CHAPTER 269: 269: MOONLIGHT WATCH

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Azhara shrugged. "They smell like betrayal and mildew. I am not making taxonomic distinctions today."

Down below, the frogs screamed louder, clearly insulted. One hurled a boot. Another threw what looked suspiciously like an old sandwich.

Alka let out a noise of disgust and beat her wings harder.

"Let them shout," Naaro said coolly. "Their screams are no heavier than dust in the wind."

The wind carried them higher, and the angry toads became specks below. "You have to and you must marry our clan leader’s daughter. We will find you and make you marry her forcefully. Remember it, Kai the ant."

After that bold statement, soon the Silence returned. And this time, it stayed. The group slowly relaxed.

Soon, the swamp warriors became nothing more than croaking specks on the ridge. Their banner flapped sadly in the breeze, still misspelled and poorly stitched.

A final croak echoed up. "You will regret this! Frog fate is forever!" And then they were gone.

Naaro stretched her legs out, still smiling faintly. "Sir Kai has received many proposals. We might need to start a royal rejection ledger."

"Do we accept dowry?" Azhara asked. "Because if so, I think we can make sir Kai mountain strong."

Sha nodded solemnly. "Only if they are uglier than us. That way sir Kai will give us more time."

The laughter faded into the breeze.

Alka flew onward.

And far below, the frogs retreated into their swamp, angry, humiliated, and still shouting about licking bones and stolen honor.

Alka adjusted her wings to catch the drafts perfectly. The sun glimmered off her feathers, casting rainbow streaks through the sky.

Kai went back to sleeping. Sha, sketched new symbols onto her scrolls. Vel muttered decoding formulas. Akayoroi softly hummed a tune from her forgotten home to Kai.

Naaro and the twins reached down, checking the eggs one more time. Inside the warm pods, tiny limbs stirred. The unborn siblings of their future colony, still dreaming of tunnels and sunlight.

A few days later... it was Azhara time to be the pillow. She leaned over and whispered into Kai’s ear. "You drooled on my leg. It means you want me. Sir Kai can you at least suck my chest? I am not feeling so good. Your every touch makes me horny."

Kai did not respond. But his eyes twitched. He knew she was trying very hard to get into his pants. But he won’t let it happen until they reach home. Azhara needs to get forgiveness from Miryam, his only adopted daughter. ’Why?’ Inside the rift gate she tried to kill her.

The journey continued. One week remained before they reached Monarch Mountain. One week before old debts would be paid. And somewhere in the distance, a shadow moved.

Not frogs. Not a beast. Something older. Something was watching. Something was waiting for a monarch.

The sky had darkened into a rich indigo, and Alka glided silently over a sea of clouds that shimmered beneath the moon. Her wings stretched wide and elegant, like a crescent of dark velvet embroidered with stardust. The girls huddled together atop her back, their cloaks pulled tight against the chill of high altitude.

Kai slept with one arm folded under his head, nestled in Naaro’s lap. His breathing had steadied, aura slowly recovering from the reckless consumption during all those fights. The girls had long ceased arguing over who got to cradle his head next. An unspoken rotation had formed, each silently taking turns brushing his hair, adjusting his posture, and occasionally whispering to him as if their voices could guard him from nightmares.

Vel had conjured a soft flame within a spherical aura barrier. It hovered like a little sun between them, casting a warm orange glow. Roasted root twists crackled on a flat shard of volcanic stone, and the smell of fungus dumplings filled the air.

Sha broke the silence first. "He’s been asleep nearly two days."

Azhara licked the sauce from her fingers. "You say that like it’s a bad thing. He’s cuter when he is sleeping. When he woke up, he became dominant."

"You just like brushing his exoskeleton when he can’t stop you," Naaro said flatly.

Azhara smirked. "And you do not? Your hand was on his thigh for six hours. I counted."

Naaro raised an eyebrow. "Then you were watching for six hours. Who is the real pervert here?"

Before the argument could erupt into a hair pulling contest, Alka let out a sudden sharp chirp. Her feathers bristled slightly. The girls immediately went still. Vel extinguished the fire. Sha’s blade was in her hand before her breath even left her throat.

The wind shifted. It was no longer playful. It carried a hum. A subtle vibration, like metal scraping against metal, barely audible but unmistakable to trained ears.

Akayoroi lifted her head. Her compound eyes reflected moonlight. "Something is above us."

Vel squinted. There were no stars directly overhead. Only a vague blotch, a shape that blocked light but did not move like a cloud.

Then, it moved.

The shape tilted, ever so slightly, revealing a glint of something metallic... It was a polished surface that reflected moonlight in a flash. A shiver passed through the group.

Sha’s voice was low. "That’s no bird."

Azhara whispered, "Is that... armor? Or wings?"

"Neither," Vel murmured. Her hands flicked, pulling a crystal from her pouch. She pressed it against her forehead. The aura pulse it emitted returned too quickly—blocked by something unnatural. No aura signature. No beast trace. Just a void, a hollow pocket in the sky.

"We’re being watched," Akayoroi confirmed. "It has been following since last dusk. It hides between thermal layers. I noticed it before."

Naaro hissed. "Why did you not tell us sooner?"

Akayoroi’s gaze remained fixed upward. "Because it has not attacked. And because Kai was resting. At that time it didn’t have any hostile intent."

Sha narrowed her eyes. "The bird Alka is too protective of him. What if they fight?"

Azhara scoffed. "So are we. It’s like our only hobby at this point."