Maria, Sten, Bren, and Zeak finally emerged from Thornveil.
They stopped for a moment and looked back.
The towering plume of smoke still rose above the forest, but now it bent sideways beneath the force of Gareth's wind magic.
Bren stared at it uneasily.
"I hope Gareth is okay," he muttered. "What if that Nero guy tries to kill him?"
Zeak immediately shook his head.
"He won't attack Gareth."
Bren frowned.
"You don't know that."
"Actually, he's right," Maria said.
Bren turned toward her.
Maria folded her arms.
"Nero won't attack him."
A brief pause.
"You didn't see what that man is capable of."
Sten nodded in agreement.
"He could've killed every one of us back there."
His expression remained serious.
"He had the power to do it."
A pause.
"But he chose not to."
Zeak crossed his arms.
"None of us are even seriously injured."
He glanced at Bren.
"He even protected you from his own attack while you were unconscious."
Bren opened his mouth to argue—
Then stopped.
Maria placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Gareth will be fine."
She offered a small smile.
"We need to follow his orders and get back to the capital, remember?"
Sten lightly patted Bren on the back.
"Come on."
"Let's move."
After one final glance toward the burning forest, the four of them resumed their journey toward the capital.
Meanwhile—
Two mages had been dispatched to assist with the wildfire in Thornveil.
They rode side by side along the forest road, urging their horses forward.
The pair were twins.
Elara and Torin.
Members of the kingdom's mage unit.
Capable spellcasters despite their relatively low rank.
As they rode, Torin wore a permanent scowl.
Elara eventually sighed.
"What's bothering you now?"
Torin looked at her like she had asked the most obvious question in the world.
"What's bothering me?"
His irritation immediately resurfaced.
"What's bothering me is those nobles sitting in their mansions giving orders."
Elara lowered her voice.
"Torin."
"Calm down."
She glanced around nervously.
"Someone might hear you."
"Jeez, sis."
Torin rolled his eyes.
"You worry too much."
He gestured toward the empty road around them.
"We already left the capital."
"There's nobody here to hear me trash-talk those filthy nobles."
Elara looked around.
Then blinked.
"Oh."
"You're right."
Torin clicked his tongue.
"Can you believe this?"
He pointed toward the distant column of smoke rising over Thornveil.
"They sent only the two of us to deal with that."
Elara attempted to remain optimistic.
"Maybe they have confidence in us."
Torin groaned.
"Don't be naive."
"The only reason they picked us is because we're cheap."
His expression darkened.
"Sending more people means paying more people."
"Sending stronger mages means paying stronger mages."
He shook his head.
"Those greedy pigs would never agree to that."
Elara remained silent.
Torin continued.
"Look at us."
"On a good day, we're barely comparable to an experienced silver-ranker."
He pointed toward the forest again.
"We can't handle a wildfire that size by ourselves."
Elara finally spoke.
"We're not alone."
"Sergeant Grace and her squad are already there."
"We just need to support them."
Torin's irritation slowly faded.
He let out a long breath.
"I hope they're alright."
His eyes remained fixed on the distant smoke.
"Things don't look good from here."
For the first time, Elara looked genuinely worried as well.
"Then let's hurry."
Torin nodded.
Without another word, both twins urged their horses into a faster pace and rode toward Thornveil Forest.
Deep within the burning forest, a massive half-sphere of ice melted into torrents of water, revealing Nero, the six unconscious guards, and their horses—all drenched from the sudden thaw.
Nero looked around.
The flames were no longer being pushed toward them.
"Gareth must've stopped," he muttered.
Inside his mind, Angelo spoke.
"Good thing you created that ice dome to protect everyone."
Nero stared at the inferno ahead.
"Can't believe he pushed a fire of this scale that far."
A brief pause.
"He's no joke."
As Angelo continued speaking, Nero moved from guard to guard, checking for serious injuries.
"Even so, if he hadn't stopped, the rest of the forest on this side would've caught fire."
After a quick inspection, Nero confirmed that none of them were seriously hurt.
He then created a stone watering trough for the horses. A thin layer of ice formed along the inside before he melted it into cold water.
The horses immediately lowered their heads and drank greedily, finally quenching their thirst after enduring the unbearable heat.
While they drank, Nero studied the burning forest in silence.
Then he sighed.
"Need to make a trench on this side too."
His gaze shifted toward the unconscious guards.
"What do I even do with them?"
After thinking for a moment, he grabbed them one by one and dragged them farther away from the flames.
Once they were safely clear, a thick stone wall rose from the earth between them and the wildfire.
Only then did he wait for the horses to finish drinking.
When they were done, he cut the ropes tying them to a nearby tree.
"Go back to the capital."
The horses snorted and began moving off through the forest.
Angelo immediately approved.
"Good choice."
A pause.
"The reinforcements these people called for will see riderless horses returning and realize something went wrong. They'll start searching."
Nero continued working while replying.
"If they're lucky, the horses will lead them straight back here."
Using earth magic, he carved another trench along this side of the fire.
Then he connected it to the original firebreak and coated the entire length with ice for additional protection.
Afterward, he ignited the remaining trees trapped on the wildfire's side of the trench.
Once the work was finished, Nero turned around and began walking back toward Gareth.
As he walked, his hands briefly rested on Protector and Oblivion.
"In the end," he muttered, "I didn't have to fire a single shot."
Angelo chuckled.
"Maybe not."
A pause.
"But we burned through a lot of power today."
"We're probably running low."
Nero sighed.
"Yeah."
"This sucks."
His expression darkened.
"Why did Gareth have to drag me into this mess?"
Another pause.
"He'd better pay for more meals and a few extra days at the inn."
After some time, he finally reached the other side of the firebreak.
Gareth was sitting on a large rock, resting.
When he noticed Nero approaching, he immediately stood up.
"You're still here?" Nero asked. "I thought you would've left by now."
Relief visibly crossed Gareth's face.
"You're back?"
He exhaled.
"Thank god you're unharmed."
Nero gave him a smug look.
"That's child's play for me."
Gareth rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah."
He dusted himself off and stepped away from the rock.
"Let's stop wasting time."
"The fire isn't spreading anymore."
"We should start heading back."
Nero nodded.
Together, the two of them left the dying flames behind and began the long walk back toward the capital of Valtheris—side by side.