[Realm: Álfheimr]
[Location: Heart Kingdom Outskirts]
[Virelheim Mountain Village]
Before them stood a massive wooden gate, set into a tall perimeter wall of uneven stone and reinforced timber. Iron bolts sat across the support beams. Its sheer size seemed almost imposing.
The village, obscured beyond, was nestled directly into the mountain's body—buildings stacked along tiers. Some structures were hewn directly into the rock, while others had been fastened with wooden supports, ladders, and steep stairways that zigzagged upwards in precarious paths. Ropes and pulley baskets moved slowly overhead, ferrying supplies between platforms.
Above the gate on a small lookout balcony, a guard in a fur-lined coat leaned forward, bow already nocked in hand. His eyes narrowed beneath the brim of his helmet. Not at Gretel. But at the figure beside her.
At Mikoto.
"Hold," the man called sharply, voice loud but cautious. "Who's the stranger?"
His grip on the bow didn't falter.
