Arwen's was one such offshoot.
"Any house with 'shadow' in the name traces back to the same root."
"Weren't the shadow families the rebellion's core? That's what I heard."
"Yep. They all banded together—except us, loyal to the Queen."
"So they'll welcome you?"
"It's about bringing a reason to welcome us. Feelings don't matter."
The ship sailed southwest toward their destination.
But headwinds forced them to drop the square sails and rely on fore-and-aft rigging, crawling along slowly.
The heavy cargo didn't help.
Arwen had loaded up direwolves and sleds from Trollhetan.
"We really need all that?"
Arwen shot back like he was clueless.
"Gonna need 'em in Stenstaten anyway. Sleds are like carriages in the frozen lands."
"Ah, got it."
They'd restocked plenty of supplies in Trollhetan too.
"No rush on time, right? Better to stock up solid."
Arwen brushed it off casually, and Owen agreed.
But the next day forced her to eat those words.
"Unidentified fleet in pursuit!"
The lookout's shout from the mainmast shattered the calm.
Arwen bolted from the captain's cabin, where she'd been leisurely checking charts.
"What? Say that again!"
The lookout scampered down the mast like a monkey at her yell.
"Twelve ships. Definitely tailing us."
"How can you be sure, sailor?"
"Simple. Who else would loop all the way around to Stenstaten like us?"
Arwen sighed at his logic.
It rang true.
They weren't taking the shortest path—deliberately detouring to avoid notice.
If paths overlapped anyway, it was suspicious.
"Pirates?"
"Dunno. Too far to ID yet."
But an hour later, they closed in enough for spyglasses.
"It's Black Briar ships!"
"What?!"
Chaos erupted on deck.
The crew all knew Black Briar's heir was their prisoner.
"Spyglass!"
Arwen snatched one from her lieutenant and scanned the pursuers.
They faced headwinds too but were faster—mostly coastal vessels, smaller and nimbler.
"How'd Black Briar figure us out so fast?"
Arwen shook her head at Owen's question.
"No clue. How? Already?!"
They'd slaughtered everyone but Bete.
Black Briar shouldn't have pieced it together yet, let alone dispatched pursuers.
Arwen was baffled.
Later hunch: They'd probably tagged their heir with some measure.
"Heard their matron dotes on the heir. Tracking spell, maybe?"
"If so, we'd have noticed."
"Checked her thoroughly! Nothing."
"What does that mean?"
"Either truly nothing—or the caster's way above my level."
If Black Briar's matron did it herself, Arwen missing it made sense.
But no time for theories now.
Arwen barked orders.
"Dump the sleds, food, useless cargo—overboard, all of it!"
No winning a straight fight against those numbers.
Splash!
Cargo rained into the sea, bobbing along their wake in a long trail.
Escape was their only shot.
At the same time, a fleet set out from Stenstaten.
Moon Shadow's full-rigged ships.
25 to 35 meters—not huge, but fine for coastal runs.
Only the Queen could operate true capital ships anyway.
Each house's big vessels were conscripted into her fleet for national duties.
That's how the exiled Queen made off with such a massive armada.
So houses ran small ships privately.
But even small ones packed punch in numbers like this.
"Faster! Full speed!"
A dark elf bellowed from the flagship.
She looked like a middle-aged beauty—the Moon Shadow matron.
Today's emergency mobilization stemmed from an urgent report.
"Black Briar Family has dispatched a large fleet."
Two days prior, a spy dispatched to Black Briar's stronghold sent shocking news.
The letter, tied to a trained hawk's leg, was scribbled in haste—the handwriting shaky.
Follow-up reports from other spies tracked the enemy fleet's path.
Its weird detour baffled Moon Shadow's leadership at first.
But it was clearly bound for Stenstaten.
The matron flew into a rage.
"Those bastards played quiet lately, scheming this filthy ambush! Planning a sneak landing—let's give 'em hell!"
She mobilized her 15 battle-ready ships on the spot.
Each packed with fighters and cannons.
"Death to Black Briar!"
"Death!"
Battle cries roared across the decks.
Fired up, they aimed to sink the hated foes outright.
"No prisoners! Drown them all!"
The matron's shout echoed through the flagship.
But she still didn't know.
All this stemmed from Owen and Arwen kidnapping Bete.