A few miles away from the distant port, in a trench filled with freezing cold water, a man burst out of the surface, coughing and gasping for air.
"Holyshit!" he cursed loudly.
"The guns are damn dangerous... Damnnn!"
He shivered hard, dragging his half-frozen body onto the icy ground. Blood leaked from a hole in his ribs, and the cold made the pain even worse.
As he lay there breathing heavily, Kael heard the sound of footsteps. His hand twitched toward his waist, ready to fight. But when he looked up, he saw a familiar figure moving through the trees.
Seeing her, Kael muttered inside his head, "Thank God she gave me a rough map to run away in case of emergency..."
The girl landed lightly in front of him. It was Iris. She crossed her arms and stared down at him, her face as cold as ice.
"What the hell did you do?" she asked flatly.
Kael gave a twisted laugh. "Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t my fault?"
Iris didn’t say anything. She just knelt next to him and checked his body. Her cold hand pressed near the wound. Her eyes widened.
"You’re losing heat fast. You’ll die if this keeps up."
"Eh? Why are you acting like that? I have a potion, it’s not that serious," Kael said casually, trying to sit up.
But Iris grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him back down.
"Are you an idiot?" she snapped.
Kael stared up at her, confused.
"You got bullets stuck in you, fool. If you heal yourself now, you’ll just trap the bullet inside. It’ll poison you from the inside," she said, her voice calm but sharp.
Kael’s eyes widened in shock. He stared at Iris like she had just told him he had a time bomb inside his chest.
’Ahh! Looks like I’m seriously screwed this time,’ he thought.
"So... what should I do? Just pull it out myself?" he asked, looking all serious.
"Nooo, dumbass." Iris gave him a weird look like he had lost his mind.
"You need surgery. Fast. You need someone to cut it out properly."
Kael blinked a few times, then gave a small crooked smile.
Kael gave a shaky nod, still lying half-frozen on the ground.
"Alright... surgery it is..." he mumbled, feeling the chill creep deeper into his bones.
Iris didn’t waste a second. She grabbed him by the arm like dragging a misbehaving child. Kael stumbled up, groaning.
"Damn woman, be gentle! I’m a wounded man!" Kael cried out, half laughing, half grimacing.
Iris didn’t even blink. "Stop whining, or I’ll knock you out and drag your corpse."
Kael snorted. "Ha! You’re all cold and mean. No wonder your people hate humans!"
"I never thought you would touch a human."
"I never wanted to. But your security is a part of my responsibility."Iris muttered.
Without answering, Iris pulled him forward. The snow crunched under their boots. The forest around them was dead silent except for the distant whistling wind and Kael’s constant muttering.
As they moved deeper into the woods, Kael kept looking around, wobbling on his legs like a drunk man.
"This place... sucks... It’s all cold and white and depressing," he grumbled. "No pubs, no booze, no warm fires. How do you people even live here?"
"Silence," Iris said flatly.
But Kael wasn’t one to listen. He kept mumbling nonsense.
"I bet your ancestors were icicles...That’s why you all have frozen sticks up your—Ow!"
Iris twisted his ear hard, almost yanking him off his feet.
"Keep running your mouth and I’ll leave you here to freeze," she said.
Kael grinned madly, even through the pain. "Yesss ma’am! Lead the way, my cold-hearted savior!"
Iris ignored him and increased her speed. Kael limped behind, teeth chattering, but somehow still laughing.
After what felt like hours, a small hidden entrance appeared — a tunnel carved into a hill of snow and ice. Two Ice Elf guards stood there, armed with long spears.
Their faces were hard as stone.
At the sight of Kael, one of them scowled. "Why bring that human trash here?"
They had been stationed at the back and didn’t know about the news of humans appearing in their land, which made them scowl.
"He needs urgent surgery," Iris said simply.
The guards exchanged looks but stepped aside.
Iris dragged Kael through the narrow tunnel. The inside was much warmer, shielded from the outside winds.
It was a secret route through which she took them inside the castle. The walls were made of packed ice, smooth and shining, like a frozen palace. Torches made of blue fire burned along the walls, casting ghostly light.
Kael looked around, wide-eyed. "Woah... not bad... It’s like a giant freezer made by elves..."
"Shut up," Iris said, but there was no real anger in her voice now. More like she had accepted that Kael was a walking headache.
Iris then spoke with the guards, relaying to them some information which Kael could hardly make sense of.
They entered a large chamber. In the middle, a few elderly Ice Elves in white robes stood ready. The healers.
One of them stepped forward and looked at Kael like he was inspecting a wild animal.
"He’s contaminated. Wounded by foreign metals. Quick, get him on the slab," the healer ordered.
Before Kael could react, two strong guards lifted him like a sack of potatoes and slammed him down on a cold stone table.
"Oi, oi, oi! Be gentle! I’m a fragile human, damn it!" Kael screamed, flailing.
One of the healers rolled his eyes. "Should we knock him out?"
Iris crossed her arms. "No. Let him feel it. It’s better this way."
Kael looked up at her with betrayal in his eyes. "You’re evil... you’re pure evil..."
Iris smirked faintly.
"Since you are still in the mood to joke and talk shit, I assume you are alright."
The healer grabbed a strange knife made of shimmering ice. Kael’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
"Wait... wait... let’s talk this out...!"
The ice knife slid into Kael’s skin with a sharp sting. He gritted his teeth, muscles tensing, trying not to scream. Blood spilled over the slab. The healers worked fast, cutting carefully around the wound.
Iris stood by, watching coldly.
Kael’s mind was spinning. ’I’m gonna die here. I’ll die on a frozen table surrounded by pointy-eared murderers.’
After what felt like forever, the healer finally pulled out the bullets, twisted pieces of dark metal that hissed faintly as it touched the air.
Kael stared at it, half delirious. "Damn... That little shit almost killed me..."
The healers cleaned the wound with strange herbs, then poured a thick glowing potion into it. Steam rose from the cut as the skin slowly knitted itself back together.
Kael slumped back, exhausted, breathing heavily.
"You’ll live.Just give him a potion and some rest," the head healer said dryly.
Iris nodded. "Good. Now you owe us."
Kael let out a dry laugh. "Yeah... I owe you... one slap across the face."
Iris raised an eyebrow.
Kael quickly corrected himself, smirking madly, "—I mean, my eternal gratitude, of course."
The healers packed up their tools and left.
Iris stayed behind, her arms crossed, staring at him.Kael closed his eyes, feeling the warm rush of life slowly returning to his frozen limbs.
But in the back of his mind, something still bothered him.
It was about the documents he stole that were kept in the storage ring, but before he could ponder over it, heavy drowsiness assaulted