In High Auraleon, the echo of rebellion had not settled. Dust still drifted from the fractured wall where Solace's punch had launched the King like a cannonball. The surrounding stone was spiderwebbed from the impact. His robes were torn, crown crooked, breath shaking in his throat. Below him, the arena floor was littered with dropped weapons, splintered shields, and soldiers Thiago had taken apart in seconds. Arlenna's blades still dripped, the last cut she gave the Prince forcing him to kneel with his hands raised in surrender. For a moment, just a moment, the arena was silent. The King's insult, "Crazy Frog," thrown out in anger, had already left the walls of Asteria and spread like wildfire. It became a whisper, then a chant, then something heavier, belief. Belief that someone could hit royalty and live. Belief that someone could defy a kingdom and snap chains people thought were permanent. Belief that the impossible was not impossible anymore. The air felt different as Solace's chest heaved with each breath. Her knuckles stung, and her eyes kept moving, sweeping the space for the next threat before it could find her. This was not a revolution to her, It was survival.
Arlenna flicked the blood from her blades, droplets scattering across the sand as she stared up at the broken wall. Thiago wiped the blood from his wrist and rolled his weapon in his palm like he was just warming up. They did not look like heroes, they looked like problems. And Astara was about to treat them exactly like that. From somewhere beyond the broken gates, a horn blew, a deep, sharp sound every local recognized. Solace did not know the name yet, but she would hear it soon enough,Department Of Public Order. The horn split the air, low and brutal, and the effect was immediate. The crowd surged to its feet in a wave of panic. People shoved past one another, voices rising into shouts. Parents hauled children along by the wrist, not slowing even when they stumbled. Guards tried to restore order, but the sound of the horn carried authority of its own, an order no one dared question. Within moments, the arena began to empty. What had been noise and spectacle unraveled into flight, Solace didn't move. She stood still amid the chaos, turning slowly, her gaze sweeping the exits, the shadows beneath the arches, the sudden gaps where people had been moments ago. This wasn't an ending.
The horn hadn't sounded to stop the fight, It had sounded to make room. Her pulse quickened, senses sharpening as the air itself seemed to shift, heavy with expectation. Whatever was coming didn't want witnesses, It wanted space. Solace exhaled, steady and controlled. The fight wasn't over, It hadn't even started yet. A shadow slid across the arena, long and deliberate, and her eyes lifted just as the Department Of Public Order airship broke through the haze above the stands. Its hull was patterned in stark black and white panels, red and blue lights pulsing along its sides in slow, predatory flashes as banners snapped hard against the metal. The side bays opened and one by one, the Crown Guard dropped from the ship. Their appearance cut through the chaos at once. They wore black tactical vests with deep red patches stitched across the chest and back. CROWN GUARD was printed across each one in bold white letters. White DOPO patches were fixed on the left shoulder. The right shoulder carried a solid red Northern stripe, the continent's mountain insignia stamped in the corner. Red trim lined their gloves and striped their shin guards, while black helmets hid their faces behind faint crimson visors.
Their advance was slow, they were the kind of wall you were swallowed by. Weapons came up in a single motion, some carried reinforced bo staffs wrapped in red grips. Others carried shields, and shock batons dipped in crimson metal faintly at the tips. Their armor clattered with every step, announcing their presence long before the first swing. Their gear was cleaner, heavier, these were not the guards Thiago had bullied through. Two Crown Guards moved at once, both menders. The first climbed the cracked stone and pressed a glowing seal against the King's ribs. Golden light flickered across the broken wall. The second dropped to one knee beside the Prince and pressed a matching seal to his neck and shoulder to stabilize him.
Above them, one armored Crown Guard shouted down, "The King is stable, keep them contained!" Solace watched, eyes narrowing, cataloging numbers, spacing, and possible exits. The Airship' shadow lingered above them, looming, ready to deliver more if needed. As the Crown Guard advanced in flawless steps, Solace knew with cold certainty that the real fight had just stepped onto the sand. More Crown Guards moved in formation, shields out, batons drawn, formation tightening like a net. Solace did not wait, she grabbed Thiago by the front of his shirt. "Thiago, go!" She launched him clear out of the arena in a single heavy-density throw, his body sailing high and far, arcing over the stone wall and into open air beyond it. Thiago spun mid-air, reached into his pouch, and yanked out a shrunken flat shield, a standard rectangular Department Of Public Order defensive shield. He threw it downward letting it expand just before impact.
Thunk.
The shield slammed into the dirt at a sharp angle letting Thiago land on top of it in a slide. When it slowed, he hopped off, grabbed the edge, shrank it again, and shoved it back into his pouch without breaking stride. He sprinted toward position, not ready yet. Inside the arena, Solace ducked under a Crown Guard baton and blocked another. Arlenna intercepted the next Crown Guard, blades crossing with a sharp metallic ring. Solace glanced toward the wall. Thiago was too far to hear, too far to shout to, and she did not have time. "I hope he is ready," she said under her breath. The arena was tearing itself apart around her, Crown Guard boots thundered through the sand, shouts cracked from every direction, metal rang, and engines droned overhead. Solace moved fast, she cut through the chaos and slipped behind a broken section of stadium near the lower wall. There was barely any light but that's where she found the kids. They were all huddled together in the shadows, ankles bound with chains too heavy for their small frames, eyes wide with terror. Some were crying, and some were frozen so still it looked like they had stopped breathing.
Solace dropped to a knee in front of them. "Hey," she said, voice low but steady, sharp enough to cut through fear without feeding it. "Look at me, not over there, me." A few pairs of eyes shifted. One child flinched as a distant explosion rattled the wall. Solace held their gaze, unshaking. "You hear all that?" she continued, one earmuff off now, nodding toward the chaos. "That's not for you, that's bad adults making bad choices, but you're getting out." They stared at her, confused, shaking. Solace continued. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe, but I need you to help me, okay?" She reached out, gently gripping one small shoulder. "When I pick you up, you don't scream, you don't fight me, you don't hold on, and you let me do the rest." A small voice cracked through the noise. "You're… you're going to throw us?" Solace gave a thin, reassuring smile, just enough to hold them together. "Yeah, over the wall, It looks scary, but it's clear on the other side. I've done this before."Another crash echoed. The chains rattled as the kids flinched closer together, solace put the earmuff back over her ear. "Listen to me," Solace said, firmer now, urgency threading through her calm. "You trust me for three seconds. That's all I need, three seconds, and you're safe."One by one, they nodded, small, shaky movements, but they nodded. Solace rose, already moving, choosing angles and distance. She grabbed the nearest child, and yanked the chain links apart with ease. The chains fell to the ground with a clatter, Solace braced her stance against the shaking sand, and drew a breath as the world roared around them. There was no more time, so she threw, one after another.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Solace threw bodies over the wall as the Crown Guard kept closing in. Arlenna moved without thinking, stepping into their path before they could reach her. Two hands, Two swords, no hesitation. "Touch them, and I cut you down," Arlenna said. She clashed with the first Crown Guard, their movements were sharper, trained for real threats. Another Crown Guard engaged, then another. Arlenna fought them in tight circles, flicking blood from her blades, moving like she had trained for this moment her entire life. Solace kept throwing as Thiago kept working, and the Crown Guard kept coming. Thiago grabbed the second pole and jammed it into the ground beside the other. It expanded at an angle and almost knocked him over. "Come on!" He wrestled it straight, bracing the pole with one hand while the other pulled the net free. He hooked the rescue net and stretched it across the poles, letting it hang loose and angled so it would slow the fall. He reached for the anchor spikes, but saw a shadow move across the ground. Thiago looked up, A kid was already in the air, his jaw dropped. "Solace, no!" The kid slammed into the high end of the net, and the entire corner ripped free. The net whipped sideways, ready to dump him straight onto the ground.
Thiago did not think, he threw his spear straight through the loose corner of the net and shrank it mid throw so it slid clean through, on the other side he expanded it again. The spear haft snapped into place. The net caught on the expanded spear, snagged, and redirected the kid's fall into a slide instead of a drop. Thiago sprinted under and caught the child as they slid down the improvised rescue bar. He exhaled "Done, no more surprises, please." He looked up. Two more kids were already flying. His eyes widened "Solace, you have got to be kidding me." He shoved the rescued child behind him and ran back to the net. He hauled the loose corner up, yanking the knot tight until the whole setup stopped wobbling. When kid number two dropped in, Thiago steadied the net and helped them down, kid three followed right after. Thiago caught them the same way and pushed them toward safety. The net was fixed, It was holding, and Thiago was tired of dealing with it.
Back inside the arena, Arlenna shot forward first. Her blades spun once, just once, before she lunged straight into the Crown Guard line. Steel rang out as she cut past the first shield, twisting her body sideways to slip through a gap. She slashed a wrist, stepped over a low sweep, then darted toward the next guard before the first even hit the sand. Another guard charged, Arlenna ducked under his strike, rolled across her shoulder, and came up behind him. Both blades tapped the back of his knee, one, two, clean and precise. He collapsed, his leg refusing to respond. She did not watch him fall, she was already moving. Another staff swung at her head. She bent backward sharply, the staff rushing past her nose. She snapped upright and sliced the joint at the attacker's elbow, he froze, arm hanging useless. A shield crashed into her, Arlenna sidestepped, twisted, and carved a line across the guard's thigh and his stance buckled immediately. She pivoted again, spinning between two Crown Guards, both blades flashing as she slashed at exposed joints, never stopping, It looked choreographed. One guard slipped past her and charged a child running but Arlenna saw it.
She threw herself in front of the kid and took the shield hit with her shoulder, then slammed her pommel into the guard's head, and even with his helmet, the impact forced him to drop. The child stumbled behind her. Arlenna pivoted, hooked the back of her knee around the child's waist, and with a small, controlled kick to their side, forced them into a stumbling run toward Solace. "Solace!" she snapped. More guards rushed in. Arlenna's breaths quickened, but her movements stayed clean. Spin. Lunge. Slash. Dodge. Step. Cut. Pivot. Block. Even surrounded, she carved space with skill alone, breaking the formation apart piece by piece. But the Crown Guard kept coming, wall after wall closing around her. A shield slammed into her back and a staff smashed into her ribs as more boots pounded the sand, more vests marked CROWN GUARD filled her vision, more shields rose, more staffs swung, and the pressure closed in from every side. Then suddenly the air rushed sideways, and a blur slammed into the formation.
Solace hit the Crown Guards like a battering ram. The impact blasted guards off their feet, sent shields and batons flying, and armor skidding across the sand. She ricocheted through them, clearing space around Arlenna in an instant. Arlenna gasped, half-standing, half-falling. Solace grabbed her forearm and hauled her upright like she weighed nothing. "You good?" Solace asked, eyes already tracking the next wave. Arlenna sucked in air "Not for long."Solace saw more kids who needed help, but she couldn't see Thiago or the net, only heard the screaming as bodies flew through the air. "I hope he is catching them," she muttered, then clicked her tongue once. "All right, I'm throwing them now." She turned light-density, sprinted past Guards, scooped up three kids, and flung them toward Thiago. Another guard tried to intercept, but Solace ducked under his swing, turned heavy-density for a split second, and shoulder-checked him so hard he bounced off two others Crown Guards. Then she grabbed two more kids and launched them. Without slowing down she grabbed the last cluster of Kids, spun, and threw them in rapid succession, each body sailing toward safety. Now that the kids were safe, Solace turned fully toward the incoming wall of Crown Guards. She sighed, her hands dropping into her pockets. "Finally," she said. "I can focus."