Winter walked back toward the portal, Yillhowyen's corpse dragging limply in his grip. Just in case any demons were still around and stupid enough to try something. But as he stepped through the trees, he saw nothing left moving. No demons—at least none still breathing. Only the elven kids and Weeping Phantom, all of them staring silently in his direction.
"Good work," Winter said, his tone casual. "Even if you needed my help in the middle of it." He dropped Yillhowyen's body to the ground with a dull thump and walked over to Dae.
Dae's gaze flicked between Winter's blood-soaked axe on the ground and the mangled corpse of the drakorath it had bisected. "How did you know?" he asked.
Winter pointed at the spear resting in Dae's hands. "She told me."
The kids blinked. All eyes dropped to the weapon. Now staring at it with a new layer of awe.
"Speaking of which," Winter said, opening his palm. The spear trembled, then shot from Dae's grip and landed cleanly in his waiting hand.
He looked over to Vee. "Could you hand me the axe?"
Vee nodded and stepped over to where the weapon had landed. It was heavy, almost unwieldy, but it didn't hum or shift like the spear had. Just a brutal, solid thing. She carried it over and placed it in his hand.
"Thanks," Winter said, slinging the spear onto his back and reclaiming the axe.
He glanced around. "I'm guessing every demon ran off I'm assuming?"
The kids nodded.
"Yeah," Lai said, pointing down at Weeping Phantom, who sat silently, head lowered, eyes burning with quiet fury. "She started freaking out, yelling something about a Hellscape and Soul Chamber."
"She looked terrified," Jae added. "Then they all just... ran away into the portal."
Winter gave a small nod, then turned back toward the portal. Without hesitation, he walked up to it—and raised his axe.
One clean swing.
The portal split down the middle and blinked out of existence, like a candle snuffed in the dark.
"That's that," he said, dusting his hands off as he turned back around.
The kids stared in stunned silence. Weeping Phantom's jaw had dropped.
"H-how did you just cut the portal closed!?" Weeping Phantom said, her voice cracking with disbelief.
Vee turned to Dae, whispering, "That's not something people can just do, right?"
Dae didn't answer at first. He just kept staring, the weight of what he'd seen still catching up to him.
"No," he muttered at last. "No, they're not."
Winter slid the axe onto his back beside the spear and stepped toward the group, his expression once again lit with the same grin he wore before talk of the demons soured his mood.
"Alright, kiddies! We're done here," he said cheerfully, throwing his arms out wide. "With the demons gone, that snake monster you're hiding won't last five minutes. Easy prey now." He chuckled, then reached down and grabbed Weeping Phantom by the waist like luggage. She let out a startled yelp, thrashing in his grip.
"I'll be taking the princess here," Winter continued, hoisting her higher. "She's gonna guide me out of this jungle and straight to her little demon buddies. Which means—" he gave the kids a wink, "—I won't have to take you four hostage again. Lucky you."
The kids looked like they'd been slapped. After the raw, quiet menace he'd shown minutes ago, the sudden shift into lighthearted theatrics was almost physically jarring.
"What!? No! Just let me go or kill me, you freak!" Weeping Phantom shrieked, struggling in her bindings. Just like before, it accomplished nothing.
Winter ignored her completely. "You kids should really head home," he said, turning his head toward them without breaking stride. "It's pushing four o'clock, and I'm willing to bet your parents are worried sick. But! Before I leave, I do have one tiny little request."
He made a pleading motion with one hand, raising his voice into an exaggerated whine. "Please don't put everything you saw today in your reports, alright? That would ruin the surprise I've got planned for a certain someone."
Running a hand through his hair, he smirked. "Just say a super handsome, incredibly powerful mage swooped in, saved the day, and left without causing any trouble. Which—technically—is true. I closed the portal, didn't plan on sticking around, and I look fantastic, so really, it's an easy sell."
Then, without warning, he spun around and pointed Weeping Phantom forward like a living lantern.
"And now—my loyal, personally appointed demon detector—lead me to your friends and out of this jungle!"
She opened her mouth to protest, but he was already sprinting through the trees, carrying her like a torch.
"Bye-bye! Hope we meet again when I come back!" he shouted over his shoulder.
The jungle swallowed him up a moment later, leaving behind four utterly bewildered elves.
"…Brother," Lai said slowly, still staring at the trees. "Humans are very strange."
Dae nodded, still trying to process what had just happened. "Yeah. Yeah, they are."