CHAPTER 267: CHAPTER 266 - THE GREAT FOREST ARC ENDS.

The walk back was quieter than it should’ve been.

No one joked. No one made unnecessary noise. Even Alex had shut up—though that was mostly because Jessy had threatened to weld his jaw shut if he tried another "victory dance."

The cold air outside the cavern brushed against Lia’s cheeks, sharp enough to sting. She’d recovered from the immediate fatigue, the leafy disguise wrapping her again in the familiar, ridiculous cover of vines and petals.

But no amount of leafy camouflage could hide the faint hollowness in her eyes.

One-third of a lifetime was a heavy thing to carry.

Ahead, the stillness of the forest awaited them as they moved.

They were close to where they’d left Siris, Cluckles, and the very, very jumpy corrupt panther to "hold off" half a battalion.

In reality, "hold off" probably meant "scare the hell out of them while doing no actual killing."

The silence, however, wasn’t because they were moving toward Siris but because they knew what time it was.

It was goodbye time.

Selena walked beside Clara, the two exchanging quiet words while stealing glances at Myria.

Even Graye, who was usually bouncing on her heels like a battle-crazed spring, was subdued, idly twirling her purple hair while whistling some tune.

They had already decided what they had to do, and everyone had already said their goodbyes.

But that didn’t mean that the discussion was over.

"You don’t have to go back right now," Myria tried, her voice cracking just a little. "You could all come with me... meet Father and Mother. They’d—They’d be so happy."

Rufus rubbed the back of his neck. "Tempting. But... Your kingdom’s already got enough to worry about without us walking in unannounced."

Jake gave a small nod in agreement.

Myria stayed quiet as she tugged on Lia’s disguise, but the older princess smiled helplessly.

She wanted to go with Myra—she really did.

But she couldn’t go, as it would mess up Raven’s plans.

Soon, they reached the edge of the woods, and Myria turned to Raven.

"You’re really not coming?"

He met her gaze without flinching. "We’ll come. Soon. But there are things we need to handle before we reveal ourselves."

"How soon?" Myria asked, looking up at him with those big pink eyes.

Raven smiled—a real one, warm enough to melt frost. "Very soon."

"Promise?" She asked, staring intently into his eyes, and he nodded, patting her head.

"Promise."

That earned him the smallest smile from her, and although the little girl tried to show that she was okay, everyone could see tears in her eyes.

Of course, she wasn’t crying for them but for her sister Lia.

She wanted at least her sister to come along, as her father and mother had been worried sick about her.

They never showed it, hiding it behind their smile, but the little princess knew that they were sleepless.

She had seen their dark eyes.

But because she knew Raven and his group’s situation, she didn’t throw any tantrums.

She wanted to, but she didn’t.

The silence that followed was awkward.

Omni’s voice broke the quiet from Raven’s arm, his tone all easy swagger. "Man, you’re getting all sappy now. I’m telling you, boss—she’s gonna start callin’ you brother-in-law in, like, a week."

Raven ignored him.

Others were the same, except for a few, including Lia, who blushed; Myria, who squinted her eyes thoughtfully; and the last one, Graye, who was the jumpy girl of the group.

She giggled. "If Raven’s her brother-in-law, then I’m her sister."

Alex opened his mouth to add something but was preemptively smacked upside the head by Jessy.

"Don’t," she warned.

"What? I wasn’t gonna—"

"Yes, you were."

They walked some more, and when they seemed to be nearing Siris’s location—

"Alright," Graye suddenly piped up, crouching down so she was eye-level with Myria. "Before you go, you gotta pinky swear you’ll eat something huge when you get back. Something messy. Makes the soldiers respect you more."

"...That’s not how politics works," Jake muttered.

"Shhh, let her have this," Rufus whispered back.

Nibbles scampered up Myria’s arm, chittering before offering her a walnut like it was some sacred token of alliance.

Alex sniffled. "This is beautiful."

Jessy folded her arms. "You cried at a cereal commercial last week."

"Hey, it was emotional, okay?"

They were interrupted by a sudden shift in the air—an unnatural stillness.

Leaves froze mid-rustle. Snowflakes hung motionless in the air. Trees stood like ice sculptures.

As if to say that it was not all, there were people—soldiers, to be exact—ahead.

However, they weren’t normal.

The soldiers... hundreds of them... were statues of frost, eyes flicking desperately in their frozen skulls.

"Yep," Raven said dryly, "we’re close to Siris."

As they walked between the immobilized men, Omni’s voice piped up, "Man, you told her not to kill anyone, right? So, why does it look like someone paused the whole damn world?"

"Well," Raven scratched his head. "They seem alive enough to me."

He reached out, his right hand shifting—black dragon scales rippling over his skin.

A flicker of voidfire licked across his palm, and with a sweep, he melted the ice imprisoning the nearest soldier.

The man gasped, but... didn’t move.

None of them did. Every single freed soldier merely stood there, unmoving, eyes locked toward the center of the field.

The direction they were walking toward.

Graye’s eyes gleamed. "Ooooh, this is gonna be good."

Lia sighed under her leafy hood. "Or horrifying."

"Why not both?" Selena said.

Clara only sighed.

The deeper they went, the quieter the frozen forest became.

Raven moved ahead of the group, voidfire flickering lazily along his scaled palm as he brushed each soldier they passed.

Ice hissed and cracked, falling away like brittle glass. The men and women inside stumbled free... and then just stood there, silent, eyes locked toward the same spot in the distance.

None moved to attack. None even breathed too loudly.

It wasn’t fear. It was... awe. Maybe also a touch of self-preservation.

When they reached the clearing, the reason became obvious.

Siris sat like a queen on the stomach of a very unfortunate Commander Liora Vane, her boots planted firmly, her arms folded as though daring the world to say something about it.

A soldier stood beside her with the single, soul-consuming job of fanning her with a broad palm leaf.

On her left lounged a massive, sleek, black panther, its golden eyes lazily half-shut while she idly scratched behind its ear.

Every so often, the beast rumbled in contentment, as though forgetting it had been trying to maul half these soldiers not too long ago.

Off to one side, on a boulder dusted in frost, sat Cluckles. The sage-like snow chicken was perfectly still, scarf fluttering faintly in the wind, eyes closed in deep meditation.

"Cluckles will not lie..." It murmured softly, "...Cluckles craves... wings... fried... extra crispy..."

"Is... Is he talking about eating his own kind?" Jessy whispered.

Selena shrugged. "Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing today."

The panther’s ears twitched before anyone else could say more. In a blur of black fur, it leapt from its spot—straight at Graye.

"HEEeeeey!" She squealed, falling back into the snow as the beast rolled over her, nipping at her arms and hair while she laughed and tried to push its massive head away. "Stop—! No, actually don’t stop—! Okay, stop biting my ear!"

Siris, who had noticed them some time ago, also rose, brushing herself off with exaggerated grace.

The soldier, who saw her moving away from him, finally collapsed on the ground, heaving a tired sigh.

Only he knew what he had been through.

Like, who in their right mind asks someone how they felt about having their eyes stabbed?

Unfortunately, Siris did.

Every word that had come out of her mouth for a while was about stabbing and more stabbing.

For the first time in a while, she didn’t say anything about stabbing.

"You’re late," she said, her voice dripping with mock injury. "I’ve been so patient, keeping all your precious little stabbable soldiers alive for you..."

Well, she was still talking about stabbing.

Raven didn’t even slow as he stepped into the clearing. "And?"

"And," she purred, closing the distance until she was nearly in his space, "...I’ll be taking my payment now."

Rufus muttered under his breath, "Oh no..."

Jessy groaned, while Jake jumped into his shadow.

Then, without any warning, Siris hooked her fingers into Raven’s collar and tugged him down, smirking. "Ten kisses. You promised."

Lia, in a reflex so fast it was practically instinct, clapped her leafy hands over Myria’s eyes.

"You don’t need to see this."

"Why? What’s happening?!" Myria demanded, trying to peek.

"Nothing worth your innocence," Lia said grimly.

The rest of the group collectively groaned, shuffled, or found very intense interest in their boots while Siris began enthusiastically collecting her payment.

"Two..." smooch "...three..." smooch "...four..."

Omni’s voice snickered in Raven’s arm, "Man, if you wanted us to leave you two alone, you coulda just said so."

By the time Siris finally pulled back, looking smug and very satisfied, Raven just sighed.

"Done?"

"For now," she said, smirking wickedly. "But I expect interest."

Somewhere behind them, Cluckles cracked one eye open and nodded sagely.

"Cluckles approves of displays of dominance. Cluckles also approves of honey garlic glaze..."

The panther was still sprawled over Graye like a giant furry boulder, occasionally nipping at her sleeve while she giggled uncontrollably.

Myria, who had forgotten all of her worries since she arrived in the clearing, finally peeked around Lia’s hands, looking baffled. "...You all live like this?"

For the time being, the little princess forgot all about the things she was thinking about.

This group was just that impossible. They were so bad that they couldn’t even let a little girl stay sad for a while.

Selena patted her head, replying, "Unfortunately."

With that, the fortunate and unfortunate events of the great forest of Hector Kingdom came to an end.