The relentless northern wind battered Siqi and his Magoli riders, driving bitter gusts directly into their faces as their warhorses thundered toward the Nuazas River. Behind them, the gale was only just beginning to die down—ceasing its wild sweep across the mountain peaks, where it had hurled dense sheets of snow scattering down into the valley and over the quiet expanse of Ngabo. Overhead, a thick canopy of dark clouds choked the evening sun, smothering the sky in gloom as Siqi led his unit hard toward the riverbanks to relieve the archers holding the watchtowers.
"Siqi," Khair called out, her voice ringing clear against the wind as she rode alongside him. "I met Tömör during dinner. He said the person in charge of the Paayasian prisoners today is Möndör."
"What?!" several riders exclaimed in disbelief.
"I thought he was sent off to Nue-Li," another soldier added.
"I heard he came back early," a female archer chimed in. "He and his men just arrived this morning with the food supply Chinua sent him to get. He volunteered his unit for the early patrol. If he hadn't, it would've been us waking up at dawn to swap out the night shift."
"Well, at least that arrogant young captain is good for something," another archer chuckled. "This time when I see his face, I might even fake a smile for him."
Nachin glanced back over his shoulder at the riders behind him, a smirk playing on his lips. "He might have terrible manners toward us and everyone else, but I have to admit—that boulder is one hell of a warrior."
"I bet that arrow to his back really woke him up!" teased a male archer, sparking a round of lighthearted laughter among the ranks.
Khair smiled softly and turned toward Siqi, who remained entirely unmoved by their jokes, his dark eyes locked straight ahead toward the riverbank. Watching his stoic expression, Khair's smile faded. She knew Siqi well—he despised backbiting and petty gossip, preferring honesty and directness above all else.
"Just ignore them," Khair murmured gently. "They didn't mean anything by it."
Siqi turned his gaze to Khair before raising his voice to command the entire company. "Keep it down! We're approaching!"
At his order, the laughter vanished instantly. A heavy, disciplined silence fell over the troop, broken only by the weak, dying wind and the rhythmic pounding of hooves as they neared the watchtowers.
Reining in their mounts, the unit split with practiced efficiency. The archers assigned to the primary watch climbed the timber structures to relieve the first shift, while Siqi, Khair, and ten elite riders urged their horses straight toward the frozen banks where the Paayasian prisoners were supposed to be ice fishing.
As the wind died down and the fog thinned, Möndör and his ten elite soldiers reached the treacherous stretch of cracking ice. Standing on the fragile riverbed, they could hear the frantic roar of the rushing current surging directly beneath their boots.
A short distance away stood a tall silhouette, refusing to retreat and scanning the frozen surface from side to side. Möndör recognized him instantly: Captain Yongyee. He sneered, marching toward his captive. But as he drew closer, he heard Yongyee's voice—a sound raw with desperation and suffocating panic. In six long months of captivity, Yongyee had never shown a single fracture in his composure. Today, standing on the thin ice, he sounded completely broken.
Möndör raised his hand, and his ten archers notched their arrows as they closed in.
"Ba-ba... just leave..."
The weak, pleading voice of a young girl echoed through the cold air. Möndör couldn't see her yet through the mist, but he kept stalking forward like a tiger closing in on its prey. His target was so consumed by the danger ahead that he had forgotten to guard his rear. Lifting his heavy, frost-dusted spear, Möndör crept forward, his boots light against the slick surface.
Ahead, Yongyee watched in horror as his daughter lost her grip, struggling to keep her head above the freezing water.
"Nou!" he cried out, taking a frantic step forward.
With every stride, spiderwebbing cracks shot across the pale ice, groaning under his weight. He knew in his heart that with heavy iron shackles bound to his ankles, he could never save her—and if he rushed blindly into the current, he would sink to the bottom alongside her. Summoning every ounce of his strength, Yongyee snapped the wooden shaft of his pine staff across his knee, grabbed the sharp iron tip, and began frantically jamming it into his ankle lock.
A cold blade pressed against the back of his neck.
"Your count of one hundred is long overdue, Captain," Möndör's deep, resonant voice rumbled from behind.
Yongyee paused for a fraction of a second, then went straight back to picking his lock, ignoring the blade entirely.
"Ba... ba..." Nou's voice whimpered, followed by a violent, wet cough that was swallowed by the roaring water.
Hearing her choke, Yongyee spun around and stood up. Only one of Nou's pale, frostbitten hands remained visible, clinging to the breaking edge of the ice. In seconds, the current would drag her under for good.
Yongyee locked eyes with Möndör and his men. "Take your squad and leave at once," he warned, his voice shaking with furious resolve. "Because when I run forward, this thin ice will shatter—and the river will drown every single one of us."
Möndör stared into Yongyee's bloodshot, tear-filled eyes, then looked past him at the pale hand disappearing less than twenty feet away. He glanced down at the web of spreading cracks beneath his boots.
Without a word, Möndör signaled to his men, handing his spear off to a soldier. He began stripping off his gear.
"Möndör!" one of his closest guards gasped, grabbing his arm in shock. "What are you doing?!"
With a stone-cold, expressionless face, Möndör unbuckled his heavy leather armor and shed his thick woolen cloak. "Can't you see?" he said coldly. "Someone is drowning and needs saving."
He stripped down to his undergarments, unbothered by the biting winter air.
"Möndör, wait!" another soldier pleaded.
Möndör grabbed a coil of heavy rope from his soldier's waist and bound it tightly around his own midsection. He stepped toward the nearest Magoli soldier, tossing him the loose end.
"Everyone else, fall back in case the ice gives way," Möndör commanded.
He broke into a sprint. Just as Yongyee had predicted, the ice shattered beneath Möndör's heavy strides, giving way with a thunderous crack. The ten soldiers recoiled, dragging a shocked Yongyee back as the riverbed caved in.
Möndör dived straight into the freezing abyss.
The instant the ice water engulfed him, it felt as though a thousand frozen needles were piercing his skin at once. But he had been forged for this—he held his breath, waiting a brief second for his body to adjust to the shock, then opened his eyes beneath the murk.
Through the shadowy water, he spotted the faint, struggling outline of a young girl floating upward, her hands reaching blindly for an opening in the ice a few feet away. Knowing his body would begin shutting down within moments, Möndör kicked hard through the dark current, wrapping his arm securely around her waist.
With his left hand, he gripped the secure rope around his chest and jerked it violently from side to side.
Above the ice, the Magoli soldier holding the rope hauled backward with all his strength. But a single man was no match for the violent current and the combined weight of two bodies. Instead of pulling them up, the soldier lost his footing and was dragged toward the churning, open water.
"Grab him!" a soldier screamed as the man slid right past Yongyee.
With his daughter's life hanging on that single cord, Yongyee lunged forward, wrapping his broad arms around the sliding soldier's waist to anchor him. Reaching out, Yongyee clamped his raw, bleeding hands onto the thick rope, shouting to the rest of the unit. The ten Magoli soldiers surged behind him, pulling back in a single, synchronized wave of muscle and iron to drag Möndör and Nou out of the freezing depths.
Möndör heaved Nou's half-conscious body onto the solid ice. Yongyee instantly dropped to his knees, rushing forward to cradle her shivering form in his arms. Behind them, Möndör hauled himself out of the freezing water with the help of his guards, who immediately draped a dry tunic and heavy trousers over his trembling shoulders.
"Möndör, quickly! Put these on before you freeze!" one of his soldiers urged, his voice tight with anxiety.
On the open, wind-swept river, Yongyee held his daughter close. "You're safe now, my child... You're safe."
Nou fluttered her heavy eyelids, looking up into a face she barely recognized. He was so thin, his cheeks hollow, his jaw covered in a thick, unkempt beard.
"Ba-ba... I thought you died," Nou sobbed softly, her choked voice trembling against his chest. "I thought I would never see you again..."
"You're safe now," Yongyee repeated, pulling her tighter against his chest to share his warmth, his eyes lifting to meet Möndör's.
Möndör stood watching the father and daughter. Seeing Nou shudder violently from the hypothermia, he knew that if she didn't get near a fire soon, the biting cold would claim her life. Without a word, he unclasped his own thick, fur-lined winter cloak and tossed it toward Yongyee.
"Thank you," Yongyee said softly, catching the heavy garment and wrapping it securely around Nou's shivering frame.
"Captain," Möndör's deep, unwavering voice boomed across the ice. Remarkably, his tone remained as steady and authoritative as ever, carrying no hint that he had just plunged into sub-zero waters without his cloak. "I do not pick fights and have my father resolve them for me. I do not walk onto the battlefield with my father's sword. I walk onto the battlefield with my own spear, and I earn every fallen man before me. Therefore..." He locked eyes with the veteran commander. "...take back your words."
Yongyee let out a low, warm chuckle. "This old fool willingly takes back his words."
Möndör rolled his eyes, grabbed his heavy spear from his guard, and turned on his heel to march back toward the riverbank.
"Come... let's go find your brother," Yongyee whispered with a gentle smile.
Nou nodded, scrambling onto her father's back. With his daughter wrapped tightly around his shoulders, Yongyee fell into step behind Möndör and five of his elite guards, while the remaining five soldiers formed a protective rear guard behind them.
Just then, the heavy, smothering storm clouds finally parted above the valley, allowing the low evening sun to burst through. Golden rays poured over the horizon, transforming the fractured, frozen river into a vast, breathtaking sheet of sparkling diamonds.