Chapter 132: Ch.129: Brotherhood of the Shield
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- Hidden Flame Alpine Base, Switzerland -
- May 16, 1939 | Late Night -
The mountains swallowed them whole as Karna and Neel crossed back over the snowline before dawn broke. The old forests held their secrets tight — no birds yet, just the crunch of boots and the soft hush of breath in the cold. By the time they reached the Hidden Flame’s Alpine base, dawn had only brushed the peaks in silver.
Hidden behind jagged slopes and old pine, the base looked like nothing from the outside — a shepherd’s cabin, half-buried in snow. Inside, it stretched deep into the mountain’s bones, warm with soft lamps and the quiet hum of old runes.
Karna felt the weight of the night in his shoulders. He’d slipped past hunters, watchers, and an old city’s teeth — but he hadn’t cracked it. Not yet. And that failure stung, hidden under his calm breath.
Neel brushed snow from his coat as they stepped inside. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe a joke to break the hush — but stopped when he saw who waited by the old fireplace.
Aryan was there. Not in royal robes or some grand armor — just simple travel clothes, boots damp with snowmelt, hair loose around his shoulders. Shakti sat near him, half-curled on a wool blanket, watching the flames dance like they whispered secrets only she could hear. The sight of them together — quiet, warm, so out of place in these cold stone halls — made Karna blink once, thrown off his own tired thoughts.
Aryan looked up, grin flickering to life the moment their eyes met. "There you are," he said, voice easy. "Running circles around old ruins again?"
Karna dropped his pack, breath huffing out like he’d carried more than snow back down the mountain. "I could ask you the same thing, Samrat," he shot back, his grin quick but lopsided. "How come you and Shakti are here, in my Alps, just waiting by my fire like it’s a picnic?"