Night fell heavily over the slums. Arthur had finally managed to coax the children into their thin straw pallets. The day’s chaos had left them restless, but exhaustion was stronger. He himself sat by the low fire, rubbing his temples.

The knock came suddenly. Not a bang on the rickety door but a thunderous, unrelenting pounding that rattled the door on its hinges.

Arthur froze. His first thought was the law enforcers. He had heard enough stories of how the law enforcers might show up in his house at night to drag him away. Never to return. Forcing calm, he rose and shuffled to the door.

“Hold…hold, I’m coming!”

He opened it~~and steel was the first thing he saw.

A sword, pressed cold against his throat.

Arthur staggered back, gasping. A man in dark armor filled the doorway, helmet shadowing his face. Behind him loomed a beast like no horse Arthur had ever seen, its nostrils flared with blue smoke, its eyes alight with unnatural fire.

“Arthur,” the knight growled, his voice low but firm, “you’re coming with me.”

Arthur’s heart thundered. “I’ve done nothing wrong. If this is about the dues, I can pay you..”

Arthur could vaguely guess that the man was not a law enforcer. He knew that he had become something dangerous and they wouldn't send a single person to capture him.

Arthur could vividly sense the magic radiating from the horse behind.

The knight cut him off with a shove that sent him sprawling against the floor.

From the back room, small voices piped up in confusion. Little feet pattered. The children spilled into the room, rubbing their eyes, blinking at the intruder until their gazes landed on the sword pressed to Arthur's chest.

“Arthur!”

Arthur’s blood ran cold. “Stay back! Stay in your room!” He struggled to his feet, but the knight hauled him upright with one hand, dragging him toward the door as though he weighed nothing.

Arthur clawed for words, for reason. “Yiu cannot drag me out of my house. You have yiu tell me where I'm off to.”

Arthur tried to fight off the man, but nothing in him could stand up to him. He couldn't even lift his fist properly.

“Not my duty to answer,” the knight said flatly. He shoved Arthur through the threshold.

The children’s cries rose in pitch, panicked and raw. Arthur twisted in the knight’s grip long enough to shout back into the house:

“I’ll be back! Do you hear me? Stay together! Don’t open the door!”

Then he was wrenched outside, toward the black steed that stamped impatiently on the cobbles. The air around it shimmered, reality itself bending like heat-haze.

“No..no, Arthur!”

The children clung to one another, their small forms framed in the doorway as they watched helplessly.

Sir Kael swung Arthur onto the beast’s back as though he were nothing more than cargo. With a sharp tug on the reins, the horse portal reared, hooves striking sparks and then it stepped forward.

The night ripped open.

With a sound like thunder cracking through glass, the knight and Arthur vanished into nothing.

The children were left staring into empty darkness, their Arthur’s last words echoing in their ears.

~~~~~~

The house still trembled from the violence that had torn Arthur away. The children sat in the corner of the narrow room, their small frames pressed tightly together, whispering hurried prayers and clutching one another as if skin-to-skin contact could ward off the darkness pressing in.

Nothing on them had prepared them for a scene like this. They feared greatly despite being quiet. They knew they could die since Arthur was no longer with them.

It was in this state of fear that the soft creak of the front door made them jolt. A figure stepped in. Emmeline’s sharp eyes swept the room, her breath unsteady from running.

The children gasped and tried to scramble away, bare feet pattering across the wooden floor, but Emmeline crouched low and spread her palms as though taming frightened birds.

“Wait..wait. Don’t run,” she whispered, her tone soft, almost playful. “If you go out, the shadows will swallow you whole. Do you want that? Stay here where the light still lives.”

Her words, cloaked in childish rhythm, slowed them. She smiled faintly and pulled a small charm from her pocket, letting it glimmer in the dim lamplight like a toy. The children hesitated, their wide eyes darting between her face and the sparkling trinket.

Gradually, their trembling eased. They edged closer again, not out of trust but from the instinctive comfort of a calm adult voice.

“Where's Arthur?” Emmeline asked softly, not making her intention known. She had been in the house for a while now but none of the children had spoken about Arthur

Arthur wouldn't have left the group of 4 boys and 3 girls alone in the house at night, would he?

“They took him,” the eldest whispered hoarsely, tears streaking his cheeks. “The law enforcers. They came and dragged him away on a beast I’ve never seen.”

Emmeline stiffened. Her heart kicked painfully in her chest, but her face remained composed. “Law enforcers, you say?” she asked gently. “And why did they come for Arthur?”

The youngest girl sniffled, tugging at Emmeline’s sleeve. “Why are you asking for him? Do you know where they took him?”

Emmeline’s gaze softened. “It’s nothing,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Don’t worry yourselves with grown-up troubles.” She brushed the child’s hair back, though inside her mind spun with sharp, frantic thoughts..fears and possibilities.

Her hand quivered unknowingly against the child's skin.

Before she could press further, the heavy stomp of boots shattered the fragile quiet. The door banged against the wall, and a flood of armored figures stormed in, blades glinting, daggers strapped at their belts, eyes hardened with official purpose.

Steel filled the small house, scraping the wooden beams as the men spread out.

The children shrieked and clung to one another. Emmeline rose slowly, her body shielding them, her hand tightening around the charm still hidden in her palm.

The enforcers’ leader stepped forward, his sword drawn but not yet swung. His gaze flicked over the room, scanning only children and one woman. No Arthur.

Emmeline steadied her breath, forcing her voice into a calm she did not feel.

“You’re late,” she said coolly, eyes locked on the man. “You won’t find who you’re looking for here.”

Would they believe her?