Thirteen muskoxen stampeded out from the trees toward the bewildered guardsmen, whose eyes widened in terror. The lead bull rammed into Hargreaves with a lowered head, slamming into the man's rear. His body snapped back in pain, and he was sent hurtling up in an arc before landing with a loud crunch of broken bones.

Frost breathed with relief at the sight. Finally, his brother had come. As always.

The oxen charged out like an angry mob, hungry for blood. They were smart enough to only target the soldiers, avoiding the prisoners altogether. Their hoofs beat down on the dirt like a hundred boulders tumbling down a mountainside.

The guards who managed to pick themselves up ran away like sheep fleeing a hungry wolf. The rest lay sprawled on the ground, their bodies limp and bruised.

As quickly as the muskoxen entered the camp, they were gone, disappearing into the woods on the other side, the imprints of their hoof marks pressed upon the dirt and snow.

Suddenly, a bush rustled from the trees nearby as if some other far larger creature were passing through. Whatever it was shook the entire plant.

Then the bush itself stood up.

"Well, don't just stand there," Frolick said, his muddied body coated in twigs, pine needles, and branches. "Let's get outta here."

The roughly fifteen remaining prisoners stared at the talking man-bush, dumbstruck by everything that had just happened.

"Tell 'em, Frost," Frolick said, his voice urgent. Placing two of his fingers in his mouth, he let out a loud whistle that rang through the camp.

In an instant, the muskoxen reemerged, their heads peeking out from the brush in immediate response to Frolick's call. Their stench reentered with them, covering the camp in a pungent aroma.

"Let's go," Frost said, gagging as he spoke. He reached up and pinched his nose with his right thumb and index fingers. "We need to leave now," he said in a nasal voice.

Frolick hopped onto the lead beast and signaled for the others to do likewise by waving his hand. He looked like a hermitic druid climbing onto a creature from another world.

Frost nodded, acknowledging his brother, grateful for once again having been saved from the point of death. He climbed onto one of the oxen.

The prisoners followed, a few of them doubling up per animal. The muskoxen were obedient, friendly even. Frolick really did have a way with animals to tame them so quickly, Frost thought to himself.

"Thank you," the young woman said to Frolick. She had light blue eyes and straight brown hair running down her back. She was youthful and prim, her face smooth and light. With one hand, she clutched the now-sleeping child, and with the other she held tightly to the muskox. "Who do I have to thank?"

"The name's Frolick," Frolick said, nodding in her direction and then pointing toward Frost. "And this here is my brother Frost."

She smiled warmly and brushed her hair. Her back straightened, and her blue eyes pierced him with her gaze. "I am Alta. I'm very grateful, but I cannot join you. There is something I must do."

"That ain't happening," Frolick said. "You can't go back there. Especially not with that ba—"

She shoved the sleeping child into his arms.

"Now, wait one sec—" Before Frolick could finish the sentence, she was off. She leaped off her muskox and darted into the woods toward the company of soldiers who continued to launch iron balls at the nearly collapsed walls of Hailstone Keep.

Frost and Frolick looked at each other in confusion, not sure what exactly had just transpired. It had happened so fast.

"Did she just give you her baby?" Frost said, his eyebrows furrowed. "You really do have a way with women."

"Now that's not fair," Frolick said. "She's pretty and all but, well, I'm not quite sure what to make of that."

The baby awoke for a moment and looked Frolick in the eyes. The baby cooed softly and then curled up against Frolick's shoulder, drool running down his flabby chin.

"Think he's taking to you quite nicely," Frost said. This was getting better and better.

Frolick 's mouth gaped as he looked at the child. "Barely know how to fold me own clothes, I do. I can't take care of a baby."

"You'll figure it out," Frost said.

"I wonder if one of these folks know anything about this child," Frolick said.

"Alta was not the child's mother," the older man said in a gruff voice, riding up close to Frost and Frolick. He wore torn, ragged clothing and had white hair. His build was tall and lean, and his leg was bleeding from a bullet to the thigh. "She was passing through and saved him."

"Interesting," Frolick said, looking at the sleeping child. The newborn was awfully cute.

"Looks like you're now a dad," Frost said, throwing up his arms. "You always did have a way with the more, um, aromatic creatures. Wonder if that'll translate in this case." His voice pitched upward as he spoke.

"Now, wait a minute—" Frolick said.

"No time," Frost said, smiling. "Have to leave. The Flintlock are coming remember?"

"If we can bring the child to Hailstone Keep," the elderly man said, interjecting. "We can reunite him with his relatives. His parents were villagers we came to help evacuate but unfortunately, not fast enough. They were two of the first to die by the hands of the Flintlock."

"What?" Frolick said. "How terrible. Who are you?"

"I am Quartus," the man said. "I came down here with Alta and a dozen others. She pretended to be the child's mother to save him from execution."

Frost and Frolick took on a more somber look. The terrible things these Flintlock did.

"But Hailstone Keep," Frost said. "Isn't it about to get destroyed?" The bombardment continued in the backdrop, cannons firing shot after shot at a relentless pace.

Quartus smiled knowingly. "That? Oh, that's not Hailstone Keep."

"What," Frost said. "Do you mean by that exactly?" They had traveled all this way to get to Hailstone Keep. Then he'd fought and nearly died trying to save it. Now he was being told that this wasn't Hailstone Keep at all. It wasn't making any sense.

"I can tell you are not from around here," Quartus said. "I promise once we are a safe distance away, you can ask any question you like. That is the least I can do to thank you for saving our lives."

"I don't know about you," Frost said, looking his brother square in the eyes. "But I am very, very confused."