Alaric's life these last few years has been quite the story, but this snippet isn't about the lone father — it's about his three rascals: Ati, Nova & Saph. After leaving Howlstead to start a new life in Howl's Edge, each of the three has been on their own journey of recovery.

Ati, Alaric and Ruby's oldest at eight, shut down after his mother's passing. He grew distant from his father, retreating into books about the heroes and warriors of old. With the help of Alaric's new apprentice, Nathan, Alaric slowly found his way back to his eldest — especially after the two of them carved a dagger together, set with a ruby that Ati had mysteriously come by. The project sparked something in Ati: an interest in blacksmithing, though pointed in a different direction than his father's — more creative than practical.

Nova, Alaric's niece and now adopted daughter, is seven. One of the few young survivors of the Moonhowl Bloodbath, she struggled with the loss of her own father before slowly coming to depend on Alaric in his place. She treasures the occasional visits from her real mother, though she's always a little more rebellious and standoffish toward Alaric afterward. Like her mother, she has a natural talent for archery, so Alaric built her a small crossbow and taught her simple woodcarving, which she now uses to make her own wooden bolts — real bolts being something Alaric isn't quite ready for, mentally.

Saph needed constant supervision in the early years, having been only three when his mother passed. Now six, he's a bouncing bundle of unlimited energy in a tiny wolf body, with an endless curiosity for small animals, plants, and bugs. Alaric's mother Hildegarde once joked that the Druids of Silvirix — the Dragon of Bark — may one day need to train an aspiring new spark, a comment that hasn't done much for Alaric's nerves. Still, seeing the joy Saph brings his two siblings, Alaric can't help but smile every time he watches him play.