The atmosphere on the western wall changed almost imdiately.
A few monts earlier guards had been trying very hard not to stare at the dragon sprawled across governnt property.
Now every eye turned toward the mountains instead.
The wind howled across the battlents while snow reduced visibility beyond the ridges to shifting white shadows and dark stone outlines.
Malen stepped forward first.
"All patrol units to alert positions."
The command spread quickly along the wall.
No panic.
Just movent.
That caught Seraphin’s attention imdiately.
The guards here reacted faster than many trained frontier garrisons he’d seen before.
Lucas noticed his expression.
"We learned the hard way that hesitation gets people killed out here."
The younger investigator looked toward the ridges nervously.
"You still can’t see anything."
Aurethar snorted a thin trail of smoke into the cold air.
"That is because your eyes are tiny and disappointing."
"That’s not comforting."
"It was not intended to be."
The dragon rose slowly from the watchtower afterward, enormous wings unfolding against the storm clouds overhead. Snow blasted across the walls from the movent alone while several guards grabbed onto the battlents to steady themselves.
The tower beneath him groaned in relief.
"Finally," one exhausted guard whispered.
Aurethar ignored him completely.
Lucien watched the mountains silently.
If unknown forces had truly entered the territory secretly, there were only a few possibilities:
spies
assassins
scouts
or desperate rchants making catastrophic decisions
None were ideal.
Seraphin stepped beside him.
"You expected this eventually."
Not a question.
Lucien answered anyway.
"Yes."
The investigator studied him briefly.
"You think House Valcroix sent them."
"Possibly."
"Not definitely?"
Lucien’s eyes remained fixed on the snowstorm.
"My family prefers layered plans."
That sentence carried enough history behind it that Seraphin didn’t push further.
Malen suddenly raised one hand.
"Movent."
Everyone focused imdiately.
Far beyond the ridges, dark shapes briefly appeared through the snow before vanishing again behind the storm.
Too organized to be beasts.
Too cautious to be ordinary travelers.
The younger investigator swallowed.
"...I see them now."
Aurethar growled softly overhead.
"They sll ard."
"That narrows it down very little," Gandalf muttered while climbing the battlent stairs with visible annoyance.
The old mage looked like soone interrupted an important nap.
Which, for Gandalf, was entirely possible.
Lucien looked toward him.
"How many can you sense?"
Gandalf closed his eyes briefly.
Mana stirred faintly around his robes.
Then—
"Twenty-three."
The wall beca quieter.
That wasn’t a scouting group.
Seraphin frowned slightly.
"That’s too many for simple reconnaissance."
Malen nodded once.
"Agreed."
Lucas looked increasingly stressed.
"We still have investigators here."
"Yes," Lucien answered calmly.
"That’s probably why they ca now."
The younger investigator blinked.
"...Wait."
Realization hit him visibly.
"They knew royal investigators were here?"
Lucien didn’t answer imdiately.
Because honestly—
That possibility irritated him.
If soone from the south tracked royal movents this closely, then information leakage inside noble territory remained worse than expected.
Aurethar’s voice rumbled from above.
"They stopped moving."
Malen’s hand rested against his sword hilt.
"Ambush position?"
"Watching position."
The dragon’s golden eyes narrowed.
"They’re waiting."
Seraphin thought quietly for a mont afterward.
Then finally looked toward Lucien.
"Whoever they are, they likely didn’t expect a dragon."
"That makes two groups."
Oddly enough, that earned a faint laugh from Lucas despite the tension.
The administrator rubbed his face tiredly.
"I miss simpler problems."
"You complained constantly during simpler problems," Malen reminded him.
"Yes, but they exploded less."
From nearby, Gandalf coughed suspiciously.
Lucas pointed imdiately.
"You don’t get to react offended anymore."
The old mage looked away with great dignity.
Seraphin found himself staring at the group again.
Not because of the threat outside.
Because of the dynamic between them.
Knight.
Mage.
Administrator.
Dragon.
Exiled noble.
They spoke less like servants around a lord and more like people surviving the sa disaster together.
That kind of loyalty usually took years.
Sotis wars.
Yet sohow Lucien had built it in months.
The investigator’s thoughts were interrupted when one of the western scouts finally reached the wall.
The knight climbed the stairs breathing hard while snow covered nearly half his armor.
"My Lord."
Lucien turned imdiately.
"Report."
The scout removed his helt quickly.
"Unknown ard group entered the western forests last night."
"How far?"
"Two ridges from the outer mining routes."
Malen’s eyes sharpened slightly.
"Formation?"
"Disciplined."
Another pause.
"And they tried hiding campfires."
Not amateurs then.
The scout hesitated briefly before continuing.
"We also found southern steel markings."
Silence.
Cold silence.
Because southern markings ant organization.
Funding.
Connection.
Lucas exhaled quietly.
"Well. That feels political."
Seraphin’s expression darkened slightly.
"If southern nobles are sending ard groups into an active frontier territory while royal investigators are present..."
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
That crossed dangerous lines.
Lucien finally looked toward Malen.
"Prepare interception units."
The Peak Knight nodded imdiately.
"I’ll lead personally."
"No killing unless necessary."
Malen looked mildly disappointed.
"...Understood."
Aurethar lowered his massive head slightly from above.
"I could simply land on them."
"No."
"What if only slightly?"
"No."
The dragon sighed heavily enough that warm smoke rolled across the wall.
"You people make strategy unnecessarily complicated."
Before Lucien could answer—
Seraphin spoke calmly beside him.
"I’m coming as well."
Several people turned toward him imdiately.
The younger investigator looked horrified.
"You absolutely are not."
Seraphin ignored him.
"If ard southern agents entered the territory during an active royal investigation, the crown needs confirmation."
Malen studied him briefly.
"You can keep up?"
The investigator’s expression remained perfectly calm.
"I dislike horses."
Malen stared for a second.
Then unexpectedly smiled faintly.
"...I respect that answer."
Lucas looked between all of them with growing concern.
"This feels like the beginning of a very bad day."
Gandalf adjusted his robes.
"In fairness, those began weeks ago."
Far beyond the walls, hidden among the storm-covered forests and mountain ridge
Twenty-three ard figures waited silently beneath the snow.
Watching Elarion.
Watching the dragon circling above the fortress.
And slowly beginning to realize—
Sothing in the north had gone very, very wrong.
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