Morning came with the smell of mud and woodsmoke. Allen rolled off the thin mattress without waking Seraphina. She had curled onto her side in the night, her silver hair tangled across the pillow, one hand resting where his chest had been. He pulled the blanket over her shoulder and stood. The floor was cold under his bare feet. The room was still dark, but the slum outside was already stirring. He washed his face in the basin and pulled on a clean shirt. The sword stayed in Dominion Cache. No target on his back today. At the door, he looked back. Seraphina's eyes were open. "Go back to sleep," he said. Her eyes blinked twice. 'No.' Allen smiled. "Stubborn." He crossed to the bed and kissed her forehead. "I'll bring bread. Stay quiet." One blink. 'Yes.' The market was already full. Allen moved through the crowd. He stopped at a bread stall. The smell of warm dough hung around it. He focused, and a few copper coins dropped into his palm from Dominion Cache. He paid for 2 loa

The tunnel did not end. Allen stepped over the last Gloomfang corpse and kept walking, his boots pressing dark prints into the wet stone. The gate's blue light was already gone, swallowed by the deep. Maris and Fendrel followed close, their breath loud, their weapons still wet. The air in this part of the dungeon was heavier. Not just cold. Wet. Heavy with the smell of old blood and something green, something rotting. "Boss?" Maris whispered. "Are we close to the boss?" Allen didn't answer. He was listening. Water dripped somewhere ahead, each drop returning a soft echo. That meant the space was large. A chamber. But the echo came back too fast on one side. The right side. The wall there was broken, opening into a wider passage. The corridor split. Allen stopped. Two paths lay before them. The right path was broad, its floor smooth from years of use. The left was narrower, rougher, the stone cracked and uneven. From the right came a sound like something breathing through a throat

The gate closed behind them with a sound like tearing silk, and the forest opened up again. Allen walked first, his boots pressing into soft earth. The air smelled of wet leaves and woodsmoke from the slum below. The afternoon sun was already sliding toward the horizon, throwing long shadows between the trees, and the light that filtered through the branches was the color of old gold. Maris and Fendrel followed a few steps behind. Neither spoke. The dungeon had taken their words, or maybe they were too tired to waste them. Allen didn't mind. Silence was easier. At the tree line, where the forest gave way to the first crooked shacks and the narrow lanes of the slum, Allen stopped. Maris almost walked into him. Fendrel pulled up short. "Go home," Allen said. "Both of you. Rest." Maris opened his mouth, then closed it. He nodded. "Yes, boss." Allen turned his head just enough to look at them. "Morning, my house...You know the way." "We know." "Then don't be late." Allen's voice

The last spoonful of porridge slid past her lips, and Allen set the bowl aside with a soft click of wood against clay.They quietly enjoyed their evening meal. Seraphina lay against the pillow, her silver hair spread around her like a spill of moonlight. Her breathing was slow and even, and a faint flush had settled across her cheeks, the kind that came from a full stomach and the quiet comfort of being cared for. Her violet eyes followed him as he moved, not anxious, just watching. It had become something between them, that watching. A language of its own. The afternoon had leaned into early evening. The light through the window had softened, turning the room gold at the edges. Outside, the slum was settling into its evening rhythm. The voices of children had faded, replaced by the murmur of adults coming home and the crackle of cooking fires. Allen was reaching for the pot when the knock came. He straightened. He glanced at Seraphina, who blinked once, then crossed to the door

The afternoon sun had not yet begun to fade when Allen heard the knock. He was in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed with Seraphina's hand in his. The new house was quiet around them, the kind of quiet that still felt unfamiliar. No rats scratching in the walls, no damp wind pushing through the cracks. Just the soft sound of her breathing and the distant noise of the street beyond the window. Solid thumps came from the front door. Tok. Tok. Tokk.. Allen didn't move right away. He looked at Seraphina, at the way the pale light touched her hair, and felt something tighten in his chest. He didn't want to leave her. Not even for a moment. "That'll be Maris and Fendrel," he said. "They've been looking for a place to stay." She tilted her head. A question. "They found something, I think." He squeezed her hand and stood. "Stay here. I won't be long." Her fingers slipped from his, and he left the room before the look in her eyes could make him stay. Maris and Fendrel stood