《The Ancient War: A Disaster of Their Own Making》


 Chapter 1

    How long had she been there? How many years had passed since the war began? Why was she having such a hard time seeing everything around her? All these questions and more flew around Ashera¡¯s head and she wanted answers. She couldn¡¯t make her way over to the terminal to see what was going on, her body wouldn¡¯t respond to her commands. Even if she tried to move, it was like her body had a mind of its own and would go where it wanted, bumping into desks and chairs, scraping along walls. This once neat and tidy office was now an obstacle course that she was failing to navigate. She was having such a hard time of it, she felt like she was intoxicated. She could hear others around her stumbling around. There were groaning noises coming, usually following a large bang or thud, from all around and it sounded like something out of the old zombie movies she liked to watch. As she stumbled, shuffled, and bumped, she felt she was trapped in the darkness.


    Well, at least there was some light, probably from the emergency lights in the building. How long ago had all the other lights gone out? She couldn¡¯t remember, her mind was foggy, she had trouble concentrating on anything other than her anger, her rage towards the elves. As she thought about it, she heard another groan. It sounded much closer than the others. She tried to spin around to see who was there¡­ but her body wanted to go the other way. Her body kept moving forward. There was a sharp pain in her leg as she ran into a spinning chair and sent it down the path. She saw the glow from the terminal in the distance and decided to try getting to it once again. Against her wishes, her body turned away from the direction she wanted to go, and she fell to the floor.


    ¡°DAMN IT!¡± she screamed. As she scraped along the floor, she felt tired again as her consciousness faded and she fell into a deep sleep.


    A sharp noise woke her, she felt herself jolt towards it. Moving violently, jerking from side to side, crashing into desks, chairs and other people along the way. The crowd of people all moving towards the doorway, trying to get to the source of the noise. Why did it seem everyone wanted to get to the noise at the same time? Was it a disaster? Was it an attack by the elves? The people all bottle necked at the doorway. She heard groaning coming from all around her as people pushed past her into the hallway.


    ¡°No! Stop! Damn it, why won¡¯t my body listen to me!¡± She found herself finally in the hallway. She ran to the wall and pressed up against the glass outer wall of the building. From this close, it sounded like digging! Someone was trying to get into the building. Digging? But it was coming from above? Why was there digging coming from above?


    Suddenly it was quiet again. Her body quieted down and stopped throwing itself against the glass. She began to shuffle slowly back to the other room. Frustrated that her body still wouldn¡¯t listen to her, walking on its own.


    ¡°Fine, just get me back to the control room,¡± she thought. Her eyes were barely able to stay open as she was exhausted from all the commotion. She walked through the doorway, this time with relative ease. She made her way back to where she had been by the terminal. Bumping into desks along the way and pushing chairs out of her way. What was everyone doing? Why were all her friends and colleagues acting this way? Had the elves used some kind of spell to make them like this? She couldn¡¯t concentrate to remember what had happened. She focused on the room around her once again.


    It was in a large room mostly consisting of cubicles for workers which had seen better times. Most of the separation walls had fallen or been trampled over the years. The chairs and desks were in complete disarray, some in the old paths that had been between the cubicles, others turned over, others still standing against walls. There was a large control room at the end of the floor. A glass corridor encircled the floor which led to a large glass room. That door was the only one that could be opened from inside. Inside the room were cameras all pointed at its centre with one exception. One single camera was on a swivel looking around the room as though it was trying to find something. There were sprayers in the room, most of which looked like they were for creating a fine mist or vapour.


    At the opposite end of the glass chamber was the control room with a large, thick, glass door that had a vault style lock on it. Inside the control room were a large array of computers and terminals all used for monitoring the external and internal cameras. They monitored flight, controlling machines in different locations and servers, that one would imagine, were filled with different information from Ashera¡¯s time.


    There was one specific terminal that she wanted to get to. It was the master, the one used for monitoring all the information gathered from the others. It would give her all the information she needed, all the answers she was missing. The control room was also accessible from the office if she could only get there. She struggled with all her might but still her body would not go where she told it. Frustrated at her lack of progress she slowly drifted back to sleep.


    The digging woke her repeatedly, how long had this been going on? Days? Weeks? Months? Every time it started, she would scramble to the wall and start throwing herself at it almost as if she was possessed. The closer the digging got the less she went back to the old control room.


    ¡°Mhmrmmsf.¡± Someone was talking above her in the direction of the digging. They were close enough that she could hear, but not make out what they were saying. Why was this coming from above she wondered. It¡¯s not like there should be anything for someone to stand on in the sky. The sky, the sun; she began to wonder why she hadn¡¯t seen the sun in what felt like forever.


    Then the cold began to sink in. How long had it been this cold? The air chilled her lungs with every breath. Did it though? Was she breathing. She hoped so, she hoped she was just so cold she couldn¡¯t feel herself breathing. She imagined that if she could see her breath, it would be visible. Why wasn¡¯t she cold? She decided this wasn¡¯t the time to think about it. Maybe these people could get her out.


    ¡°Down here!¡± she screamed. The digging stopped again, and she drifted off to sleep.


    Things were quiet for a while, to the point where she managed to make her way back to the control room. Now if only she could get herself over to the control panel, and she turned in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± she thought. She knew it wouldn¡¯t work but still, she wanted to try.


    A sudden noise grabbed her attention. It sounded as though it was on the other side of the glass wall she had been smashing into. Off she went once again, stumbling and bouncing off walls and the furniture again. She made it to the wall where she could make out shapes on the other side. It looked like they had a light of some kind, but it wasn¡¯t as steady as the flashlights she was used to; it flickered and danced against the glass. It appeared they were moving back and forth looking for a way in.


    ¡°Ho¡­. we¡­ g... ...n?¡± Are they trying to get in? Perfect! They can reset everything using the terminal in the control room.


    ¡°Help I¡¯m in here,¡± she screamed. She wanted to throw her hands up in frustration when no one answered but they were busy banging on the glass. When did she start banging on the glass, she wondered?


    She still heard disjointed conversations from the other side of the wall. It sounded like they were discussing what was on the other side, her side of the wall. What did they mean? It was her and the other workers in the facility.


    ¡°We need help! Please!¡± She tried yelling one more time. This time the voices stopped, and the light slowly moved away. Noises started coming from further down the wall. She shuffled down the wall following the shadowy mass of people to where this new noise was coming from, beating on the glass wall and screaming for help at the top of her lungs. No response, just loud noises coming from the other side. They must be trying to break through the glass, she thought. It was thick; designed to keep them safe from different forms of radiation and other external effects.


    A loud bang came from her previous location. Shadowy, not quite human figures burst through the glass and took off running in different directions. Some down the halls, some into the offices, some towards the control room.


    ¡°Quick! Spread out and grab as many supplies as you can!¡± one voice commanded.


    She wasn¡¯t sure if she heard them right. Was that elfish? It wasn¡¯t in any dialect she knew. Just great she thought, more new elven races to deal with.


    She took off after one of them as fast as she could, reaching out to her target like an animal. ¡°I¡¯ll get you, and make sure you pay for trying to take what is mine,¡± she exclaimed. She wasn¡¯t running as quickly as she hoped, as she was having trouble seeing her target and the surroundings in the darkness. She fumbled around the room knocking into desks again, trying to find the thief.


    Her hand grazed something warm and scaly, that must be it! A damn elf got in here! She threw herself at the creature but missed, as it seemed to fly up to the ceiling. It landed and took off running again towards the control room.


    ¡°Wait, don''t go through here, this is containment! You¡¯ll get killed,¡± she screamed. Nothing.


    It was like her target didn¡¯t understand her or didn¡¯t care; either way, this didn¡¯t look good. If they triggered the self-defence of the building everyone who wasn¡¯t human would be killed. She willed herself to go faster, but she was already going as fast as she could safely in the dark. Or so she thought, her body was just more or less chasing the source of the noise. Unable to keep up fully with her target, all she could do was scream after them and hope they would be distracted enough to slow down. As she ran through the first door of the contamination chamber, she heard a click behind her. Odd... that normally didn¡¯t happen if a human was the last one to enter the room. She decided it was not worth worrying about and refocused. She needed to get her target out of there and to safety.


    ¡°No! Stay back you monster!¡± Ashera heard her target cry as they slammed the door in her face, locking her in the contamination chamber. Why did this person¡¯s Elvish sound so broken? Who was a monster? What were they talking about? She wasn¡¯t a monster; how could they not recognize a human?


    ¡°Let me out of here! We need to turn off the system or else you will all die!¡± She wasn¡¯t being understood. Before she had time to continue processing what was going on the defence system booted up.


    ¡°ZzZztt¡­. Scanning c...tamin...v her,¡± it was designed that whatever specimen was locked in the contamination cage would remain alive so it could be studied to prevent a future event. Turrets deployed from the ceilings all over the building. She had helped build this system so she knew it would only fire kill shots.


    ¡°NO!¡± She screamed. Her scream was drowned out by the sound of gunfire and screaming coming from other rooms. This went on for what seemed like forever then there was silence. The silence was deafening to her, she knew all her friends that were here in this building were now dead. The intruders, likely being non-humans, were safe at least so there would be someone to get her out of the room.


    The silence was broken by unfamiliar voices.


    ¡°Is ev.. o..?¡±


    ¡°Damn it let me out,¡± Ashera screamed.


    ¡°In here everyone. There¡¯s still one left, it¡¯s locked in the chamber.¡±


    The other people took a step towards the door. They looked at her for a long time and then continued with their conversation.


    ¡°What the blazing hell was that?! Have you ever seen creatures like those before and what the hell are those creatures that dropped from the ceiling and blew them away?¡±


    What the ever-loving fuck were they talking about? What creatures were they talking about? Did they mean all those people who had just been killed? How could they not know what those turrets were? They are placed in every major city, every major building to protect people in case of invasion by the elves.


    She pressed herself against the glass wall separating her from the creatures straining her eyes to see what was going on. She saw creatures enter the room.


    Druids?! Why are they dressed in rags? She couldn¡¯t make out much more and her eyes were still not properly adjusted to the new light. She saw various heights and shapes. ¡°Fascinating,¡± she thought, ¡°I wonder why they are here.¡±


    ¡°Let me out, I¡¯ll help you get away from the elves once I¡¯ve figured out what went wrong,¡± she said, looking at them with hope in her eyes. No reaction. Perhaps they couldn¡¯t speak English? She tried again. Nothing. What could be wrong? She watched as they cautiously approached the control desk heads tilting back and forth. It looked like they were talking quietly to each other, trying to figure out what to do. Some held up swords and bows, others were shaking their heads no. Some pointed at the control console with looks of wonder in their eyes.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± she exclaimed. This seemed to cause them to jump back a bit. They probably can¡¯t hear because of the glass she thought. Maybe if I motion towards the controls, they need to hit to let me out it will help. Beating on the glass she tried to gesture towards the red and white button that would redo the scan and let her out.


    ***


    They stood and stared down the hole that opened at the side of the cave next to the strange glass wall. Some wondered what had caused it while others wondered what was down there. One of them grabbed a torch and tossed it down; they all watched as the light faded into the darkness. It was a deep chasm, deep enough that the light was not strong enough to be seen.


    ¡°What did you do that for? What if somethin¡¯ comes up at us?'''' Tyrnal exclaimed looking at Suntiana. Suntiana was a Harpy, a flying beast species. Her wings had beautifully coloured feathers of reds, deep oranges, and bright yellows intermingled with deep blues and purples. They made her look like royalty. She was tall and slender, not very shapely as most Harpy women, but her form made it easier to fly. Her face was slender, with beautiful piercing golden eyes, framed with short auburn hair that was always kept up and out of her eyes. When she looked at you it was like she was looking right through you. The talons on her feet were sharp enough to tear through even the toughest of hides.


    Suntiana shrugged, ¡°I wanted to know how deep it was. Simple as that, Tyrnal.¡± Suntiana wasn¡¯t a complicated individual; she spoke her mind and didn¡¯t care who it rubbed the wrong way. ¡°Now we know it goes deep, and we know there isn¡¯t anything imminently dangerous coming up for us.¡±


    Suntiana smiled a beautiful and deadly smile. A plan was forming in her head and that meant trouble for everyone else. She turned to Tyrnal and gestured to the dusty tomes, tilting her head. With these simple movements, Tyrnal knew he was going to be in for a night of reading and trying to figure out what this might be. He was a studious looking elf, small in stature with long braided hair pulled back into a ponytail. This exposed his face which was handsome with large eyes, as all elves have, but Wood-elves especially. His nose was sharp but rounded at the end with two dimples on the side from where his glasses always rested. He was toned but not muscular and could almost disappear in plain sight if needed.


    He grabbed the books and headed over to the closest torch and started pulling the tomes apart. These were ancient texts from before the War of the Elves, maybe even before the elves had split apart into different races, he speculated. The one in his hand was written in elvish, but again it was an ancient version of elvish pulling from all modern-day elven races. Some words and phrases he couldn¡¯t make out but through the context of the surrounding text, he could make assumptions of their meaning. This text in particular was interesting; it was titled ¡°...wa travel guide.¡± It seemed to be an ancient map. It didn¡¯t seem to have any points of reference for the current layout of the world making it next to impossible to decipher where they were. For his next book, he picked up one that he couldn¡¯t make out. It was a foreign language; one no one had written in, in centuries at least. How long does it take for a language to die, he wondered? Thumbing through the tome he noticed there were some references written in the ancient elven language. They referred to something called a magic storehouse. He wondered what that was. A storage place for magical items perhaps? How was this possible? Magic was only supposed to be usable by high elves so why would they have a magic storehouse here of all places? He looked through the books for a similar tome in elvish and found a ¡°volume 2¡± whatever that meant. He lost himself in his reading and time seemed to slip by.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Why are we wasting our time? Let¡¯s just go down there and see what we can take!¡± one of the other members yelled at Suntiana. He was an impatient man, seemingly incapable of standing around. He was a Boarite, a type of beastite. Beastites are what the elves had named the different races of this world. Not much for imagination, were they? Each race was defined by their animal characteristics. He was short, wide, and looked like he could take on an entire battalion of men in a fight. He was grey in colour, a sign of age and with that came great respect from other Boarites. The fur on his head was styled in a mohawk meant to inspire respect from his allies and fear from his enemies. His face was covered with moles, warts, and scars. His eyes were a magnificent deep red.


    ¡°If we do that and everyone gets killed, how are you going to feel Rothar? I like to be prepared, and it will take as long as it takes,¡± Santiana said with a cold smile that insinuated the conversation was over. She looked back at Tyrnal wondering how long it actually was going to take. The days slowly passed by with people coming and going from the cave, some going out to exchange arm bands for food and water, others just stretching their legs, and all the while Tyrnal continued to read the old tomes.


    Tyrnal was still trying to decipher part of the ¡®Volume 2¡¯ tome that explained what was stored in the place beneath them. So far, he had found there to be a store of supplies such as water, military style food rations, and clothing. Along with a cache of a few weapons and something called ¡®medication¡¯ whatever that was. There was some mention of experimentation but mostly on plants and small animals. Nothing of note ever happened to them, so he figured there was no chance of anything dangerous being down there. Still, he decided to pour through more of the tome. There was something in there about stasis shifting, the procedure used when imminent danger was detected; the system would do this to save the occupants of the building.


    It seemed that stasis shifting, from what he could make out was an old spell, one made by¡­ he couldn¡¯t make out their name some dead language he assumed as it looked the same as the other tomes he couldn¡¯t read. The spell would take the occupants of the building and put them in a state of stasis to preserve them from damage. It looked like it was incomplete though, judging from the notes scribbled in the margins.


    There was more information on where the supplies would be kept. Some information on a ¡®central control system¡¯ but some of the parts of this text were worn from damage to the book. Once the light from the entrance began to reflect down the mirrored side of the cave, he decided it was time.


    ¡°Okay, from what I have read there shouldn¡¯t be anything dangerous down there. I think if we dig down close to the bottom of the building there should be a way into it without much problem. The main thing is going to be the amount of time it will take. From what I have read there is something like forty to fifty of these mirrored sides stacked on top of each other to make this building called a ¡®skyscraper.¡¯ I don¡¯t get how it is supposed to scrape the sky from this far underground. Either way, we have quite a lot of digging to do,¡± Tyrnal explained. Looking around at his fellows he realised most of that had gone over their heads, Suntiana seemed to be following along though, or at least was trying to give that impression. Okay, let¡¯s try something simpler he thought. ¡°If we go down far enough, we can get food, water and weapons. If we¡¯re smart about how we do it, we can use this place as a new safe haven.¡±


    Everyone nodded to this, he just shook his head. Simpletons, the lot of them. What he hadn¡¯t explained was how long it would take. Even with all of them working in shifts, if he had counted the number of ¡®floors¡¯ in this ¡®skyscraper¡¯ correctly it could take months if not years to excavate down to it. Best to keep that to himself though, can¡¯t take away all their hope.


    ¡°We are going to need tools and a work schedule, plus a place to dispose of all the extra dirt we will be bringing up,¡± he started to explain. He continued like this, explaining how they would make footholds in the side with the help of the Badgerites because of their sharp claws. They would use the buckets and little rope they had to help pull up the excavated dirt, or Rothar and his kin could haul it out of the pit up the ladder they would make. They would pile the dirt by the entrance of the cave to not raise suspicion from the guards and dispose of it at night. They continued to plan out the details and shifts for them to work in and when and who would go and get water from the town for them to share.


    Once the plan was fully fleshed out, they began. The Badgerites led the way, followed by Rothar, and lastly Tyrnal. As they descended, Tyrnal counted the panes of the mirrored surfaces as they descended. By the time he had reached the bottom of the pit, they had passed nearly fifteen of them. He also guessed that there were five or so above where the cave was based on the height of the mirrors in the cave and that the building seemed to go almost to the surface. All in all, he figured they were approximately twenty floors down the building, meaning they would have to dig down another thirty to reach the bottom. This was the start of their real work, he thought.


    Not much later, down came workers with makeshift shovels, rope, and buckets to help haul the dirt up to the cave. Tyrnal stayed down there with the workers to manage the progress. He first suggested they dig back under the cave a few meters to make room for them to stand while working and to make a staircase for them to climb up and down on as they descended further down. He also recommended they strike the ground first before moving to stand on it in case a collapse occurred.


    They worked tirelessly, only taking breaks for water and to eat what little food they had scrounge together. Hours passed and little progress was made; the ground was harder than he had accounted for, and their makeshift shovels were far weaker. This would not do; they could make some progress in the meantime but would need better tools if they wanted to make it down before they all died.


    A new plan would be needed to get things moving along. They would need to steal some proper tools from the city or trade some sun sparks for them. Sunsparks were a type of drug with powerfully hallucinogenic properties. They weren¡¯t easy to come by, but the guards loved them as did most others on the island. It would be a hard sell as having people ask about why they needed the tools would only invite trouble for the group. They could make some tools from animal parts in the desert, but getting anything off the corpses came with its own set of risks. They would want the teeth from a Dragolisk ; harder than most materials you could find on this island, but not as good as the ones brought in by the guards for construction. He would have to talk to Suntiana about it when he climbed out.


    Days later he slowly climbed out of the hole to give himself time to think of how to approach Suntiana. Once at the top, he found there was quite the commotion going on. He looked around for Suntiana and found her laughing and joking around with an unusual Beastite. An audible gasp escaped his lips, it was a Wolfite. The Wolfite was tall, about 3 meters and a half, this was tall compared to most Beastites and was part of what made them so feared. His fur was black; not the kind you would say the night sky was but like staring into the void black, and with flashes of red interwoven it looked like fire was leaped all around his body.


    "No wonder he¡¯s the centre of attention right now," Tyrnal thought. Looking at him more now in the light he could see the well-defined features he was muscular and lean. His face was long and slender. Tyrnal could see his jaw was well defined and pronounced, his smile full of yellowed teeth that looked more like a demon''s maw than a Beastite¡¯s. His fangs were long and curved. It¡¯s amazing he doesn¡¯t cut up his gums, Tyrnal thought. His maw went further back to his bright yellow almost blazing eyes that darted from person to person almost as if he was hunting.


    What had happened while he was in the hole?


    ***


    The waters around the isle of Trasorna ran red with the blood of those lost to its harshness. The cries of the inhabitants echoed long and far over the ocean, leaving no room to mistake the hellish place to which they were headed. The island¡¯s inhabitants consisted of the Guards, the prisoners, the recruits and the isle born. Prisoners living in fear of the guards and the isle born living in fear of the prisoners, it was a vicious cycle that left everyone on edge.


    To transport new prisoners to the isle they used the most decrepit ship imaginable. The ship from the outside was so worn out and riddled with holes it was hard to not think of it as being retired for firewood. The planks were worn, cracked, and shrunk with age, so much so that you could see the hold below the deck. The masts were more cracks than masts in most places, some were even split from deck to sail. Others were held together with more magical runes and metallic braces than the eye could count. The sails were ripped and tattered, looking more like beggars¡¯ rags than sails. Once onboard, every step the prisoners took made them wonder if they were going to fall through to the hold below. Below deck, in the living quarters, the floor was soggy with seawater and smelled of mould.


    These quarters were a place for prisoners to spend their time eating and resting between their twelve-hour shifts at the oars. The oars were the only part of the ship that were new, made from steel and magically enhanced to keep them from sinking the ship but still leaving them heavy enough that the prisoners would feel the weight as they rowed. The elves knew how to make sure they knew their place in the new pecking order.


    There was always one guard on board to make sure no one tried to escape. Not that they could if they wanted to, the elves provided them with magical weights to wear during the journey. These weights would suck in water the moment they touched it making it impossible for any prisoners to escape a watery grave. The guard was the only one on board who had a teleportation scroll to use to get off in case the ship started to sink. The elves had no need for the prisoners, so they were expendable and easily replaceable.


    ¡°Right, you scum,¡± the guard bellowed as the prisoners all took their position at the oars, ¡°get rowing.¡± He looked up to the taskmaster, another inmate from the island, ¡°Make sure t¡¯work them extra hard. These criminals don¡¯t deserve mercy.¡±


    Walking by the Wolfite the guard spat. ¡°Especially this one. No one cares what happens to his kind.¡±


    If the Wolfite and the other prisoners managed to survive the harrowing trip they would consider themselves lucky. The guard was likely to take anything they brought with them and blame the taskmaster or other inmates. The inmates had all been through this, so they knew the routine, kept their mouths shut about it, and looked the other way.


    He worked longer and harder than any of the other prisoners, only getting a break of four hours to eat and sleep a day. Rowing became harder for him the longer the journey took. Days went by, and there was still no sign of the torture relenting. He began to wonder if they would ever make landfall. After another few days, in total about a week or so had passed they heard from the upper deck, ¡°bring in the oars were at the docks.¡±


    All the prisoners and inmates felt a palpable feeling of relief; they had survived the journey. One by one he watched as his fellow prisoners were released from the shackles holding them to the oars and led down to the docks. The guard finally came to him and spat again; a look of disgust came across his face as he bent over to undo the chains. Once his chains were undone, he was shoved more than led down to the docks.


    ¡°Right, Next!¡± The guard bellowed to keep the line moving. One after the other they were being processed like cattle to the slaughter. Once he was on the docks, he could clearly see the violations were only going to get worse. He could see prisoners up ahead getting stripped and searched in full view of all the onlookers who came to check out the new batch of arrivals. He noticed the female prisoners had it especially hard, their search was a little more invasive than the rest. He looked around wondering why no one was saying or doing anything to stop it.


    ¡°Next and be quick about it. We ain¡¯t got all day!¡± The guard bellowed again. ¡°Oh, but for you maybe we¡¯ll make an exception.¡± Slicking his greasy fur back out of his eyes and licking his lips that had pursed into a twisted smile. ¡°For a lovely lady like yourself, we have all the time in the world.¡±


    The skeezy guard was a Jackelite; a scavenger who was easy for the elves to manipulate. He was short in stature and hunched over which made him look all the more subservient to the guard captains standing behind him. His fur was a light brown with a smattering of greys and blacks running through it. His face was narrow, and his front teeth were broken, likely in his beatings to make him so submissive. He had dark, dull, little eyes, which looked like all the life had been beaten out of him. His one ear was broken and flopping whenever he spoke, it would be hard not to feel bad for him if he wasn¡¯t such a creepy little prick.


    The new female prisoner, clearly scared, looked around for help. Again, He wondered why no one was stopping this insanity. He went to step forward when he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him. It was only a second but that was long enough to see someone else run forward.


    ¡°Let my mate go!¡± he roared. Looking as menacing as a drowned kitten with his hands still in shackles and his arms behind his back. He was a Pantherite just like the woman was. Before he got even a step closer to her, he was struck with the blunt side of a sword knocking him to his knees.


    ¡°What do we ¡®ave here?¡± the guard asked, circling him like a predator circling its prey. He looked the Panterites up and down and laughed. ¡°You mean to tell me we have a mated pair here? That just won¡¯t do. You see, all the women here need our protection from the ravenous inmates and prisoners.¡± He licked his lips again.


    ¡°Unfortunately for you, her protection from them starts with you.¡± In one fell swoop, he took his dagger and plunged it into the neck of Pantherite severing his head from his spine. ¡°Anyone else want to speak on this female¡¯s behalf?¡±


    Silence fell over the new prisoners and inmates alike. All the Wolfite could do was stand there and watch as the woman ran to her dead husband¡¯s side. She yowled in sorrow and anger. Chained such as she was though, she could do nothing about it. The guard grabbed her and brought her up to the captains who took her into the hut for her more thorough exam. Almost instantly, a different kind of screaming could be heard coming from the hut.


    As her screams fell over the new prisoners, another guard dragged the dead male away by his tail. Uncaring, undignified, just another dead prisoner to add to the piles.


    The Wolfite turned around to see a small Wood-elf had been the one to hold him back. He nodded at the elf in appreciation for saving his life. The elf whispered to him as if saying the words softer somehow made them less cruel. ¡°As a male, we have it easy; stripped, searched, and sent on our way. If you¡¯re a female, the treatment is almost always like that.¡±


    ¡°Next!¡± the Jackelite bellowed. It was the Wolfites¡¯ turn. He stepped forward, doing his best to keep his hood over his face. The guard undid the weights that had been placed on him before the journey had begun seeing as there was nowhere for him to run now.


    ¡°Perfect, now that feels much better. Could someone point me to the pool and the bar? After all that work to get here, I need a drink and a dip,¡± the Wolfite remarked in the friendliest manner he could. He was really hoping for a laugh to make this go smoother. The guards, however, did not share his sense of humour. Wam! The pommel of a sword struck him in the side of the head.


    The whole yard went silent, the rabble from the ship, the guards who were beating inmates for fun stopped mid-swing, and there was a palpable fear that crept over the crowd. This was not an unexpected reaction for him. Wolfites are a rare species even among beastites, some even proposed that they had gone extinct.


    ¡°Look at me, making all these friends on my first day,¡± he said through a toothy grin. He was trying to look friendly and failing at it. Everyone took a step back from him, even the screams stopped as the guard captain poked his head out to see what was going on.


    He readied himself for a beating like this hell had never seen before as he stared straight at the guard who was poised to give it to him. The guard captain came running down the hill, pants still down around his ankles, screaming inaudible orders to the guard who was going to strike. The captain managed to make it there just in time to stop the guard from striking.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ h¡­ here¡­. o... n¡­ on royal decree.¡± The captain panted. Catching his breath and letting go of the guard¡¯s hand he said, ¡°Don¡¯t make us the target of the queen¡¯s ire. Get him processed and leave him to this hell.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not touching this monster!¡± the guard yelped. ¡°I definitely ain¡¯t searching him, and I definitely ain¡¯t undoing his chains!¡± This was good for the Wolflite; apparently, he came with a certain stigma that could be useful when negotiating with the guards in the future. ¡°Newbie, get the fuck out here, it¡¯s your lucky day. Time for your first intake.¡±


    ¡°Coward must have thought himself to be hot shit ordering some rookie around to do his unwanted work.¡± the Wolfite thought. Out came this young almost too young, at least for a Wood-elf, guard. She was cute to be sure, with fair skin even with the caked-on mud from doing whatever it was she had been doing behind the guard hut. Her face, although smudged with dirt, was refined, it had an elegance about it. She had the most beautiful smile across her face. She walked with pride; her chest puffed out trying to look important now that she was doing an intake. That was until she realised who that intake was going to be. She got one look of the Wolfite, made a noise that would make sirens¡¯ ears bleed and the young turn old. Then passed out collapsing on the spot.


    Being a Wolfite, while not a crime in itself, but it was not without its prejudice. Most high elves held Wolfites in contempt for no other reason than they were halfway intelligent. They possessed the strength and tenaciousness of the beastites and intelligence rivalling the Elves. Meaning in most cases, they had some affinity for magic. This meant the elves had orders for them to be exterminated on sight or imprisoned. This Wolfite had been smart enough to turn himself in rather than fight to the death.


    Trying to not sound too offended by her passing out and at the same time trying to sound light-hearted, ¡°So are we going to get this moving? I hear you don¡¯t have all day.¡± Well, that got them to stop laughing at the poor women and instantly their expressions turned to anger.


    ¡°You heard the monster, wake her up.¡±


    A bucket of water was thrown on her and she woke with a gasp and a start. Looking around as though she hoped it had all been a prank only to see the Wolfite, was in fact, standing there waiting for her to approach. ¡°D..D... Do I h..ha...have to?¡± she pleaded with the guards that were standing around.


    ¡°Better you than me. Now get at it!¡± He barked, shoving her down the hill towards the Wolfite. She scrambled to her feet on the way down and looked at the Wolfite as though she was expecting him to eat her whole.


    ¡°Artemis is the name and I won¡¯t bite you, unless you¡¯re into that kind of thing. Maybe you want to take a stroll up to the hut and we can discuss this in a more intimate setting?¡± Artemis said with a wink and a grin. This one was less menacing looking than the last. She smiled at this apparently it wasn¡¯t something she wouldn¡¯t entertain. Interesting thought Artemis, maybe she''s more adventurous than she let on. ¡°What¡¯s your name love?¡±


    She stood there blushing a little bit and smiling, ¡°It¡¯s none of your concern what my name is inmate, now stand still while I take off your shackles.¡± She moved toward him consciously but with purpose and undid the shackles around his wrists and around his waist. With his hands finally free he rubbed his wrists that had become chafed during the long voyage. He grabbed her hand as she went to pull away from him and gently kissed it on the back. She turned bright red. Pulling her hand back while trying not to smile she said, ¡°enough of this shit inmate! Clothes off, legs spread and arms out.¡±


    Never one to disappoint a lady, Artemis took off his clothes and placed them on the ground. Standing facing her, Artemis spread his legs and put his arms out. Standing there naked in front of an ever-growing audience was embarrassing, even for him. It was a good thing his jet-black fur was so dark and thick as it obscured the growing blush on his skin. She began to pat Artemis down looking for any smuggled goods on his person, she moved down and noticed there was a bag tied around his upper thigh. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. In one quick motion, she cut the purse from its hiding place. A bag dropped down with a sizable weight to it, she opened it and to her surprise, it was full of coins.


    Artemis bent down a little and whispered: ¡°Shhh if you don¡¯t say anything and pocket them the other guards won¡¯t take your prize.¡± He quickly stood back up winking at her on his way. She smiled again and pocketed the coins. Once she was satisfied that there was nothing else on his person she stood up and walked back in front of Artemis.


    ¡°Not that it¡¯s any of your business but my name is Valura. Now move along to the next station.¡± She said. She winked at Artemis and Hollered ¡°Next!¡±


    This got the other guards laughing at her. Valura, Artemis would have to remember her name, she might be able to help him out. He moved on to the next checkpoint where he was given a new set of clothes. They weren¡¯t cheaply made like he expected; they were heavy and good for cold nights but light enough that a harsh day''s sun wouldn¡¯t make you boil. Next, he was given an arm band, it was like the one all the prisoners wore. It bore the crest of the Balgora kingdom, the Elves'' capital. It was a twisted tree whose leaves turned to birds and whose roots turned to snakes. As further proof of their imprisonment all prisoners were also given a matching brand on their person. It was an excruciating process as they burned the prisoners¡¯ flesh with the brand permanently scaring them with the prison mark. After Artemis was branded and had his armband on, he was given a canteen of water. The canteen would last, if full, three or four days. He was lucky his canteen was full.


    Water was the only thing provided to the prisoners upon arrival in terms of survival, everything else you had to find, steal or barter for. Water was also the only item given to people twice a week. It wasn¡¯t easy to get water on this island, the prisoners all had to travel to Velgora. The only city on the island and it was a strict and harsh place, more so than the waists when the prisoners were forced to live. What made it so harsh was to get in you had to get past the guards and depending on their mood this was sometimes next to impossible. First the person who wanted to enter had to prove that you lived on the island which meant if you were a prisoner showing both their armband and brand, if they were an island born it meant showing your armband. Welcome to the only place where being born automatically made you a criminal. If the guard felt like letting them pass into the city without incident, they took the chance and ran for it. Otherwise, the guards would likely make them compete in a duel for the guard¡¯s entertainment. Most days the guards would make them fight till one could no longer go on and the victor would get a ration of water; but sometimes if the guards were feeling particularly cruel mood, they would make the prisoners fight to the death or deny both a ration of water. Furthermore, if the guards were at shift change and the unlucky prisoner was on their way out. The guard might decide to take the ration away from them just for fun. It didn¡¯t matter if an inmate died their deaths would never be reported and the city would continue to get the funding for the prisoner anyway. The current population of the island is sighted as being ten thousand four hundred and sixty-six. The actual number is closer to half of that.


    One more looks back at the closest to freedom he would be again, he saw Valura inspecting more prisoners and that damn Jackelite was being punished by the captain for something. Artemis had a good chuckle at that.

 Chapter 2

    As Artemis looked around the island from the other side of the gates, he wondered what he should do first. His first thought was of a shelter, a place he could store his water and be safe. He looked around the landscape for anything that looked remotely usable, there were some ruined buildings from where he presumed the city had been years ago, there were a couple of rocky outcroppings that looked like they might provide some shelter and then there were a couple of large rocks that might work as a makeshift shelter. Artemis had the thought that if he were to go to the ruins he would probably run into other inmates or citizens and he wasn¡¯t quite sure a first day confrontation was a good idea. Artemis decided he would head for the large rock closest to the city and see if anyone had called it home yet. It was a long way off and it was almost noon. This meant scorching heat, which meant using up his precious water faster. He decided it would be best to sit in the shade of the wall and move closer to nightfall.


    As he waited against the wall off to the side and mostly out of view he saw as other inmates started the long trek towards town. Shaking his head, he sat there quietly trying not to make any trouble. He saw a familiar face come through the gate; it was the Wood-elf that had saved him before. He was leaner than he originally looked, and not very muscular. He was short, he would be maybe a meter and a half tall. He had long red dreadlocks almost halfway down his back. His face was small and almost cat-like in its proportions. He had blue eyes, the kind of blue the sea around here should have been. Artemis subtly tried to get his attention; it worked as the elf walked over towards him. Artemis gestured for him to sit down, the elf shrugged and sat.


    ¡°You¡¯ll waste all your water if you go now. Half of those men and women won¡¯t make it, and the other half won¡¯t have any water left by the time they do get there. I think we should head out closer to dusk, save us walking in this heat and save us some water too.¡± Artemis explained. ¡°What¡¯s your name by the way? I¡¯d like to thank you proper for saving my life back there.¡±


    ¡°Consider us square if you can find a place for us to stay tonight. My name is Shu¡¯lai, I was the leader of a clan on the mainland, but the High Elves thought we would make better servants, so they enslaved us, sent our women to work as maids and in the brothels and most of the men were sent to work as day labourers. Bet you''re wondering ¡®k why are you here? They send all the tribal leaders here; it makes the tribes remember if they organize beyond what the High Elves want then you get sent here.¡± Shu¡¯lai explained.


    ¡°Interesting. They just wipe my people out when they see us. Makes sense though, keeping the people down makes them easier to control. I don¡¯t plan on being here too long though when I make my break, you¡¯re more than welcome to come with.¡± Artemis said wistfully.


    Shu¡¯lai laughed at that and smacked Artemis in the arm. ¡°You¡¯re funny for being such a scary one.¡±


    They sat there talking, Shu¡¯lai telling stories from his home in the forest and how it was a hub for all different types of beastites, Sea-elves and Wood-elves to meet. He talked of his mates, his wife and his son. How his wife had been sent to be a maid instead of going to the brothel because he went to the prison voluntarily and how his son had been given a job working in the gardens at the same house to keep them together. Artemis told stories of his travels how he always hid when close to a village or town as he was unsure of who he could trust. How he stole from any guard post or passing patrol he could find to get his supplies. He would fight when needed and if a situation smelt like a setup he would walk away.


    ¡°Oh? Then how did they catch you I wonder?¡± Asked Shu¡¯lai.


    ¡°Fair question. I was in a bit of a bind. I fell asleep in a carriage filled with food headed for some noble¡¯s estate, or at least that''s what I assumed. Turned out it was the queen''s summering home I got sent to. When I came around, they had already locked me in the cellar with all the goods.¡± He began.


    ***


    Artemis began to make his way out from the crate he had been sleeping in, hoping no one was around. He peered around in the dark, there were no lights which made him happy the odds of another person being down here at this time was slim to none. He carefully got himself up and out of the crate, closing it behind him while taking a few apples. He thought to himself ¡°waste not want not.¡± He closed the crate and began looking for a door, a window, anything that might give him some kind of way out. In the dark, Artemis could make out racks of wine, barrels of what he assumed were other foods, a couple open crates of fireworks and some moon light coming in through a window. Artemis made his way over to the window and he was disappointed it was a tiny sliver of a window not even big enough for a Rabite to fit through. He turned around and noticed the stairs going up to a door, it was risky as this probably led further into the estate.


    ¡°What the hell, you only live once,¡± Artemis muttered under his breath as he made his way to the door. He stood there, hand on the handle for a while listening for any kind of noise, smelling for anything that was different like sweat or the smell of metal meaning there could be a guard. Once Artemis was reasonably sure there was no one on the other side he opened the door slowly and carefully as to not make a noise. He made it through the door and carefully closed it. His ears perked up as he heard someone coming and could see the glow of a light as they came closer.


    ¡°Shit, did the guards hear me?¡± He thought, panicking he looked around for a place to hide. There was a pantry off to his right and a closet presumably full of cleaning supplies off to his left. He could see the door outside off to the left past the closet. In front of him was a kitchen island with pots and pans hanging around it. He heard them moving closer and closer with a quickening pace, He decided to jump in the pantry and hope it wasn¡¯t someone coming for a midnight snack.


    Artemis left the door open just a crack so he could watch out of it, he saw a woman come into the kitchen. ¡°Well at least it''s not a guard,¡± He thought. She was quietly going around the kitchen looking for something. She moved back and forth in front of the door. Grabbing a pan and bringing it to the other side of the kitchen and Artemis heard her run down to the cellar. Not a moment later she ran back in front of the door carrying some food items. ¡°Great¡± he thought. She''s going to be here all night now. Then his worst fear, at the time, came to pass; she was headed straight for the pantry.


    He pushed himself as far back and as far up as he could manage to get but there wasn¡¯t much space to move in the pantry. She stopped just before the door, like she was listening to something. Artemis calmed his breathing and listened too. There was a commotion going on, it was from outside the door. It sounded like metal clashing and smelled of blood.


    ¡°Quick get inside! Grab the Queen!¡± A voice bellowed. The woman standing in front of the pantry door looked terrified when she heard this. Artemis without thinking opened the door and grabbed her bringing her into the pantry. She went to scream but Artemis covered her mouth.


    ¡°I am here by mistake,¡± Artemis explained. ¡°I fell asleep in the last shipment of cargo you had delivered. I don¡¯t want to alarm you, but I think they might be here for your Queen''s life. Now I have no love for the Elven Empire and their royalty but if you agree to forget that you saw me, I have no problem helping her out this once and making sure everyone who is coming in gets what''s coming to them. Can you nod to let me know you agree to this and promise not to scream when I let you go?¡±


    She thought about it for a moment looking up at the big yellow eyes in the dark. She thought if he was part of the team why would they bother launching an attack this one as big as he was could have easily killed her already. She nodded. Artemis let go of her face and put her back down on the ground.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she whispered. ¡°My name is Ya¡¯rlona.¡±


    ¡°SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!¡± Artemis was screaming inside his head. He had just grabbed the Queen, brought her into a pantry and basically threatened her life if she didn''t agree to stay quiet. On top of that he told her he had no love for the ruling party. ¡° Calm down you can get out of this still you just have to keep your promise and get her out of this alive¡­ Or you could say you¡¯re going to go investigate them and leave her here to her fate. No that wouldn''t be right, you made a deal after all. Okay so we get her out and as far from this place as you¡­¡±


    Artemis heard an explosion as the door went flying across the kitchen. ¡°Subtle.¡± he thought. There was movement above them and shouting. It appeared their entrance had awoken all the guards in the place.


    ¡°Your highness I need you to get behind me. I¡¯m going to go out there and do what I can to buy you sometime until the guards get down here. Please stay quiet and Once I¡¯m sure the guards are on their way, I will make my leave.¡± Artemis said quietly.


    Ya¡¯rlona nodded and asked, ¡°Why are you doing this? You could just leave me and make your escape.¡±


    Artemis picked her up and placed her gently behind him. ¡°I gave my word, and I don¡¯t have much in this world but my word is the one thing I have of value, so I won¡¯t go back on it. Plus, you¡¯re extremely beautiful up close your highness.¡±


    Ya¡¯rlona was confused, would this man, this wolfite really do all this just because of those reasons? Before she could ask another question, Artemis had burst out of the pantry and had swung the door closed. He was standing there in the dim light from the fire on the door and torches held by the invaders.


    ¡°Shit Wolfite!¡± One of the attackers exclaimed.


    Artemis knew that that was heard by everyone in the vicinity. He had to move fast, before the closest one could make a move at him with his weapon. The invader went for his sword, but it was too late. Artemis had already cleared the distance from across the room. He moved as though he was running through the shadows. By the time the other men had realized where he had gone, he had the first invaders head in his hands. With a quick jerking motion, the man fell limp to the ground. With no hesitation Artemis set upon the next one. He was able to get his sword out and took a heavy stab at Artemis. Artemis skilfully dodged it like he was dancing with the blade instead of fighting. With a quick upward thrust of his hand, he pierced the man''s stomach. A loud scream escaped the man''s lips as Artemis shook him from his hand leaving the man to hold his guts in place.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    By this point the third man had found his footing and took aim with the crossbow in his hands. As Artemis turned towards the man, he heard a click and saw an arrow flying towards him. Artemis put his arm up to protect his face. He felt a twinge of pain serge through his arm as the arrow pierced his skin. Artemis, looking the man dead in the eyes, reached up with his other hand and pulled the arrow out. Artemis smiled, now this was going to be fun. He ran at the man who was fumbling trying to get his sword out before he was set upon. Artemis like a monster from old tales came at the man seemingly from the shadows on the floor and with both hands grabbed his arms and twisted. The man started to lift from the floor, so Artemis stood on his feet. The man screamed in agony as his arms dislocated first at the wrists, then at the elbows and finally at the shoulders. Artemis let the man go and he fell to his knees screaming in agony. Artemis turned around in time to see the guards coming down the hallway. He had lost himself to the thrill of the hunt and left himself no time to escape. He thought he could take the Queen hostage but decided it wouldn¡¯t be the civil thing to do. So instead, he sat at the island and called. ¡°Your Highness it''s safe now you can come out.¡±


    Ya¡¯rlona came out of the pantry, looked around the room, at the dead man, the man holding in his guts and the man screaming in agony with his arms flopping around. She was almost sick. She looked at Artemis with a look both filled with fear and sorrow.


    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you to save my life now¡± Artemis said.


    The guards burst into the room from all entrances, guns, bows and swords all pointed at Artemis and the men on the floor.


    ¡°O... On your knees monster!¡± One of the guards stammered looking at Artemis. ¡°Or would you rather we sent you to your kin now?¡±


    He looked at the Queen and smiled, this only put the guards more on edge as they pointed, their bows at him, some pulling on the arrow to the point that their hands were shaking. Other fingers growing a little too close for his liking to the triggers. Artemis complied, got down on the ground and placed his hands behind his back, all the time never looking away from Ya¡¯rlona. One of the guards walked over to him and beat him upside the head with the pommel of his sword.


    ¡°Know your place monster, you don¡¯t dare look upon the Queen.¡± Another blow to the side of the head had Artemis reconsidering playing nice.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough! Ya¡¯rlona commanded. ¡°You will not kill this Wolfite. He saved me from them. Seeing as you are a Wolfite though the only other option is imprisonment on Transorna. I¡¯m sorry you risked your life just to be imprisoned for helping someone. I will make it a royal decree that you are not to be touched by the guards on that island and you will be able to live out your life in peace.¡±


    ¡°Some peace, a prisoner,¡± Artemis mumbled.


    ***


    Shu¡¯lai looked at Artemis in awe at the end of his story. Unsure if Artemis was unlucky or the luckiest person here. He turned back to looking at the desert in front of them and said nothing for quite some time. Finally, Shu¡¯lai said ¡°So you¡¯re here because you did something kind and were punished anyway. That¡¯s one hell of a short straw, I can¡¯t imagine I would have gone so peacefully after having just saved the Queens life I would have wanted a royal pardon.¡±


    ¡°Pick your battles, that was one thing my father drilled into my head, and I had no chance of winning against those numbers, so it was death or imprisonment. Easy choice for me, living is always better than death.¡± Artemis replied. ¡°The sun has gone down quite a bit now I think we should be safe to start our journey to the town. With a quick stop for shelter along the way.¡±


    Artemis stood up and started walking off towards the city. Shu¡¯lai followed along. Shu¡¯lai asked where Artemis was leading them. Artemis explained he was going to the rubble pile down by the city in the hopes that they could set up operations there. As they walked along, they noticed bodies of those who had succumbed to the heat. Artemis, not wanting to waste any potential resources picked up their canteens, cloths and arm bands. They continued on as it got darker and darker. The way got harder for Shu¡¯lai to follow as he did not have as great night vision as Artemis. He asked if they could make a torch to help him see. Artemis nodded, looked around noticing some small brush and trees not too far off. He grabbed a piece of fabric from the clothes they had collected and began walking towards the trees with Shu¡¯lai in tow. Artemis picked some of the dead grasses along the way and wove them into the piece of cloth. Once the grasses were woven through the cloth properly, he grabbed a branch off the tree and wrapped the cloth along the top. Artemis then reached into his maw and removed a tooth from the back of his mouth. He struck his sharp claw against it, and it started to spark. The tooth was not actually a tooth but a piece of flint he had disguised as one to get it past the inspection. A few more flicks and the torch light up. He put the tooth back in place and handed the torch to Shu¡¯lai.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Shu¡¯lai said barely able to see Artemis again against the night. They continued walking, passing more and more bodies along the way. As they got closer to their destination, they noticed these bodies were already picked over missing canteens and clothing. Artemis motioned for Shu¡¯lai to stop and get down. So, he did, wondering what Artemis had found. As Shu¡¯lai looked around trying to see what had gotten Artemis¡¯s attention he noticed Artemis was no longer there. The bag of goods was beside him, but Artemis was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly a group of four shady figures came out of the darkness looking at Shu¡¯lai like he was their next victim.


    ¡°Well, well boys we got ourselves a collector. Looks like he¡¯s been gatherin¡¯ our supplies for us.¡± The jackelite Sneered as two more groups appeared to Shu¡¯lais right and one to his left. ¡°We¡¯ll be takin¡¯ what you¡¯ve collected an¡¯ we¡¯ll be takin¡¯ your ration too. Thanks for putting a light on for us makes it easy to find the new ones.¡±


    Shu¡¯lai looked all around and saw them closing in, he was scared and didn¡¯t notice that the four figures in front of him were now three. Artemis using the night to his advantage had grabbed the man and broken his neck in one quick movement. He then grabbed another making sure to cover his face and kicking out his knees. On the man''s way down crack, he didn¡¯t even have time to think about screaming.


    One of the men from the right looked over to the main group. ¡°Hey where did Art and Guv get off to? Weren¡¯t the right there wi¡­¡± The man stopped dead in his tracks, he couldn¡¯t make a sound. All he saw were the glowing yellow eyes, this toothy grin coming up behind his mate and then he was gone. ¡°H.. h...he¡¯s not alone!!¡± The man finally managed to yell.


    This sent the group rushing towards Shu¡¯lai once there the leader, the Badgerite, grabbed Shu¡¯lai and held his claws to his neck. ¡°Alright come out you lot or your mate gets it!¡±


    On Shu¡¯lai¡¯s way up he dropped the torch and it sputtered a bit casting dancing shadows on all the rocks and bushes around. There was no answer to his demands. They heard some rustling behind them and spun around just in time to see this mass of black come crashing out of the shadows. Artemis disappeared just as quickly. The men all looked around and when they finally got their bearings noticed that the Badgerite was missing his arm and Shu¡¯lai was free. Artemis came from the shadows again grabbing the Badgerite and dragging him into the shadows. Artemis had taken his time with this kill, savoured the moment. More and more he was giving into his baser instincts. Losing his rational calm mind to blood lust. Artemis had the Badgerite by the throat, his face almost pressed against his ear.


    ¡°Wrong choice today,¡± Artemis stated. A scream so shrill and full of terror came from the shadows and echoed for what seemed like ages. Then there was just silence even the dancing shadows created by the torch seemed to stand still. Two of the remaining men looking all panicked ran off into the night in the opposite direction he had seen the badgerite get taken.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, whoreson!¡± one of the other men screamed as he ran off in the direction the badgerite was taken. Screaming and flailing his torch about. Hoping beyond hope to hit something in the dark, anything that would tell him where the killer was.


    The fourth man decided it was best to stay where he was. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a dagger made from a large tooth. It was from one of the native species of the island a Dragolisk . Artemis busy toying with the one who ran screaming into the night. Hitting the torch from his hands and watching him recoil in fear. Artemis didn¡¯t notice the dagger being drawn and he certainly wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to have any weapons with them on this island. Hearing some movement from behind him, Shu¡¯lai started to turn round but it was too late. Shu¡¯lai felt the cold press of the blade into his chest. He tried to scream for help but all that came out was gurgling and blood. As the dagger was pulled from his chest and he landed on the ground, the blood pouring from his chest started to drown out the torch. It was then the man knew he messed up, in the dancing light he recognized Shu¡¯lai.


    Artemis smelling the blood. A familiar smell of copper, mixed with the scent of his new friend. Artemis went berserk, he knew his tendency to play with his opponents had cost someone else this time. He ran full speed back to where Shu¡¯lai was. He noticed the blood gushing from Shu¡¯lai¡¯s chest and hoped he could end this quickly. Artemis hoped he could stop the bleeding. Grabbing the last man faster and harder than any of the others. Pushing the man¡¯s knees out from under him, Artemis wrenched up on his neck. Severing the head from the spine killing him instantly. He went and knelt beside Shu¡¯lai who was still alive but barely.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Artemis said. ¡°I shouldn''t have taken so long with them. Had I just dealt with them you would never have been hurt. So much for us being square.¡± He squeezed Shu¡¯lai¡¯s hand. ¡°I promise that when I get off of here, I will make the Elves pay for ripping your family apart and sending you here.¡±


    With what looked like a smile to Artemis, Shu¡¯lai passed on. Artemis wanting not to waste anything from the bodies that were there gathered up the cloths, arm bands and the daggers the men had on them. He was close to the sea, maybe a 5 minute walk. It would be bad if someone came across this. Artemis decided to dispose of the bodies over the cliff to hide that the fight had occurred. No one would miss a few more inmates anyway.


    ¡°Where are you whoreson!¡± Right Artemis had forgotten about that one. He crept up behind him as silent as the night. With one quick motion he rendered the man unconscious. No need to kill him, no one would believe him anyway he didn¡¯t have a description of this monster that had killed all his friends. Artemis had done enough killing for the night. Next time he would protect those he was with instead of giving into his instincts. Artemis did take his clothes and weapons though. What was this he had on him? It was a round ball that caught the light. It smelled of shit, and grass. Not sure what to make of it he took it anyway, just to be safe.


    He then lugged the four bodies over to the cliff dropping them into the water below. When it was time to say a final farewell to Shu¡¯lai Artemis took his time, walking slower than with the rest and talking to him as if he was still there. When Artemis got to the cliff with Shu¡¯lai he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t save you. You were, who I considered, my first friend in this hell.¡± With that he dropped the body off the cliff.


    Artemis continued his way over to the rubble they had been headed to. He was now, more than ever, alert and on the watch for more potential muggers. Artemis slowed down as he got closer to the rubble. It smelled but not of earth and stone, it smelled different like a living creature. If he looked real closely at it he could see the mass rising and falling as if it was asleep. Artemis was curious about what this creature was but also wary of what it could do to him. It was a large creature now that he was looking at it carefully, it had spines running down its back, they looked ridged like they were there to make it look more imposing. Whatever it was trying to scare off must be massive Artemis thought. It was at least 4 meters long, and that was with it curled up sleeping. He noticed the head was almost firmly attached to the body, from where Artemis stood it looked like the creature had almost no neck. He could see one limb stretched out from the beast. It was muscular, it had to be to carry around the rest of him. Artemis was hungry and it looked edible. He decided to get closer to it, at that moment the wind changed direction, and Artemis knew he was in danger; he was now downwind of the beast.


    The beast breathed in heavily and started to stir. Artemis knew he had to get upwind of him and quick. He dropped everything where he was so he could run at full speed. He decided the best path was to run in front of it before it woke and get upwind. He dashed as though his life depended on it jumping over bushes and dodging around a few small trees. He made it to where the beast was and knew that it was a poor decision. The beast took a bite at him, he managed to dodge under the jaw, but he could see they were dripping with a viscous liquid. The creatures'' teeth were massive, some the size of Artemis¡¯s forearm. Artemis thought it best to avoid them in case the liquid dripping from them was venom. The beast rose with a speed Artemis did not expect and gave chase. He kept going running towards the cliff hoping to lose it. He noticed that while it was chasing him it was stumbling a lot, tripping on things, it appeared to have bad eyesight. At least in the dark anyway. Artemis zigged and zagged over rocks and around shrubs. The beast just ploughed through most of it like it wasn¡¯t there. Still, it was following him, how was it able to do that if it couldn¡¯t clearly see him Artemis wondered. Artemis looking back briefly as he ran noticed the beast was flicking its tongue tasting at the air. It was following his scent Artemis thought.


    Artemis got to the edge of the cliff and decided he would wait there as long as he could. Artemis would drop down the cliff hoping the beast would follow him over. At least that was the hope. Artemis turned and readied himself to drop down. The beast charging full speed at him. It lunged at him. The beast opened its jaw and went in for the bite, Artemis dropped down and the beast went over his head. The beast turned and tried to grab onto something, anything, but it was too far from the cliff. It fell onto the jagged rocks below and was impaled from head to tail. Still twitching as Artemis pulled himself up over the cliff.


    Artemis went back to claim his belongings and find a place to sleep. As he walked past where the beast had been he noticed a familiar smell. The dung on the ground smelt the same as the small balls he found. There were some rocks that had been moved by the beast when it made its nest. Artemis decided this would be the place to make up his camp and, in the morning, he would go examine the beast that had fallen over the edge. Maybe after he went and checked out the city though.

 Chapter 3

    All too soon Artemis felt the warmth of the sun on his face waking him from his short and restless sleep. Artemis was weary of this place still, after his run in with the other prisoners last night trust was going to be an issue. He debated staying where he was, but he begrudgingly decided to get up and go to town. If he left his water canteen and brought one of the empty ones it might give him some bargaining power with the others here. He looked around where he had been. It didn¡¯t look much different in the day then it had at night. He did notice that some of the rocks he has been resting against were, in fact, eggs. He decided that hiding his supplies between the eggs would serve him best. He figured most wouldn¡¯t want to tangle with a monster of that size. Being honest Artemis couldn¡¯t believe his half-baked plan had worked to get rid of the creature last night.


    ¡°Now no hatching and eating all my supplies alright?¡± Artemis said softly to the eggs. He grabbed an empty water canteen and headed for the city. It was no more than half hours walk from where he was. If anyone had witnessed him coming from the nest, they would know there was no danger and might come to inspect it. He did one more look around making sure no one was in eyesight of him and hastened his approach to the city.


    As he got closer to the large gate, he could hear quite the commotion there was screaming and the sound of bones breaking. Artemis thought there must be a fight at the entrance. Artemis came up to the back of the crowd that was somewhat still in a line and peered over the heads of those in front of him. The guards had encircled three prisoners and were forcing them to fight.


    ¡°Some kind of entertainment for them?¡± Artemis wondered aloud.


    ¡°Not just entertainment for ¡®em,¡± the man in front of him said, not bothering to look back. ¡°It¡¯s entertainment for us and the winner usually gets some water.¡±


    Artemis thought it barbaric but useful if he had to fight it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. He noticed a guard standing off to the side taking something from other prisoners in exchange for entrance into the city. Artemis tapped the man on the shoulder again and asked, ¡°what are they doing over there?¡±


    Waving off Artemis¡¯s hand he looked up and over at the guard. ¡°Oh, that''s where you go if you got Sunsparks to spare. Most people don¡¯t, on account of how hard it is to come by. Now leave me be.¡± The man pushed further into the crowd trying to get away from Artemis.


    Sunsparks Artemis wondered what they were, Shu¡¯lai had mentioned them as well. He shrugged and decided to go stand on the outside of the crowd and wait out this display. He decided to go over where others were getting in with the use of Sunsparks. As he made his way over to the other side of the crowd one of the men who had run away last night came running. The man got as close to the fight as he could and started screaming at the crowd about a monster he had encountered. It was fast, blended into the dark and attacked without mercy. Artemis knew the man was talking about him but saw no reason to hide as the man had never seen him. The man continued by saying their bodies were gone this morning. All five of his friends'' bodies were gone and the one they had killed too. This got the guards attention. Artemis noticed one of the guards standing up, he was a high elf. Everything and everyone seemed to stop as if his presence alone was causing it.


    He was grizzly looking for a high elf who, being elves, are more known for their beauty and grace. He was tall even for an elf at least two and a half meters maybe. He walked with a bit of a limp; he had a mechanical leg from the war. It was an old and outdated technology; with the use of magic, he could have his leg back to brand new. He liked it though it reminded him of what he had given up making the elves strong. It also made it so the prisoners wouldn¡¯t mess with him. If the prisoners saw him, they immediately straightened up and stopped acting out. His face was covered in a thick beard, another oddity for a high elf. Most High elves chose not to grow facial hair. There were scars around his one eye. The scars were deep and ached when trouble was coming. He called it his early warning system. His eyes were a terrifying red colour, the colour of fresh blood. They suited him, he was hard after all and didn¡¯t take shit from those under his command. Those who did give him shit, didn¡¯t stay around too long.


    ¡°Alright, what is this nonsense about a monster on this island? You¡¯re all monsters in my opinion so what''s having one more on here going to do.¡± Venthal said calmly. He looked over the crowd noticing new faces that stood out to him, seeing some old faces shape up as he looked at them. ¡°More to the point you¡¯re admitting you killed another prisoner.¡± He grinned at this. ¡°You know the rules you get to keep everything on them, but we need that as proof that they are still on the island. You managed to mess up the only rule I gave you thieving screwups!¡±


    With a quick action he cast a spell that bound the man in place. He stepped up to him and with one foul swoop he took his head. He didn¡¯t blink twice; he calmly used the man''s clothes to get the blood off of his sabre.


    ¡°Right for those of you who don¡¯t know me and there are a few that I see, I am Venthal. I am the man in charge of this shit hole and so long as there is shit like you to put here, I will remain. I have few rules for you to follow so do as you please kill, steal, rape or whatever your black heart¡¯s desire. Only if you kill someone or steal their things I ask that you bring the guards their bands so we can keep getting paid for them. If that¡¯s too much for you to handle,¡± Venthal paused, looking down at the man laying at his feet. ¡°You end up like him. If a guard says fight you fight either fight till, they are bored or till one of you dies. If a guard asks you for your stash of Sunsparks you hand them over, we all need a little help sometimes. If you want out of that life, and I think you¡¯re worth a damn I¡¯ll send you to the tower for¡­ rehabilitation and you might just become a guard. If you feel like trying to curry favour with the guard to get water then report on your fellow prisoners, if the intel is good, you get a guaranteed ration of water. Lastly, and most important, there are no prisoners in the city after dark. Simple, those are my rules if you don¡¯t like them then you¡¯re welcome to try swimming back home. HA.¡±


    He turned and sat back down where he had been. Venthal motioned for the fight to resume, and it did.


    Artemis noticed how everyone around him began to go back to normal cheering for the fight and ignoring everything else. Artemis noticed this captivating harpy standing there with this boardite who looked meaner than a crazed dog. Standing a few meters away from them he could hear them speaking in hushed voices. They were talking about the price of entry and how it had gone up to 10 sparks a person. And about how they would need at least triple that to afford the equipment. It might be easier to kill a Dragolisk they continued. Artemis heard them say it would be easier if they could find a corps of one and just scavenge the parts themselves.


    Artemis wondered if maybe the beast they were describing was the one he had killed last night. Making his way over to them he heard the harpy shush the boarite and stand upright from him. She eyed Artemis up and down. Probably trying to decide what to make of him as he was a Wolfite. That was hard for most to get past. Instinctively he raised his hands as he got closer to show he meant no harm. ¡°Sorry to approach you like this, my name is Artemis. I¡¯m new here and I have a couple questions for you if you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t promise we¡¯ll answer you Artemis but feel free to ask.¡± Suntiana said to him. ¡°Seeing as you introduced yourself, I¡¯ll at least do the same. My name is Suntiana, and this fella is Rothar.¡±


    Artemis lowered his hands. ¡°Most don¡¯t know what to do when a Wolfite approaches them. I overheard your conversation; I wasn¡¯t meaning to eavesdrop I promise. I was wondering what Sunsparks were?¡± Artemis already had a good Idea though as the guard smelled of that beast''s dung. ¡°I was also wondering what a Dragolisk was.¡±


    ¡°Mighty suspicious you are coming over here. I don¡¯t think we should trust ¡®I''m Suntiana.¡± Rothar growled.


    ¡°Hush now Rothar. You seem to have us at a disadvantage right now. You know what we are after, but we don¡¯t know why you care.¡± Suntiana said with a smile. The smile that said I¡¯m done here unless you have something for me.


    Artemis pulled out the bag of polished balls he had found on the other prisoners. He thought long and hard about giving it to her in case it really was valuable. Artemis decided the information was worth the risk and tossed it at her. She looked in the bag and smiled. A different kind of smile this time, this one said I¡¯m in. In the bag were sixty Sunsparks. Enough to get them everything they needed.


    ¡°I wanted to know what the beast was because last night I had a run-in with a foul beast. I made my temporary shelter in its nest. The nest was surrounded with its shit, and it smelled a lot like these things. If you want, I can take you to it.¡±


    He gestured for them to follow him. Rothar was clearly against it but Suntiana, being curious about all this, began to follow, leaving Rothar no choice but to come along as well.


    Artemis led them back to his temporary home. Once there both Suntiana and Rothar¡¯s expressions changed dramatically. They saw the eggs, and all the supplies and had to do a double take to be sure they weren¡¯t dreaming. The eggs could feed their people for months, the water and clothing could last them half a year at least. Rothar looked at Suntiana and motioned to them and then to Artemis who had his back to them for the time being. Suntiana seemed to know Rothar meant to rob him. She shook her head no, realizing he could very well be the one who disposed of the other prisoners last night. Rothar grunted in disapproval.


    ¡°We should get out of here before the Dragolisk comes back.¡± Rothar said, looking around cautiously.


    ¡°It won''t be coming back. I had it chase me off a cliff last night. It''s down on the rock¡¯s dead. I was going to see¡­¡± Artemis was cut off mid-sentence.


    ¡°Show us were! NOW!¡± Suntiana exclaimed excitedly. She whipped around placing her arms on Artemis. Realizing she had completely lost her composure she put her arms down in front of herself, took a deep breath and smiled. ¡°Please show us where it fell off.¡±


    Artemis smiled a toothy smile at her and nodded. He led them around the piles of rocks he had jumped over the night before. They walked in the path the Dragolisk had made through the dead trees. Finally, after about ten minutes of walking they go to the edge. Artemis went right up to it and gestured for them to come look. Rothar wanted to keep some distance between himself and Artemis in case Artemis were to try something. Rothar shuffled over to the edge a few meters down from Artemis and peered over. There it was in all its glory a dead Dragolisk.


    The Dragolisk was laying there speared on the rocks below. It was ten meters in length and at least half as wide. It¡¯s six legs had fallen into unnatural positions from where they were skewered. Its eyes were looking straight up.


    ¡°Good thing it¡¯s dead,¡± Rothar thought allowed, ¡°that thing looking at me, makes me afraid it¡¯s going to paralyze me.¡±


    Artemis nodded at this, good to know it¡¯s stair can paralyze. Artemis continued to look the creature over. Its teeth were dripping this purple liquid that appeared to be dissolving the rocks beneath them. Acid based saliva, he wondered. He already knew from his encounter last night that they couldn¡¯t see well, at least not at night.


    ¡°Can these things not see well?¡± Artemis asked, more to the either than to a person.


    ¡°No idea,¡± Suntiana said. ¡°Most people who see one don¡¯t survive.¡±


    Artemis nodded. He noticed that at the end of each of its disfigured legs long claws protruded from the beast¡¯s toes. Glistening in the sun they looked sharp, and hard. Not something you wanted to be on the receiving end of. It was covered in scales; he hadn¡¯t noticed the night just how scaley it was. It¡¯s scales, even from this distance, they looked sturdy. They were big and from the few standing up around the rocks protruding from the creature; they were thick. Artemis thought they would make for great plate armour. They would be too heavy for anyone else he thought.


    Rothar looked up at Suntiana and smiled. Suntiana looked at Rothar and then to Artemis. She was no longer smiling, something was wrong.


    ¡°Last night this place was crawling with prisoners who were looking to raid the newcomers of their belongings. They were out in a pack wanting to get as many as they could. I didn''t understand what they were talking about back at the gates until now. They said a monster was ripping them to pieces in the dark. You used this thing last night to save your own hide, didn¡¯t you? You made it trample over them as you lured it to the cliff. How many did it kill? Four? Six? Ten? What did you get out of it? Answer me now, or this little arrangement will turn sour for you Artemis.¡± Suntiana demanded.


    Artemis thought how her demeaner had changed so quickly. She went from carefree and excited to blood thirsty. He thought about how he was going to get out of this in case it did go sideways. Artemis thought back to his earlier decision not to trust any of the prisoners. Realizing he had forgotten that idea when this pair had started giving him the information he wanted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t use the creature to kill those men, I was the monster that attacked them.¡± Artemis said with a smile. He was menacing and a little crazy in the eyes as he spoke.


    He went on to explain the events from the previous night to Suntiana and Rothar. Embellishing the bits about his cunning with the Dragolisk and downplaying his sadistic torture of the prisoners. He explained how Shu¡¯lai had saved him at the docks. He told them everything, all the time slowly shifting his position, so he had a path to escape.


    Suntiana paused, looking between Rothar, the cliff, and Artemis as she weighed her options. She stepped forward toward the cliff, Artemis took a step back from her. Suntiana was now between Rothar and Artemis. Artemis thought about running and grabbing all his things before they could make a move. Suntiana looked at Artemis and smiled. ¡°I believe you, there is no way that crazy story could be made up. It¡¯s a shame about Shu¡¯lai. If he saved you that meant he was probably bringing you to me. Fucking scavengers. I can¡¯t believe they would kill one of ours.¡±


    Suntiana looked at Artemis, this time with a kind smile, ¡°thank you for avenging our friend.¡±


    ¡°Good, but no offence you turn from kind to bloodthirsty so quickly I¡¯m not sure I can trust you.¡± Artemis stated. ¡°What is your little group up to exactly?¡±


    ¡°It will be easier to show you. Rothar when we get back you will prepare a party to come and retrieve the materials from this Dragolisk,¡± Suntiana said. ¡°Come, follow us.¡± She gestured to Artemis as she started walking back towards the city.


    Artemis thought about his options, if he went with them there was the possibility it could be a trap but if he stayed on his own there was a good chance he wouldn¡¯t make it too long on this island. He didn¡¯t like groups; he was always on edge waiting for someone to spring on him. He didn¡¯t really like his odds on his own much better though. Finally, after a small deliberation he decided to give the group a shot.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°What''s the worst that can happen?¡± He thought. ¡°There are only two of them.¡±


    He hurried along to catch up to Suntiana and Rothar.


    Rothat looked at Artemis following them and grunted. He wasn¡¯t pleased that this mangy wolfite was following them. He didn¡¯t like how Suntiana changed around him. Rothar thought to himself ¡°I¡¯ll be watching him closely. Trouble like that needs to be dealt with before it spreads.¡±


    ¡°I want you to give me those emblems you picked up from the dead prisoners. I want to turn them in for water rations at the city gate,¡± Suntiana said. ¡°If you were to give the emblems to the guards, they would throw you in the tower for killing all the new arrivals. My group is mostly scavengers so they would assume we just collected them after the fact. Of course you will get your share of the spoils.¡±


    Artemis, having already committed to helping them, handed over the emblems begrudgingly. As they walked, they discussed what had gotten Artemis brought to this place. As it wasn¡¯t a long walk to the city from where they were he didn¡¯t go into all the details but did explain some of it to them. Once they got back to the city Rothar took Artemis off to the side of the gate past the guards. While Suntiana went up to the guards and handed over a few of the emblems to the guard. He looked at them, smiled and gestured for her to wait there. He disappeared beyond the gate and a few moments later returned with 10 canteens of water for her. She smiled, touched the side of his face and was on her way. She met up with Artemis and Rothar, she handed them the water and then led them off past the city.


    ¡°Right this way to our base. It¡¯s a hell of a journey but worth it I promise.¡± Santiana said to Artemis. Suntiana led them around the city to the cliffs at the edge of the island. Artemis turned back and noticed there was no gate or guard at the back of the city. This was something he would make sure to keep in mind.


    Suntiana lowered herself off the edge and disappeared. Rothar followed, leaving Artemis alone, he looked down over the edge and noticed they were making their way down a narrow ledge with barely enough room for their feet. Artemis followed their lead and lowered himself down from the cliff and onto the ledge. He followed them to the left, growing concerned as the ledge narrowed even more. Suntiana, having reached the narrowest part of the ledge, started to climb back up using a mix of the existing rock formations and some dug out hand and foot holds. Once she was almost back up to the top she started along the new path as it headed down to the bottom of the cliff. Artemis wondered why they hadn¡¯t just started here. He went to poke his head up above the cliff and Rothar pulled him back down. Shaking his head at Artemis Rothar motioned for Artemis to keep following him.


    It was an easier path to travel on. The ledge was not as narrow as the first as it had more room to walk on. Suntiana stopped about halfway down and started to climb down the cliff face. They continued down for a couple of minutes before reaching a wider ledge. It was slick with spray from the sea making it easier to slip. Suntiana led them back the way they had come from along the previous ledge. Slowly continuing along this ledge making sure not to slip into the sea below. They made it to a large boulder, Suntiana pressed herself up tight against the wall to let Rothar pass by. Rothar Leaned into the boulder and with some effort pushed it aside exposing a cave.


    ¡°Clever,¡± Artemis said as he walked into the cave. Had he not been with Suntiana and Rothar he would have never known this place was here.


    Once inside Rothar moved the boulder back into place, leaving the group in a dimly lit cave. Artemis could feel eyes upon him from all around. The cave was far more spacious than Artemis had expected. WIth torches every couple of meters making it easy to see. He was curious about the mound of dirt that was being built by the front of the cave but decided not to question it. He noticed how one side of the cave seemed to be made of mirrors. Curious about this he walked over to look at himself.


    ¡°How did you get this wall of mirrors in the cave?¡± Artemis asked with a tone of astonishment. ¡°On top of that how did you make them?¡±


    Suntiana laughed at him, making Artemis quickly change his expression from excitement to one of displeasure. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to laugh at you. That¡¯s the same question we all asked when we discovered this place. We don¡¯t know how these mirrored surfaces were brought here. We only know, thanks to a collapse at the back of the cave, that they go further down and further up than we thought.¡±


    Artemis, feeling less displeased with being laughed at, found himself laughing as well. It was a full-bodied laugh and one that caught everyone off guard as it echoed around the cave. Again, all eyes seemed to be on him, which did make him uncomfortable but not in the way it did when they were first staring at him. One of the many sets of eyes that were set upon him slowly grew closer. Moving past him to Suntiana.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea? Bringing someone new in here at this time? Especially with him being a Wolfite and all,¡± The Badgerite whispered to Suntiana. It was of little use to whisper as Artemis heard every word.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure, come here Artemis and explain to Sumal why it was a good idea to bring you here.¡± Suntiana motioned for Artemis to re-join the group. More and more of the cave''s inhabitants were edging their way closer wanting to hear what Artemis had to say.


    ***


    Tyrnal pulled himself up the ladder and headed over to Suntiana, Rothar and an ever-growing group of people all surrounding Artemis. As Tyrnal approached he heard Artemis introduce himself and start to explain why Suntiana had brought him here. As Artemis explained they handed out water that they had gotten from the guards. Suntiana then placed more arm bands on the ground as Artemis explained what had happened during his first night on the island. Rothar began pointing at the strongest members of the group as Artemis explained about the Dragolisk he had managed to kill. Suntiana, now noticing Tyrnal, waved him over frantically.


    ¡°Tyrnal!¡± Suntiana Exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re just in time. Artemis here¡­.¡±


    ¡°I heard it all and if it wasn¡¯t for the water and badges I wouldn¡¯t believe any of it.¡± Tryna interrupted. Suntiana was not impressed with being cut off, and her look said as much.


    Tyrnal made his way up to Artemis. He looked Artemis up and down, round and round. Nodding and muttering as he went along. He poked at Artemis and pulled at the clothes he was wearing. Finally, after Artemis had had enough of being studied like an animal being used for experimentation he said, ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    Tyrnal, realizing what he was doing, backed up with wide eyes. ¡°Sorry about that, you''ll have to forgive me. I have never seen a Wolfite before. It¡¯s simply amazing to me to see one up close.¡±


    Tyrnal drifted off into more muttering about the strength and speed of a Wolfite. He left the group and went to write some things down.


    Artemis, concluding that Tyrnal was a harmless quack, and decided not to press the matter any further. Rothar began to bring the group together that he had pointed to earlier.


    There was a Bearite named Lyna. She was tall, as was common with bearites, at least two and a half meters. Her fur was a dark brown colour with a hint of grey starting around the muzzle. She was getting up in years for that to show. How long had she been on this island? Her face was soft and kind looking. Her eyes were a deep violet, they had the look of someone who knew what loss was. Her body was hunched, common among Bearites. This made her look less threatening than she was, Bearites are known for their ferocity in protecting their friends and family. They are the kind who will kill without a second thought if pressed into a situation. Even with her claws trimmed all the way down and sealed with rune magic to stop them from growing her mitts could deliver a devastating blow. Next to her stood another Bearite by the name of Quade.


    He was two meters in height and his fur was black. Like Lyna he too was hunched over with his claws trimmed. He was stocky but looking at him it was easy to tell it was all muscle. His face was still hopeful and full of youth. He must have been a cub when he was brought here. It looked as though Lyna had taken a liking to him, she always stood between him and everyone else like she was protecting him.


    Off to the side a bit more leaning on the cave wall was a Lynxite who went by Xix. She was small, only a little over one meter tall. She was grey and spotted, with tufts of fur going in all directions. Her fur looked soft to the touch, though no one would dare to try. Her eyes were a piercing yellow that had mystery and danger about them. Her muzzle was short and dainty.


    Artemis went over to join the group, he figured that since they were going to gather materials, they might want an extra set of hands. Rothar nodded at him with appreciation and began to explain the plan. They would wait till nightfall when most of the island''s inhabitants would be off doing their best to sleep or preparing for the next shipment of new inmates to arrive sometime later. Heading around the back of the city to avoid the guards and down the cliff which was easier to descend from there. It would be a Peral filled trip due to the sea crashing on that side of the island and the giant spikes awaiting anyone at the bottom. Each of them would have two sacks to carry back parts, one to sling on their back and one for across their front. To help with bringing the sacks back up the cliff they also brought some rope. Rothar explained that they would make multiple trips so as not to over burden themselves on each trip as it would be a long night. He suggested that everyone should get some sleep until nightfall.


    Rothar moved the boulder off to the side of the cave and the party headed out. Back up the path that was hard enough to navigate in the daytime but was far worse at night. Instead of following the path all the way back to the top they got off halfway along. Artemis was curious why they were able to pull up here at night and not during the day. As Artemis pulled himself up over the ledge he began to understand why. The smell of blood was thick and there were body parts thrown around. Some of the bodies were dressed as guards while others were clearly prisoners. Artemis wondered what had happened here but thought this was not the time to bring it up. Rothar whispered that everyone should keep their heads down and stay close. He led them along the cliff edge until they were past the city. Rothar motioned for them to start making their way inland to cut across to the edge where the Dragolisk was.


    They made their way into the dead forest. The trees were massive, gnarled and looked as though they had been here for centuries. The trees petrified from being coated in salt leaving them an eerie grey colour. Their limbs creaked in the wind as if they could drop at any minute. The sound of the wind through the trees sounded like wolves. The howling had everyone on edge wondering what horrors would pop out. Every once and awhile the light from the stars above was blacked out by passing creatures. Every time a shadow passed overhead Rothar dropped right down on the ground until the shadow was gone. Artemis was curious about what could make Rothar so afraid, then he heard it, the screech. It sounded like a creature screaming in pain as it was ripped limb from limb. Artemis¡¯s head swivelled around trying to find the source of the sound, his gaze was drawn upward as he heard a thud of something heavy landing in the tree.


    The tree creaked under the weight of the massive bird-like creature. It was massive, Artemis thought, it looked more reptilian than like any bird he had ever seen. It was making a sound much more pleasant than he had heard before it was a soft cooing sound followed by another of its otherworldly screeches. Its two heads were fighting with each other over something they were eating. As Artemis stared up at them something fell from the creature¡¯s mouth to the ground. It was an arm, it was then that it dawned on Artemis, this creature had two heads. He knew what this was, other prisoners at the city gate had been talking about them. They were Scraves, a wyvern with two heads. scavengers that feed on dead or dying creatures. Rumour has it that these creatures were brought to the island to clean up the corpses. These creatures wouldn¡¯t actively hunt anything that could possibly fight back; however they were still extremely dangerous. They secreted a neurotoxic venom that could kill someone of Artemis¡¯s size but would dissuade most creatures on this island that would try to eat it. Their claws are sharp enough to rip open a Dragolisk.


    Rothar motioned for everyone to keep moving and to keep quiet. The group moved forward keeping low and moving through the forest moving around the trees while trying to make as little noise as possible. The group stopped frequently as the debris made keeping quite next to impossible. With every noise the group looked up to make sure no scraves were overhead. The group would occasionally come across sleeping scraves. This slowed down their journey as they had to approach and navigate the beast. There was a clearing up ahead of the group, this seemed to make Rothar even more nervous.


    ¡°Be very careful, the scraves nesting ground is just up ahead.¡± Rothar whispered. He motioned for everyone to get down as low as they could and to move slowly and silently.


    As they made their way into the clearing Artemis could see why Rothar was so nervous. There were multiple nests and no scraves to be seen. Artemis assumed this to mean they were watching from the shadows. This wasn¡¯t sitting well with Artemis, there had to be a smarter way to get through this forest. Before Artemis could remark on this Rothar and the others were already headed into the clearing.


    No more scraves appeared to be around as the group emerged from the forest. Rothar visibly relieved that no scraves had attacked them, breathed a sigh of relief. He continued leading the others to the edge of the island. They quickly approached the coast, once there Rothar looked to Artemis to show the way to the Dragolisk.


    ¡°So scraves huh? Could have used a heads up before we went through their feeding grounds.¡± Artemis said in a joking manner to Rothar. Artemis knew that the others wouldn¡¯t have come if they had been warned.


    Rothar smiled, ¡°I was half hoping they would eat you.¡±


    The pair laughed an uneasy laugh. Both sizing the other up in case anything should happen.


    Artemis led the group down the cliff for a half hour or so until they reached the site of the Dragolisk. Looking down the cliff it was clear it would be a treacherous descent down to get the materials needed. The cliff wall was a straight drop, one small misstep and there would not be a second chance.


    ¡°Anyone want to go first?¡± Artemis asked in a sarcastic tone.


    Quade stepped forward, puffed out his chest and exclaimed, ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡±


    Lyna Put her hand on Quades shoulder and shook her head. ¡°Let Rothar go first, he''s got experience finding paths. Why don¡¯t you stay up here and pull up the bags as they get filled.¡±


    Quade shrunk down and nodded. Artemis felt bad for the cub. All he wanted to do was impress Lyna, but she was always mothering him. They all started to take out the rope they had brought and handed it to Quade. Artemis took Quades bags and handed them to Rothar. Rothar placed the bags over his shoulders and began his descent down the cliff. He was cautious in his approach searching out every foot hold. The other three, Artemis, Lyna and Xix followed in his steps. Each one being more cautious than the one ahead of them, no one wanted to be the one to take everyone else with them. It was slow going, moving down the cliff face in a side-to-side pattern to make sure there were as few people in a line as possible in case the worst happened. About halfway down the cliff face Rothar stopped and looked back at everyone with a concerned look on his face. As the others got closer, they realized why, there was a crevice in the wall that they would need to jump around to continue. Rothar looked closely for the foot and hand holds he would need to find to get across. There was one handhold above that he could use to swing over but he couldn¡¯t make out more than a tiny ledge on the other side, it looked to be barely big enough for his hands to get a grip on. If he went and it wasn¡¯t big enough, he was done for, but returning to Suntiana without the materials was scarier to him. He wanted to impress her, even if he hadn¡¯t killed the Dragolisk himself. He placed his back hand on the hold and swung himself over the crevice. With his forward hand he reached out to the ledge and managed to grab hold. Holding on with just his hands he looked for a foot hold something to help steady himself. He was able to find a place to put his foot, it was a small rocky outcrop.


    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, just as everyone was feeling safe the ledge Rothar was holding onto broke. He started to fall, with his quick reflexes he grabbed onto the rocky outcrop with his hand and caught himself. He pulled himself back up to the ledge and knocked off the rest of the loose bit. This made the swing father for the rest, but Rothar made sure the rest of the ledge was stable. Rothar stayed close just in case he needed to catch the next one across. Xix was next, she swung herself with relative ease and managed to make it with no issues.


    Next was Lyna, she was more concerned about the jump than the others, as a Bearite she was heavy and feared the ledge would not catch her as easily. She put her hand on the first hold and pulled with most of her weight to make sure it would hold her. It seemed secure; she then began to work herself up to make the swing. As she swung across the hand hold let loose under her weight, as she plummeted down the crevice, she grabbed onto the rocky outcropping that the others were using as a foot hold. Xix reached out a hand to help pull Lyna up. With some effort and a little bit of help from Rothar holding Xix by her other hand they got Lyna up.


    Artemis on the other hand looked stuck. Artemis figured he had a couple of options one was to go back up and find another path around, or to try and jump across and follow the others down the cliff. There was no guarantee that the path would hold for another violent jump. Artemis looked down off the cliff and noticed the Dragolisk corpse was much closer to the base of the cliff than he had originally thought, it was a large target. Artemis wondered if he could survive the drop onto the beast from here. Looking across at his companions then back down to the Dragolisk Artemis began to smile. Rothar''s face went pale as he figured out what Artemis was thinking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you even thi....¡± Rothar began.


    It was too late Artemis had already let go of the cliff and given himself a little push off to make sure he landed closer to the centre of the Dragolisk. Artemis turned himself over in the air as he descended so he could see. Artemis noticed that the spike sticking up from the Dragolisk was coming up fast. This might have been a mistake Artemis thought. Using his arms he tried to change where he was going to land trying to glide to the left. He was making some progress, but the body was coming up fast. As he continued to glide to the left he just missed the spike that was jetting out of the stomach of the Dragolisk. Striking the side of it as he landed. Artemis rolled down the side of the spike and landed on the Dragolisk, he continued to roll almost falling from the Dragolisk¡¯s body. After catching himself on some of the creature''s scales he pulled himself back up. He Stood up, shook his head and waved to the others still up on the cliff.


    ¡°Crazy ass Wolf,¡± Xix said laughing. ¡°Come on guys we need to get down there too.¡±


    Rothar continues to cautiously lead the others down the cliff face without much trouble. Getting back up would be another matter, they would need to find another way back up, hopefully a safer one. Once the others had joined Artemis on the Dragolisk they began to work. Xix and Rothar headed to the head to take out teeth, Lyna and Artemis worked on getting scales, bones and meat from around the spikes. Each bag could only hold two teeth at most, Xix and Rothar took out a total of ten teeth enough to get started on making some tools. Artemis and Lyna were able to fit a lot more in their sacks. Scales were lightweight, not like Artemis had initially thought, and easy to compress allowing for a good amount to be collected. Two sacks of scales were a good start, enough to make some better clothing and armour. Meat was the next two bags, and they were able to get enough to feed the group for a couple days at least. Maybe a few weeks if they could smoke it. Lastly was a bag of bones they focused on getting ribs. Each bag could only hold a portion of the rib long enough to make a handle for the tools or some torches. They would have to come back for more.


    Quade pulled up the sacks one at a time Xix stayed behind to send them up. The others started making their way back up the cliff using a different route than before. It was just as treacherous but didn¡¯t require going over a crevice, so it was preferable. Once back at the top the group divided up the sacks among themselves and started back to the cave. It was midnight and the island was shrouded in darkness making it easier to go undetected. This time taking the more direct route around the city instead of through the woods. It was hard going with all the supplies they were carrying.


    Suntiana was waiting by the cave entrance wondering what was taking them so long to get back with the first load of materials. At this rate we will only get one load tonight she thought. As she stood there looking pensively out the door Rothar wandered into view. He was dirty, smelly and exhausted. He placed his two sacks down by the entrance and moved further in out of the way. The others filed in one at a time doing the same before moving in and collapsing on the ground.


    ¡°We¡­ are¡­ going¡­ to.. need¡­ more¡­ people.¡± Rothar wheezed. He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. ¡°Can you get some more to help us, Suntiana?¡±


    Without a second thought Suntiana turned round and shouted, ¡°Alright! Anyone who is not digging or recovering is going with this group to get more from the Dragolisk corpse! No objections.¡±


    Groans and moans were heard coming from all over the cave, but everyone got up and moved towards the entrance. Suntiana motioned for some to empty the current sacks into four piles while telling others to grab more sacks. Slowly everything was emptied and everyone had sacks again to go for a second run. Twenty in total this time. The original five and fifteen reluctant recruits.


    Once again they headed out for the Dragolisk, this time taking the more direct route. Once there it was the same routine going down in groups of four. All but Quade took turns going down. With this many people working on the corpse most of the usable materials were stripped in no time. They would have food for months if it didn¡¯t spoil beforehand and enough tools to expedite their digging. By the time they had made it back to the cave for the final time the sun was starting to rise, and the other inmates were starting to stir.


    Rothar moved the boulder back in front of the cave and finally he felt safe back home again. Tyrnal looked over at the mounds of teeth, bones and scales excitedly. Tyrnal began to draw up plans for the tools, looking for the best way to make picks and shovels from the bones and teeth. Those who had been able to get some sleep he began to rouse. He explained to them what he wanted to do and put them to work. The Boarites were put together to carve the bones into handle sized pieces, the Bearites were breaking the teeth into shovel shaped scoops or taking the tips from them to make picks, lastly the Pantherites were breaking the leather cloths Artemis had brought the night before into strapping to hold it all together.

 Chapter 4

    As time wore on Artemis and the others from the team started to wake and began helping where they could. Lyna, Quade and Xix took to preparing meals for everyone from the meat. Quade was excited by this; he always believed a good meal could do no wrong. He also wanted to smoke as much of the meat as he could to preserve it. Suntiana was standing over the hole at the back of the cave checking the lines used for bringing up the dirt. She checked the pulleys and scaffolding for signs of wear. Pleased to see everything was in working order, she too went to help prepare the meal. Rothar was rousing the Badgerites to get them ready for the meal and to get back to work. Artemis took to making the picks and shovels from the bones and teeth. In one movement working a rock in one hand he made grooves for the strapping to hold the shovel heads in place to the bone. In the next movement strapping the shovel head to the bone and tossing it aside. As Artemis got more into his work he went faster and faster. He was unaware that at this point everyone else had stopped working and were instead staring at him. Artemis reached over to where the pile of ready bones and teeth were supposed to be only to find none.


    Artemis looked around now noticing that he was the centre of attention and sheepishly said, ¡°What did I do?¡±


    Everyone broke out into laughter.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Suntiana between laughs. ¡°We just hadn¡¯t counted on getting all the shovels made in one morning. However, did you learn to move so fast?¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re on your own in the wilderness and constantly on the run you learn a few things.¡± Artemis answered frankly. ¡°I¡¯ve been making my own tools and clothing since I can remember.¡±


    This surprised the group; just how had he been living till this point? Artemis again reached for the bones and found none. He looked up at those who were supposed to be breaking the materials as if to say come on get back to work.


    ¡°Just how long were you on your own Artemis?¡± Suntiana hesitantly asked. While at the same time motioning for everyone to get back to their tasks.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an interesting story, I''m afraid. As a Wolfite my clan was always moving around to avoid the elves. I was about ten when I lost my clan and had to fend for myself,¡± Artemis stated as if it was a normal thing everyone went through. ¡°I mean it could have been worse; I could have been forced to work in Nevlia for the elves like you all were.¡±


    This was something Suntiana and the others had not considered, Artemis had been free, sure he was on the run, but he was free. They all had been slaves their whole lives, they didn¡¯t know real freedom. This made the group angry, how was it they were considered worse off than someone who was on the run for their very life. It also made Suntiana determined, if they found weapons in that skyscraper, she was going to convince them to fight their way out of here. This was a new idea for Suntiana, she had never considered escape before but now she wanted to taste that freedom Artemis had.


    ¡°Alright, back to work everyone,¡± Suntiana ordered in a stern yet pleasant tone.


    Before long breakfast was ready, Quade happily went around handing out to everyone. For the first time in a long time Quade thought they were having a full meal. Everyone was as excited as Quade about this. Finally, they would be eating something other than weed water. Weed water was a soup like dish made by boiling local flora to make a pungent yet nutrient rich broth. As they began to eat the meat everyone was overcome with a sense of satisfaction. The juices from the meat spilling into their mouths, the flavour was unlike anything they had had in a long time. It was pungent yet full of umami, it had a metallic taste but that only served to enhance the experience, it had a bite to it, but it wasn¡¯t unappealing and the texture for being from a Dragolisk was surprisingly tender. Everyone scarfed it down like it was the first good meal they had ever eaten.


    Once done everyone returned to work. Artemis finished off making another dozen or so picks and decided to call it quits after seeing the pile of tools on his left. Rothar grabbed an armful of the shovels and began to hand them out. Once someone had received a shovel, they went down the hole and started working on getting further down the side of the skyscraper. Picks were handed out; they too went down the hole and started removing rocks and other debris from the dig site. Others stayed at the top and manned the pulley to remove the dirt. Artemis was amazed at how proficient they were.


    Tyrnal grabbed the tome he had been translating from ancient elvish and brought it over to Suntiana. He had discovered a passage in their detailing on what floor there would be supplies on. From what he had translated, that one mirrored surface was equal to one floor. Tyrnal had estimated that there were at least fifteen floors above them, give or take two or three. The tome referenced a first-floor armoury and a basement, whatever that meant, full of magical artifacts. It also made note of a kitchen which Tyrnal thought might have some food stores they could take advantage of. Everything above the fifteenth floor was referred to as something called office space, or military experimentation. Tyrnal also explained how each floor from the fifteenth down was connected by an internal walkway. Suntiana, not understanding parts of what Tyrnal was saying, understood that the fifteenth floor was where they needed to get to.


    ¡°What floor have we reached now; do you think?¡± Suntiana asked. ¡°How long given our new rate of progress do you think it will take to reach it?¡±


    Tyrnal thought long and hard about these questions before answering. ¡°I think we have reached the twentieth floor. With our new tools and current rotation of manpower I think realistically we can clear a floor a day. If we add in a night shift, we can definitely do two. I would estimate it will take around eleven or twelve days to get to the fifteenth floor. Assuming we didn¡¯t want to dig all the way down to the first floor.¡±


    ¡°I want to get in there as quickly as possible. From what you have told me the fifteenth floor is that point,¡± Suntiana said firmly. ¡°I want to see if there is a way off this island hidden in there.¡±


    Tyrnal nodded and got to work coming up with a schedule to make the most of the people they had. Putting people together who he knew would work efficiently, making the shifts no more than a few hours as he didn¡¯t want to wear out the workers. He made Rothar, Sumal and Lyna the leaders of each shift. He asked Artemis to continue to make more equipment for the dig. No one else could come close to Artemis¡¯s speed with this task. He asked Quade to keep making meals for everyone at Lyna¡¯s request. Tyrnal would have preferred to put him on one of the shifts as he was strong and able. Xix oversaw the disposal team, they worked only at night and disposed of the displaced dirt. Tyrnal himself would continue to work on understanding the books they had found and coming up with a plan for once they were inside.


    Days passed with no issue until one morning the day team under Rothar heard something coming from below them. It was faint, it sounded like animals, were they really things inside the building? Rothar wondered. He ordered everyone to stop digging so he could listen closely to the sounds. Within minutes of the digging stopping the noises went away. This was strange, Rothar thought, were these creatures attracted to the digging? He decided to put a stop to the digging for the shift until he could talk to everyone else about it.


    Once up at the surface Rothar gathered Sumal, Lyna, Tyrnal and Suntiana to explain what was going on. Rothar explained that the noises came and went as they were digging.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure we should be blindly going down anymore. We need to know what we are getting everyone into,¡± Rothar began. ¡°It still faint but the noises are getting louder the further we dig.¡±


    Suntianas face was not hiding how she felt about this; she was angry. She looked to Tyrnal as if to say do you have any ideas? He was barely paying attention, lost in thought as usual. Suntiana kicked him gently to bring him back to the group.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Tyrnal asked. Realizing he had been ignoring the conversation he decided not to wait for an answer. ¡°I think we should keep digging until we reach the floor where these creatures are located. I also think we should start construction on a second shaft to see if they are everywhere or if they are isolated to one spot. I know this will change how fast we get down there and will split our shifts in two, but I think it will be our best shot.¡±


    ¡°We can make an offshoot from our current dig site,¡± Sumal interjected. ¡°It would be quicker than starting a whole new tunnel and wouldn¡¯t split our dig teams as much. At least not until we made it to where our new site would be.¡±


    Tyrnal thought on this, it would mean less work for the secondary teams, but it would also put a bigger strain on their equipment for removing the dirt from that one spot. Tyrnal nodded to himself as everyone waited to see what he would say. Tyrnal continued to ponder about their current situation and came to a decision he hoped everyone would agree.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s our best choice Sumal. I would like to make one change to it. I want you to dig straight out to the wall of the cave so we can push the dirt from the second dig site out that way. It would put too much strain on our current equipment to have two dig sites coming up that way. We should pause all digging at our current site until this is completed, I think. Then we can have the two sites digging down at the same pace,¡± Tyrnal stated. He then looked to Suntiana for approval.


    Suntiana didn¡¯t look pleased at this, but she wasn¡¯t flat out saying no so there was a chance Tyrnal thought. Suntiana looked around at the group nodding as she looked around. Everyone had been working so hard to get there as quickly as possible and they looked tired.


    ¡°Okay, we slow the pace of the dig and go with your plan. We will only have two shifts and no more night digs. Everyone looks exhausted, I think giving them more time to recover is better than digging down as fast as we can. At least until we figure out what is down there,¡± Suntiana said firmly but with a gentle tone. ¡°Also, Tyrnal I want you to put a team together to try and get more bones from the Dragolisk if there are any. We might need weapons once we¡¯re down there.¡±


    Tyrnal nodded and set to work. He took off the nighttime dig and redistributed them to other dig teams and to the gathering team. He put Artemis in charge of the gathering. Lyna took herself off the dig teams and went back to kitchen duty. Tyrnal wasn¡¯t pleased about this as it meant losing another capable body, but he knew better than to argue with her. He added Seises to the dig team to help make up for this. He looked around for her, calling her name.


    Seises was a Pantherite, her beautiful black fur had her blending into the shadows of the cave. Most forgot she was there. If it wasn¡¯t for her piercing violet eyes, they wouldn''t see her at all. She was average height around 1.54 meters tall. As she stepped out of the shadows towards Tyrnal she caught the attention of all those around her. She was slender but you could tell from her arms she was strong. Her fur was shining in the torch light. The light was dancing across it. Her face was soft and kind looking. Her teeth stuck down out of her muzzle like a vampire''s fangs. She walked softly and quickly like she was stalking someone. She weaved in and out of the people getting ready to go into the hole and start the dig. It was like watching a dancer dance her every move was deliberate and graceful.


    Before Tyrnal knew what had happened Seises was upon him. Tyrnal started to explain the new plan to Seises. She promptly stopped him, picked up a shovel and went over to the hole. Of course, she already knew the plan. She was the most informed one here. Tyrnal went back to paperwork and after reviewing their supply levels decided someone would have to make a water run with Suntiana today. He looked around to see who to send. The only ones not doing anything now were the ones who had just come off the final night shift. It wouldn¡¯t be right to send them after working all night. There were others but they were too weak or afraid to be of much use. He could send some from the disposal team and Artemis to help.


    Tyrnal went over to see Artemis who he assumed would still be making gear and supplies. To his surprise Artemis was sleeping. He looked around and noticed there were no materials left to make gear from. In just a few days Artemis had turned everything into bags, shovels, picks, armour and more. Tyrnal nudged Artemis awake. Looking less than impressed, Artemis stared at Tyrnal. Tyrnal got him up and over to Suntiana who was waiting by the exit and along the way he grabbed Xix and two others from the disposal team. Suntiana had already picked up a bunch of empty water canteens and a bunch of the reclaimed arm badges. Artemis moved the boulder from the entrance, and they began their trek up the cliff.


    Suntiana took all the badges and water canteens to the guard. She looked like she was flirting with him a little bit. Artemis assumed to make him more agreeable. He disappeared back into the city and came back with more water than Artemis thought they should be getting. He started to step forward but Xix stopped him and headed towards Suntiana. She helped Suntiana by carrying some of the water and flirted a little with the guard too. The guard looked like he was having the time of his life, Artemis thought. Why not they were both beautiful and the guard was, in a word, not. Artemis was watching this from just around the corner with the other two off a little further down. When he heard screaming coming from behind him.


    Another pair of prisoners, a Leoite and a Coyotite, had grabbed the two other women and were smiling as they saw Suntiana and Xix coming back with the water. Shit Artemis thought how they had managed to sneak up on him. Artemis wondered if he had been that enamoured by Suntiana and Xix. Artemis figured they were going to try and take the water, at least Artemis hoped that was all they were after. From what Artemis knew about Suntiana she wouldn¡¯t sacrifice anyone from their group. Especially the younger ones who needed protecting most. Before he could act Suntiana and Xix were back with them.


    ¡°Hello Rivnear, Lotharn, what can we do for you today?¡± She asked through gritted teeth. Suntiana had only to take one look at the situation to understand what was about to happen.


    Lotharn licked his lips and walked over to Suntiana. He looked her and Xix up and down, looked at the water they were carrying and smiled. He continued to press them closer to the wall of the broken down ruin as they backed up to try and get away from him.


    ¡°Well, you see we are mighty parched and in need of some company. You and Xix could help us out with that, or maybe you¡¯re little friends... If you think we can come to some kind of arrangement we could be persuaded to let those two young ones and your buddy, here go without an incident,¡± Lotharn said in the sleaziest way possible. Drool dripped from his muzzle as he looked at the two women.


    He got closer to Suntiana and rubbed the back of his hand down the side of her face and along her shoulder. Slowly heading downwards. She batted his hand away and smiled. Lotharn Pushed Suntiana back into the wall as she did and put his muzzle right up to her head. He pulled back to look at her.


    Suntiana smiled but inside she felt sick at the proposition she had just been given. She looked at Artemis who looked ready to strike and shook her head. Violence wasn¡¯t going to get them out of this. Suntiana thought at the very least it would put the two other members in danger. Suntiana knew if she and Xix didn¡¯t do what they wanted the young girls who came with them would have to live through it. She also knew that she didn¡¯t want to go through it herself. Suntiana looked at Artemis with pleading eyes. She was begging for help, hoping Artemis could get them out of this.


    Artemis understood what Suntiana¡¯s look meant and began to look around quickly to see what was going on. There were guards at the door still giving out water, inmates fighting for their amusement, and others getting high on Sunsparks. There wasn¡¯t any cover he could get them too, but they were close enough they could go over the cliff if they were distracted long enough. Still Artemis understood Suntiana wanted a non-violent solution if possible. One that would protect the entire group. Artemis frantically looked around back and forth between all the people by the gates, he noticed someone was looking around for something. Artemis focused on him to see what he was looking for. Artemis noticed he didn¡¯t have his armband on, and his water canteen was missing as well.


    This gave Artemis an idea and he hoped it would work out for him. Artemis tried to look scared and confused. Artemis slowly backed away from the group and took off running once he was out of Rivnear¡¯s reach. He headed straight for the city.


    ¡°Ha! Some friend you have there, Suntiana. It looks like Wolfite¡¯s reputations aren¡¯t well earned. I hope he doesn¡¯t mind a few broken women coming back to him!¡± Lotharn mocked.


    Suntiana¡¯s face had never had this expression before. It was complete shock and disbelief. She knew Artemis was new to the group but never thought he would just take off like that and leave them. Suntiana now assumed that Lotharn and Rivnear would be having their way with all four of them. Suntiana¡¯s expression turned to anger.


    ¡°If I ever see that damn Wolfite again I¡¯ll flay him alive for this!¡± Suntiana Screamed.


    Lothnar moved in closer, his hands moving all over Suntiana¡¯s body.


    ***


    Artemis, still running towards the city, thought, ¡°Hold on Suntiana, Xix I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    He made it to the Bearite that was looking for his stuff. Luckily for Artemis he was close to the drug taking group as well. This was perfect. He smiled a little smile and then got to work.


    ¡°Hey I noticed you don¡¯t have your arm band on. I think I might know where it is,¡± Artemis began. Artemis pointed at Lotharn and Rivnear, ¡°Those two were trying to brag to the group of women that they had gotten extra rations of water through means they would gladly share in private with them. They even gave them four or five canteens of water to prove their point.¡±


    This got the Bearites attention, he looked Artemis up and down suspicious of this free information. ¡°What¡¯s in this for you, eh? You ain¡¯t just giving me information for free.¡±


    Artemis held back a smile at this question. Everything was going as planned, for once. He said in a louder voice now, ¡°Simple, they took my Sunsparks while I was taking a nap, woke me up after and were bragging about the massive stash they have at their hideout. I was hoping to get that information from them, I mean who doesn¡¯t want to escape from this place for a while. Am I right?¡±


    Artemis glanced at the group to his left. At the word Sunsparks he could see their attention had peaked and once they heard about the stash they moved immediately. It was a mob of all kinds heading down towards Lotharn and Rivnear.


    ¡®Shit I need to get my arm band from them! Wait for me, "and the Bearite was off after the group. Artemis, not wanting to miss out on the fun, ran after them laughing the whole time.


    Lotharn hearing a commotion coming from the city looked up to see this mob of people screaming and shouting. He could only make out words as there were too many of them trying to talk over each other. The one thing he did make out was Rivnear and his name. Looking back at Rivnear who would have looked pail around his muzzle if he wasn¡¯t already grey. They didn¡¯t know why this group was after them, but something had set them off.


    ¡°Tch. Just as I was starting to enjoy myself,¡± Lotharn growled, licking the side of Suntiana¡¯s face. ¡°Rivnear let''s get the hell out of here.¡±


    Lotharn let go of Suntiana and took off running towards the dock with Rivnear in tow. The mob ran past Suntian and the others, not even noticing them. Suntiana wondered what Artemis had done to start this. She looked up at the direction the group had come from in time to see the last of the group go running past. She started to hear laughing at this point and could see Artemis running towards them. She went to ask Artemis but he just grabbed a bunch of the water and the bags on his way past. He headed straight for the cliff and back to the cave. Suntiana was confused but took it to mean they needed to get out of there. Suntiana, Xix and the two girls took off down the cliff after him.


    Artemis moved the boulder back into place. Suntiana looked at him with confusion. She and the others were all looking at him for answers. After Artemis stopped laughing, he explained everything to Sunitana, Xix and the other two. Xix roared with laughter after hearing the story. While the two girls that had come to the surface just looked relieved to be back in the cave where they had no reason to worry about things like that happening. Suntiana went through a range of emotions from confusion, to anger that Artemis had left them there, to laughing hysterically thinking about the situation Lotharn was in now and finally happiness after realizing Artemis hadn¡¯t abandoned them. Suntiana Threw her arms out and around Artemis¡¯s neck, hugging him and laughing. She grabbed on tight and hung from around his neck. This took Artemis by surprise, but he gladly returned the gesture.


    Everyone in the cave stopped at seeing Suntiana¡¯s action. This was something they had never seen before. She was always pleasant but never got too close to any of them. Even Rothar, who had been with her the longest, had never seen her like this. She kept everyone close but at the same time at an arm''s distance.


    Rothar was furious with this. What had Artemis done to make her like this? Rothar had been with Suntiana since the beginning and had always done as she asked. He stood beside her when she was at her worst and rejoiced when she was at her best. Yet this new member of the group had earned her trust, respect and affection this easily. Rothar felt he had been pushed aside by this outcast, this Wolfite. He wanted, no needed Suntiana to treat him like this. He would do anything to get into her good graces like that even if it meant making Artemis the enemy of the group. Rothar began to formulate a plan, though truth be told he wasn¡¯t much of one for thinking things up. He relied on Tyrnal for that, but not in this case. Rothar could bide his time till the right moment he had waited all this time after all.


    After a few moments Suntiana lowered herself from around Artemis¡¯s neck. Once she stopped laughing, she looked at Artemis and simply said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Artemis nodded and let go of her. Suntiana immediately started passing out water as though nothing had happened. Wanting not to ruin her good mood Rothar didn¡¯t ask about what had happened. He just accepted the water and got back to work.

 Chapter 5

    Rothar Gathered Seises and all the volunteers who oversaw gathering more materials from the Dragolisk. Once everyone was at the entrance, Seises went over and woke Artemis. Artemis looked groggily around once he saw Seises, he knew what time it was and jumped to his feet. Seises nodded at him and without saying a word gestured for him to follow her.


    At the top of the cliff leading from the cave they looked around for the scraves. It was an overcast night, so shadows of flying creatures were non-existent. Artemis looked around the sky and the piles of corpses for them. Seeing none, Artemis led the group into the forest. The group made it to the clearing where the scraves nested, Artemis noticed it was loud. So much so that Artemis thought the scraves were fighting over fresh kills or worse. Most of the inmates knew to avoid this forest that''s why they risked coming this way.


    The clouds pass for just a moment letting the moonlight shine through. It was then that Artemis and Seises could see why it was so loud. In the middle of the clearing were two figures. They were tied to posts a few feet up from the ground. The eggs had all hatched. Artemis noticed a few corpses strewn around the field being picked apart by some of the newly hatched scraves. There were adult scraves in the treetops watching. Some of the hatchlings were jumping at the men tied to the posts biting at their feet as they screamed for help. Looking closer Artemis recognized the men tied to the posts, it was Lotharn and Rivnear. Artemis smiled a little at this. He knew they hadn¡¯t been able to produce any of the items the mob from earlier wanted. He would lose no sleep over it.


    Seises motioned towards the men as if to suggest they should rescue them. Artemis just kept smiling like he didn¡¯t notice her. He was enjoying this after all. Seises nudged him, bringing him back to the group. Again, she motioned towards the men saying we should rescue them. Artemis kept smiling and shook his head no. He pointed around the clearing to spots where others were watching. If they made a move to save them the others would make sure it was the last thing they did. Artemis pointed deeper into the wood, suggesting they go further afield to get to the Dragolisk. Seises nodded hesitantly in agreement, she still wanted to save those men. Artemis was already on the move with the others in tow, so she picked up the pace to re-join them.


    The group made it to the Dragolisk corpse without further incidents. As the group looked over the cliff to the corpse, they noticed it had two dark bodies moving around on it chattering back and forth to each other. Occasionally they would nip at each other as if they were fighting over the remains. They were rantoru, giant rodents that were known for being extremely vicious. Most of the time they stuck to the back side of the island eating anything that the scraves didn''t. On occasion they made their way onto the island and towards the city. It would take an entire regiment of guards to take them down and sometimes there would only be one or two guards left.


    Seises looked at Artemis, nudged him in the shoulder, and motioned for them to head back. Seeing the fear on Seises face Artemis nodded in agreement. She led them back in front of the city as quickly and as quietly as possible. She didn¡¯t say anything not even after they were back in the cave. Suntiana approached them to see what had happened and Seises just pushed past her.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Suntiana asked, looking at Artemis for answers.


    ¡°Well there is good news and bad news. Bad news first, rantoru found the corpse so we had to leave without getting anything else to make weapons with,¡± Artemis explained. ¡°The good news, well for us anyway, is that Lotharn and Rivnear won''t be a problem anymore.¡±


    Artemis didn''t even try to hide his smile. His eyes looked as though he was enjoying the thought of what was happening to them. His toothy grin grew larger. Suntiana had a thought about Artemis and this being his true nature. She wondered if he was more dangerous than he looked. Even on this island where the horrible happened no one would openly show they were happy about someone else''s suffering like this. At least not if they wanted to be part of this group. Suntiana, in that moment felt a fear so deep and so cold it paralyzed her. She listened in terror as Artemis explained what had happened to them. Suntiana put her hand up to stop him from continuing, she walked away looking queasy and mortified. Artemis didn¡¯t understand her, after what they had tried to do this was a fitting end for them. He followed Suntiana until she met up with Rothar and the others.


    Suntiana told Rothar and the others to gather any tools not being used by the shifts for digging. She told them to get them over to Artemis¡¯s station he was going to have to repurpose as many as he could into weapons. She didn¡¯t look at Artemis when giving him his assignment. She walked away and asked Sumal for a report on the second tunnel.


    ¡°We have been able to excavate a good amount of the tunnel we¡¯re two surfaces over from where we were. It should only be a couple of days to get through to the sea if we keep working at this pace,¡± Sumal answered.


    Suntiana nodded in approval. This was real good news for her, this meant pushing ahead instead of sitting on their hands for months. Artemis, tired of being ignored, left the group having received his assignment and set to work.


    ¡°What happened? You were so close earlier today,¡± Xix asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say I saw a side of him I didn¡¯t know was there when they got back and I¡¯m not sure I can leave him alone with others from our group.¡± Suntiana said. ¡°Keep an eye on him, he might be more dangerous than we thought.¡±


    Xix, visibly confused by this, nodded hesitantly as she knew better than to question Suntiana when she was angry like this. Seises took Xix aside and explained everything to her. Xix was more confused now than in the beginning. She thought those two being gone was good for everyone. Xix assured herself Suntiana would come around, she was just shocked and would see that Artemis had not done anything wrong in not saving those two. With that she went back to her post they had more dirt to get out of the cave before sunup.


    Rothar, having overheard Suntiana telling Xix to watch Artemis, and having eavesdropped on Xix¡¯s conversation, looked at Artemis with contempt. If Suntiana didn¡¯t like him then neither would the group. Rothar finally saw a way to get rid of Artemis. Rothar would make sure to tell everyone about this. He would make Artemis the outcast just like a Wolfite should be. He smiled a little at the thought of this. Now he would have Suntiana to himself. He started gathering up the excess equipment with everyone else.


    Artemis sat down at his station and over the next couple days began to take apart the equipment. He started with the shovels, he figured he could turn the shovel heads into small shields to offer some form of protection. He would turn the handles and picks into daggers making them wouldn¡¯t be easy though. As Artemis worked, he noticed how those dropping off the tools were staying farther and farther away from him. He didn¡¯t think much of it as he was lost in thought of how to apologize to Suntiana, though he wasn¡¯t quite sure what he was apologizing for. He just knew she was upset and quiet ever since.


    The tunnel to the sea was finally finished and digging had resumed. Xix and her team had a straight path to the sea making disposal easy. As the crews continued digging down the noises got louder. Tyrnal was now spending most of his time going between one dig site and the other, seeing if one area was louder than the other. To his dismay he found there was no difference, this meant wherever these creatures were, they covered a large area. He knew he would have to come up with a new plan to make it safe for the others to get into the building if these creatures were on the fifteenth floor.


    Tyrnals fears were coming true the closer they got to the fifteenth floor the louder the groans got. He decided it was time to bring Suntiana down here and talk about how to get in safely. Suntiana noticed, as she descended into the dig site, that it was quiet, no mysterious sounds and no digging.


    ¡°What is going on? Did something happen that I should know about?¡± Suntiana asked. Her tone implied that she was not impressed that work had stopped.


    Tyrnal explained the situation to her and his theory about the fifteenth floor.


    ¡°We need a plan Suntiana, if we go in there blindly there''s no knowing how many of us might get hurt or worse. Even if we have weapons, I don¡¯t feel asking a bunch of us to go in there is the right choice. We need to consider an alternative, maybe we give up on getting in there.¡± Tyrnal said knowing how popular that suggestion would be.


    ¡°Absolutely not, we¡¯re getting in there. It could be a haven for our people. A few of us getting hurt to protect others is not ideal I agree but if we ask only for volunteers, we should be okay,¡± Suntiana rebutted.


    Tyrnal was shocked by this statement. Suntiana had never once before suggested letting members of the group get hurt. Just what was going on with her he wondered. They went back and forth on this topic getting more and more heated as it went on till, they were shouting at each other. It was then that Suntiana heard it, the awful groaning sound that got louder and louder as if it was getting closer. She stopped mid-sentence, what the hell was that she wondered. She looked at Tyrnal and frowned, she knew asking anyone to go in there would mean losses for the group.


    ¡°Okay we only use volunteers, and we come up with a distraction to keep whatever is down there away. The question now is how we get in there.¡± Suntiana said this with a look of concern on her face. She knew this wouldn¡¯t go over well with the group.


    Back in the cave Suntiana gathered everyone to explain the situation and to ask for volunteers. After hearing what was going on and what unknown monsters might be waiting for them most stepped away and went back to their spots. Artemis stepped forward saying he would go in with the group. After seeing that Artemis had stepped forward more people left the group and went back to their spots. Most looked at Artemis like he was going to get everyone killed. Xix was surprised by this. Did others know what had happened on the surface, more importantly how did they know. Xix nudged Seises and motioned towards the ones leaving. Seises noticed as well; she was less surprised then Xix about this. Both Xix and Seises agreed to go and stood next to Artemis. Seeing these two step up, more of the group agreed to go. Quade tried to stand up, but Lyna sat him back down. Instead, she stood up and looked at the other Bearites that had sat down grunted at them and shook her head. Some of them stood back up and joined the group. They all stood around Lyna and far away from Artemis.


    Seises looked around the group so far fifteen of them in total were going in. Most seemed to be avoiding Artemis, if the group wasn¡¯t all together this could pose a real problem if there was to be a fight.


    ¡°The fuck did Artemis do to you all. He made the cloths you¡¯re all wearing and the tools you¡¯re all using. So, fill us in,¡± Seises asked the group.


    Most of them looked down at their feet, unwilling to answer the question. Others looked at her with shock, as if she should know why. Suntiana, after hearing this question, looked around the group, noticing how those looking down looked afraid and those looking up were all staring in Artemis¡¯s direction with contempt.


    ¡°It would seem that someone,¡± Suntiana began. Shooting Xix a look of anger and disapproval, ¡°has been talking about what happened when Artemis and the others were on the surface.¡±


    Suntiana sighed. ¡°If anyone has anything to say now is the time, rather than later when you might be fighting togeth¡­¡±


    ¡°Freak!¡±


    ¡°Monster!¡±


    ¡°How could you do that!¡±


    Everyone in the group started talking over each other. Screaming obscenities, and insults at Artemis. Suntiana looked around the group shocked at what she was hearing. She had never seen this group treat anyone like this. True she had issues with what she presumed Artemis¡¯s nature was when it came to how he would resolve situations with others. This mob was completely out of hand. She looked at Artemis who was just standing there taking it, his ears occasionally folding backwards as if he was in pain. He never made a move, nor did he growl or bare his fangs against them. It seemed like being on the run in the world before this prison had hardened him to this kind of thing.


    ¡°Okay everyone let''s calm down. I want everyone to tell me, one at a time mind you, exactly what you have heard. I think something might have been blown out of proportion,¡± Suntiana said in a calm and serene tone. One that was meant to sooth the group. ¡°How about we start with you.¡±


    Suntiana pointed at one of the bearites with their head down. She looked up at Artemis and started to speak.


    ¡°You know what he fuckin¡¯ did. We don¡¯t need to¡­¡± She began, but after seeing the glare coming from Sunitana she continued. ¡°I heard from some of the people around here that he can¡¯t be trusted. I mean he abandoned you and Xix to save his own hide on the surface. Then When he was supposed to be protecting the people out looking for more salvage, he took the time to tie up and torture those he left you with earlier in the day. On top of that he tried to leave some behind as a distraction for the rantoru.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right he¡¯s not one of us anyway!¡± Came screaming from members of the crowd.


    Suntiana just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°Who has been spreading these rumours around?¡±


    ¡°I heard it from multiple people. Everyone is saying Xix and Seises were talking about it. Neither of them could believe how he was really,¡± someone from the crowd answered.


    This wasn¡¯t an answer to her question she wanted to hear. She looked at Xix and Seises. They were confused, they had been in a quiet part of the cave and had made sure that no one who would pay any mind was around when they were talking about it. Both adamantly denied these claims and expressed their concerns about someone having overheard their conversation.


    Suntiana decided it was time for her to just tell the story and figure out who was at fault later. After listening to what Suntiana had to say the group grew loud with chatter. Most looked angry, some still looked at Artemis with the same contempt they had started with.


    ¡°Of course, you would say that Suntiana, you were hanging all over him! You never looked at any of us like that. You¡¯re obviously just covering for him,¡± a gruff voice from the crowd said.


    Well that did it, Suntiana was furious now. Whoever had done this had now divided the group and challenged her leadership. She looked around wanting to see who had said that. Everyone else was doing the same. Rothar began to rethink what he had started. This wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to go, he only wanted Artemis to take the blame but now Suntiana was in the firing line. He needed to do something quick.


    ¡°Enough, if you have an issue with me that¡¯s fine,¡± Artemis said. ¡°Don¡¯t think for a second that Suntiana¡¯s judgement is compromised though, she hasn¡¯t spoken to me since it happened. She¡¯s been thinking about how to handle this. While also thinking about the best interest of the group. She wouldn¡¯t speak to me since she found out and I¡¯m sure she had many things she wanted to say. I showed behaviour that doesn¡¯t fit in with the way this group runs but I have been on my own as long as I can remember. So, these group dynamics are lost on me. I accept whatever you as a group decide but whatever is decided, know Suntiana has been working for the betterment of this group. Even though right now none of you deserve her kindness.¡±


    Artemis sat down in the centre of the group and waited for their hushed chatter to stop and for them to come to a decision. Suntiana looked at Artemis and her expression changed ever so slightly. She was relieved, he still did what was right for the group and tried to make everyone come together. Rother hid his annoyance at this. He wanted to be the one to defend Suntiana and take the praise. He had to do something quickly.


    ¡°He¡¯s a divisive force in our group,¡± Rothar Started, ¡°some don¡¯t trust him after hearing what he did. Whether it¡¯s completely true or not. I¡¯m sure some parts of it are true! Should we let someone like that stay in our group? He had you turning on Suntiana, she has done nothing but look out for all of us. He¡­¡±


    Suntiana threw her arm up and with one motion stopped everyone from speaking.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Suntiana bellowed. ¡°This is not getting us anywhere. This division didn¡¯t happen because of Artemis, it happened because someone started to undermine my authority and the trust I had earned with this group. That person needs to be punished. So, who was it? I will be more lenient if you show yourself.¡±


    They all began to discuss who had told them this. Some were saying they heard it from members who had been picking up the tools to be turned into weapons, others said they didn¡¯t hear it till the next day and they heard it from the disposal team. The chain went off in all directions. Suntiana began to wonder if she would ever figure out who had done this.


    Someone from the group stood up and threw their arms up in frustration. ¡°Who cares who it was, what matters is that some of us clearly don¡¯t think you¡¯re fit to lead.¡±


    Instantly this person regretted what they had said. Suntiana was furious, eyes narrowed, lips pursed, her feathers ruffled, and she clicked her talons on the floor. She looked around the group.


    ¡°Does anyone else feel this way?¡± She asked in a stern and unaccepting tone. ¡°If you do, please come forward and bring the instigator of this whole mess with you. I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    Rothar knew this was getting out of hand, he had to do something to correct this.


    ¡°Everyone calm down. This is a stressful situation, why don¡¯t we all cool down a bit. Let¡¯s not say things we can¡¯t take back,¡± he pleaded with the group. ¡°The only reason some of you don¡¯t think she¡¯s fit to lead is because of these rumours. I¡¯m sure the one who started the rumours about Artemis didn¡¯t want to divide the whole group like this.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, I¡¯m sure there was some good reason for it,¡± Artemis said sarcastically and smugly at the same time. ¡°I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t for some petty reason.¡±


    Artemis looked Rothar right in the eyes as he said this. Artemis had realized from Rothar¡¯s little outburst that he was the one who had started this. Artemis had no idea why, but he suspected it had something to do with how Suntiana. He looked at Rothar and smiled a little bit. To the group it looked like a kindhearted attempt to make peace, but to Rothar it was anything but. He knew Artemis knew and that was dangerous for him. Rothar thought about what he had heard about Artemis¡¯s actions to those who slighted the group and realized he could be next on his list.


    ¡°Oh Shit!¡± Rothar thought. ¡°How the fuck do I get out of this?¡±


    He weighed his options, Artemis or Suntiana, who was he more afraid of. He knew Suntiana had mercy in her and didn¡¯t know the same about Artemis. He would take his chances with Suntiana.


    ¡°It was me!¡± Rothar blurted out. ¡°I¡¯m the one who did it.¡±


    Suntiana was stunned by this confession. Of all the people to betray her she never expected Rothar to be the one. Her feathers were standing completely on end now. She wanted to rip him apart in front of everyone but that wouldn¡¯t fix the situation. Everyone was looking from Rothar to Suntiana waiting to see how she would handle this. Those who had been speaking out about rebelling shrunk back down into the crowd. Suntiana knew they were waiting to see how this would play out.


    Suntiana tried calming herself, to regain her composure. Her feathers slowly started going down, and she stopped tapping her talons on the ground. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at Artemis. He was clearly shocked by what had happened, but he didn¡¯t look all that surprised.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Suntiana sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve been with me for years helping people in this group. Honestly, I think I should let Artemis kill you right now for what you¡¯ve done to him and this group. I wonder why though, but the why doesn¡¯t matter. What¡¯s done is done and I will leave your fate in Artemis¡¯s hands. Whatever he decides will be your punishment. I will stand by whatever he says. I do mean whatever he says.¡±


    This shocked Rothar, as once again all eyes were on Artemis. How was Artemis going to handle this? This was Rothars worst nightmare, out of the pan and into the fire. He had wanted to avoid Artemis making the decisions. Rothar thought he was done for. At least everyone would see his true colours making Rothars actions the right ones.


    Artemis didn¡¯t know what to say Rothar was loyal, obviously stupid for trying this, and Artemis knew he respected Suntiana. Artemis thought long and hard, there were three options that stood out to him.


    One, death a little extreme but still a good option it would make the point he wasn¡¯t to be messed with but would make Rothar a martyr and further divide the group; two have him exiled from the group, this could be a problem if he decided to join another group that would hurt them but that could be advantageous for Artemis too; or three change his position in the group, make him wish he was dead by making him suffer an even worse humiliation . Artemis knew which one he wanted to do but it wasn¡¯t what was best for everyone. To keep the whole group together he knew there was only one option.


    Artemis cleared his throat, ¡°I have decided the best punishment for this act, as stupid as it was, is to make him a direct subordinate of Quade. Quade needs a chance to learn new skills and to give him the best chance he needs someone to work with. I also think his position as Suntianas right handman should be taken from him.¡±


    The cave was filled with laughter, some doubled over. Even those who had sided with Artemis were not expecting this answer. Those who had expected Artemis to react violently looked shocked. Suntiana had completely lost her composure. She was holding her sides; she was laughing so hard. No one was more surprised than Quade, he didn¡¯t know how to react. He just looked up at Lyna for directions. Lyna was laughing but still managed to look shocked. She looked at Quade and nodded and gave him a little push forward.


    ¡°O..O..Okay,¡± Quade Stammered, ¡°w¡­ w¡­ we have lots to do. No one else around here knows how to cook so you¡¯re in for a tough day!¡±


    This made the group laugh even harder. Quade was about as threatening as a mouse in a trap, and he knew it too. Rothar, who didn¡¯t think this was funny at all, looked to Suntiana hoping she wasn¡¯t seriously going to go through with this. Suntiana changed her expression just long enough to make Rothar realize this was happening.


    Rothar grumbled all the way over to the cooking pot and sat down. He was disgraced and worse of all Artemis looked like the hero for not kicking him out or worse. Rothar, angry with himself, figured death would have been preferable. Quade walked over to Rothar and handed him a spoon and sat him down in front of the soup and told him to stir.


    Artemis stood up and was about to suggest they get back to seeing who would go into the building when he was crushed in a literal Bearhug. Lyna had come over and picked him up. She wasn¡¯t alone either; all the others who had now re-joined the group were around him patting him on the back. Artemis just smiled at Suntiana, who was still laughing, she nodded as if to say thank you.


    As if that was his queue, Tyrnal took control of the meeting. He got everyone quieted down and asked for more volunteers. No one else stepped forward. Including Suntiana and Tyrnal there were only seventeen people willing to go in. It would have to do. He took note of who volunteered and thanked them. Tyrnal asked Artemis, Suntiana, Seises and Xix to stick around so they could come up with a plan and asked everyone else to return to their other assignments.


    Suntiana stopped Tyrnal briefly so she could appoint him as her new right hand. Then she motioned for him to continue. Flustered and surprised, Tyrnal dropped his pile of papers. He quickly bent down to pick them up but only made a bigger mess, this garnered a chuckle from the group. Once Tyrnal was composed and had his papers all in order he began. Tyrnal suggested once they were closer to the fifteenth floor they should use one dig team as a distraction, keeping them out of the building while the others broke in using the other tunnel. He suggested the one down closer to the coast be used as the actual entry point. He also suggested they make a second connection to the sea from there in case they needed to escape quickly from whatever was in there and remove all footings to climb up as well. Tyrnal knew this would mitigate some of the danger to the group but it still left them wide open if things were to go sideways.


    Suntiana, lost in thought, stopped listening at this point. She was wondering if there was anything else they could do to help protect the group to make it safer for those who were staying in the cave. Then it dawned on her.


    ¡°We collapse the entrance into the cave from the tunnel we are using. That way the only way to go will be to the sea. We make a discrete foot hole up to the second tunnel above it and we make a cage from the remaining digging tools to keep things from coming up that way. We will still have an escape route, but it should, hopefully, stop anything else from getting up there,¡± Suntiana mused.


    Not realizing she had said it out loud she was shaken when Tyrnal jumped for joy at this idea. Tyrnal made an amendment to the idea, rather than collapsing the tunnel they would make the cage door at the entrance to it. This still left them with an out but made it easier to get out if they were successful. He left immediately to check for materials and get others working. Suntiana just shrugged, he was enthusiastic at least.


    Artemis went back to his corner and started converting some of the longer bones he still had into a cage door. He would need a lot more than what he had, another trip to the Dragolisk would be needed. He didn¡¯t like the idea. Hopefully a team would still go with him. Artemis sighed, he didn¡¯t want to bring this up right now but if they were to stay on Tyrnals schedule that had them all working hard and fast it had to be done.


    ¡°Suntiana,¡± Artemis began, ¡°I think to make all the components Tyrnal wants we¡¯re going to need to go back to the Dragolisk one more time. If it¡¯s even still there.¡±


    Suntiana looked at Artemis, she wanted to apologise for how things had gone. She wanted to say he didn¡¯t deserve the treatment he got because of Rothar, but no words like this came to her. Instead, she said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll see what I can throw together.¡±


    A group of volunteers to go with Artemis were gathered that very night. Artemis got them to the Dragolisk quickly and quietly. They noticed a familiar smell, the smell of cooking meat as they got closer to the cliff. Once there they noticed there was still a rantoru on the corpse picking over the remains. This Rontaru was different; it was larger than the others they had seen here previously. This had Rothar nervous, even with surprise on their side a rantoru would be hard to beat. The rantoru ripped at the hide of the Dragolisk. Rothar thought this was strange behaviour, Dragolisk¡¯s skin is notoriously hard to cut through. Then they saw it, the rantoru secreted this slime that was breaking down the meat, it almost appeared to be cooking it. This was strange for rantoru most were just giant rodents but some, like all things on this island, were mutated.


    Rothar wanted to suggest going back to the cave. He knew this wouldn¡¯t go over well with the group. Instead, he suggested a small group start going down while a larger group tried to get the creature''s attention and draw it towards the city. Xix and Seises agreed with him. The problem was Artemis was already on his way down the cliff. He had two daggers and a rope on him. Artemis was crazy, the group thought. Xix looked at Seises and Rothar and smiled. Xix grabbed a set of daggers, some rope and started down after Artemis. She thought this looked like it could be fun. Rothars eye went wide seeing this and he looked around the group, Seises was handing rocks to everyone.


    Was this group entirely insane or was it just because Artemis was there Rothar wondered. Rothar stepped backwards closer to the forest. He figured it was better safe than sorry when this all went up in smoke. He heard this blood curdling sound and couldn¡¯t help but look over the ledge.


    Artemis had stabbed the rantoru in the side of the face. Crazy bastard Rothar thought. Not one to be out done, Xix leapt down and got it on the other side of its head, not as good a spot as Artemis had but still mostly in the cheek. Artemis pulled as hard as he could on the rope, he had attached to the dagger ripping it out of the rantorus face. As the dagger came out the same slimy liquid started to pour out of the wound, the rantoru cried out in pain as the flesh around the wound started to melt. Xix, realizing what Artemis had planned, and did the same on the other side. The rantoru started shaking its head, getting slime everywhere. Seises started throwing rocks at it and the rest of the group followed suit. The rantoru stood on its hind legs and looked up taking rock after rock to the face, as it stood there slim ran down its body leaving burning scars in its wake. It howled in pain and rage at those throwing rocks at it.


    With its attention off him, Artemis threw one of the daggers at the creature''s hind legs hitting it square in the thigh, quickly he ran around the beast trying to hit the other leg. He missed, and scrambled to catch the rope so as to not lose his dagger. Xix threw her dagger seeing Artemis miss and got it right in the rantorus knee. Artemis yanked on his rope as hard as he could, ripping it out, Xix did the same. The rantoru collapsed back onto its paws and the Dragolisk corpse started to shake, the head started to move, falling slowly towards the sea.


    Artemis looked at Xix and his expression said everything. They started throwing their daggers at the rantorus face, pushing it down the body towards the head as it tried to escape from the barrage of blades. It shook its head violently, spraying more slime everywhere. Most was forming puddles under it as it walked backward, its face slowly melting as more of the slime dripped down from the wounds on its face. Xix and Artemis pushed the rantoru onto the Dragolisk s neck, they heard a loud crack. Xix relented the attack at this point thinking they had won. The rantoru leapt from the head back onto the body narrowly avoiding the plunge as the head slipped into the sea.


    Seises and the other flung more and more rocks at it hoping to draw it attention again but the rantoru had zeroed in on Xix. It opened its mouth and let out a slim filled roar, making a trail of slime almost right up to Xix and Artemis. The slime was eating away at the Dragolisk and was covering a good portion of the corpse making it harder for Xix and Artemis to maneuverer around. The rantoru was furious, it stepped on slime and corpse alike, not caring about its feet. It charged towards Artemis and Xix slipping in the slime covering itself in it.


    The air was filled with the smell of cooked meat and burnt fur, making the onlookers feel sick to their stomachs. Seises and Rothar looked at each other in complete horror. Seises wondered if they were about to watch their friends die.


    Rothar was conflicted, he wanted Xix to survive but didn¡¯t much care if Artemis did. He wanted him to fail in front of everyone. If he did maybe, just maybe Rothar thought. Suntiana would come back to him.


    Artemis grabbed Xix and pulled her towards the cliff wall and out of the way of the charging rantoru. It was sliding on its raw and bloodied feet barely staying on top of the Dragolisk. Artemis got an idea, looked at Xix and shrugged. He really hoped this would work. Artemis took off running as fast as he could towards the rantoru and launched himself at it knocking it further off balance and it plummeted off the Dragolisk, followed by Artemis.


    Xix ran as carefully and as quickly as she could over to the edge to see if she could see Artemis. As she grew closer to the edge of the stomach, she saw a dagger plunged into it. She grabbed it and started pulling on it. After a few moments a hand appeared from over the edge and Artemis pulled himself up onto the stomach.


    ¡°Remind me to never do that again,¡± Artemis said, a look of contemplation on his face.


    Xix just stared at him and said, ¡°promise, you crazy ass Wolfite.¡±


    They got to work tearing the skin off and gathering some of the larger bones the team had previously left behind. They had to work quickly, there would be no going back in front of the city this time they would have to take this through the forest. Through the rest of the night they were able to get two ribs and a couple vertebrae from the tail. The more bones they tried to remove the more it sank towards the sea. Rothar figured they could probably get one more rib out before it collapsed into the sea. Those who were gathering the last rib were all tied to the cliff, and no one was to work alone. Once they had the final rib they watched as the Dragolisk collapsed into the sea and slowly disappeared.


    Having gathered as much as they could, everyone headed back to the cave. Inside the cave everyone took a long-deserved break, as the sun had just started to rise and they had been working all night. Most could not sleep and recanted those who had not gone with the tail of Artemis and Xix¡¯s fight with the rantoru.


    Artemis on the other hand was fast asleep in his corner with the new collection of bones and hide. Suntiana looked at him and smiled, he was crazy and maybe more sadistic than she originally thought but he did have the group''s best interest at heart with everything he did. She decided to let him sleep for a bit before asking him to construct the door so they could get their plan underway. She moved her attention to Xix and the group listening to her tell the story. She motioned for Xix to get some sleep.

 Chapter 6

    Artemis was awakened by screaming as elves and beastites scrambled from the hole. He headed over to see what was going on. Artemis put his head over the hole and could more clearly than ever hear the groans of the creatures on the other side.


    ¡°We have to act now!¡± Tyrnal screamed. ¡°The creatures have started to crack the glass wall with their constant banging. No time to make the door, we need to get in there and then have them collapse the first hole and hopefully when they come in with the second one we will be safe and have some supplies.¡±


    ¡°Fuck,¡± Suntiana yelled. ¡°Alright everyone in the exploration group grab your weapons we are headed in.¡±


    Artemis, not missing a beat, grabbed one of the pickaxes from the miners and jumped into the hole. He was followed shortly by the group.


    ¡°Lyna¡¯s group was all shouting about glory and the afterlife, it wasn¡¯t really helping relax the nerves but at least they knew the reality of the situation,¡± Tyrnal thought.


    Some other people from the dig crew all jumped into the other hole and started making noise to draw the attention away from the main group. Hoping to give them a chance to get in without being overwhelmed. Artemis could hear them yelling and banging and noticed how the creatures on the other side of the glass moved quickly away.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s now or never,¡± Artemis said, psyching himself up to breaking the wall. He swung his pickaxe as hard as he could. He cracked the wall where the creatures had already fractured it. With a crash of glass as it started to rain down, everyone piled into the building just in time to have a mountain of dirt fall in behind them.


    The group had almost no time to co-ordinate their plan. Suntiana took off running, sort of flying with one of the creatures hot on her heels. Artemis tried to go after her but was blocked by a group of the creatures running at him.


    The creatures were disgusting, from what Artemis could see in the flickering light of the room they were like hairless Apites. All grey and discoloured, their faces gaunt and malnourished looking (even for creatures on this island), they wore weird clothes that looked like the elven armour used on the mainland and they had crazed expressions on their faces.


    Not wanting to wait and see if they would attack first, Artemis swung his pickaxe and nailed one of the creatures in the chest. He went to pull out the pick but it was stuck, held in place by the creature''s strange clothing. Artemis kicked at the now limp creature from the end of his pickaxe at his companions. Some of them stopped and to Artemis¡¯s horror started to eat their fallen. Artemis, not having more than a moment to think on this started swinging his pickaxe now aiming for their heads wanting to see if it would be easier to get them off his weapon. To his surprise and pleasure, it was, one quick swing to the head the creatures were down and food for some of their friends. This was helping to thin out the group around Artemis as he continued to fight.


    Artemis was having issues manoeuvring around the room, it was cluttered with what he thought were chairs, but they were on wheels? What kind of strange creatures had come up with this idea? Artemis wondered how something so impractical had ever been made. There were also these segmented walls standing all-round the room, some toppled into the clear walkways by the creatures as they charged at him. There were desks but not made of wood like the ones he was used to seeing on the mainland. The desks were metal and much lighter he found as he kicked them to the sides making more room to fight. These metal towers standing as tall as an average Beastite were standing all over the room as well, some with their drawers hanging out spilling their contents all over others were on top of some of the creatures who appeared to have been trapped under them. Whether this had happened on purpose or by accident Artemis did not care it just meant less creatures for him to fight.


    ***


    Rothar and the Bearites were stuck back at the opening where they had come from. Surrounded by an ever-growing horde of these creatures Rothar and the bearites swung wildly hitting as many of the creatures as possible. These creatures, fast as they were, were not all that organized. It was almost as though they were simply responding to what sounds were being made by the group. No one noticed this however, they were too busy fighting for their lives. Rothar was doing his best to strike at the creatures, but his weapon kept getting deflected by their strange clothes.


    ¡°The Head, aim for the head!¡± Rothar heard Artemis bellow from across the room.


    Rothar swung his daggers and connected with the head as soon as he pulled them out the creature fell at his feet and was immediately set upon by other creatures. As Rothar tried to clear a path around the corpses and creatures he heard a Bearite scream out in pain. It was a familiar voice. Rothar turned to see Quade being piled on by more and more of the creatures all biting and clawing at him. They were tearing him apart.


    ¡°What the fuck is Quade doing down here?!¡± Rothar thought. ¡°He was supposed to stay up in the cave.¡±


    Rothar made his way back running as fast as he could over to Quade. Rothar noticed Lyna was doing the same thing, but she was doing a much better job. Throwing the creatures by their heads into the air and further into the horde. This distracted more of the creatures as they had an opportunity to feed now.


    Lyna reached Quade first, she let out a deafening roar. It was full of pain and anger Rothar knew by the sound it wasn¡¯t good. Rothar was getting swallowed up by the hoard as it kept pushing towards the group. Rothar had to change his tactics and focused on fighting off the creatures and hoping Lyna could protect Quade.


    Lyna having reached Quade and having thrown most of the creatures off him realized Quade had fallen protecting Tyrnal. She was far too late to help Quade. She looked down in horror as Quade had been ripped apart, his guts being pulled from his body through several hand sized holes in his body. His chest had been ripped apart and she could see his slow beating heart. He was coughing up blood from his broken muzzle as his jaw flapped as he tried to talk. Lyna reached down and held him, as more creatures made their way towards them. The other bearites surrounded Lyna and Quade.


    Quade seeing Lyna he began to cry, he thought he was in trouble for coming down without telling her. He had only wanted to help prove to Lyna he wasn¡¯t a cub who needed to be protected.


    Lyna picked up Quades head gently and held it in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s okay Quade. You fought well, you made me proud,¡± Lyna said, holding back her tears and trying her best to smile. ¡°Rest now young warrior, your journey is over. Your memory will live on forever with our people¡­¡±


    Lyna felt Quades head go limp in her arms. She let out another roar, this one was filled with rage and sorrow. She swore to herself then and there to take as many of these creatures with her as possible. She stood up and pushed her way to the front of the Bearites and started cracking the creature''s heads with her massive paws. The creatures were dropping almost as fast as they could come at her. She was being bit but didn¡¯t care. The Bearites around her were being overwhelmed, Rothar had lost one of his daggers and was being pushed back into a corner. Artemis had broken his pickaxe and had been backed against a row of the fake walls where he couldn¡¯t get out from. Artemis looked around and just prayed that the other group wouldn¡¯t come in looking for them.


    A flash of red flooded the room, followed by a high-pitched squeal. More creatures dropped from the ceiling and started to swivel in place. Artemis and the others caught off guard by the squealing sound all fell to their knees covering their ears as the pain was too much to handle. Next, they heard buzzing as though a swarm of bees had been released. Artemis dropped even lower to the ground. After several moments had passed the buzzing stopped.


    Artemis looked up to see carnage like he had never seen before. The creatures had all been killed and the creatures that had come down from the ceiling were just hanging there lifeless. He looked around taking in the room and trying to figure out what had happened. He noticed Rothar, Lyna and the Bearites were all huddled with Tyrnal.


    Before he could make a move towards them, he heard a scream coming from the other room. Artemis had forgotten for a moment that Suntiana had been chased off by one of them. Everyone came running towards Artemis and in the direction of the scream. As Artemis turned towards the scream he caught a glimpse of their fallen comrade. Artemis and everyone burst into the room Where Suntiana was and saw she had caught one of the creatures.


    ¡°How did you manage that?!¡± Tyrnal exclaimed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know one moment it was chasing me and the next it was locked in that room. Once it was locked in that room the lights changed colours and this high-pitched squealing started.¡± Suntiana said, sounding exhausted and confused.


    Tyrnal explained how that happened when more creatures had appeared and took care of all the ones that were attacking them. Looking more confused than ever they all looked at the room with the creature in it. Tyrnal noticed the terminal and the blinking lights whipped out one of his books. He knew that there was something about that in there.


    Success! He had found the passage, completely ignoring everyone else he moved towards the terminal. He looked at the strange device before him and compared it to images in the book and the instructions written in it. As he looked up what the flashing lights and strings of words meant in the book, he felt a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Should you be messing with this?¡± Suntiana asked with a nervous look on her face.


    ¡°It will be fine, I will make sure not to do anything until I am sure of what it says in the books,¡± he said frustratedly as he placed a book on the control panel.


    With a click they heard a crackle as a voice appeared to come from nowhere.


    ¡°Re-initializing systems. Scanning for functioning systems. BZT¡­ Error¡­ systems not functioning at proper capacity... BZT¡­ life support is not a priority¡­ BZT¡­ rearranging system list to reprioritize life sustaining systems. Error detected in contamination room. BZT¡­ scanning lifeform¡­ ERROR.... BZT¡­ incompatible DNA detected. ZZT¡­ DNA partial match to¡­ ZZT¡­ Initiating resequencing¡­ BZT¡­ systems will restart in 60 seconds.¡± The voice said. ¡°60¡­¡±


    Confused by all the noise made by the system, Tyrnal postulated to the group that it could be the language used in the text he couldn¡¯t translate. The group looked up to see a light moving its way up from the bottom of the room where the creature was contained.


    ***


    Ashera felt this pulse coming from the beams moving up her body. What did the system mean by incompatible DNA? She would have to check the logs to find out once she was out of there and dealt with the group out there. Her muscles started to feel less tense, as the beam passed over them. She could feel them relaxing and swelling back to a normal state. The beams passed over her head and the fog, fatigue and everything else from earlier started to lift. She had been in a state of incomplete stasis. For how long she didn¡¯t know. She could move her body of her own free will again. She bounced up and down looking at her feet as though she was seeing them move for the first time.


    ¡°It worked! I don¡¯t know what button they pressed but it worked! I can move,¡± She thought excitedly.


    She looked up as her vision cleared, she noticed there were mostly Druid Folk standing in the control room apart from one elf. What the fuck is an elf doing in this building? Why weren¡¯t the others attacking him?


    ¡°...5,4,3,2,1 Commencing reboot,¡± the system called over the intercom.


    Click, the door to Ashera¡¯s room unlocked and the lights all went out. She scrambled for the door wanting to get out before it locked once again. On the other side she went for the emergency weapon but couldn¡¯t find it. She moved quickly and quietly to the room where everyone else was.


    Artemis smelled something as Ashera entered the room. It was like the things that had attacked them but different enough that he couldn¡¯t be sure. In the dark he could make out the shapes of everyone else there and noticed a figure standing by the door. He quickly stepped between everyone and the figure.


    ¡°Something else is in here with us guys,¡± Artemis said staring into the dark.


    ¡°System reboots successful. Beginning to bring sub systems back online,¡± the system proclaimed.


    They felt this wind coming from the ceiling. It was cool and pleasant. It took the stainless from the air. The lights all flickered and came back to life. Taking them by surprise as they looked around for the torches only to see the light was coming from squares in the ceiling. They heard a voice, and all spun around in the direction of Ashera. She was trying to be non-threatening. She had her hands up in front of her, palms up showing she had nothing concealed and was speaking to them.


    Lyna and Rothar stepped up beside Artemis and took up defensive positions. They had never seen a creature like her before it was built like an elf but was missing some of the key features, she didn¡¯t have the proper ears for one thing and she was short even by a Wood elves standard.


    ¡°I mean you no harm please tell me why you aren¡¯t arresting that elf,¡± Ashera said to the group.


    Suntiana looked at the others to see if any of them understood her, they were all as confused as she was. She was clearly not an elf now the group seemed to all decide, she wasn¡¯t speaking any language they understood. At least she wasn¡¯t chasing her anymore and groaning Suntiana thought. As Ashera moved forward Artemis¡¯s fur bristled and he bared his fangs, he put his hands up expecting a fight. Rothar and Lyna did the same, hoping Artemis was wrong but wanting to be prepared just in case.


    Ashera stopped moving forward when she saw this, she was now more confused. ¡°Why are you working with the Elves?¡±


    Still getting no response from them at all. She had an idea and hoped it would work.


    ¡°I am Ashera, who are you? What are you doing here and why do you have an elf with you?¡± She asked them in Elvish.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    This got an immediate response from them. They looked at each other wondering what to say. Tyrnal stepped forward pushing his way past Artemis and the others and was about to begin speaking when he was cut off by the system.


    ¡°Time since the last reboot 2987 years 285 days 3 hours and 29 minutes. Issue new commands at the terminal.¡± The system said then fell quite again.


    Ashera went pale and felt faint. Almost 3000 years had passed since the bombs had dropped. This had to be some kind of mistake Ashera thought. She wanted to curl up on the floor and weep, but she didn¡¯t want to appear weak in front of these strangers who could be hostile towards her.


    ¡°I''m Tyrnal, this is Suntiana, Rothar, Artemis and this is Lyna and her clan. What does that mean? What are you? You don¡¯t look like any species we know.¡± Tyrnal berated Ashera with a list of questions.


    Ashera was surprised, the language this Tyrnal was speaking sounded like elvish, but had a foreran dialect to it. She wondered how much the language had changed over the apparent centuries.


    walking past everyone and towards the terminal, Ashera said. ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions and then hopefully you can answer mine. I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t know ¡®what¡¯ I am as humans are as common as elves in this place. I would especially expect an elf like yourself to know that. There must be a glitch in the system somewhere. If it¡¯s true though I assume we lost the war¡­ humans must now be enslaved by you gods damned elves.¡±


    Tyrnal went up to Ashera excitedly and got a closer look at her. He looked her up and down moving around her. She was short, he guessed she was 1.5-1.6 meters tall. She was slender but well proportioned, she could give an elf a run for their money Tyrnal thought. Her face was cute, her lips were small and she had wrinkles that indicated she was always smiling. Her eyes were a beautiful grey colour, they almost looked ethereal. The rest of her facial features were petite, matching her face perfectly. Her hair was a golden colour and fell just short of her shoulders. She had a marking coming up her neck, it was black and looked to move whenever she did. Her ears were more pierced than those of the sages of his tribe and that''s saying something. She also appeared to have a piercing in her lip and nose, something only common among young rebellious people of his tribe.


    ¡°What war? You don¡¯t mean the great war do you? It was almost 3000 years ago but there¡¯s no way you''re from around then. What do you mean humans work for elves? If you  are human, you¡¯re the only one we have seen. Everyone works for the High Elves, even other elves. We are made to do everything and anything they don¡¯t want to.¡± Tyrnal explained.


    Ashera went pale once more as Tyrnal confirmed what the system had said. 3000 years¡­ she would need to process this later as there were more pressing matters that were raised. She mulled this information over in her head. So, the elves had won the war but not all elves remained equal, only those gods damned High elves remained in power. Interesting, but the big concern was what Tyrnal had said about the humans. Had all humans ended up like her in a form of stasis? Had they all been whipped out? Did the Druid Folk not know how to turn back into their human forms? Had they just lost that ability over time? She was ending up with more questions than answers unfortunately. She didn¡¯t think it was best to ask any of these just in case. She didn¡¯t want to shock them with too much information all at once.


    She looked at Tyrnal and said, ¡°So the High elves succeeded in their plan to subjugate all the other species? I find it hard that some of the more ancient species went down easily. How did they deal with the Dragons?¡±


    Tyrnal looked shocked at this question. ¡°They subjugated all the species in the Southern continent, to the East and over to the West but they could never touch the Northern provinces. It¡¯s a tenuous peace the elves leave them alone, for the most part, and they leave the elves alone. At least that¡¯s what we are taught when we start working for them. They always remind you that you live by their good graces.¡±


    ¡°Tell me everything you know about what has happened since the war¡­ I mean the great war. I have missed a lot of things it would seem.¡± Ashera said.


    Tyrnal looked confused and saddened at this question. ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have many records from the time after the great war. All that information is kept by the High elves and none but them are allowed to see it. All we have are tribal stories passed down through the generations. None of them begin before our time in servitude to the elves.¡±


    Ashera was shocked by this; how could all records be deleted from before their time serving the elves. It dawned on her then, there was one spell, one that used technology and magic from her time that could have caused this. The elves wouldn¡¯t have gone that far, would they? She had to ask Tyrnal.


    ¡°Can any of you use magic?¡± she asked hesitantly.


    ¡°Most definitely not! How could you not know this? None, but the High elves can use magic and those of us who show aptitude for it are taken and never seen again.¡± Suntiana said.


    Ashera began to look over the logs on the terminal, maybe there was some more information in there. She was sure she would find something; she was aware it would be a long shot though 3000 years is a long time for files to be maintained. She still held out hope that the 3000 years was some kind of cruel prank being played on her. As she pulled up the files one after another, she could feel eyes watching her every move, and there was this excited breathing in her ear. She glanced over to see Tyrnals head almost sitting on her shoulder as she worked. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she looked for anything usable. So far, all the files were corrupt or useless. Frustrated that none of the normal system logs were showing anything she decided to change how she was approaching this. She thought she should try the magic tracking file. It would likely have been stored and then isolated after the systems went into maintenance mode. She pulled up the file there were only three lines in there that mattered on from 25 May 2035, the day they used their catastrophe class magic, one from 27 June 2039 and one from today 28 April 5027.


    ¡°It looks like the first spell was one to target all the magic systems and make them malfunction. Explains how they won the war so quickly. The second one though is something completely new. It looks like it simultaneously rewrote all existing races'' memories into thinking they served and revered the high elves, and it looks like it put in some kind of mental limiter¡­ interesting¡­¡± Ashera mused aloud. ¡°It looks like they found a way to target other races and make them believe their ability to use magic was gone. That''s just not fair.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Tyrnal began, ¡°What do all these symbols on this ¡®terminal¡¯ mean? It seems to be in a language you understand, but we have never seen it before. What is this third entry? You never explained it. Also what do you mean our magic has been sealed? None of us have ever been able to use magic ever.¡±


    ¡°Let me explain first these letters and symbols are from the human language English. I can switch the terminal over to elvish so you can understand it better,¡± Ashera began. ¡°To answer your second question, this was when you turned the terminal on and had the system reanimate me from my partial state of stasis. As for your ability to use magic, it''s easier to show than to tell.¡±


    Ashera pushed a few buttons in a few windows that popped up and suddenly before all their eyes the language on the screen changed to elvish. Tyrnal was able to understand most of it thanks to his time reading the ancient books, but the rest could only understand a word or two. Then Ashera began to go to work, she opened another window, this one had the name system on it. Tyrnal took this to mean she was interacting with that voice they had been hearing earlier. She pulled up a list of instructions, or rather commands she could have the system do and began to punch them in. In a rather quick but sequential manner.


    ¡°Unable to comply with this request user Ashera. The spell area is too great for this one unit to reverse. May I suggest limiting the reversal to this one room. Power remaining in reserves should be sufficient for that one last task. Afterwards only primary systems will be usable.¡± The system called ringing over the intercom.


    Clearly upset by this Ashera began to furiously type in new commands. Warnings and errors were popping up faster than Tyrnal could read them. A large green window popped up stating that the new parameters were acceptable and asking for voice confirmation to proceed.


    ¡°This is Major Ashera access code Zulu Echo Romio Omega. I hereby order the system to comply with the latest input commands even though it will render this outpost inoperable.¡± Ashera said in a tone that seemed to command respect.


    ¡°Order acknowledged. Commencing removal of catastrophe level magic from current living floor inhabitants. One amendment power is only capable of removing the spell from five individuals. Is this still acceptable to you, Major Ashera?¡± The system replied.


    ¡°Agreeable please use audio recognition from targets. Please state your names for the system,¡± Ashera said motioning to the five people closest to her.


    ¡°Suntiana.¡±


    ¡°Tyrnal.¡±


    ¡°Artemis.¡±


    ¡°Lyna.¡±


    ¡°Rothar.¡±


    Ashera confirmed visually that all the turrets were retracted, and the projectors lowered down. They began to display the counter spell marking all over the room and were showing the proper magical formulas. She noticed how startled the others were and knew she would have to explain everything to them as the night went on. For now, though she focused on making sure the system was running properly. The room began to buzz as power coursed through the magical circles that had been drawn.


    Suntiana began to feel this tingling sensation at her feet, it wasn¡¯t unpleasant but was like nothing she had felt before. As she looked at the others, she could tell they were feeling it as well. The circles around their feet began to move up off the floor and the tingling sensation moved with it. Once the spell was about halfway up their bodies it stopped and began to spread out in all directions. Soon their whole bodies were enveloped in this white glow. It began to get warmer in the light, this made Suntiana uncomfortable. What was Ashera doing to them she wondered. She looked around to see that everyone else was just as freaked out.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t going to hurt us, is it Ashera?¡± Suntiana asked with audible concern in her voice.


    Ashera smiled, a kind and peaceful smile and said, ¡°nothing bad is going to happen to you.¡±


    Then in a whisper she said, ¡°probably.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Suntiana said with concern in her voice. ¡°I didn¡¯t catch that.¡±


    The heat faded and was replaced with the sensation of something wanting to burst out from her chest. It grew and grew until it felt like it could no longer be contained, and she felt this presence, this force flowing throughout her body. Then with a flash and a bang the light was gone and so was the magic formulas and circles.


    ¡°Well, that should be easy enough to test if it worked. Let''s head into the storerooms and see if you can use any magic now.¡± Ashera said with a smile.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Tyrnal and Suntiana said in unison.


    ¡°Like I said, you should be able to use magic now. It will be easier to show you that to explain it all.¡± Ashera once again motioned for them to follow her.


    The group was confused as to how they were going to be able to use something only elves could do. They followed Ashera over to a set of stairs and she led them down to the floor below. This place was less crowded than the floor they had been on, no desk and chairs or walls thrown about. It was the armoury, library, and storage facility all in one. Off to the back wall there hung armour, guns, swords, staves and other various weapons. To the front there were books galore, some in elvish most were in English but all in pristine condition. Finally on either side there were stores of food, medication and rations for traveling around.


    The group''s eyes widened with excitement, all of them running off in different directions. Tyrnal ran towards the books and began to look at the ones in elvish getting completely lost in the sheer number of them. There were books from basics of gardening to something called advanced physics, whatever that was.


    Suntiana and Rothar ran towards the armour and weapons amazed to see something of such good quality not in the elves'' hands. There was full body armour in better shape and better quality than anything the guards on this island would have. The swords seemed to be sparkling as if lightning was dancing on their edges. Suntiana was drawn to the strange looking guns, they had no place to load a shot and looked as if they would break from a single use.


    Lyna took off towards the cabinet with the medicine, astonished by the sheer number of different substances here she wondered what they all were. She found bandages, slings, splints, and other various medical supplies that she recognized and myriad of others she did not. Yes, these could have helped Quade she thought. As she sat there thinking about Quade she began to sob loudly. Her whole body shook with sorrow, she laid on the floor and curled up. Suntiana and Rothar made their way over to comfort her. Suntiana knelt next to her and wrapped her arms around her head. Rubbing her head.


    Suntiana began to cry too because Quade had been the youngest member of their group. He had been the one to keep the group''s spirits up, he was the one who cooked all their meals, and he was the one who would do anything to prove himself as a man not just a cub. Suntiana¡¯s tears turned into a smile the more she thought about him and then into laughter as she remembered all the good times they had had together.


    ¡°Do you remember the time Quade accidentally took some of the Sunsparks Lyna?¡± Suntiana asked between giggles.


    ¡°Yes, he thought he was home,¡± Lyna raised her head a little and started to smile. Her smile turned into a bit of a chuckle. ¡°He kept insisting he needed to find his teddy. His little blue bear.¡±


    Lyna became a little more sombre, ¡°I bet we could have found something here to give him. What am I going to do without him, Suntiana? He was like a son to me.¡±


    ¡°We will all grieve his loss, Lyna. The best we can do is give him a proper burial and make sure to keep his arm band. We will keep it by the campfire to remember him.¡± Suntiana said, still smiling a warm and comforting smile.


    These words brought a little bit of peace to Lyna but she knew the hole in her heart would take years to mend. If it mended at all. Artemis, looking back and having heard the exchange, thought he had nothing to add to it. He had only known Quade a little while and had no stories to share about him. He made his way to the supplies. He looked it over and found what looked like more advanced camping gear then he had ever used, there were real shovels, picks, axes and rope. These supplies could make living in the cave so much easier.


    Ashera was quiet as she approached books and began looking through them beside Tyrnal. She reached over Tyrnals head and pulled out a book in elvish entitled the basics of magic, an introduction to the elements. She handed it to Tyrnal after a few moments of trying to get his attention.


    She turned it to a page on making fire using magic and explained to Tyrnal, ¡°here try making fire, this passage helps explain how to do it. First you need to focus on the fire that you want to create. Then you need to focus on what makes fire burn and lastly you need to focus on what it means to create fire. I''ll help you as much as I can.¡±


    This confused Tyrnal what did Ashera mean about how fire was created. As far as he knew you hit two rocks together and created a spark to get fire. He would try picturing that. He focused on his hand and imagined a spark in the palm of his hand leading to a small fire. Nothing, he tried again this time really focusing on that moment when the spark happens. A small fizzle appeared only for a moment then disappeared. This made Tyrnal jump with excitement. He wondered if he had just performed some magic.


    ¡°That was good Tyrnal. Give it another shot. Think this time about what fire needs to be created. Fuel, so wood or small plants, a heat source like the spark you are picturing and oxygen¡± Ashera said encouragingly.


    ¡°Oxygen?¡± Tyrnal asked, not knowing what that was. ¡°Are you trying to make a fool of me?¡±


    ¡°Obviously not,¡± Ashera began.


    ¡°Then tell me plainly, what is oxygen,¡± Tyrnal said annoyed, but curious.


    ¡°Oxygen is a gas, it¡¯s in the air all around us. It¡¯s part of what you breathe in that helps you stay alive, to simplify the answer¡± Ashera said.


    The others wondering why Tyrnal in such an excited state had come over to watch. Again, and again Tyrnal got a small fizzle to appear in his hand each time going out and leaving a little trail of smoke in the air above it. Everyone was watching intently to see what would happen. Tyrnal focused on the spark that caused the fire, the light coming off the fire, the warmth that radiated off the fire and it¡¯s ability to burn. With all his concentration and focus on those components a fizzle appeared in his hand and then fwoosh there was a small fire in his hand. Shocked by this sudden development everyone jumped back.


    ¡°What the fuck! How are you doing that! If the elves find out, They¡¯ll make you disappear!¡± Rothar exclaimed as he jumped back.


    The others all let out cries of shock and disbelief. Tyrnal tried to drop the fire. With his concentration no longer on maintaining the fire it went out.


    ¡°That was so cool! How do I do that?!¡± Artemis asked excitedly.


    Artemis ran over and grabbed the book from Tyrnal only to have forgotten in his excitement that he didn¡¯t know how to read elvish.


    Ashera patted Tyrnal on the back, the look of shock on his face still all to present and said, ¡°See now that¡¯s magic and you can do it. It might take some time, you and I are going to have to teach everyone else here how to read elvish and how to cast spells but we can get your guys at least the basics. Now when your group came crashing through the window you said something about needing supplies. Let''s get you what you need then get out of here.¡±


    ¡°We can come back, right?¡± Tyrnal asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think we will be able to take all this with us in just one trip.¡±


    Ashera nodded and laughed then went upstairs to wait for everyone else to come along. She went back into the control room and closed the door. She fell to the floor weeping completely drained from the front she had just put on. How could 3000 years have passed; everyone she knew was now long dead from old age or lying in rooms gunned down by the security system. She was a person out of time, what was she supposed to do now? She had no cause to fight for. She continued to weep silently not wanting to bring any attention to herself. A thought came to her, she needed to get to the North, maybe some people had made it there. Maybe she wouldn¡¯t be alone anymore. That would be her next goal. First, she thought, I¡¯ll stay here a little longer. She mourned the loss of her friends, her family, the people around the world who hadn¡¯t been lucky enough to enter the stasis state. She laughed a little at this though her tears. The stasis spell had failed horribly, it was thanks to her blunder that everyone in the facility were dead.


    She wondered if it had happened that way at the other facilities under the spells influence. Had the other systems remained active? Would she be able to save any of them. She doubted it, none of the other facilities had magic reactors driving them. They were strictly old school. This reactor had been a prototype cooked up by some of her colleagues. She shuttered at what this likely meant. The other facilities would be swarming with her people in this state. If she came across any she would need to put them down. This made her more depressed and she started to sob uncontrollably, no longer caring if she made a sound.


    She stopped crying after what seemed like a lifetime and picked herself up. She got herself over to the terminal. She figured, she would need the locations and schematics of those other buildings to get anything useful from them. She downloaded everything to a microSD card and plugged it into a portable device she could wear. It looked like a teardrop pendant and was activated by pouring a little magic power into it. She tested the device to make sure it was working, once sufficiently pleased that it was, she went out to the main room to wait.


    Everyone came up the stair¡¯s moments later, arms piled high with supplies, books, weapons and armour.


    ¡°Right,¡± Ashera began, ¡°How do we get up to your base? It looks like the tunnel you used collapsed when you came in.¡±


    Suntiana dropped the supplies she was carrying and let out a gasp. ¡°Shit the other team, will they still be digging? What if they listened to what happened and assumed we were the ones who were whipped out?¡±


    ¡°Show me where this other tunnel is supposed to be,¡± Ashera said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Tyrnal went over to the glass panels of the outer wall and started counting over to where the new tunnel was, and gestures for Ashera to come there. Ashera walked up to the wall, looked at the bullet proof glass and knocked on it.


    Ashera listened to see if anyone was on the other side. There were some sounds of movement. Asherea knocked repeatedly. No response. Ashera walked over to Rothar and took one of the guns he had brought over with him. Rothar laughed a little at this, she had picked up the smallest gun. Rothar was sure she wouldn¡¯t make a dent in the wall with that.


    Ashera didn¡¯t pay any mind to him and pressed the gun up against the glass. As she held it there a glow started to emanate from channels on either side of the gun. These channels ran from the grip down to the barrel and back to the trigger. The grew brighter as Ashera channelled magic energy into the gun. She slowly squeezed the trigger, and the glass began to vibrate. First it was violent then it became shallow but much faster. As it vibrated cracks began to form getting larger and larger until the window broke into fine pieces and the glass all fell to the floor.


    Ashera looked back at Rothar whose face was in complete disbelief. Ashera assumed this was because he had never seen magic applied like this before. If he had seen magic at all. She was going to have a long road ahead of her getting them to use magic.


    Once the glass finished falling Xix jumped through the opening and grabbed Ashera by the neck, lifting her off the ground.


    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Xix bellowed. ¡°Where are my friends?¡±


    As Xix looked around the room not paying attention to Asheras response she noticed how everyone was there and accounted for. She dropped Ashera as her gaze passed over Quade.


    ¡°No! How could you let this happen to him, Lyna!¡± Xix bellowed between sobs.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t anyone''s fault Xix; we didn¡¯t know he had slipped in with us. By the time we realized he was already being ripped apart by the creatures on this side of the glass.¡± Suntiana explained. ¡°Don¡¯t blame Lyna, blame me for not keeping a better eye on who came with us.¡±


    Xix looked around and saw all the bodies of the creatures who had done this and realized they had a striking resemblance to Ashera. In one fell swoop Xix was back at Ashera.


    ¡°You! This was your doing! Why is she still alive?¡± Xix demanded.


    Rothar dropped everything he was carrying and grabbed Xix, pulling her back from Ashera. ¡°Calm down, we''ll explain everything once we¡¯re back in the cave. Believe me when I say she¡¯s a friend.¡±


    Xix Shrugged Rothar off, went over to Quade, picked up what remained of him and moved past everyone to the ladder going up.


    She was muttering the whole time, ¡°Bullshit. A friend my ass. I¡¯ll kill her.¡±


    Once everyone was back in the cave Suntiana, Tyrnal and Artemis regaled everyone with the tale of what had happened.

 Chapter 7

    Ashera could feel everyone staring at her, it had been like this all night. Everyone had a million questions about what life was like back before the war, about magic, about the strange, for them, machines down in the building and about what a human was. Ashera was keeping up with them asking just as many questions about where they were, how the other races survived under the elves and if anyone had ever made the journey to the Northern territories. If it hadn''t been for Suntiana keeping them away and making Ashera get some sleep, Suntiana was sure they would have spoken until they could no longer speak.


    Ashera noticed how everyone was sombre at breakfast, they were all looking around at one another. Some are not eating at all, instead just sitting there crying. Ashera overheard some of the bearites, as she found they were calling themselves, talking about how it just wasn¡¯t the same without Quades exuberance. Quade must have been the one who didn¡¯t make it. Ashera found herself wondering what had gone wrong with the stasis spell. It should have worked. None of them should have been able to think let alone move like they were. She lost herself thinking about this until she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. It was Artemis.


    ¡°Not to your liking? The rations are new to us so if we didn¡¯t prepare them properly let us know.¡± Artemis said with a smile on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much, it wasn¡¯t your fault. Quade knew the risks of coming down there. You had no control over what you were doing let alone what the others were doing.¡±


    Ashera smiled at him, ¡°I know it¡¯s not my fault, but I came up with that stasis spell. I wish I knew why it didn¡¯t work properly. Not that it would change anything.¡±


    Ashera had suggested they move the entire group into the building as they had supplies to last for a few years down there, beds for everyone to sleep in no one would be using the beds and those who could now use magic could train. Everyone agreed this was the best plan.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to keep going to the surface every couple of days or so to exchange bands for water, and to get our normal rations. We might tip the guards off otherwise. In fact, we should have some of us go up today to do a run,¡± Suntiana said. ¡°We don¡¯t want the other prisoners thinking we have vacated this place either. We don¡¯t need a fight over it.¡±


    Ashera stated. ¡°I¡¯m going with you. I would like to get a feel for this island and see if I can find us a way off it.¡±


    Suntiana looked unsure of this. Ashera didn¡¯t exactly blend in, with her having those strange ears and all. Suntiana looked around seeing what she could do. Over in Artemis¡¯s corner she saw the cloak he had brought with him. That could work to keep her covered and give her one of the bands. They wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about the brand she was supposed to have but they could deal with that later.


    ¡°Okay, but there are some rules for you to follow. You follow our lead, we¡¯ll let you look around but if we say we need to get out of there you come with us. You keep your head covered with the hood; we can¡¯t have someone asking questions about your ears up there. Don¡¯t get close to the guards if they notice you don''t have a brand you¡¯ll be brought to the tower and then it¡¯s all over no one comes back from there the same. If you can keep to these rules you can come with us,¡± Suntiana explained.


    Suntiana handed Ashera the band and the hood. Ashera noticed Suntiana¡¯s brand matched the symbol on the band. Looking closer at those standing around her she noticed the brand looked the same on everyone, some were in different places. Ashera nodded to herself and figured it wouldn¡¯t be hard to replicate.


    She closed her eyes and muttered some words under her breath that Suntiana didn¡¯t understand. Suntiana figured it was probably English. Suntiana noticed how the dark markings on Ashera¡¯s neck started to move down and under her collar. Next Ashera raised her one arm and as if on command the dark markings moved down to her forearm. They started to duplicate the brand on her skin. Suntiana watched in amazement, she wanted to ask so many questions about it but figured she should wait for Ashera to finish first. As the brand became clearer the markings turned from black to more of a flesh tone and looked more like a scar.


    Ashera looked at her arm, as she compared the scar to its source material, she was happy with how it had turned out. She lowered her arm and looked up to see Suntiana standing there staring at her with wonder in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s a type of tattoo,¡± Ashera said, gesturing to Rothars arm. ¡°Back in our time we imbued the ink with magic, and it made it so we could manipulate them. We found it very useful for keeping us alive when in the company of Elves. They would put out a bounty on one mark and we would just change it. Elves had a hard time distinguishing one human from another. Hell, they could barely get male and female right.¡±


    ¡°Can I do that?¡± Rothar asked, looking at his own tattoos.


    Ashera nodded, ¡°In time you will be able to, with new tattoos of course. Now should we get going?¡±


    Ashera threw the cloak over her head and put a piece of bone through the front of it to keep it pinned. She picked up a bag of brands and looked back to see who was coming. Suntiana stepped forward, she motioned to Xix, and Seises to come as well. Ashera wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about Xix being there. Xix blamed Ashera for Quades death. As if to say don¡¯t worry about it, Seises threw her arm around Xix¡¯s neck.


    Xix looked at her as if to say get off me, but Seises only hung on tighter. ¡°Play nice now, she might be our ticket out of here.¡±


    Ashera moved out of the way as Rothar walked past her to the cave entrance. He moved the boulder and let everyone out.


    Once at the surface Ashera could hardly believe she was in the same place. All the buildings she knew were buried, and new more primitive looking ones had been erected, fallen and erected in a new place again. She still couldn¡¯t believe there was a sea here in the middle of her city. Just how much had the elves done to change this world to their views, she wondered. As she looked around the island, she noticed the tops of other buildings sticking out. She went to pull out her map to look at what buildings they were when suddenly Suntiana grabbed her hand. Suntiana shook her head to say not now and motioned to the guard who was eyeing their group.


    Ashera put her necklaces down and noticed that more guards were starting to come out of the city. They all seemed to be fixated on them.


    ¡°Is it me or are we drawing unwanted attention?¡± Ashera asked, motioning in the direction of the guards. ¡°Did your little group cause any problems?¡±


    As Suntiana was about to protest this accusation a familiar figure came out in a guard uniform. It was Rivnear. That took the words right out of Suntiana¡¯s mouth. She was so absorbed in how he was alive that she couldn¡¯t voice it aloud.


    ¡°How the fuck?!¡± Xix exclaimed. ¡°Last I saw he was left for dead. Why is he with the guards now?¡±


    Ashera was wondering who they were referring to when she locked eyes with Rivnear. He had this look come across his face that seemed to scream ¡°I¡¯ve got you now.¡± He limped towards the group with a few of the guards in tow. He walked right past Ashera to Xix and Suntiana.


    ¡°Well hello there ladies,¡± Rivnear said though his toothy smirk. ¡°What brings you up here now? Ah I see you have more arm bands to trade for water. Very good, why don¡¯t you all come into the city, and we¡¯ll get you sorted.¡±


    The guards all gave a chuckle at that and positioned themselves around the group. Ashera looked to Suntiana as if to say should we fight our way out of this? Suntiana shook her head no and moved along with the guards. They escorted Suntiana and the rest into the city. Ashera was taken back by just how primitive it looked. There were stone buildings, but none were in good shape. They all had bricks falling out from one place or another, some even had holes all the way inside. Electricity was nowhere to be seen in the city, instead the lighting all seemed to come from torches and lamps. The streets, if they could be called that, were dirt paths carved out through repeated use. There was a station for collecting water. There was a funnel on the top of the large cylindrical tower that passed through multiple magic circles before making it into the storage container. At the bottom was a spigot for filling canteens. Ashera discerned that the magic was for purifying the putrid water from around the island.


    The city had basic anti siege weapons, some trebuchets, ballistae and cannons. Ashera was sure most would not withstand being fired once let alone be of any use in a real battle. There were multiple buildings strewn about the inner space, some were barracks, there was one dining hall and there was a very primitive washing up station.


    Ashera noticed there were people who didn¡¯t appear to be wearing armbands moving around freely within the city. As she followed their movements she was drawn towards the tower in the centre of the city. It was the top of the magic research facility, at least that¡¯s what it had been in her time. It appeared to be serving another purpose Now. Ashera had no idea what the elves had repurposed it for, but she knew it couldn¡¯t be good.


    She felt a shove from behind as one of the guards was trying to get her to move faster. Ashera grabbed her hood as she lurched forward to stop it from coming off her head. Ashera caught up with the rest of the group as they were taken into the smaller of the two guard towers on the right side of the gate. Inside they were all placed around a table and seated across from a man who had his back turned looking out the window.


    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t mind your group bringing in more arm bands as it means we get to keep those inmates on the books.¡± The elf began, still with his back turned to the group. ¡°Where I draw the line is at an execution of prisoners who are working with the guards to keep the rabble in line.¡±


    The elf turned around as he was saying this. Ashera noticed how Suntiana went white. Ashera assumed they knew each other. As Ashera looked from Suntiana to the elf her face went white. She recognized this man from the war, but that wasn¡¯t possible. Elves don¡¯t live that long. How was someone here who had the face of Venthal. Ashera tucked her head down obscuring more of her face with the hood in case it was him.


    ¡°Now why don¡¯t you tell me why your group didn¡¯t rescue Rivnear and his companion when you stumbled upon them in the forest.¡± Venthal questioned.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Xix spoke up before Suntiana had time to think about a reply. ¡°We didn¡¯t want to risk our own lives to save the life of a beast who had tried to have his way with us earlier that day. Besides it¡¯s not like we were the ones who left him there. That was some other group. Not that I am complaining about that.¡±


    A fist came down hard on the back of Xixs¡¯ head. She was almost knocked out of her seat. Another one of the guards spat at her. It took all the restraint Xix had not to lash out at these two for their disrespect. Instead, she dug her claws into the table.


    ¡°Quite the mouth on this one Suntiana. You should do better at muzzling your subordinates,¡± Venthal said, turning his back once again to the group. ¡°Now I know you didn¡¯t put him there, that group has already been dealt with. They are in the tower for some time in solitary. One of them however swore a wolfite was the one who put them up to it. They said he told them Rivnear was hoarding Sunsparks. What do you make of this?¡±


    Rivnear came up beside Suntiana and whispered in her ear, ¡°You¡¯re all mine now, this is just a formality.¡±


    Suntiana, repulsed by this idea, pulled away from Rivnear who simply laughed at her reaction. Suntiana knew she had to think up something quick to make it look like Rivnear was manipulating Venthal. It was her only way out of this.


    ¡°That useless sack of shit Artemis left as soon as he saw what Rivnear was trying to do. He abandoned us to our fate. We had no idea he had any involvement in that gang chasing Rivnear. We haven¡¯t seen him since then either. As far as we know he''s out there somewhere just trying to keep his head down,¡± Suntiana explained.


    Venthal turned his head to look at the group and smiled. ¡°I believe part of that is true at the very least. According to some other sources he is in your little hiding hole right now.¡±


    Venthal approached Suntiana and pulled her from her chair. He twisted her arm behind her back, crushing her wing between the two of them.


    Venthal threw her up against the wall and whispered, ¡°No more lies. I know you¡¯re hiding the Wolfite I have people on the inside of your little group. Did you think there were none in there who worked for me? Especially after that stunt pulled by your right-hand man. Give up the Wolfite or none of you leave here and we will see how solitary helps with your memory. If you agree to help us, you¡¯ll have three days. Then we are coming for your little group as a whole and everyone will be either dead, guard property or in solitary. Do I make myself clear? Or do I need to give you a demonstration right now. I know Rivnear is biting for the chance to get to know you better.¡±


    Suntiana realizing there was no way out from here for her group if she didn¡¯t agree nodded, a look of complete disgust on her face. Venthal let her arm go and motioned for the others to move away from Suntianas¡¯ group. Everyone backed up except Rivnear he moved closer to Suntiana.


    Looking Venthal straight in the eyes Suntiana said, ¡°If we can get the Wolfite to you I want one thing in exchange. Rivnears head on a plate so I know he won''t harm any of my people again. Barring that, I want him placed on duties in the city where he can¡¯t do much harm to them.¡±


    Venthal laughed and replied, ¡°You think this is a negotiation? You bring me the Wolfite or your group is gone. Try anything and my spies will let me know. You have nothing I want Suntiana. Now go.¡±


    As they were all leaving the guards handed them 20 rations of water and took the arm bands from them. Once outside the city and close to the cliffs Suntiana collapsed. She vomited everywhere, her nerves finally showing.


    ¡°Please tell me you¡­¡± Xix began to say.


    ¡°Shut up Xix what would you have had me do sacrifice everyone for him? We don¡¯t stand a chance against all the guards. Now let''s get down into the cave and we can discuss this further,¡± Suntiana snapped, wiping vomit from her lips.


    ¡°You¡¯re not serious, are you?¡± Rivnear asked. ¡°I thought we agreed those two would be mine. Now, and you gave them a deal?!¡±


    Venthal looked at Rivnear and said, ¡°Relax, I intend to disband her little group either way. They will be yours and the rest will be split up. Just as I promised. All I care about is getting that Wolfite into solitary.¡±


    Venthal didn¡¯t know what Artemis had done to have the Queen personally request his safety, but he wasn¡¯t having it. His sister didn¡¯t control what happened in this place. Venthal would keep Artemis alive, he would torture him day in and day out. Making sure to mend him up in between. The Queen''s ¡°orders¡± would be followed, he would live.


    Once back in the cave Suntiana called Tyrnal, Rothar, Lyna, and Artemis over to explain the situation. After hearing what she had to say everyone looked to Artemis. He remained quiet for some time as he thought over everything he had just heard.


    ¡°Well, this puts me in an unusual situation,¡± Artemis began, ¡°as I see it you have a couple options firstly you can hand me over and be done with this; though I doubt it will be that simple. Secondly, we can try and fight them but there is an island''s worth of them and only a handful of us who can fight. Lastly, we could try hiding in the building with all the supplies. Assuming it could comfortably support our group for an extended period.¡±


    Ashera felt expectant eyes upon her. She contemplated the situation for a moment before speaking, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem, we have four more floors like the one where you got all the supplies from. Depending how fast your group goes through the rations we should be good for a few years, if we wanted to wait that long. I might suggest we go even further and collapse the whole cave on itself making it look like we all died in a landslide as the island was retaken by the sea. I have the tools to do that up, er, rather down in the skyscraper. The real problem is what do we do with Venthals spies. We don¡¯t want to keep them with us, but we can¡¯t accuse everyone of working for him either.¡±


    Suntiana was curious about how they would collapse the cave but her priority for the moment being would have to be the spies. How could they get them to reveal themselves, or better yet just leave all together.


    ¡°I have an idea about that, we get the group together and tell them what happened. Then we tell them we have decided to fight, of course not until after Ashera has set up the cave to look like it collapsed, then we give it a few hours. Anyone who has left is assumed to be one of the spies and we collapse the cave before they can come back in. I know it¡¯s not a perfect plan but it¡¯s the best I have,¡± Suntiana said hesitantly.


    Everyone agreed this was the best, if not the only option they had. Ashera left right away to get her explosives from their new base. If anyone asked what she was doing, she would just tell them she was installing some lighting to make it easier to see. She told Suntiana she needed at least half a day to get it set up properly. Artemis moved around the cave gathering up unused supplies and moving them into the building explaining to anyone who asked that it was colder down there, and the supplies would keep better. Tyrnal was doing the same but with his books saying the lighting down there was better for his eyes. If asked about the new lights Ashera was installing, he simply stated he didn¡¯t know how long it would take for those to be installed and didn¡¯t want to wait.


    Xix, Seises and Lyna cautiously watched the group to see if anyone was making moves to try and sneak out. Xix was down in the second tunnel used for removing the dirt just sitting there admiring the view. This naturally kept most away as no one wanted to disturb her if she was peaceful. Seises and Lyna took turns moving the new water from the front of the cave to the back and bringing back empty ones and arm bands to the front. This way there was always one at the front of the cave watching the exit and one watching to see if anyone moved towards it.


    After Ashera gave Suntiana the signal she was all done she put the rest of the plan into motion. A few of the men left almost immediately saying they would rather take their chances on the surface. Some others were stealthier in their approach to leave trying to go unnoticed. There were still more who wanted to go on a water run one last time. These were the ones that really concerned Suntiana. They could be going right to the guards. All the while moving people into the building for safety. Some didn¡¯t understand why they were going into the building and refused to leave the cave. Suntiana knew she would have to explain everything to this group but not yet. Not until she was sure they could be trusted. After an hour or so everyone had either left or was in the building all except the last group that refused to leave the cave.


    Seises had been listening to them from the shadows and overheard them talking about their plan.


    ¡°Once we get the information on why we are being moved into that building we make a run for the entrance and use it as a bargaining chip with the guards. That way when they make a mess out of everyone left here, we at least stand a chance.¡±


    Seises moved silently over to Suntiana and explained what she had heard. Suntiana was furious, what could they do now. If they left them there, they would be murdering people they once considered friends, but she knew there was no way around that. Seises and Suntiana slowly made their way down into the building. Ashera had moved everyone to the far back wall away from the entrance just in case something went wrong.


    One last look around and Suntiana said, ¡°Do it.¡±


    With that one command Ashera lit the det cord and moved back with everyone else. A few moments passed before the explosions started shaking the building as they went. It was as though there were multiple earthquakes happening one right after the other. A few moments later and a wall of dirt came crashing down through the open wall. The tremors continued for several minutes, causing the power to flicker, turning the lights on and off repeatedly. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs terrified.


    ***


    The group of men who wanted to go on the water run made their way as fast as they could to the city. The guards stopped them as they arrived, wanting to make them fight to get into the city. They quickly looked around and saw both Rivnear and Venthal sitting by the gate.


    ¡°Venthal,¡± One yelled out, ¡°Suntiana is¡­ they¡¯re going to attack the city they would rather go out fighting. Please we want to be on your side! Their mission is a suicide run.¡±


    Venthal stood up and motioned for the guards to move away from the group. He walked up to them, looking them up and down. He noticed how they were all pale around the eyes and muzzle. They were afraid not only of Venthal and his men but of what would happen if they had stayed with Suntiana¡¯s group.


    ¡°Alright, if it¡¯s a war they want then we¡¯ll give it to them. Rivnear, get a group of guards, it¡¯s time we paid a visit to this little group. We need to remind the prisoners what happens when you stand against the guard.¡± Venthal ordered.


    Rivnear smiled at this order and ran into the city to get the most blood thirsty group of guards he could find.


    Rivnear thought ¡°finally, Suntiana will be mine and there¡¯s nothing her little group can do about it. That fucking Wolfite will be fun to torcher. Maybe I¡¯ll make Suntiana watch.¡±


    He gathered up the group of guards he had used earlier to convince Suntiana and her group to come to the city. Rivnear led them out to Venthal. While Rothnear had been in the city Venthal had put all the men who had come to warn him in chains.


    ¡°This way if they try to betray us, we can push them all into the sea,¡± Venthal stated, shoving one of the prisoners forward. ¡°Lead on, take us to¡­.¡±


    Venthal was cut off by an earth shattering bang, it was followed by a shallow but persistent quake. As some of the guards and prisoners dropped to the ground scared of the quake. Venthal looked over in the direction the group of men had come from to see a cloud of dust coming from around the cliff. The more violently it quaked the more dust was thrown into the air. As the quakes subsided Venthal grabbed one of the men and yanked him to his feet. The others in the chain were pulled in that direction as well. Venthal pushed them towards the edge of the city.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Lead on,¡± Venthal said, not giving the group a moment to recover from the quakes.


    The group led them around the city and immediately stopped. Venthal was annoyed that the group had stopped dead in their tracks and were in his way. He drew his sword and beheaded the last guy in line assuming this would get the group moving again. Instead, they just dropped to the ground jabbering about how it was gone. Venthal walked around the group to see what they had been staring at. To his amazement the cliff had given way in the quake, at least 4 meters of cliff had dropped into the sea.


    Rivnear stepped up beside Venthal and said furiously, ¡°this must be some kind of trick. They were my prey! How, when I was about to get what was owed to me?!¡±


    ¡°We will go and see if the cave survived but I am doubtful it did. At least our problems will be over. We might have a new one with the Queen but only if she finds out,¡± Venthal replied, in a cold uncaring way. ¡°Right, I Want a status report by the morning! If there are any survivors, I want them executed, unless they are the Wolfite he gets brought to me.¡±


    ¡°What about the women,¡± Rivnear protested. ¡°They were to be mine!¡±


    ¡°Shut up Rivnear,¡± Venthal snapped. ¡°My orders have changed they die. Now.¡±


    The guards worked the group of men tirelessly throughout the night. Making a path down to where the cave had been. Once there the group was forced to dig through the rubble to see if they could find anyone there. Rivnear wanted to make sure that this wasn¡¯t some kind of trick.


    One of the men cried out, ran to the edge of the cliff and threw up. Rivnear pushed past the others and looked down. He saw dismembered bodies that had been crushed by the collapse. His anger got the better of him, he walked up behind the one being sick and kicked him off the ledge.


    ¡°Damn it! She was to be mine,¡± Rivnear howled with anger.


    Rivnear took the guards and threw the remaining group members into he sea. Rivnear shook his head, indicating there were no survivors. Venthal nodded then in a dismissing manner waved his hand at Rivnear motioning for him to go away.


    ***


    Ashera looked around to make sure there was no damage caused by the blast. She checked the wall and supporting structures for cracks. She found there was no visible damage and breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Okay, everyone calm down. It¡¯s over now, we¡¯re safe,¡± Ashera said assuringly.


    After everyone calmed down, they all looked at Suntiana most of them confused and looking like they wanted answers. None but a select few knew the cave was going to collapse. Suntiana explained to everyone now why this had happened and why only about half of them were in here. There was murmuring in the crowd as they discussed what to do now. Most agreed with her decision to save the group. Some were angry they hadn¡¯t been told but still understood why. Suntiana was pleased it seemed like everyone here was going to accept their new situation.


    Ashera Showed everyone around, taking them to storage to the training rooms, their new quarters, and to some the most importantly the kitchen. She explained how each ration pack was one meal, she also explained what canned goods were and how they could be prepared.


    Ashera gathered everyone around and said, ¡°We can survive here for at least a year before we need to go back to the surface. In that time, I would like to prepare you for the coming war with the guards. Once they get wind, we¡¯re back they will be coming for us. Those of you who can and are willing to fight will be trained. Those of you who want to use magic we will help you learn. Lastly those of you who wish not to fight we will leave here in this building protected.¡±


    Everyone talked amongst themselves to see if they would fight. More importantly they wanted to know who among them could use magic. None of them had any reason to believe these claims. It was at this point Tyrnal stepped forward and produced his flame. This got audible gasps from the crowd as they all jumped back. Tyrnal didn¡¯t think he would ever get tired of that reaction. He extinguished his flame and nodded at the group as if to say we can win. Suddenly everyone wanted to fight, no one wanted to be left out.


    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get to work,¡± Ashera said.

 Chapter 8

    Each of them underwent a gruelling amount of training. From sunup to sundown their every moment was accounted for. Each person had a customized regiment on top of the group lessons. Their mealtimes, relaxation time and bedtime were the only time they could do something they wanted. Of course there were also their days off.


    For the group lessons each day was the same in the morning first thing there was physical training. Here they learned martial arts, how to handle different weapons from swords to guns, followed by a break for breakfast. Next, they tackled literacy both in Elvish and English so that the members who could use magic knew what they were reading and so the others could communicate without others knowing what they were saying. This took them to lunchtime, after lunch they went into their individual plans.


    For those who couldn¡¯t use magic this meant specializing their skills either in combat, reconnaissance, survival skills or learning how to recognize and disable magical traps by altering their runes. Each of these were gruelling in their own right. Each race seemed to flock to a specific training as though it was second nature.


    Bearites, Boarites and Badgerites, such as Sumal, mostly chose to go into combat training. Combat training included hours of physical strengthening, watching and reading materials on how each weapon could best be used. Followed by dummy training to allow for improvement of technique and basic weapon use. This was usually followed by dinner for an hour or so to allow them to relax a bit before going on to sparing. This left them with their free time and time to sleep before getting up and repeating it all again.


    The feline races like the Pantherites, Lynxites and Osolites were drawn to the reconnaissance training. Reconnaissance had some overlap with those training in combat mostly in the form of sparing. They were more focused on staying out of sight and out of mind. Their afternoon training consisted of going over plans for various buildings, from the old world, and considering how best to get into them and to their target as best as possible. After this they would train by using their hideouts ductwork to get used to manoeuvring in small spaces, setting up platforms to hide on in the training area without having the rigging noticed from the ground level, and most importantly how to get information from a target without letting on you want the information. Then it was dinner time followed by sparring with the Combat trainees.


    The more canine races the Foxites, Hynatites, and Coyotites were drawn to the Survivalist course. Here they learned the skills needed to survive and keep others alive. From how to make camp to how to erase any trace of themselves from an old campground. They used the botanist floor of the building for training. It was a small forest by now since it hadn¡¯t been maintained in nearly 3000 years. Their first course after lunch was where they learned how to track one another so they could track animals and others in the wilderness. Next, they spent time reading and understanding anatomy so they could better perform first aid. That took them to dinner, their last course of the day was always to tear down their previous camp, remove as much of their presence from it as they could and re-setup camp elsewhere.


    Those who could use magic spent their afternoons in different rotations. The first group would spend their time after lunch reading about how to cast magic and the different elements. The second group would study runes and magic circles. Their proper uses and placement and how to integrate magical energy into them. They would switch out for the second course of the afternoon. After dinner they would have individually prepared programs for different types of magic they wanted to study.


    Artemis wanted to specialize in magic that increased his stealth, and speed as well as magic that allowed him to have unique abilities. So after dinner he rotated on a four day schedule one day learning the mechanics behind magic that enhanced his natural abilities, one day practicing those magics, one day understanding psychology and the mind, and the last day trying to implement magic of the mind. He usually opted to spend the fifth day working on his implementation of his unique spells he was attempting to make. His training for increasing his natural abilities included a portion of rune writing as he needed to place runes on his body to make the enhancements the most effective.


    Tyrnal spent most of his time on support magic, used for healing spells and defence. He would spend his two periods after lunch reading up on things like The Use of Healing Magic in Everyday Application, Use of Healing Magic in an Expedition Setting, How to Defend Against Other Spells and Physical Dangers and other such materials. He would also study up on how to store spells for quick casting in the specialized devices Ashera had shown them from before. After dinner he would work on the mechanics of using runes to increase the potency of his magic spells; his hope was to increase his range and effectiveness by a factor of two.


    Rothar and Lyna would spend the afternoon sparing while using physical enhanced magic. They seemed to learn best by doing so theory was kept to a minimum. They focused on strengthening their bodies to increase their damage output, they also focused on increasing their reflexes making them more mobile. After dinner, they would wind down with some studying of the theory behind anatomy and the runes they needed to draw on themselves to enable physical enhancements.


    Xix and Seisis focused on stealth much like Artemis, unlike Artemis they chose to go one step further and use magic that would help to enhance their use of weapons from afar. One of the spells they were focusing on was called Distant Eye; it allowed them to see targets up to 10 km away as if they were only a few meters away. This, used with other spells to enhance their abilities with bows and guns, made it easy for them to take out targets without being noticed. They spent most of their afternoons on the botanist floor tracking and marking Survivalist course students. This served the purpose of enhancing their skills and the other students. After dinner they would spend time learning runes and magic circles used for traps.


    Suntiana spent most of her afternoons reading up on the history of a specialized type of magic users called Druids. She would often try to monopolize Asheras free time by asking all kinds of questions about them. She wanted to know what this shape changing magic they could use was and what a beast soul was. Ashera would often change the subject when asked about this. She would instead talk about how druids had a connection with nature itself and could bring out the most potent of magics from plants. She would explain to Suntiana how Druids could take everyday things like branches and turn them into powerful magical artifacts simply by changing how it interacted with the world. They would carve it, engrave runes into it and sometimes depending on the quality of the tree the branch came from they could even engrave a magic circle into the head of the staff. Suntiana, wanting to learn as much as possible, never questioned Ashera when she did this. Instead, she endeavoured to find the answers in books, or sometimes when she could sneak into the control room she would check files on System to see what she could find.


    Suntiana was able to access the database on different types of magic with relative ease. Once in there she noticed there were a lot more types of magic than she could ever have imagined. Most of the ones she had never seen before were about healing, enchanting and shapeshifting. She wondered what was meant by shapeshifting, so she decided to check that one out first. There it was at the top of the text ¡°Druid magic and the ability to shapeshift¡±. Suntiana wondered why Ashera had wanted to keep this from her. She read on.


    ¡°Druids have the ability to shapeshift into different animal or half animal shapes. Such as but not limited to; Totem Warriors this category mostly consists of ursine creatures, the Cunning Clan consisting of feline creatures, Proud ones consisting of sued creatures, Sky Plunderers consisting of avian creatures, etc. The ability to shapeshift is determined by the clan the druid belongs to. Every druid has the ability to choose between their human form, the full bestial form or the combination form. Each form has its advantages and disadvantages. In human form it is easier to get around as almost all forms of transportation, except military carriers, are designed to accommodate this form. In this form however the druids are vulnerable and extremely uncomfortable as they usually spend most of their time either in full beast form or mixed. In beast form they take on all aspects of their chosen animal. It does mean they are unable to communicate with others outside their chosen bestial form. In mixed form, where most are the most comfortable, they have the abilities of their beast form to a lesser degree. They also have the ability to communicate amongst other races such as humans, elves, dwarves and dragonfolk¡­¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    It continued but Suntiana was shocked once she saw the artwork depicting druids in their mixed forms. The forms looked eerily like all the beastites in the elven kingdom. She didn¡¯t know how to process this.


    ¡°Did this mean all the beastites were descendants of the druids,¡± she wondered aloud. ¡°Are we all able to turn back into humans? Or has that ability been lost. Is this what Ashera wanted to keep from me?¡±


    The more she thought about Ashera dodging her questions and avoiding the topic the more she felt angry about it. Suntiana wasn¡¯t sure what Ashera thought would happen if she got this information but now, she needed to know what was really going on.


    Suntiana burst into the training hall where Ashera and Artemis were sparring. She walked up to Ashera and with a look of pure determination asked. ¡°So, are all beastites descendants of the druids or something? Are we all like you? Human?¡±


    Ashera, shocked by this wondered how Suntiana had found this information. She didn¡¯t want to brush Suntiana off this time. The truth was she didn¡¯t have an answer for Suntiana, only a theory and even that was a very loosely put together theory.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have an answer to that question Suntiana,¡± Ashera began, ¡°all I have is a theory. I believe when the ancient elves cast their magic designed to exterminate the humans something happened. I theorise that some of the druids who had been in their human forms died like all the civilians and other casualties who weren¡¯t protected by my spell. Those who remained in their mixed forms decided to stay that way because on a genetic level the magic changed them just enough to not be human. This is due to the beast soul you keep asking me about. Druids make a pact with a beast soul of their ancestors; this is what gave them the ability to change shapes. So, to answer your second question I don¡¯t think any of you beastites¡­ really that¡¯s the name the elves gave to your people?... so unoriginal¡­ anyway I don¡¯t think you can turn back into being human your genetics are too far removed from the human form now. This isn¡¯t to say your clans have changed but your ability to change shape has been lost.¡±


    Suntiana hadn¡¯t considered this having been a response to the spell cast by the elves all those years in the past. Now she was filled with more questions. How had the elves subjected all the druids? Why if there were so many of them had they fallen to the elves so easily? She knew that Ashera wouldn¡¯t have those answers. She would have to find them elsewhere.


    ***


    Six months¡¯ time passed, and the group was beginning to look like an army. Everyone''s training had been going so well Ashera upped the intensity on them all. She started to cross train specific groups. Now everyone''s training revolved on a three-day schedule. One day spent on their initial training and two days spent on their cross training.


    The combat course was given training in the survivalist course, the survivalists were trained in how to dismantle magical traps, reconnaissance was trained in combat and those who could already dismantle magical traps were trained in reconnaissance.


    Those who could use magic were at the point now where they didn¡¯t have to stand there casting the spell. It was beginning to become second nature for them. They were encouraged to branch out as well into different spell types. Though if they wished to specialize for now Ashera wasn¡¯t going to force the matter.


    Tyrnal who had been specializing in casting enhancement magic on others and supporting with shields decided to continue specializing in support. Thanks to Suntiana¡¯s discovery in the database he began to learn enchanting. He was learning how to use runes to imbue different items with different spells making it so non magic users had access to some spells. He focused on putting spells for shielding and enhancing in items like rings, necklaces and other jewellery. He focused on putting spells for increasing speed and stealth on pants and boots. He didn¡¯t want to do more than that as it was already a daunting task.


    Suntiana focused on learning the other druid magic besides shapeshifting. She had tried to shapeshift but found it to be a cumbersome and ritual heavy spell. She learned how to manipulate plants to increase how quickly they grew, making them more sentient so they could be used for offensive and defensive purposes and on how to communicate with animals. She figured even though these skills might not help out on the island too much they would be of benefit once they reached the mainland.


    Ashera watched all their growth with amazement. In nine months, these prisoners, these elven slaves had learned how to master skills they had only been accused of having before now. This group of misfits and wrongfully accused were shaping up to be an army. Ashera wanted to do something to reward all their hard work. She went into the personnel''s personal storage lockers that had been moved down to the level of the building to make room for the group and their training. She went rummaging through her locker to see if the movies she had brought were still there. To her confusion they weren¡¯t. After a long pause and some careful reflection, she remembered she had lent them to her commanding officer John.


    She didn¡¯t like the idea of going through his quarters as he was a bit of a hound, and she didn¡¯t know what she might find. Ashera headed up to John''s quarters which was on a floor above the garden that was now being used for training. She opened the door and was immediately met with the smell of death. On the bed was a skeleton dressed in a commander''s uniform. The sheets are stained with the rot from the corpse. She was almost sick at the smell. She looked around the room and saw the whole setup in the room. There was the projector, the disk player and the Blu-Ray disks she had been looking for.


    She took the setup as quickly as she could and moved it down to the cafeteria. She waited till all the groups were there from their training and research. The last ones to stroll in were greeted with a blue light being protected on to the wall. Everyone was confused and intrigued. Ashera was always introducing them to new things from the past and the room was abuzz with excitement. Once everyone was there, she started.


    ¡°You have all been working so hard over these past nine months. I wanted to give you something special.¡± Ashera said, while motioning to the light on the wall. ¡°I am going to play you a movie, a moving picture from my time that I think you will like. A moving picture was something we used to have to help us relax. I hope you enjoy it.¡±


    She turned the Blu-Ray player on, and the projector sprang to life. The movie started to play on the wall. This brought a murmuring through the group as they looked on in awe. As the group watched on, they became enthralled in the experience they quieted down. The group laughed, cried out in frustration and experienced a whole host of emotions as the movie went on. At the end of the movie, they were talking about how these needed to be brought back and they wondered why the elves had gotten rid of them.


    Ashera walked up to the projector and asked, ¡°Would anyone like to watch another?¡±


    The room roared with excitement. They watched movies late into the night and the group got more excited with each film. Ashera was glad to see everyone enjoying themselves and relaxing. She was going to make the tasks they had for training more precise and more difficult starting tomorrow, but for tonight they relaxed.


    The next day she began to train Suntiana and the other magic users in leadership skills. She brought members from all the different groups together to work under each of them. She assigned Xix¡¯s group as recon and survival primarily with a couple from the warrior group as protection. Ashera assigned Suntiana to a group of warriors specializing in long range tactics, though she was sure Suntiana would make them proficient in healing instead. Lyna and Rothars groups were primarily defensive units specializing in up close tactics. Tyrnal oversaw support, running information between the other groups and divvying up supplies as needed along with maintaining and producing enchantments for the other groups. Seises was assigned a group that specializes in assassination and espionage. Sumal was assigned a group of warriors to protect him and the other Badgerites during their construction projects or rather deconstruction projects. This would be their training groups for the next three months.


    ***


    It had been a full year now and Ashera felt confident this group could take the island from the guards. She hoped that after they could make it back to the mainland. Now the real challenge would begin, and she hoped all her new allies would make it through.


    Ashera gathered the group and began, ¡°Now that you can all use different magic and skills. From raw combat power to stealth and reconnaissance. I want to put you each in charge of a group and have them assist you in the missions we are going to do to get off this island. How do you feel about leading different groups?¡±


    Confident from their training Suntiana replied, ¡°I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we are ready to begin taking this island.¡±


    ¡°Good, because the hard part is going to be getting myself and Artemis into the tower. I think our best option will be to get caught after we get some other objectives underway. The two of us will not be able to use magic until we want to get caught. Otherwise, we paint a target on ourselves too soon and none of the rest of you should use magic period. Unless you can guarantee no one is around.¡± Ashera explained. ¡°First, we need to get the unstoppable Badgerites working on getting under the city wall. To this end we need to keep the attention off the woods and on the other side of the city. To do this I was thinking we could use the rantoru. We should expose their den to some of the dead to guide them to the city. It should keep the guards busy. I want Rothar and Lyna to take care of getting the rantoru riled up. Take a few of our members with you if you think it will help. Sumal and his group will make a tunnel into the city connecting to the tower. I think Xix and her group should work on taking the dock. Have them take out the guards and replace them. We will funnel any new arrivals that will work with us into the base for training and the others we will have to imprison until it¡¯s all over. Any objections or concerns?¡±


    The group looked around and seemed to agree. Artemis spoke up, ¡°No, I think we are clear on what needs to happen. Are the rest of us just to continue running drills here on standby?¡±


    Ashera nodded in agreement with what Artemis had said. ¡°Yes, we will send out runners from Tyrnals group to keep tabs on everyone and assign additional duties based on their intel.¡±


    With that the group went their separate ways. Ashera led the groups going to the surface through the building to the door that would lead to the roof. She moved out of the way and let the Badgerites get to work digging the little bit of a tunnel from the roof to the surface. Ashera let the groups out one at a time, fortunately it was night so they could go out without much risk of being detected. Once everyone was out, she used some of her magic to put up an illusionary wall that looked like nothing had changed. Then she shut the door and went back to the other groups.

 Chapter 9

    Xix and Seises with their group of newly trained assassins headed out to the dock. It was dark and made it easy for the group to travel. The group was outfitted with old world tech armour they had been given by Ashera. It was light weight and far more flexible than their old leather armour. With its sound dampening properties the group moved more silently than they had ever expected. It helped that a new boat had just come and gone. The other prisoners were busy trying to get supplies from their corpses.


    It had always been a set group of guards at the dock. They were usually the most depraved that ended up there. Venthal wanted to give the new arrivals the best welcome he could think of. Xix hoped that they hadn¡¯t changed the way things worked in the last year. She was glad that she had brought Lyra. Lyra was one of the last people to get into the group before they collapsed the cave. No one would recognize her around the docks, and she could run a little reconnaissance before the group made their move.


    The group spread out around the entrance to the docks waiting for the guards to begin their nightly patrol. Xix took three members with her down the right-side fence and Seies took the other four with her. Lyra went into the docks to scope things out.


    Lyra made her way silently down towards the docks scoping out how many guards there were as she slunk from shadow to shadow. Lyna had counted a total of six guards so far. More than when she had arrived on the island but still within what Xix had prepared them for. Lyra heard this panting coming from the path. She moved herself further into the shadows. As a very out of shape guard ran past a figure emerged from the guard house to meet him. It was Rivnear. This changed everything, still Lyra wanted to know what the messenger had brought him.


    ¡°Took you long enough, you new recruits are as useless as the prisoners,¡± Rivnear said, scolding the out of shape guard. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for my orders to return from this posting for six months. I would have hoped Venthal would have forgiven me by now. I mean it¡¯s not my fault the group of no-good shit disturbers buried themselves in the cave in.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ very¡­ very good sir¡­¡± The guard wheezed. ¡°Here are your new orders. I was told to tell you they start immediately.¡±


    Rivnear grabbed the scroll from the guard and motioned for him to go get some water. Rivvnear unrolled the scroll and started reading.


    ¡°Rivnear, your time at the docks is up. About damn time you fucking elf,¡± Rivnear said, clearly displeased with how long this order had taken to reach him. ¡°Return to the city, there is a special inspection coming up. I need to make sure all missing prisoners look accounted for in solitary.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Rivnear thought, ¡°another menial task. I wish he would give someone else the shit jobs for one.¡±


    Rivnear deciding it wasn¡¯t worth getting in more trouble decided to hurry his way back into the city. At least there he could get a drink and a decent meal, unlike the rations at the dock. He casually walked past the still wheezing guard.


    ¡°I guess this is your post now,¡± Rivnear said to the guard. ¡°Try not to fuck it up.¡±


    Lyra hurried back to Xix running just a bit slower than Rivnear to not draw attention to herself. Xix, ready to pounce on whomever came out of the gate, caught a glimpse of the signal light Lyra was told to use if things were going to go to hell. Xix stopped dead in her tracks and watched Rivnear run past. This made Xix furious; this was a golden opportunity to get rid of him. Xix wondered why Lyra had stopped her. Once Lyra was sure Rivnear was gone she explained everything to Xix.


    Xix pursed her lips, she was thinking hard about the situation. The group had three weeks to put all their plans into action if they were going to succeed.


    ¡°Now we take the docks,¡± Xix whispered. ¡°We leave nonalive.¡±


    Xix motioned to Seises who was still holding by the other side of the gate to move in. The group went through the docks stealthily taking out all guards. The problem came when they made it to the guard cabin and heard the guard Lyra had told them about talking with someone.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be my eyes and ears out there now,¡± he began, ¡°When new arrivals come in you are to bring me the best women who are aboard. I will offer them protection from this harsh land¡­¡±


    This set Xix and Seises off. They burst through the doors. Xix sliced the throat of the would-be guard leader. Seises grabbed the other as they tried to escape out the loose boards in the back of the cabin. Seises smiled as she brought him into the light. It was one of the members who had left with the group to get the water.


    ¡°Not your lucky day,¡± Xix said, as she quickly and skilfully put him down.


    Xix, Seises and the group gathered up the guards and stripped them of their armour. They noticed the glowing red runes inscribed on the inner of the armour. Xix had, through her training, learned how to dispel wards like this that locked items to their wearer. She pulled a small chisel and hammer from her pack. She pulled a small glass lens used to enlarge objects from the pack as well. She put the lens in her eye and began to look at the ruins.


    Loosely translated the ruins said, ¡°to the wearer of this armour shall I forever be bound.¡±


    Xix took the chisel and hammered away at the ruins changing their meaning to be, ¡°anyone who wears this armour shall have its full protection.¡±


    Of course, this armour was nowhere near as good as the gear they currently had on. They had to look the part which meant wearing the clothes. Fortunately, the armour they were currently wearing fit under the guard uniforms giving them extra protection. Once they were dressed, they turned their attention to disposing of the bodies. The easiest way would be to weigh them down and put them out to sea. Xix grabbed a few others to get some rope and some things to weigh them down with. Seises and her group put the guards in prisoners'' clothes. That way if they did pop up no one would be suspicious. With Xix, Seises and the group now in charge of the docks it would be easy for them to funnel new recruits to the hideout. It also meant they would be able to take care of any problem people coming to the island as well.


    ¡°Lyra, I need you to go and report to Ashera what we have found out here tonight,¡± Xix ordered. ¡°Be safe, be quick and make sure you¡¯re not followed.¡±


    ***


    Rothar and Lyna¡¯s group made their way along the coast to the body dumping area. They needed some pieces to lure the rantoru to the city. Once their packs were filled with the half-eaten remains the scraves had left behind. They headed out across the island to where the Dragolisk had been. Carefully not to draw attention to themselves whenever they saw others heading towards them, they simply pretended to be taking armbands. This allowed them to make it to the other side of the island without any issues. Which was advantageous for their plan to come. Once there Lyna looked over the edge for where the entrance to the rantoru nest might be. Nestled between two outcroppings was an almost imperceptible shadow of a cave entrance.


    ¡°Over here,¡± Lyna whispered.


    She waved over the group and began to string some corpse parts together on a long piece of rope and lowered them over the edge. They left them dangling in front of the cave entrance and started heading back towards the city leaving parts as they went. As they walked along, they began to hear growling and chattering coming from behind them. Lyna motioned for the group to pick up the pace, so they didn¡¯t end up on the menu.


    As they ran along back towards the city, they were drawing the attention of others who were out gathering arm bands. This was good, they would go running from the rantoru adding to the confusion. The growling was getting louder and closer and now the other prisoners could see them coming. It wasn¡¯t just one rantoru that was following the group, it was a pack.


    One stood out to the horrified onlookers. It was larger than the others and was a sickly green colour. It was leading the pack, the pack which was now spreading out eating those prisoners they could catch. Some of the rantoru were taking prisoners back to their nest to store for a later time. The remaining portion of the pack, including the mutant numbered four, was heading directly to the city.


    Lyna, Rothar and the group ran past the city giving it a wide berth. They headed back to the ruin, double checking no one was following them. They were not surprised to see that no one was paying attention to them as the rantoru caused an uproar.


    ***


    Venthal was awoken by bells ringing and orders being screamed by the guards on watch.


    ¡°rantoru! The rantoru are headed for the city!¡± He could hear the guards screaming.


    Venthal jumped from his bed muttering under his breath, ¡°fuck why now.¡±


    Venthal rushed to get ready. He put on his elven armour under his normal guard uniform. It was his prized possession from the war. He grabbed his runic blade and headed out from the guard tower to see what was going on. Guards stopped dead in their tracks to salute him as he ran past.


    ¡°Morons the lot of them,¡± he thought, ¡°if they had time to stop and salute, they should have had time to be fighting. I''ll have to give them extra duties again they''re clearly not doing their jobs right.¡±


    He continued his way out the front gate only to be greeted by chaos. The prisoners were running every which way, tripping each other, Stabbing each other, in some cases maiming each other just to make a distraction for the rantoru. In the chaos the rantoru were thriving. Eating as many prisoners as they could get their grubby little paws on and Venthal saw it was quite a few.


    Venthal grabbed a passing guard and ordered, ¡°Get that fucking moron Rivnear up and out here at once.¡±


    Without a second thought the guard ran off to get Rivnear. Venthal now turned his attention to the closest of the rantoru. It was chowing down on some prisoners, Venthal dashed towards it. He was moving so fast it was unnatural. He moved skilfully around fleeing prisoners, around guards trying to organize a counterattack and up to the rantoru. He swung his sword with precision at the creature, cutting its tail clean off. The rantoru screamed out in pain, throwing corpses around in surprise and in anger. It continued to scream out calling the other rantoru to it.


    Not the outcome Venthal wanted, he was hoping to take them out one at a time. Now this is going to be a much tougher fight. Venthal hoped the guards could keep up with the fight. They didn¡¯t have enough new recruits to refill the ranks. Not wanting to give the creature more time to call out for help, he moved quickly to a new position to strike the creature in the stomach. As he ran around the rantoru he placed his blade into the creature''s side and spun forwards gutting the creature and nearly cutting it in half.


    Rivnear ran out of the city still fastening his armour to hear, ¡°Get these guards in shape the rest are coming!¡±


    Venthal spun around to see the group of rantoru heading towards him. He could see the large green one leading the pack. As it got closer in His peripheral vision, he could see the guards organizing under Rivnears command. Rivnear had split them into three groups, each group ten guards strong. This was good, if it worked out right two of the groups could take on the normal rantoru busy while Rivnear and his group helped Venthal with the mutated one. Venthal wasn¡¯t looking forward to this, the mutated ones were always so unpredictable. Their mutation always depended on what they ate to get that way. He hoped this one hadn¡¯t found an old weapons cache.


    As the mutated rantoru got closer he could see saliva dripping from its maw. As the saliva hit the ground it hissed and exploded. Great, this one had gotten into an old-world weapons cache. Venthal assumed it had been munching on the old explosives and nitro-glycerine stores. He would have to tell the guards he had gotten into the explosive magic weapons, what a pain he hated having to explain things away.


    Not wanting to let them get any closer to the city, Venthal took off running full speed at the rantoru. Yelling the whole way signalling the charge of the guard. Rivnear, not wanting to get involved with the mutated rantoru if he could avoid it, signalled for one of the other groups to go help Venthal. Rivnear hoped that Venthal would dispatch the creature before he finished up with the other two.


    Rivnear took off towards the furthest rantoru and let the second group handle the one that was along the way. By the time he had reached his target he could hear Venthal screaming orders at his group and could see when he looked back at the other group they were engaging with their target. Rivnear looked back just in time to dodge a paw coming straight for his head.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Go for the back legs! I¡¯ll keep its attention,¡± Rivnear ordered.


    The other guards circled around it; they were all stabbing at its legs piercing the rantoru knocking it off balance. The rantoru fell onto its side shrieking in pain, calling for help from the others. Rivnears'' group all circled around the back of the creature and hacked at the creature. Rivnear curled around its head, barely avoiding its snapping jaws to go for the kill. Rivnear drove his sword into the creature''s neck severing its spine. One final gasp and the rantoru fell limp. They didn¡¯t have time to celebrate as another was quickly approaching.


    At the sometime Venthal was struggling to keep his guards alive. They weren¡¯t as nimble as he was and were constantly being knocked over by the explosions. One guard had already taken a direct hit. His remains were scattered all around, making the ground slick with blood.


    ¡°The damn coward Rivnear. I¡¯m putting him on shit cleaning duty for a month for this,¡± Venthal steamed.


    He roared order after order trying to keep the guards one step ahead of the flailing rantoru. The rantoru would turn and twist, roaring at anyone who he could see spraying explosive spit at them. Another guard took a hit, screaming as he tried to remove his armour. He was too slow, though he would never have been fast enough, and with a bang his head and shoulders exploded leaving his lower body to fall limp to the ground. That was it, the guards could take no more. With one chorus of screams the guards all rushed the rantoru. Despite Venthals protest, the guards all stabbed the rantoru. Yells and cheers rang out, the guards all pulled their swords from the creature only to see their blades had been eaten away. As blood gushed from the rantoru it sprayed all over the faces of the guards. All but Venthal who danced around the spray as if it were nothing.


    The guards who had been hit by the blood screamed in pain as the flesh melted down to the bone. Those who didn¡¯t pass out from the pain screamed until their brains had been eaten away by the blood. All the guards who had been helping Venthal were dead, fortunately the other rantoru were being dealt with and the other guards were attempting to move towards him.


    ***


    Rivnear looked around as he ran towards Venthal and saw all the guards who had been helping Venthal were melting away on the ground. Rivnear looked at the remaining guards around him and noticed how they were slowing down. They whispered about how this was suicide and none of them wanted to go near it. Rivnear stopped running alongside them. The guards looked at him pleadingly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit if you want to do this or not. If I have to go over there so do you fucking lot. Anyone who doesn¡¯t will be put in the tower for retraining,¡± Rivnear said, intimidatingly.


    The guards looked around, no one wanted to face Venthals wrath but none wanted to run to their deaths either. Rivnear signed and headed off towards Venthal who was dancing around the rantoru avoiding the blood and spit. Rivnear looked over his shoulder as he ran to see all the other guards making their way, slowly towards him.


    ¡°Rivnear, use the guards to grab its attention. Don¡¯t stab at it, its blood is acidic. Make sure to avoid the spit, it explodes when it hits,¡± Venthal roared. ¡°Use ranged weapons and aim for the eyes. If we blind it, maybe we can kill it.¡±


    Venthal moved in for a quick jab at its stomach with his blade he cut the beast. With the runes active on his blade, he cauterized the wound making it so no blood splattered anywhere. He danced out just as quickly avoiding the creature''s attacks. Rivnear wondered why Venthal even needed their help.


    ¡°Use your long-range weapons and aim for the head. We need to keep its attention off of Venthal,¡± Rivnear yelled at the guards.


    The guards all drew their crossbows and muskets, took aim at the rantoru and fired as rapidly as they could. The rantoru swivelled around looking straight at the group of guards.


    ¡°Run!¡± Venthal yelled.


    The rantoru let out a roar louder and longer than any before spraying blood and spit farther than the guards were standing from it. The guards began to roll in all directions trying to get out of the way. Rivnear dodged to the left just a little slower than the rest and some spit hit his boot. Rivnears eyes widened he knew what was coming and with every fibre of his being fought the erg to reach down and take off his boot lessening the risk of losing more than his foot. With a boom his leg was severed from his body. Rivnear let out a scream rivalling that of the Rantoru and passed out. Venthal Rushed up the back of the Rantoru who quickly lashed out at him. It knocked him off with a swipe of its claws. On the ground Venthal rolled to his feet, yelling orders at the other guards to keep firing.


    The rantoru wasn¡¯t as easily distracted this time. Keeping its eyes on Venthal occasionally looking the direction of the archers.


    ¡°What the hell are you shooting at,¡± Venthal yelled. ¡°Go for the fucking eyes.¡±


    ¡°Morons,¡± he thought, they would need retraining.


    Pushing that aside for now, he was brought back to his focus when the rantoru shrieked in pain as an arrow made its way into one eye. This drew the attention of the rantoru to the group of guards. It let out another blood curdling roar. Spraying more blood and spit in their direction. The fools, for the most part, were celebrating early and didn¡¯t notice. Two of them moved away from the incoming spray. The others didn¡¯t stand a chance and were hit with the full yield. Leaving them melting, screaming in pain until they exploded.


    Not wanting to mis out on the opportunity presented to him, Venthal ran up to the rantoru from behind. He ran up it¡¯s back again, this time the creature was too distracted to notice him. Activating the runes in his blade he swung into the creature¡¯s neck. Severing the head from the body. The head rolled over to the now dead group of guards and the body fell from under Varnthel. He pushed off and lept to the ground.


    Taking stalk of who was left alive and unwounded he counted twelve guards who were still up and able. He yelled at them, ¡°You two take Rivnear into the tower and down to the infirmary. The rest of you grab some explosives we¡¯re going to set a trap for when those other Rantoru come back.¡±


    ***


    Sumal and his men were positioned at the rear of the city. They were waiting for the chaos to begin out front so they could begin digging their tunnel. They knew it would take some time for Lyna and Rothars group to get the rantoru to the city. They didn¡¯t mind it gave them a chance to plan. They wanted to dig one end out to the sea cliff and one end under the city. Sumal and his men would tackle the one out to sea first. It was a shorter distance, and it meant they could work during the day if they got it completed before going under the city. Sumals group consisted of around five Bagerites, and ten Bearites and Boarites. They had all undergone training in engineering to further their skills. This team was ready to build an underground city if need be. Unlike their time in the cave not a single second would be misused here.


    ¡°This is taking too long! We need to get sta¡­¡± one of the Badgerites began, as they heard a commotion coming from the front of the city.


    ¡°As if on cue,¡± Sumal said, laughing a little. ¡°Alright boys, let''s get down to work and make it fast we¡¯re burning precious time now.¡±


    The Bearites began picking away at the ground. It was hard, full of rocks, stones and clay. As quickly as they could loosen it up the Badgerites were clearing it out. The Boarites took what was being cleared and piled it up alongside the city so those not digging right now could put it into bags for disposal.


    The battle raging in the front of the city was covering up the constant digging against the wall. Sumals team kept moving faster and faster as the night wore on. By the time the sun had started to rise they had already gotten two sets of supports in the tunnel towards the sea. Sumal could still hear the battle going and sent one of the other Badgerites, Nule, to investigate. Nule returned moments later with a report. He reported that the fight was still going. There was one giant green Rantoru keeping all the guards busy and killing some in the process.


    Sumal decided they would keep working and sent Nule back to the base to report in. Sumal had some of the workers start taking the dirt to the edge and dumping it. While others worked on securing a false roof over where they were digging. Sumal thought they were far enough under that they could make a single person tunnel to the sea, and they could start to dig out a larger path.


    ***


    Suntiana was waiting at the base for word from any of the groups. As the night wore on Suntiana began to worry, this was their first and only attempt to get a drop on the guards. Asheras plan seemed. Suntiana started making notes from some of the books on Druidic magic to pass the time. Ashera came up to meet Suntiana in the hopes of finding out good news.


    There was a noise from the top of the stairwell that Suntiana was waiting in. It was Lyra, one of the members from Xix and Seises group. Suntiana hoped she was going to report good news.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation at the docks?¡± Suntiana blurted out.


    Lyra started reporting, ¡°the docks are now under our control. There is a slight problem though, there is a special inspection from the mainland coming in. We can¡¯t make our move until after the inspection, Xix feels. If we do, we risk tipping off the elves that there is something going on here.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡± Suntiana exclaimed. ¡°I forgot about the yearly inspection. We just missed the one last year because we were locked away. This changes everything, they send a small army here once a year to gather promising recruits from the guard and to inspect solitary confinement.¡±


    Ashera hadn¡¯t counted on the elves coming to this place, let alone to do an inspection. This meant she would need to leave Venthal in charge of the guard until after. Unless he died during the exchange with the Rantoru. That didn¡¯t seem likely though he was as tough as they came during the war. If there was a yearly inspection that meant they would need to somehow leave Venthals likeness on the island or take down the elves in one year. She didn¡¯t like either of these options.


    ¡°Alright, we are still on schedule, the tunnel is going to take longer than three days to build. All we have to do is lay low, and everything will go perfectly. Hopefully they don¡¯t notice anything going on at the docks. Lyra, I need you to go back to the docks and to tell Xix and Seises not to recruit any new members until after the inspection. Also, they need to keep the same level of barbarism that the normal guards would inflict to new arrivals on the day of the inspection. Take a break first, you''ve earned it.¡±


    Lyra sat down on the steps and closed her eyes for a few moments. Suntiana, more concerned than ever about the plan that looked like it was going to fall apart, sat down and began writing again. Ashera Began pacing back and forth as she lost herself in thought. Ashera wondered if they should pause digging on the tunnel until after the inspection. She didn¡¯t want the elves to be inspecting the tower to suddenly see Sumal and his group. On the other hand, the inspection would keep the guards busy so it would be a good time to dig. It was too late to stop the dock plan now as it had already succeeded. She hoped Xix and them were up to acting accordingly in front of the elves. As Ashera paced back and forth the door opened again. This time it was Rothar and Lynas group returning. They were roaring with laughter; Ashera took this to mean good news was coming.


    ¡°We got them, the guards will be fighting that battle until at least sunup,¡± Rothar bellowed. ¡°There was a mutant in the group so with any luck it will take out more than its fair share of guards. We laid a trail of bate right to the city, now the rantoru should consider it a hunting ground.¡±


    This was simultaneously good and bad news to Ashera. Unless the elves had changed much in the time Ashera had been gone it was likely they would hold Venthal accountable for the attack and loss of the guards involved. Which meant to Ashera that Venthal would likely investigate the events, hopefully the rantoru would have carried off all of the body parts leaving little to no evidence for him to find.


    Seeing the growing look of concern on both Ashera and Suntiana¡¯s faces Rothar asked, ¡°This is a good thing, right? The guards will be busy cleaning this up for days.¡±


    Suntiana let out a sigh and answered, ¡°that¡¯s the problem Rothar. We all forgot about the annual inspection. The plan going off now puts us all in jeopardy.¡±


    Rothars eyes widened as he looked at them. His nose went pale and he had to sit down. Looking up at them both, now a sickly green colour, he said, ¡°so are we going back into hiding or are we pushing forward?¡±


    Ashera didn¡¯t know how to answer that. They could potentially push it through and get the job done in three days but it would mean the elves would know of their escape.


    Ashera looked at Rothar, ¡°No we will wait until after the inspection to get us inside the tower, but we will be continuing with preparations. Once we hear from¡­¡±


    Almost as if on cue Nule came bursting into the base. He was out of breath as if something, or someone had been chasing him. Nule was always one of the smaller, weaker badgerites. Suntiana knew he must have run the whole way here. She motioned for him to sit down and conjured him some water to drink in his hands.


    After drinking two big gulps of water Nule began. ¡°Sumal is going to keep digging. The fighting is still going on. The guards are having a hard time keeping up with one of them. Well, all except Venthal. He¡¯s busy trying to keep the other guards alive so he can¡¯t go all out on it. Sumal thinks it¡¯s a good idea to keep digging out to the sea, seeing as the guards are still distracted and will be for a long time even after the rantoru are dead.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Suntiana exclaimed. ¡°With the news from the group at the docs about the inspection we can¡¯t risk you being found out.¡±


    ¡°Not so fast Suntiana,¡¯ Ashera said, running her hand through her hair. As she did when thinking hard. ¡°If we get the tunnel up and running now, perhaps we dig deeper and get in without alerting anyone. If we can do that it doesn¡¯t matter that we have an inspection in three days.¡±


    ¡°How do you propose we do that?¡± Suntiana snapped. ¡°With three dig teams it took us months to get down to where you were in this building. How deep do you think they would need to go? 20 floors? More? It¡¯s not happening.¡±


    Ashera knew that Suntiana was right. Ashera just wanted to take advantage of the chaos and keep going. If Sumal kept digging until the guards recovered, then that would give them a big advantage in the coming days. If they sent Nule back with food and water Sumal could hold up over there rather than returning keeping the danger to a minimum.


    ¡°Okay, Suntiana okay,¡± Ashera said, not wanting to fight Suntiana on this matter. ¡°Why don¡¯t we send Nule back with food and water. Enough to get them through a day or two, it will reduce the risk to them and allow us to keep ahead of schedule.¡±


    ¡°I can live with that,¡± Suntiana said.


    With that Ashera disappeared back down into the base. She reappeared a few minutes later with a sac containing rations and water. Enough to keep them going for a couple days. Ashera handed the bag to Nule and Nule without missing a beat made for the door and headed back to Sumal. Suntiana grabbed his arm to stop him from heading out just yet.


    ¡°I¡¯m sending Lyra with you; in case you need to send a message to us quickly.¡± Suntiana said.


    With that Lyra stood up and left with Nule. This left Ashera, Suntiana, Rothar and Lyna to figure out what to do. First things first, Ashera called for another of the scout group to come up. Pyn was up to them almost as soon as Ashera had finished asking for him. They gave Pyn the rundown of what was going on and how the docks needed to keep up appearances. They then sent him to the docks to report in with Xix.


    Rothar, having an idea, spoke up, ¡°What if we don¡¯t relent on the attack?¡±


    Ashera and Suntiana looked at him like he had two heads.


    ¡°Hear me out,¡± Rothar continued, ¡°we keep the rantoru attacking the city and wear down the guards. Make it so Venthal doesn¡¯t have any men to give. Instead, he has to ask for new recruits. If the Elves give him some, he won¡¯t know their faces well. We take them out and infiltrate the city using them as cover. I mean we only need to keep them busy for another few hours to make them completely worn out. Plus, it might get Venthal removed from the island at best. At worst he was already going to investigate what was happening.¡±


    This was an intriguing plan to be sure. Ashera was sure that Suntiana would object but she felt this had some merit. It was true that making Venthal and the guards look inept wouldn¡¯t hurt their plan, however having trained soldiers stationed here would make matters worse. She turned to look at Suntiana who was wearing her concern on her face. It didn¡¯t take much to figure Suntiana out, Ashera thought. Suntiana¡¯s concern for her people was admirable. It was misguided in war you can¡¯t protect everyone.


    ¡°We could use this to our advantage. Assuming the elves still react the same to failures like this Venthal would be reassigned. That would mean soldiers who don¡¯t know the island and its creatures would be assigned here. It might make them easier to take out.¡± Ashera stated.


    Suntiana didn¡¯t like that plan, it would be easier to just wait it all out. ¡°No, I won¡¯t risk my people like this. He¡¯s difficult to deal with but a hell of a lot better than the unknown¡±


    ¡°Alright, I think it¡¯s a wasted opportunity, but we¡¯ll play this your way,¡± Ashera said. ¡°I do want to send out a scout to keep an eye on the guards to see how things play out with the inspection. We need a face the guards don¡¯t know.¡±


    Ashera made another call down to the barracks and had Jorthan up. He was Rothar''s right hand man. Jorthan, from what Ashera had heard, had never made his way up to the city. Jorthan was more suited to gathering armbands and protecting new arrivals. Jorthan was a large lionite, as the elves had named them. His thick black mane framed his heroic looking face, with his pronounced muzzle and his awkward toothy smile. He looked far more menacing than he was. Jorthan wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly, unless it was trying to eat his food then all bets were off. At least according to Rothar, Ashera had never seen such behaviour from him.


    ¡°Jorthan,¡± Ashera began, ¡°I need you to do something for us. The guards are still fighting the ratoru that Rothar led to the city. I want you to go up and make sure they don¡¯t try and trace it back to us. Secondly, I would like you to stay up there and look as though you''re collecting bands tonight and tomorrow. There is an inspection coming sometime in the next few days and we need to get as many prisoners as we can into hiding so they don¡¯t get recruited into the army or guards. At least from what Suntiana has explained to me about this situation. I¡¯m still not all that clear on it.¡±


    Jorthan nodded and without a word headed past the group and up the stairs. Ashera and the group headed back down to their main base, there was nothing more they could do at this point; everything was in the hands of their comrades.


    It¡¯s true Suntiana had explained to Ashera how the inspections worked. Firstly, they were there to make sure the books were not being cooked by too large a gap, so prison guards couldn''t skim too much from the system after all. Secondly, they were there to check on Venthal. To make sure he was still capable of leading the prison guards and wasn¡¯t losing his ability to keep the prisoners in line. If he was, they would either leave someone new or appoint someone from the ranks. Suntiana hoped no one would be left or appointed, making it easier to continue with their plan. Thirdly, they were there to recruit promising new guardsmen into the army and to take any new recruits that were coming from the tower with them. Lastly, they were there to find promising prisoners to send to the tower for reprogramming as Venthal called it.


    Ashera wasn¡¯t sure how they had turned the research tower into a brainwashing centre, but she was sure it wasn¡¯t going to be pretty, once she got in there. Ashera was certain the elves hadn¡¯t made it to the lower levels of the tower, to the underground research stations. Had they made their way there Ashera was sure things would be much different as that was where all the catastrophic class spells were housed. These were spells the humans had decided were too cruel or would commit too much collateral damage Either to the inhabitants of the area or the environment itself. They wouldn¡¯t need a prison island then they could just take care of it all. All at once.

 Chapter 10

    Xix and Seises had their group going through the docks and making sure they looked as presentable as could be expected for the new arrivals coming in, with the army due to surprise them any day they needed to be in top form. Xix was concerned about how her team would do with being cruel to the new arrivals in front of the officers. Most of them had gone through so much when they arrived, she didn¡¯t like the idea of putting more through the same. She hoped no one would break character.


    Seises was focusing on trying to make the cabin that might need to be used. She was trying to come up with a way to make it seem like the cabin was being used for its normal purpose without actually using it. She was considering having one of the female members stay in the cabin, screaming and moaning like it was already in use. They only ever took one new arrival there at a time after all. Seises knew it was a flimsy plan, it hinged on the soldiers not wanting a turn. Worrying wasn¡¯t going to do anything, and she returned to getting the cabin ready. Pyn was vigilantly standing guard making sure no guards were approaching from the city. He was being overly cautious according to Xix but still he wanted to keep watch.


    Seises called out from the cabin saying everything was ready and not a moment too late. An elven warship was seen coming up on the horizon. Xix called for everyone to get into their places for the elven army arrivals. Xix swore under her breath, she hadn¡¯t counted on the army being the first to arrive. She had hoped they would be here in a couple days.


    A large warship breached the horizon. It was a marvellous sight compared to the ship they were used to seeing. It was nothing like the ship they had arrived on. It was pristine, not a barnacle to be seen, not a rip in the sails and no braces or rune magic keeping it together. The crew was in top form, not a person out of place and not an unnecessary person to be found. The commander was standing by the helm, she wasn¡¯t even issuing orders. She was just watching. Waiting for someone to step out of line. Wanting a reason to let loose on the men, to make their voyage just a little less comfortable. Her eyes darted from crewman to crewman till finally she found one. A smile pursed across her face; it was an evil looking smile. One that didn¡¯t hide the cruel intentions about to come.


    She found her target, one of the new recruits was struggling to tie down the sails. He was a beastite; she didn¡¯t care what kind. He was lesser to her and that was all that mattered. She looked at the quartermaster and pointed at the beastite and in one motion managed to convey her intent. The quartermaster moved over to him and brought him to the ground.


    ¡°Get me the irons!¡± He bellowed, as he tightened his grip on the poor beastite.


    Without a word, without a struggle the beastite relinquished himself to his fate. He was escorted by the quartermaster to the brig where his possessions were stripped from him, and he was placed in prisoner rags. He was left there among the ten or so other prisoners the captain had found to be slacking. Some were elves whose families had opposed her being appointed to her new position, she was not above a little retaliation.


    As they pulled into the dock, Xix and her crew of impostors made their way to greet the new arrivals. To Xix¡¯s surprise the new arrivals were already dressed in the inmate clothing and had been branded. The commander departed after them shoving the slow ones to the ground and laughing.


    ¡°Got a little board eh?¡± Xix said while spitting on the first new prisoner. ¡°You¡¯ve gone and done our job for us. Not complaining, an easy processing is a good processing.¡±


    The commander looked down her nose at Xix, ¡°We simply wanted to make sure it wasn¡¯t bungled by...¡±


    She paused looking around at the state of the dock and the quality of the guards. She didn¡¯t see an elf among the guards. The commander wondered how far Venthal had fallen to use so many unsightly beasts.


    ¡°Your kind,¡± The commander finished, eyeing up Xix.


    Xix wanted to get in this Elfs face, but for the sake of the mission she controlled herself. She motioned for some of the others who were expecting to process new prisoners to take the shackles off. They got the new prisoners some water and sent them on their way. Xix walked with the commander to the gate leading to the interior of the island.


    ¡°Is Venthal still in charge? I assume he hasn¡¯t lost complete control of the island,¡± the commander demanded.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s still in charge. Keeps the prisoners in line when they go to the city. He makes sure new guards are regularly made to replace lost ones. He also handles the extermination of vermin as needed,¡± Xix answered, trying not to smile as she knew what the commander and her soldiers were going to be walking into.


    The commander looked pleased, at least as pleased as she could. She motioned to her men, and they set off towards the city. Xix breathed a sigh of relief, the first part of the plan was complete. Xix knew it might not be so clean on the way out, but she hoped nothing would go drastically wrong.


    Ashera, no longer wanting to wait around the base, decided it was time to do some recon of her own. She headed for the armoury to gather some supplies. She was looking for a set of the nanotech armour, the same armour she had provided Xix and everyone else the night prior. She also dorned some of the old ragged cloth the others had been wearing till now and a concealable weapon just in case things went sideways.


    ¡°Now where did I put that damnable dagger?¡± Ashera said, speaking to herself.


    ¡°You mean this one?¡± a voice said, from behind her.


    Ashera spun around to see Artemis standing there with a concerned look on his face. She knew she had been caught. Artemis was smart, it was like he had grown to know what she was thinking before she was thinking it over the past year.


    ¡°Yes, that one,¡± Ashera said, extending her hand to take the dagger. ¡°Don¡¯t look so concerned, I''m only going to take a look. I won''t cause any problems.¡±


    Artemis sighed and handed over the dagger. He didn¡¯t really want to stop her, in fact it was quite the opposite. He wanted to join her, but because he was the only wolfite on the island he might draw too much attention. Ashera noticed that he was looking down and had an idea. She went to the recon equipment and got two pairs of glasses.


    As she passed one pair to Artemis she said, ¡°here these will allow you to see from my perspective. So long as you are wearing the glasses I mean. It will be a little disorienting at first, I¡¯m sure, as you will be seeing what''s happening here in front of you and what''s happening with me as well.¡±


    Artemis tried on the glasses; he instantly took them off. As Asheras pair was pointed at the floor, to Artemis it looked like he was going to fall flat on his face. Once Artemis saw he was in fact still standing up he tried again. Ashera raised the glasses to her face too. Artemis was now staring at Ashera and himself at the sometime. It was strange but did give him a little peace of mind that he could see what was going on in case she needed backup.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Ashera took off the glasses and headed up to the exit. On her way up she used her tattoo once again to mimic the branding of a prisoner on her arm, she also used it to change her physical appearance a little. She gave herself elven ears, changed her hair colour to a dark brown and gave herself a massive scar down the left side of her face. She wanted to look as different as possible in case her hood was removed. She breezed past Suntian who didn¡¯t even recognize her and left the building.


    Ashera looked around to get an idea of what was going on. She noticed from the direction of the docks the precession of soldiers headed towards the city. Ashera decided this would be the perfect time to spy on Venthal and see what was going to happen in the island''s future. With that thought she hurried to head off the army and make it to the city before them.


    ***


    Venthal and the remaining guards had their work cut out for them. They had to finish setting traps for the rantoru and clean up the mess in front of the city from the previous night. He knew they would need to conscript some more inmates to get the removal done. Venthal went to the closest guard, his new second in command in Rivnears absence.


    ¡°You, get a couple guards and get some labourers to get rid of the rantoru corpses out of here. Make sure they¡¯re here and working within the hour, if the army gets here and sees no one working it will be our asses not the prisoners who get beat. Make sure the prisoners don¡¯t look too strung out, we don¡¯t need to showcase our drug problem,¡± Venthal ordered.


    With that Cyrth set off. Venthal turned his attention back to setting the most pressing matter, what had set the rantoru off. He had others looking around to see if they had been baited. Nothing had been found so far but he was suspicious of the timing of this event.


    Within twenty minutes Cyrth was back with twenty inmates in tow. Venthal was pleased with how he was taking command of the situation. The inmates were not being given a choice to ignore his orders. Anyone who tried was beaten and put back to work. Cyrth set the inmates into two groups, one to clear the rantoru and the other to deal with the guards corpses. Cyrth himself was taking note of those who followed the orders without lip and marked them down as possible new guards.


    ¡°You guard, you must be new. What¡¯s your name?¡± Venthal asked.


    ¡°Cyrth sir,¡± Cyrth replied.


    By the time Venthal saw the army coming, most of the clean-up was under way. The traps had been set up to ensure no further interruptions from the rantoru. Venthal thought everything was under control. Once Venthal saw who was leading the army his face grew cold and annoyed. It was Shendra, she had been one of Venthals'' students, she was the best and brightest he had ever taught. Shendra¡¯s downfall was that she belonged to one of the branches accused of breeding with different elven species. That meant no matter how hard Shendra tried she would never make it past the rank of commander. She was full of hate and disdain towards all other families including Venthals. She was consumed by the idea that if she couldn¡¯t go higher, she would bring everyone else down. Venthal knew if she had been sent it didn¡¯t bode well for the guards getting through this ordeal in one piece.


    ***


    Ashera noticed as the army grew closer to the city Venthals demeaner changed from one of confidence to one of irritation. If it was the same Venthal from her time this was new for him. Ashera didn¡¯t mind seeing him irritated for once. She decided to get closer, she figured with her disguise it couldn¡¯t go wrong. She walked up next to the army, following at a distance still but heading in the same direction. Some of the soldiers were weary of her presence but Shendra wasn¡¯t concerned with her.


    Shendra gave her soldiers a look that said don¡¯t be concerned with the locals and increased their speed. The soldiers stopped paying attention to Ashera and moved on. To avoid suspicion Ashera didn¡¯t match their speed, instead allowing herself to be left a little way behind before matching their pace again. Ashera was looking around as she followed the group and noticed how all the other inmates were making themselves scarce as they approached. Heading out to the arid part of the island or off to the wooded area behind the town. Both places that were normally avoided.


    Venthal didn¡¯t like how Shendra and the army were taking their time. He wanted this inspection over with. He wanted Shendra off his island. By the time Shendra and the group of soldiers got there it was clear that Shendra had taken her time on purpose, to throw Venthal off his game. Ashera had noticed the closer they got to the city the more she slowed their pace. Ashera walked past them to the city gates, appearing as though she wanted some water. She stood there in line listening to their conversation.


    ¡°You took your sweet time getting here,¡± Venthal growled. ¡°As you can see, I¡¯ve already got my hands full with other business so I would appreciate it if you would get this started already.¡±


    Shendra looked around at the pile of dead soldiers being dragged off and the rantoru corpses scattered around.


    ¡°Busy night?¡± She asked, amused with the look coming across Venthals face.


    ¡°Yes, a rather long one too. Now your inspection if you please,¡± Venthal said, heading towards the city.


    Shendra walked beside him. ¡°Yes, we should get this underway. We have some important business to discuss. Firstly, your docks, they are a mess. The soldiers you have out there are in good form, but they seem lazy. Only wanting to do the bare minimum. They were ecstatic almost that we had done all the processing of the inmates we brought with us.¡±


    Venthal laughed at this, ¡°Of course they were happy. It meant less work for them and no paperwork afterwards. Hell, if all shipments came like that I¡¯d be elated too. Now where would you like to start? In the barracks or in the tower?¡±


    As the group approached the gate Shendra turned to her men and said, ¡°alright you lot while Venthal and I handle the inspection you lot bail out these sorry excuses for guards and make this place presentable again.¡±


    The soldiers all took off in different directions taking command of each project they could see being done. A group of three headed back to the docks, presumably to get it cleaned up as well.


    ¡°Efficient bunch you brought with you,¡± Venthal said.


    As they passed by Ashera she grabbed onto Venthal and coughed. Using his ragged over coat to cover her mouth. Venthal turned to her and slapped her across the face, knocking her to the ground.


    ¡°You impudent cur,¡± Venthal said, ¡°How dare you touch me with your filth. Make sure she gets no water rations. If I find out anyone is passing her water, I will personally see to your punishment.¡±


    Ashera pulled herself to her feet and walked briskly away from the city. Once safely away and hidden from site she pulled out the glasses she had brought and put them on. Instantly she started to receive a signal from the part of her magical tattoo she had transferred to Venthals over coat. Ashera, having forgotten she had given a set to Artemis to watch her, was unaware he was seeing what she was doing and now what she was seeing.


    ¡°Before we get started with the inspection, we should discuss some other business. Besides I¡¯m sure you have this place perfectly under control as always,¡± Shendra said.


    ¡°Other business? What other business could the army possibly have with this place?¡± Venthal asked.


    ¡°Not here, once we are inside,¡± Shendra said.


    A long pause followed this exchange, and Ashera grew worried they had discovered her device. She heard a door opening and closing finally. Followed by steps on some creaky wooden floors and the dragging of what she assumed were chairs. She could finally see a portion of the floor as Venthal hung his coat on the railing. She moved the tattoo drone into a more advantageous position and continued to watch.


    ¡°There¡¯s been an incident,¡± Shendra began, ¡°the eastern city is under attack. Apparently, you had a prisoner sent here last year, a wolfite. He was arrested after saving the queen from an assassination attempt. Poor fool, he did the empire a great service and was arrested anyway. Anyway, the group of rebels behind it tried again. This time though, there were casualties. We lost an entire regiment of soldiers stationed at the queen''s private estate.¡±


    Shendra looked around, she got up and checked out the windows and at the door. She was making sure no one was listening before she continued.


    ¡°The queen herself was unharmed,¡± Shendra paused, as if she wasn¡¯t sure she should say what was to follow. ¡°Yanthyr has gone missing in the chaos. The queen is afraid he¡¯s been taken by the rebels; however, we think it¡¯s worse than that. According to some of the staff who were there it appeared as though Yanthyr left willingly with them. We had to silence all who knew of that of course. The king is worried that if that is the case, his son might be the traitor who has been enticing this whole rebellion.¡±


    Venthal leaned back in his chair, not quite sure what to say. The king''s own heir inciting a rebellion this would have massive implications if it were true. Venthal slowly leaned back into Shendra with his thoughts finally collected.


    ¡°What does his majesty want from me? Surely, he can¡¯t mean to have his own flesh and blood imprisoned here or does he mean to have him put in the tower?¡± Venthal asked.


    ¡°Neither he wants you. He wants the commander of his armies back in a position where he can be used. He wants you to track his son down, find out if he is indeed a traitor and dispatch him accordingly,¡± Shendra said. ¡°I protested the idea saying I could handle the issue, but he wants me to learn from you this time and to assist not lead.¡±


    ¡°So, here we are then. Just like the old days, me leading and you following. I never thought I would be training you again, Shendra,¡± Venthal mused. ¡°I¡¯ll have to find a replacement to stay here though. It will take time to make sure this place doesn¡¯t fall into complete chaos.¡±


    Shendra smiled, ¡°You don¡¯t have time for that, the king wants you on the ship by the end of today when we leave. You¡¯re current second in command will have to do. Where is he anyway?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s in the infirmary. One of the rantoru, a mutant, took his leg. I¡¯m having the Grace regrow it for him now. He should be able to take over by nightfall. Though he wouldn¡¯t be my first choice to take over. I would rather Cyrth took over, he¡¯s fresh from the tower but he has good instincts and has quickly earned my respect in his handling of rantoru incident and aftermath.¡±


    ¡°Either is fine with me, but if you leave Cyrth in control wont Rivnear take offence?¡± Shendra asked.


    Venthal mulled it over, ¡°I¡¯ll put Rivenear in power and assign Cyrth to be his second. Cyrth will likely have control anyway Rivenear isn¡¯t that bright. Now that the other business is out of the way shall we continue with the rest of the inspection?¡±


    Not waiting for an answer, he stood up and motioned for the door. Ashera took off her glasses and sunk down. This was perfect, they would be able to continue with their plan and Venthal wouldn¡¯t be there to stop them. Rivnear from what Suntiana had said wasn¡¯t much of a threat. She had never heard of this Cyrth character, but he couldn¡¯t be much tougher. The thing that concerned her was the bit about Artemis, why had he saved the queen it wasn¡¯t like wolfites had any loyalty to the elves. They were hunted on site from what the others had told her. Full of questions Ashera headed back to the base. Just as she was leaving, she destroyed the piece of her tattoo that was inside the guard tower with a little fizzle it burst into smoke and disappeared.

 Chapter 11

    Ashera wandered back into the base, questions still swirling around her head. She immediately went looking for Artemis, she needed to know what happened. Artemis was hanging around the entrance, so he wasn''t hard to find. Having seen everything Ashera had seen using the glasses Artemis knew what was coming.


    "It''s a long story, Ashera," Artemis began, "I''ll explain everything that happened."


    Ashera sat there for a long time after Artemis¡¯s story in silence. Mostly she was in disbelief of what she had heard. Artemis had done the best thing he could and still ended up here. Those elves were unforgivable, Ashera was grateful though as being here was the best of his options. She wondered how Artemis was still in such good spirits with all he had been though, she didn¡¯t think most would be that strong.


    ¡°You saved the elven queen,¡± Ashera said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Artemis replied.


    ¡°And you still ended up here,¡± Ashera confirmed. ¡°What the fuck?¡±


    ¡°I know that¡¯s the last time I help a high elf,¡± Artemis said laughing.


    ¡°Now the question is who they will leave in charge. Depending on who it is changes our plan, if it¡¯s Rivnear we change the plan and destroy the guard city as he would be more inclined to kill us than throw us in the tower. We will break into the tower from the tunnel being dug by Sumal and attack from the inside. If it¡¯s Cyrth we continue with the plan. We¡¯ll need to send someone who hasn¡¯t been to the city before,¡± Ashera explained.


    Artemis nodded, ¡°I have just the person in mind.¡±


    Artemis got up and left Ashera sitting in the cafeteria. He headed down to the training floor to see if he could find Aypryl. Artemis looked around the training area for her. She wasn¡¯t easy to find at the best of times but the harder you looked for her the more she seemed to disappear. Without a word Aypryl stepped up behind Artemis.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for me,¡± Aypryl said.


    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± Artemis said. ¡°We have a job that requires your skills. We need you to find out who is being left in charge of the island now that Venthal is leaving.¡±


    ¡°Venthal is leaving?¡± Aypryl asked.


    After a moment Aypryl said, ¡°and we need to make sure that everything is still able to go to plan.¡±


    Just as quickly as she had appeared she disappeared again. Leaving Artemis standing there.


    ***


    Sumal and his group were making excellent time. They had made it out to the coast and were in the process of clearing a wider tunnel. Sumal figured by nightfall they would have the tunnel up to the city complete. Leaving only the tunnel to the tower to be dug. Sumal handed an updated report to Lyra and sent her off to update Suntiana and the others.


    ***


    Aypryl had reached the city just in time for the changing of the gate guard. This was perfect for her; she could listen in and see what these new guards knew. Aypryl pulled out some sunsparks in case she needed to sweeten the deal.


    ¡°The boss looked pissed,¡± one of the new guards began, ¡°the way that army captain told him he was being drafted again. I almost pity those damn rebels.¡±


    The group of guards laughed at this. In a nervous way, as if they had seen him mad before and it hadn¡¯t ended well.


    ¡°So, who are they leaving in charge? It¡¯s not Rivnear is it? Divine living elven god, I hope it¡¯s not Rivnear,¡± one of the guards said.


    ¡°Fucking suck up,¡± Aypryl thought, ¡°invoking the emporers preferred title.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re half right,¡± the guard began. He leaned in after looking around to see if anyone else was listening. ¡°They¡¯re leaving two people in charge, Rivnear as the brute and Cyrth as the brains. Basically, means Cyrths in charge, Rivnear will be his bitch before the commander leaves for the mainland.¡±


    The group laughed at this, not noticing Cyrth coming up behind them.


    ¡°Mind filling me in on what¡¯s so funny?¡± Cyrth said with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Nothing sir!¡± The men said as they snapped to attention.


    ¡°Good keep it that way. We don¡¯t want any rumours to spread around,¡± Cyrth said to the group.


    With that the four men went their separate ways. Aypryl wasn¡¯t sure what to do with this information. She decided it would be risky to leave without asking for some water and decided to approach the guards.


    ***


    Lyra made her way into the base to find Suntiana and the others. As she was heading down the stairs, she heard the door to the base open again. It was Aypryl, she looked like she had something concerning to report. Aypryl walked past Lyra as if she hadn¡¯t noticed her. Lyra Shrugged, figuring it was important news and followed her down into the common area. They found Artamis and Ashera in deep conversation and Suntiana sitting off to the side making more notes. Lyra figured it was more notes about their plan to get into the tower.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°We have bad news,¡± Aypryl said, almost bellowing it to get everyone''s attention. ¡°they¡¯re leaving both Rivnear and Cyrth in charge of the island. From what the guards were saying they think Cyrth will actually be in control. They figure Rivnear is too stupid to know any better.¡±


    This caught everyone off guard. Suntiana closed her book and stood up abruptly moving towards Ashera and Artemis. They exchanged looks, each one saying more than Lyra and Aypryl could discern. Suntiana moved to Aypryl and placed her hands on Aypryls shoulders.


    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely sure? Are they both in control?¡± Suntiana asked grinning.


    Aypryl nodded furiously, unsure of why Suntiana looked so pleased with this news. Suntiana, Artemis and Ashera started laughing. This left Lyra and Aypryl with lots of questions and no idea where to start. Seeing the confusion the three tried to compose themselves.


    ¡°This is great news, better than we had hoped for. With this all we must do is plant a couple ideas in Rivnears head about being left as the bitch and how he isn¡¯t taken seriously. Suddenly they¡¯re fighting themselves and less concerned about our presence in the city,¡± Ashera explained, in between her laughter.


    The three dismissed Aypryl and were about to do the same with Lyra when she spoke up. ¡°Sumal wanted me to report that the tunnel to the sea is built and they have begun construction on the tunnel connecting to the tower.¡±


    ¡°Go back and stop them immediately! The inspection is likely in the tower now. We can¡¯t have them catching onto our plans,¡± Suntiana exclaimed.


    With that Lyna took off at a sprint headed back to Sumal. Aypryl left the group and headed for a rest.


    Venthal and Shendra made their way down the tower to the solitary confinement wing. It used to be the extended floor for medical treatment but now it served as both prison and torture chamber. Venthal led Shendra to their new medical wing that was along the way to check in on Rivnear. The building looked like the tower being used by Ashera¡¯s group for their home base. The layout was slightly different because the tower was round, but the same principles applied, at least for this floor. At the back of the room was Rivnear grumbling and groaning in pain as the Grace reattached his foot.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Venthal asked.


    The Grace ignored him, tending only to her duties. Graces rarely spoke, they believed others beneath them. Even other high elves as they were given power by the god emperor to preform healing magic.


    Rivnear looked at him with disdain in his eyes. Rivnear blamed Venthal for his current condition. If he hadn¡¯t been so incompetent the rantaru would never have gotten so close to the city. What had he been off doing, and why hadn¡¯t the guards on duty noticed them. He didn¡¯t care all he wanted was to make a fool of Venthal.


    ¡°It¡¯s going peachy,¡± Rivnear snarled, ¡°Why don¡¯t you work as the distraction next time and I¡¯ll get the kill.¡±


    Venthal laughed, ¡°sure Rivnear, I¡¯m sure you could handle a mutated rantoru all on your own.¡± He rolled his eyes as he said this.


    ¡°What beings you and the commander down here, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not just to check on me,¡± Rivnear said, ignoring Venthals bait.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Shendra said, smiling at Rivnears pain. ¡°We¡¯re here to tell you Venthal will be heading back to the mainland for the foreseeable future on a new assignment. This means we need some people we can trust running the island making sure the inmates stay in line. We have chosen to leave you and Cyrth in command.¡±


    ¡°Why two of us? I can run this place just fine on my¡­¡± Rivnear began. ¡°OW God damn it you stupid grace that¡¯s not how my foot moves! make sure you attach it properly. I don''t want to go through this again. As I was saying, I can run this place just fine on my own.¡±


    ¡°I have no doubt about that,¡± Shendra said, while rolling her eyes. ¡°We figured having Cyrth to oversee the more mundane things here would free you up to make sure the prisoners were staying in line.¡±


    Rivnear mulled this over for a moment, then smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right it is good to have a lacky to make sure the paperwork is done.¡±


    Shendra and Venthal exchanged glances trying not to laugh at how easy that was. After a little more chatting They left Rivnear in the Graces capable hands and made their way down to the Prison ward.


    This place was different in many keyways from the rest of the building. Firstly, it had magic circles used to stop others who had the latent ability to cast magic from using it. These individuals were often found in the beastite tribes being used as healers, Shamen or even religious figures. Some even came from the Northern kingdom; they were kept here in secret. Secondly, there were prison cells lining the one side of the room from floor to ceiling. These cages were stacked one on top of the other beastites and other races imprisoned one on top of the other. These cages were barely big enough for them to stand in let alone do anything else. Lastly, the elves had brought in tables to use for attempting to extract the magic potential from these outliers. They would go after whatever they thought was giving them their abilities. Some prisoners had lost hands, arms, internal organs, and some had even lost parts of their brain.


    Looking at the cells as they walked in Shendra noticed a few exotic guests were here. Looking at the cage closest to them she noticed a set of eight eyes staring at her watching her every movement as if waiting for an opportunity to strike. From the little light trickling down through the other cages Shendra could see the upper body was that of a beautiful woman. It looked elven except with rounded ears to her. Shendra grimaced with disgust. as she stepped forward in the cage putting her hands on the bars, Shendra noticed her bottom half was a spider. All eight legs crammed in barely able to move. She looked very uncomfortable, this made Shendra smile again, nothing gave her more pleasure than someone else''s pain.


    ¡°She¡¯s our longest standing guest from the Northern Kingdom. She was able to read the future but refused to do so for our king. We brought her here and extracted her gift from her. Now she¡¯s nothing more than a hideous freak,¡± Venthal explained. ¡°We don¡¯t normally keep them once we are sure we¡¯ve extracted their gift but she¡¯s quite literally the only one who can use it. We reimplanted her gift to her. Instead of being grateful she killed the doctor who performed the procedure and injured three guards. Now we keep her here just so we can torture her every few days.¡±


    Shendra Nodded in approval, ¡°excellent. Do any of the other prisoners rank as highly as this one?¡±


    ¡°Nothing worth noting. There is this peculiar rat-like creature, but she has no magic affinity. She seems to be diseased though everyone she bites falls to fits for weeks on end.¡± Venthal responded.


    ¡°How boring. If nothing else at least I can have some fun torturing the spider woman before we go,¡± Shendra said, with an evil smile. ¡°Before I begin, does she have a name?¡±


    ¡°She does, not that we have taken the time to remember it,¡± Venthal replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s Hayami,¡± said Hayami from behind them. ¡°At least respect me enough to learn my name, you filthy elves.¡±


    ¡°We elves are not filthy! You inferior races are the problem, you should learn your place,¡± Shendra screamed. Calming herself she continued, ¡°it appears I will have to teach your place to you.¡±


    Hayami smiled, her face showing she knew something they didn¡¯t, and she laughed a little. An eerie ethereal laugh, it was creepy in a way Shendra wasn¡¯t expecting. Shendra slammed on the cage bars attempting to make her shut up. This only served to make Hayami laugh harder.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be so full of yourselves in time. I¡¯ve seen your future, and it is short!¡± Hayami laughed.


    Shendra, unnerved at this statement, drew her sword, opened the door and cracked the shackled Hayami in the head, knocking her out.


    Hayami came to on the torture table legs shackled down on either side with no room to lift them. Arms chained down above her head, exposing her underbelly to the room. Above her stood a smirking Shendra, implements at the ready. Shendra was fully aware of what she was about to do and knew Hayami wouldn¡¯t have seen it coming.


    ¡°Let''s start with the big problem here,¡± Shendra said, in a calm twisted voice. ¡°Clearly when our doctors gave you back your gift it didn¡¯t work right. I think the very least we can do is correct that for you. To make sure it works though, we are going to need to keep you awake. For the whole procedure.¡±


    Venthal¡¯s eyes went wide he had never tortured Hayami like this before it had always been mental torture. Things to break her mentally and emotionally. In the hopes of getting her to reveal the future to them. His team always put them under when extracting the gifts, it could kill them if they were awake, and he wanted his prisoners to stick around as long as possible. However, this did seem like it might work. He could see the look of fear on Hayami¡¯s face. Shendra was a cruel woman to be sure, but she knew what she was doing. Shendra reached over to the table holding the scalpels, graspers, saws, spreaders and other surgical implements.


    ¡°Now shall we begin?¡± Shendra asked, not waiting for a response.


    Hayami started to scream uncontrollably, the sound causing Venthal to wince just a little bit.


    After what felt to Hayami like an eternity, Shendra was done. Unable to speak from the shock and unable to move from the pain Hayami was tossed into her cage with ease. Shendra wiped the last of the blood from her hands and lifted the jar holding Hayamis silk sack. Shendra smiled looking over her prize, happy with the work she had done.


    ¡°There, I think she will remember her place now. Venthal, make sure they continue to use this method with her. We don¡¯t want her to forget anytime soon,¡± Shendra said dismissively.


    Venthal, still looking on in disbelief nodded, ¡°I have never seen anything like that before and I must admit I don¡¯t know if our torturers have the skill to do that with the subject squirming like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, a few extra scars won¡¯t make a difference in the long run,¡± Shendra replied. ¡°Now we¡¯ve wasted more than enough time here. Let¡¯s get out of this place and back to the mainland.¡±

 Chapter 12

    Ashera, again in her elven disguise, headed to the doc. She wanted to make sure Venthal was off the island before going any further with her plan. Shendra, Venthal and the army men who had come ashore were all on their way onto the dock. Seises was sure to make herself and other easily recognizable faces scarce when they came in. Leaving only those who had never been to the city around. Venthal looked around, he didn¡¯t recognise any of the guards working here today. This surprised him; he had told Rivnear to make sure competent guards were here today. Continuing to scan the dock he noticed the dock was clean and orderly, and everything he had told Rivnear to make sure was done had been taken care of. Venthal began to think maybe Rivnear would have been fine on his own.


    Shendra, noticing Venthal was lost in thought, nudged him and said, ¡°don¡¯t worry about it. This place will still be here when you''re done. Might not be in one piece¡­¡±


    Venthal nodded, not really paying attention to what she was saying. He was annoyed, the king had left him here because this place was where they kept all the secrets from the war. Now some stupid uprising that wasn¡¯t even that big was taking him from his post. Of course, to anyone other than the king and himself this was just a place for enemies of the crown nothing more. Venthal sighed, nothing he could do about it now, not that he could do anything about it anyway. Looking to the ship he followed Shendra and the soldiers on and headed immediately for his cabin. Shendra not wanting to spend more time here than needed, gave the command to set sail and the ship was off.


    Ashera standing in the shadows at the dock watched the ship sail off. She breathed a sigh of relief, now the real work could begin.


    Seises came up behind her, placed a hand on her shoulder and said, ¡°now what? want us to stay here in case they come back?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re going to be stuck here a little longer than that. We can¡¯t risk any of the other prisoners figuring out something is going on. We don¡¯t need them turning us in for favours with the guards,¡± Ashera told her. ¡°Keep this group going as long as you can. You won¡¯t need to treat the new prisoners badly anymore. Recruit as many new arrivals as you can in the coming days, If I¡¯m right we can be in control of this island within the next few days. The important thing is to replace the guard on the boat. We need to make sure we are in control of everything.¡±


    Seises smiled at Ashera, nodded and went to distribute the new orders. Now it was Asheras turn. Ashera and Artemis needed to get thrown in the tower. Easiest way would be to attack a guard but if they could find Rivnear that would be best. Ashera continued to wander around the docks, thinking about how to get to Rivnear and getting nowhere she decided to head back to base.


    ***


    Artemis was busy getting ready for his role, he wanted to be prepared at any time. From what he had been able to gather through rumour''s and second hand counts it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant. No one came out the same. They were all now guards or soldiers being sent to the frontlines. Those who couldn''t be converted or wouldn¡¯t break were left in solitary to be tortured. From what he had found out those who had magic potential were kept in a separate area. He wanted to get into that area, there might be some powerful allies down there. Artemis decided he would have to discuss it with Ashera.


    Ashera walked into the room still lost in thought. Not paying attention to where she was, she walked right into the back of Artemis. Snapping back to reality Ashera looked up at Artemis, with a look that said where did you come from?


    ¡°I have something about us getting put in solitary I wanted to discuss with you,¡± Artemis began. ¡°I think we should try to get thrown in with the normal prisoners. We free them to create a distraction and then head down to another floor. Apparently, there is another location in there where they keep those who can already use magic. There might be some powerful allies down there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± Ashera agreed. ¡°Our only problem now is how we go about getting thrown into solitary. Rivnear would make the best target, but he won''t be the easiest one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your issue?¡± Artemis said. ¡°That¡¯s easy, we just get people to spread the rumour that they¡¯ve seen me wandering around. He really wants a piece of me. He thinks I was behind him and his late friend getting left out to die.¡±


    Ashera stared at Artemis, blinking. She knew all about his past activities and how much Rivnear hated him. Ashera ran to the entrance of the base and waited for those they had out gathering information to return. As they returned, she informed them they would be spreading information about Artemis instead going forward. Not to use his name though as they shouldn¡¯t know it just to talk about a wolfite they had seen. Ashera knew this new plan would take more time, but it gave them the best chance at achieving all their goals.


    Rivnear was walking around the city like he owned the place. Now that Venthal was gone he was on top of the world, he owned everyone here. Everyone would smile and laugh as they saw him, he thought he was well loved by the men. Undenounced to him, they were laughing at him and smiling at how stupid he looked strutting his stuff around when it was clear Cyrth was the one in control. Of Course no one wanted to point this out to him, best not to start anything that might get messy after all.


    Rivnear was feeling much better now that the Grace had healed his leg. At first when the elves sent one of their precious Graces to the island everyone thought it would be pointless. After all, an elf whose only purpose is to heal those who have been injured hardly seemed needed in this place. Rivnear counted himself lucky it had been here. As he walked up to the gate to see if there was any entertainment, the guards standing there became quiet and pensive.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Rivnear bellowed.


    The guards, clearly not wanting to answer him, pushed the prisoner that was standing in front of them towards Rivnear.


    Rivnear looked down at the beastite and said, ¡°Well what is it? Or should I throw you in solitary to loosen your tongue?¡±


    ¡°P..P..Please no,¡± the inmate stammered. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. I was saying that there¡¯s a wolfite out on the island. I¡¯ve seen him taking water from others¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Rivnear screamed. ¡°That whore son is supposed to be dead. He died in a cave-in a year ago.¡±


    Rivnear began to pace back and forth, he was grateful that Venthal wasn¡¯t here. Rivnear knew he would be finished if Venthal found out about this. Rivnear had a visceral need to catch this bastard and make him pay. Rivnear moved like he had never moved before, headed straight to the barracks. He wasn¡¯t going to let Artemis get away again.


    Artemis, not wanting to make it easy for Rivnear and his men to find him, had been hiding out in the base during the day and going out at night. This had been going on for days now. The guards would catch glimpses of Artemis running around but could never pin him down. Artemis decided today would be the day, he would take Ashera to the surface with him and they would get caught by the guards.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Artemis asked Ashera.


    ¡°Ready,¡± she replied. ¡°Let''s make this look good.¡±


    Artemis and Ashera were wandering around the desolate island. They weren¡¯t going out of their way to draw attention, but they weren¡¯t trying to hide either. Naturally Rivnear had put out a bounty for information on Artemis so any prisoner who saw him went running towards the city to inform the guards. It wasn¡¯t long before they saw Rivnear and a group of guards rushing towards them.


    ¡°Look who we have here,¡± Rivnear sneered. ¡°I thought you lot were dead. I must say I was disappointed that I didn¡¯t get to finish you off myself. Now though I can.¡±


    Rivnear motioned for the guards to apprehend the pair. The guards moved in, unaware of what awaited them. As the first one went to grab Ashera. She struck with an elbow to the gut, the guard doubled over. In the blink of an eye she flipped him onto his back. With a final strike she crushed his throat. The guards all stepped back, they hadn¡¯t been expecting a fight, let alone that they might get killed.


    Artemis thought, ¡°I think Ashera might be a little too into this. I hope she remembers we¡¯re supposed to get caught.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there,¡± Rivnear bellowed. ¡°There are four times as many of you as there are them. Get them.¡±


    The guards all drew their weapons and lunged at the pair. Artemis and Ashera both smiled slightly. As the guards attacked two at a time the pair easily countered them. Artemis had improved his martial skill significantly over the last year and Ashera¡¯s skills were as sharp as they had been in the war. They easily dispatched the first few, making it look like it took a lot of effort was more effort than the actual fight. The guards got back to their feet and began to circle the pair trying to get between them, to stop their teamwork. Noticing this was their strategy, Ashera shot Artemis a glance, they would have to play along. Artemis turned his back to Ashera and started to move away from her, creating a gap for the guards to use. The guards almost missed the opportunity entirely until Rivnear yelled at them from the side line.


    Ashera shook her head, this was pathetic. If she didn¡¯t want to get into the tower without risking the elves inside destroying everything, they could have just stormed the city. After continuing like this for several minutes both Artemis and Ashera presented an opening to the guards. The guards took full advantage of this and rushed the pair from all sides, finally capturing the pair. Now that the pair was subdued and satisfactorily tied up. Rivnear approached them.


    ¡°You two thought you were something special, eh?¡± Rivnear gloated. ¡°You bearly put up a fight. These are the best trained guards on the island.¡±


    Rivnear kicked Artemis over from his kneeling position. He stated beating him mercilessly. Kicking, and stomping on his chest. Ashera was sure she heard some ribs break.


    ¡°And they choose to willingly follow you, a man who doesn¡¯t even help in a fight?¡± Ashera said with a smirk.


    This got a chuckle from the guards. Rivnear, now clearly enraged, struck Ashera upside the head knocking her to the ground.


    ¡°Shut up you useless prisoner. I don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who lost the fight. I¡¯m going to enjoy killing the two of you,¡± Rivnear said.


    He drew his weapon. This wasn¡¯t according to Asheras plan, she was quickly looking around for anything they could use to get out of this situation. Then she remembered Cyrth, this could work.


    ¡°You know Rivnear, before you kill us don¡¯t you want to know some juicy gossip going around the island?¡± Ashera asked. ¡°I mean unless you don¡¯t care what your guards think of you¡­¡±


    Ashera looked up at Rivnear with as innocent a look as she could. Rivnear just about ready to strike, looked conflicted. He wanted to know what the guards thought of him but at the sometimes he really wanted to kill these two and be done with it. That¡¯s when one of the guards laughing caught his eye.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Rivnear said. ¡°make it quick.¡±


    Ashera smiled coyly. ¡°Well, the word amongst the prisoners, at least from what we¡¯ve overheard, is that Cyrth is really in control. He handles all the important business and leaves you to do the grunt work. He tells the other guards to show you some respect, so you think you''re in charge. I mean haven¡¯t you noticed how the guards snicker and laugh as you walk past? Should this be how they treat someone they respect?¡±


    Rivnear looked at Ashera, he had noticed how the guards always seemed to be laughing when he was around. He had thought it was because they were happy. Was that not the case, he wondered. It did seem odd now that he thought about it, Cyrth being in charge of all the paperwork, duty schedules, personal changes and the finances of the island.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong Venthal told me he was putting Cyrth in charge of all that so I could focus on more important matters. Like managing the prisoners,¡± Rivnear said, with a shaky voice.


    The guards were all stifling laughs trying to write them off as coughs. This did not escape Rivnear this time. Venthal had played him. He didn¡¯t have any power at all. He would have to fix this.


    Seeing an opportunity Ashera said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you take us into the city. Let Cyrth decide what to do with us. Maybe mention we should be thrown in solitary for a bit, but in a way that makes it seem like his idea. Then if we stir up some trouble, he looks bad and you can come in and fix everything up.¡±


    Rivnear smiled at this, why not use them to get rid of Cryth then he would be in complete control of the island. It wouldn¡¯t be hard Cyrth would think Rivnear was being nice in getting his opinion.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re changing plans! Take them to the city, we¡¯ll throw them in solitary,¡± Rivnear barked at the guards.


    ¡°Umm pardon me, Rivnear but aren¡¯t they just playing you?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Rivnear yelled. ¡°No one plays me, I¡¯m in charge here.¡±


    ¡°What about asking Cyrth?¡± another guard asked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you ask your co-leader about this?¡±


    Rivnear spun around and struck the guard. ¡°No more questions! Did I not make myself clear! I am in charge!¡±


    The guards looked at one another and shrugged. They grabbed Artemis and Ashera, leading them back to the city. Ashera smiled, Rivnear had done exactly what she had wanted. To make it look good, the pair tried to escape a couple times but always fell just short.


    Rivnear walked into the city with his chest puffed out, like a conquering hero returning from a successful raid. He pushed Artemis to prove it had been him who had captured the wolfite. Rivnear steered them towards the tower where to his surprise Cyrth was waiting for him.


    ***


    Seises was standing on the dock waiting for the prison ship to make its way in. It was carrying a small batch of new inmates today. There would be only four but they were labelled by the elves as dangerous. Seises wanted to know what they were imprisoned for; they might make good allies. That wasn¡¯t her primary concern though, she needed to swap guards on the ship. Then dispatch of the old guard. Xix was waiting in the little cabin for Seises to send the guard up.


    The prisoners stepped off the ship, one was a rough looking elf, a wood elf to be exact. Seises looked at the papers she had been handed by the ship guard. His name was Barin, it looked like he had been found on the eastern side of the continent setting up explosives to take out elven caravans. That would be useful for taking out the city walls when the time came. They would have to see how well he could adapt to the old-world explosives but either way he would be useful. As she pushed Barin forward towards the search she nodded indicating he was to be recruited.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Next was a female Lynxite. She was spitting and growling, like a crazed animal. It looked like she had been brought in for robbery to fuel a drug addiction. Seises didn¡¯t like the look of this one; it would be best to process her as normal and then leave her be. Seises pushed her forward and pulled on her ear indicating to pass over her.


    The next one was a soldier who had tried to desert the army. That had potential, Seises wanted to know more.


    ¡°Right a deserter huh, what didn¡¯t the benefits cover you?¡± Seises asked in her most guard like tone.


    The prisoner looked her over unsure if he should answer when he felt a crack on the back of his head. It knocked him to his knees.


    ¡°Answer the question filth!¡± The ship guard barked.


    The prisoner rubbed his head, the best he could still shackled and responded, ¡°Simple I didn¡¯t want to put an entire town to death without proof they were enemies. I had an argument with the commander and one thing led to another and I killed him. Figured I would get promoted, turns out I ended up here. Satisfied?¡±


    Seises looked over the ex-soldier he was a bearite. Obviously, he was a conscripted man otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have cared what happened to that town. He could be useful if he had any animosity towards the elves for ending up here.


    ¡°What''s your stance on the empire now? Answer carefully it will dictate what supplies you get,¡± Seises said.


    ¡°Fuck the empire! They burned women and children alive because there was a chance a rebel force had just passed through there,¡± Bjarne answered.


    Seises laughed, ¡°Right, no supplies for you then.¡±


    She pushed him along and nodded. Seises turned around expecting to see another prisoner but there was no one.


    ¡°Where is the last prisoner? There are four here on the manifest,¡± Seises asked.


    ¡°He went overboard and decided he wanted to try and swim,¡± the guard laughed.


    ¡°Well, that makes things easier for us,¡± Seises said through a forced laugh. ¡°Since we¡¯re done ahead of schedule, why don¡¯t you take a break in the cabin. We have a prisoner in there who is worth it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do,¡± the guard said.


    It took all Seises¡¯s restraint not to knock his teeth out then and there. As he approached the cabin he heard music to his ears, a woman screaming. With his guard down he pushed open the door and was dragged in. So forcefully a slight scream escaped his lips. Xix had a knife to his throat and was looking for a reason to use it.


    ¡°Tell me how you control the ship, and you get out of this,¡± Xix said softly. ¡°Or we can do this the fun way.¡±


    Xix looked over her shoulder at the implements played out, then back at the guard and smiled. The guard swallowed hard, raised his hands and closed his eyes.


    ¡°I get out of this if I tell you right? You promise?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You have my word you will get out of this,¡± Xix said.


    ¡°Okay I have a control crystal; the crystal is inscribed with the path between the port and this island. Just place it in the helm and the ship takes you back and forth. I told you how to use it. I''ll even give it to you now, let me go,¡± the guard said.


    ¡°I never said I would let you go. I said you would get out of this,¡± Xix smiled.


    The guard didn¡¯t even have time to scream as the dagger slit his throat. Xix emerged from the cabin as Biran and Bjarne were being pulled aside before being let go. Xix figured she should go introduce herself to the newbies.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Biran asked.


    ¡°Yeah, why aren¡¯t we being let go?¡± Bjarne asked.


    ¡°Simple,¡± Xix¡¯s voice said, coming from behind them, ¡°we want to recruit you for a project we¡¯re working on.¡±


    Xix explained most of everything that had happened and their plans. Making sure to leave out the part about Ashera and humans as it might be too much for them. Biran and Bjarne look moved from disbelief to amazement and every expression in between. It took Xix showing them the ancient armour she was wearing under her guard uniform to really make them believe her story. After a few moments they spoke.


    ¡°Alright, I believe you at the very least. What do you want us to do now?¡± Bjarne asked.


    ¡°Go with Seises, the pantherite who did your intake. She will take you to our base. From there one of our top three will get you trained and ready for the events to come,¡± Xix said.


    With that she left them and returned to her duties. Seises led the men to the base where Suntiana was waiting. Suntiana was waiting for news on how things were going with Ashera and Artemis but was happy for the distraction.


    ¡°Suntinan,¡± Seises said with a smile and a wave.


    Bjarne and Biran were both taken in by Suntiana¡¯s beauty. Both looking her up and down. Bjarne thought he had seen feathers like hers used in high end clothing, but that they looked much better on her. Biran thought she looked like a picture he had seen back in his hometown of the legendary race of phoenix. Her feathers looked remarkably similar.


    Nudging Biran Seises continued, ¡°These are Bjarne and Biran. New recruits to the cause. Biran is an explosives expert but he¡¯s going to need a crash course in ancient explosives. He only knows black powder. This is Bjarne, he¡¯s a disenchanted soldier. He was unimpressed with the tactics by the elves in the alleged uprising in the east. Where do you want to put them?¡±


    ¡°Aypryl is the only one here who excels with explosives now. Ideally, I would like to have Xix train him but she has more important matters to take care of right now. As for Bjarne. send him down to Rothar and Lyna, he can train with them. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult as he¡¯s an ex-soldier and all,¡± Suntiana said.


    ¡°If I may,¡± Bjarne interjected. ¡°I have experience with mobilising military resources and, if I do say myself, I am rather good as a tactician. I would rather work with those in charge of planning.¡±


    Suntiana looked him over, sizing him up. She took her time trying to get a read for him. He was a soldier at one point which meant, willingly or not, he fought on the enemy''s side. It wouldn¡¯t be the first soldier they had in their midst to be certain, but they had been here for years and had earned the trust of the group. Finally, after an uncomfortable amount of time, at least for Bjarne, she spoke.


    ¡°No, for now our plan is going accordingly. You can go to work with Rothar and Lyna or you can go to our cells. Now that you know we exist we can¡¯t just let you leave,¡± Suntiana said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go train with Rothar and Lyna. Who knows, maybe I¡¯ll surprise you,¡± Bjarne said, smiling at Suntiana and Seises.


    With that Seises led them into the base. Suntiana looked at the sky wondering how Artemis and Ashera were making out. She hoped Rivnear wouldn¡¯t do anything they hadn¡¯t counted on. He was known for being stupid but also brutal when it pleased him.


    ***


    Rivnear walked up to Cyrth and said, ¡°what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°A little birdy told me that you were bringing new prisoners for solitary. I wanted to see your work for myself.¡± Cyrth said with a patronising tone.


    ¡°Right,¡± Rivnear said, trying to remain calm, ¡°you¡¯re not getting credit for this. I found these two missing prisoners and I¡¯m putting them in solitary. No one else will touch them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just make sure you put them in ward 3. We don¡¯t want them getting mixed up with some of the less secure confines,¡± Cyrth said without so much as looking at Rivnear. ¡°I¡¯ll be down later tonight to issue your punishment myself. If I find you have already been punished before then I will have strong words for the one who did it.¡±


    With that Cyrth looked at Rivnear, scoffed, and continued on to other matters. Rivnear couldn¡¯t believe it, he had just been told not to torturer his own prisoners. Rivnear thought, that¡¯s it this is going to change. Rivnear took Ashera and Artemis into the tower. The main entrance was just like Ashera remembered. The ceilings were high with lights hanging down from them. There was the main desk where an elf was seated who looked to be monitoring something. As they got closer Ashera noticed she wasn¡¯t monitoring anything. Infront of her was a button. Ashera looked around for what it could possibly control. She noticed a gate at the front door, the button must be used to secure the entrance. They walked past her to the elevators. Ashera wanted to know how many floors in this building remained in use. Hopefully she would find some information there. As the doors opened, and they stepped inside Ashera had to cough to cover a laugh. Beside all the floors that were in use which seemed to be all the basement floors were labels of what each floor was.


    There was the entrance/ exit, followed by the medic floor, then torture and security, ward 1, ward 2, ward 3, Magic suppression floor and finally magical research. Ashera¡¯s targets were the two floors below their assigned ward. Rivnear muttering curses at Cryth under his breath pressed to go to ward 3. The ride down Ashera kept looking at Artemis, both were trying so hard not to laugh at Rivnear whose muttering was growing louder and more violent. Rivnear pushed them out of the elevator onto the ward floor. Ashera barely recognized this place. It was row after row of cages stacked one atop the other. This had been, their botany research floor, they were testing to make plants grow efficiently in artificial light. From that to this, Ashera could barely believe it.


    ¡°Right in you two this will be your cell at least until tomorrow,¡± Rivnear growled. ¡°Cyrth will pay for this.¡±


    Rivnear shoved them into the tiny cell, it was barely big enough for one of them. He shut the door and went on his way, still muttering about how he would make Cyrth pay.


    Ashera pressed up against the front of the cage and looked around trying to see what she could see. There weren¡¯t many cages on this floor that she could see. There was a spot in the middle of the room where the guards could make everyone watch the torture. There was no one again, that Ashera could see waiting around to torture anyone. Ashera was happy with this; it meant Cyrth kept his word.


    ¡°Hello, is anyone there?¡± Ashera asked.


    ¡°Stop squirming,¡± Artemis said.


    Ashera ignored him, wanting to see if anyone else was there. After a short while no responses came. They were alone here, this infuriated Ashera. The least Rivnear could have done was put them in separate cages.


    ¡°get used to it,¡± Ashera said to Artemis. ¡°We¡¯re going to be here awhile.¡±


    ¡°Great, the least that damn jackal could have done was put us in different cages,¡± Atremis grumbled, shifting his weight further to the back of the cage.


    Cyrth made his way through ward 3, looking for where Rivnear had put Ashera and Artemis. Cyrth walked through the empty floor getting closer to the back of the cages, still seeing no sign of the pair. At the very back, in one of the smallest cages he found them. They looked ready to kill each other after being stuck in the cage for hours.


    ¡°Do you guys want some more time alone?¡± Cyrth said, trying not to laugh.


    ¡°Get us out of here. Now,¡± Ashera demanded.


    Cyrth shrugged and opened the cage. Ashera couldn¡¯t get out of there quick enough. She went to stretch up forgetting she was still shackled from when she had been caught. Artemis hunched over from trying to stay at the back of the cage and struggled to get out as his legs had long been asleep. He too went to stretch only to be limited by his shackles. Cyrth couldn¡¯t keep a straight face any longer and laughed at the pair of them. They both shot him a glare that read this is not funny.


    ¡°Alright let''s get started,¡± Cyrth said though bouts of laughter.


    Cyrth led the pair back through ward three towards the elevator. Once inside the elevator, Cyrth turned to the pair and pulled the keys from his belt. He began by unlocking Ashera¡¯s shackles followed quickly by Artemis¡¯s.


    ¡°Glad you made such a good impression on Venthal. We had only hoped you would make it into the tower. This is better than we could have hoped for,¡± Ashera said, giving Cyrth a hug.


    ¡°I know it couldn¡¯t have worked out better,¡± Cyrth said with a smile. ¡°Once I take you guys down to the magical research floor, I¡¯ll head up to the security room and take care of the guards left in there. I can buy you guys time until shift change in the morning.¡±


    ¡°That should be enough time. Hopefully Sumal will be able to complete the tunnel by then,¡± Artemis said. ¡°If not, we''re counting on you to sow chaos within the guards.¡±


    Cyrth smiled and said, ¡°of course I¡¯m looking forward to it. Though, we will need to sell your escape. Would one of you mind punching me in the face?¡±


    Ashera, without needing to be asked a second time punched Cyrth square in the nose. She almost broke it Cyrth thought to himself. Blood began running down his face as the elevator came to a stop. The elevator was on the bottom floor, magical research. Ashera and Artemis stepped off. The elevator doors closed behind them and Cyrth was off to the security floor, still trying to stop the blood that was pouring from his nose.


    Ashera looked around the room. It looked like a place out of time, everything was the same, minus one or two experiments having been moved around. This was good news, it meant either the elves hadn¡¯t figured out the importance of some of the experiments or thought they wouldn¡¯t be needed anymore. The room was the biggest yet, full of computers, chests, half cooked experiments and much more. The important thing, for Ashera, was to see if her login still worked. Ashera wondered if she would be able to access the research notes.


    They looked around as they moved towards the computer terminals. Ashera was wary of the fact there was no one down here. It seemed like a waste not to have someone studying these things at the very least. As they got closer to the terminals, they were in the middle of the room. Something caught Asheras attention. She immediately changed directions towards a bunch of tubes standing erect on the far side of the room. Artemis, curious about what had caught Asheras attention, followed behind her.


    Ashera finally upon the tubes, she counted them. There were 10 in total; it was only as she looked closer did something horrific inside them catch her attention further. There were elves growing inside them. The tubes all had labels on them 5 of them read ¡°Venthal replacement body¡±. This was how he had prolonged his life, he had twisted the homunculus research her team had been working on. The others were labelled with other names, Y¡¯thra, Ra¡¯tarna and Morath. Curious if Artemis would recognise these names she turned to him.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, do you recognise these names here? They¡¯re of no good to me,¡± Ashera asked.


    Artemis leaned over Ashera and read the names, ¡°Venthal, alright we know who that one is. Y¡¯thra¡­¡±


    This one startled Artemis; he couldn''t believe what he had just read. The elven god had a new body being grown here.


    ¡°...Ra¡¯tarna, and Morath,¡± Artemis finished reading the names.


    He stood there blinking in disbelief. Ashera decided to give him a moment. Clearly Artemis had read something that was a shock to him. After several moments Ashera elbowed him in the stomach Bringing him back.


    ¡°Right, you wouldn¡¯t know who those are would you?¡± Artemis began. ¡°Y¡¯thra is the elven god incarnate. He rules the church and controls all-important affairs that govern the elves. Ra¡¯tarna is the king of the elves. He¡¯s responsible for maintaining elven rule over the other races. Basically not people we want living forever. The last one, Morath, is the daughter of Y¡¯thra. She¡¯s the only Elve capable of casting healing magic in this time. She is in charge of a group of elves with no consciousness, or at least that''s what I¡¯ve heard, they''re called Grace and they can act on her behalf. If you kill a grace it''s said they just get resurrected by Morath when their body gets back to the capital.¡±


    Ashera looked on in disbelief, she couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. This structure the elves had created was infuriating. Making it so only one of them could use healing magic, making a king to subjugate the other races and making a deity to rule over everything. Artemis gave her a moment, then continued.


    ¡°Why would the three immortals of the elven race need new bodies? It makes sense for Venthal. He¡¯s not immortal,¡± Artemis asked, with a very concerned look on his face.


    ¡°This is what they¡¯ve been using to keep you all afraid of them. If no one knows that they aren¡¯t immortal, then no one will question them. It¡¯s disgusting. Brilliant, but completely insane. Now we know though, and it changes everything,¡± Ashera said.


    With that she walked away back towards the terminal. Mulling around in her mind what could she do about their attempt at immortality. She could focus on that later, for right now she needed to complete her main objective. Ashera pulled up the login screen on the terminal and entered her credentials. Ashera held her breath as the login screen loaded. After what felt like an eternity waiting for the alarms to go off, which they never did, the terminal loaded into the main screen. She looked through folders and files searching. Finally buried under all the new nonsense the elves had uploaded and attempted to develop she found it. Her file for removing limiters from the magically adept prisoners.


    The elves had always had ways to suppress the magical abilities of others. Some of their more favoured ways were to use tattooed ruins or implanting ruins into the person in question. Removing the runes was a difficult task; the crystal inscribed with the rune would commonly be trapped. This meant when you extracted it, the rune crystal would explode, maiming the extractor and killing the one with the rune inside them. The tattoo was a little easier to deal with, it wasn¡¯t pleasant by any means. It involved carving the rune off the person. At least that''s how it had been, with the spell Ashera had created, and never tested. The spell would remove the rune magic without the need to remove the crystal or the tattoo.


    She grabbed her necklace and put it onto the terminal''s magic transfer pad. She uploaded the spell to the necklace. She was hoping this would be useful when they went up to the magic suppression floor. That was assuming anyone would be held there. Next, she turned her attention to finding out what the elves had done to their homunculus experiments.


    Ashera dug around more until she found the homunculus research notes. It was linked directly to the elven experiment program. Apparently, the elves didn¡¯t think this would ever be found. Asheras expression shrunk, this wasn¡¯t where the main facility was. It looked as though this was the place where Venthal would be reborn. The others were only here as backups in case something happened to the main facility. The file didn¡¯t refer to where the main facility was either. It did however contain the program used to make the ones here.


    Ashera read through the file:


    Homunculus program, originally designated by the humans to grow artificial human soldiers, magic from existing targets required to bring them to life. Multiple homunculus could be brought to life from one existing person. Thought to be too dangerous as the ramifications on the soul could not be quantified.


    She then came to the elven amendments:


    Human use of homunculus was too narrow. By backing up the memories of the one being copied to the system, one could resurrect the copied at the point of death. Subject Venthal to be resurrected from preserved brain. Subjects¡¯ memories and personality, such that we could quantify it, has been uploaded to the computer. DNA from subject has been entered into the homunculus program. Estimated growth rate 90 days.


    30-day gestation period, all is going according to plan. Memories have been uploaded to the homunculus body. Brain activity is within expected norms. Deam like state has been detected. Monitoring for any abnormalities.


    60-day gestation period, subject has opened his eyes and appears to be confused by his surroundings. Explanation of current circumstances appears to have been received well. Subject was put back into a chemically induced sleep.


    80-day gestation period, subject was enraged and thrashing after preforming a physical examination on himself. He removed an eye, apparently the same one he lost in the war and attempted to remove his leg. After forcing him back into a comatose state, it was decided upon full gestation his leg would be removed to complete his transformation back to his war time state.


    90-day gestation period, after removing subject from the chamber, his leg was amputated and replaced with a similar model artificial magical construct leg. His eye was replaced with similar technology. Upon waking he was uploaded with all information from between his wartime period and current time. This caused massive seizures almost causing the lost of the subject. After some healing from the onsite Grace he calmed down and resumed normal functioning.


    Venthal was the first successful subject, next subjects to be backed up and preserved will be Y¡¯thra, Ra¡¯tarna, and Morath.


    The file became corrupted after that and all information pertaining to them was lost.


    Ashera decided it would be best to disable them at this point. She set to work; taking her time going over everything for growing new homunculi and disabled it in this base, she then activated the destruct program which would destroy the current homunculi. As soon as she entered the changes the alarms started.


    ¡°That¡¯s our queue to get out of here Artemis,¡± Ashera said, heading for the elevator.


    Cyrth sat there in the security office cleaning the blood from his sword and watching the alarms sounding and sighed. He went to the security console and turned off the external alarms, silenced the internal alarms and headed out of the building to run interference with the guards who would be coming in. As he left, he looked back and chuckled. The room was full of bodies. They never saw Cyrth coming.


    Ahera and Artemis made their way onto the magic suppression floor. This room was like nothing Ashera had seen let alone imagined. It was horrific, but they had no time to stand there looking around. Ashera pointed over to the cages where they could see all different races caged up. Some looked worse than others. Some were motionless while others were writing in pain. Ashera motioned towards the first cage and Artemis nodded.


    Artemis went over to the cage and looked at it. He pulled some tools out from up his pant leg; it was a lock picking kit. Artemis began to move his tools through the lock like a master artist painted. With a few elegant motions the lock popped open. Inside was a scared little person, it was a species Artemis wasn¡¯t familiar with. If Artemis was being honest, he¡¯d never seen anyone like this.


    She was small in stature, she looked frail probably from all the abuse she had suffered in here. Her face was scarred up, but she still had an air of pride. She was young, at least her eyes looked young. In Ashera¡¯s eyes her face looked like that of a mouse. Ashera thought her features were small and cute. Her big black eyes were expressive and very curious about these people who had broken into her cage. She was tiny and a beautiful grey colour. Ashera got closer to her and reached out a hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯re not going to hurt you, in fact we want to take you out of here,¡± Ashera said.


    She looked warily at Ashera, looking her over as if expecting this to be some kind of trick. Cautiously, she grabbed Ashera¡¯s hand. Ashera pulled her to her feet and brought her out of the cage.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Ashera asked.


    ¡°Seslyn,¡± she replied. ¡°Thank you for rescuing me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not out of here yet,¡± Artemis said. ¡°Keep your guard up. We still need to rescue as many of these other people as we can.¡±


    With that Artemis moved on down the cages looking in each in turn. He was disgusted with what he saw in some of them. The poor people in them were mangled beyond recognition and had clearly left to die from their injuries. Still he opened their cages and most moved further away from them. So scarred from their experiences they trusted no one. Those they did let out were in no shape to fight. Ashera noticed how some had scars all over and wondered how long they had been down here. As they helped more out of their cages Ashera also saw most of them had the magic suppression tattoos. Ashera would do something about that once they got back to the base.


    Artemis finally came up to the last two cages. In one there was only a blood smear where someone had once been. In the last cage was Hayami. She was hurting in a bad way. Fresh wounds carved over her body. Blood was still oozing from some. Hayami had a look of pure rage on her face as Ashera walked into her view.


    ¡°You¡¯re letting people out right? Then get me out of here,¡± Hayami screamed at Ashera.


    ¡°Take it easy,¡± Ashera said calmly, as Artemis began on the cage door. ¡°We¡¯ll get you out of here. You¡¯re in pretty bad shape though. You might not make it back to our base.¡±


    ¡°They have a grace here. Those stupid puppets will heal anyone their told to,¡± Hayami said. ¡°I¡¯ll never be complete again thanks to that elven bitch.¡±


    Ashera was going to ask her about what had happened but figured now was not the time.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll take everyone up to the medical bay,¡± Ashera said. ¡°We will need all of you in fighting shape.¡±

 Chapter 13

    Cyrth, having gotten off at the main level, was greeted by Rivnear and a group of his favourite soldiers. Cyrth noticed Rivnear was looking at him with a smile on his face.


    ¡°What happened to your face?¡± Rivnear asked through grunts of laughter.


    ¡°One of the prisoners got..¡± Cyrth began.


    ¡°HA! I knew you would screw this up. Come on men. Let''s go fix this disgraces¡¯ mess,¡± Rivnear said.


    Rivnear pushed his way past Cyrth who gave no protest. Rivnear pressed for the elevator and waited. They waited, Rivnear growing more impatient with each passing moment. Rivnear passed back and forth in front of the doors. Just as he was about to ask Cyrth what else he had done; the doors opened. Rivnear and his men stepped in. Leaving Cyrth behind.


    Ashera was left waiting for the elevator that had not come back for her. instead, it had gone to the main floor. The others had all made it to the medical bay. There just wasn¡¯t quite enough room with Hayami and Artemis in there for Ashera. The elevator continued to descend going past her and down to the bottom floor. Ashera hoped whomever it was that came looking for them would get off and explore, giving her time to make it up to the medical bay using the stairs.


    Ashera went into the medical bay at a brisk pace, checking the whereabouts of the elevator as she walked past it. It was still on the bottom floor. The only truly incompetent leader who would go there first was Rivnear. Ashera thought he would be so thorough to make Cyrth look bad. She hoped that he would take more time than it took for them to escape. Ashera looked in the room at all those prisoners awaiting healing. She wondered where the Grace was. She didn¡¯t have to look hard; it was in the corner standing there like a zombie.


    Ashera walked over to the Grace placed a hand on her shoulder. The Grace jumped a little.


    ¡°I assume you know some of these prisoners,¡± Ashera said. ¡°I need you to heal them. We will leave you in peace after that. You have my word.¡±


    The Grace looked around at all the prisoners. She slowly and cautiously nodded. She headed to the first prisoner. The Grace placed her hands over the worst of the wounds. The prisoner pulled back a little bit as a light began to shine from under her hands. The Grace removed her hands almost as quickly as she had applied them. As Ashera inspected the prisoner, she noticed the wounds were closing up all over his body. Without a word or the slightest acknowledgement, she moved onto the next prisoner.


    The longer this went on the more concerned Ashera grew. It couldn¡¯t take Rivnear this long to realize he was wrong. Her worst fears came to be, as she looked across the way the elevator was moving up. They were on the floor where they had freed Hayami and Seslyn. They weren¡¯t there long before they headed up to the next floor. Their window was closing.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you heal any faster?¡± Ashera asked. ¡°We need to get out of here now.¡±


    ¡°Not before she heals me,¡± Hayami said, through coughs filled with blood.


    Ashera nodded in agreement and said, ¡°heal her next, she¡¯s in worse shape.¡±


    Looking at Hayami, the Grace made her way over. She inspected Hayami and frowned.


    ¡°Part is missing. Can heal but she will remain broken,¡± the Grace said.


    ¡°Heal me anyway,¡± Hayami said, ¡°I won¡¯t be getting that part back.¡±


    The Grace looked at her and with one movement placed her hand on Hayami and healed her. Seslyn poked her head around Hayami and tugged on the Graces robes. Seslyn looked up at her and pointed to her side where she had a bloody wound. The Grace bent down and placed her hands on Seslyn¡¯s side.


    ¡°Right,¡± Ashera said, taking stock of everyone''s condition, ¡°we¡¯re moving down to the Magic holding. We have people digging down to us. Hopefully that is where they will meet us.¡±


    Ashera moved everyone down the hallway and into the stairwell. As she looked back the elevator opened. Ashera quietly closed the door behind her and headed down with everyone else.


    Ashera walked into the room; she noticed how much damage Rivnear had done. Everything was overturned and destroyed. The only things left where they had been where the terminals, mostly because they were too heavy to be moved. Ashera wondered if he had done these things to look for them, or if he had done this to frame them. One thing was clear, they were going to have to deal with Rivnear sooner rather than later.


    ¡°Right so when are your men on the outside supposed to get here?¡± Hayami asked.


    ¡°Soon, they were making quick work of it last I heard,¡± Ashera said.


    Secretly she wondered how long they would be. After all, they were on the outside of the wall digging down.


    The elevator started to move Seslyn was the only one to notice it was descending again. She pulled at Artemis¡¯s leg squeaking in panic. Artemis looked down at Seslyn who looked panic and was pointing to the back where the elevator was coming down.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Artemis exclaimed, ¡°we¡¯ve got company Ashera! Everyone get up against the back wall. Ashera take one side, I¡¯ll take the other. Whoever comes out we¡¯ll take them down.¡±


    Everyone moved like lightning pressing up against the wall. Artemis and Ashera stood ready on either side of the doors. The elevator opened, and before anyone could step out Artemis rushed in. Artemis threw the occupant up against the back of the elevator. Just as he was about to strike he realized it was Sumal.


    ¡°Good Gods Sumal. I almost killed you,¡± Artemis said, letting go of Sumal.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking everywhere for you. We dug down where we thought you were going to meet us. There was just a mess, everyone there was dead. All the guards, some were freshly killed still warm and some looked to have been dead for hours. What the hell is going on here?¡± Suaml said.


    ¡°What do you mean everyone is dead? Where did you come into the building from?¡± Ashera asked.


    ¡°I think it was the security room. We really should get out of here. There was yelling I could hear from the floor above us,¡± Sumal said, Gesturing to the elevator.


    Everyone started piling into the elevator. Artemis, Ashera and Hayami couldn¡¯t fit with everyone else and had to wait for the elevator to return. After what felt like forever the elevator started to move, but instead of coming down to them it was heading up. Up and up, it went all the way to the ground floor.


    ¡°Not good. We need to move now! As fast as we can up the stairs,¡± Ashera barked, running for the door.


    The three of them ran, passing floor after floor. Ashera looked out at each floor to see where the elevator was headed. As they got to the medical floor the elevator stopped, not wanting to see who was getting off Ashera closed the door. Luck seemed to be on their side, the guards or whoever it was hadn¡¯t gotten off at the security level. They sprinted through the door onto the security level. Ashera led the way opening door after door trying to find where Sumal and the others had come in. Ashera finally came to the actual security room and flung open the door. She stopped dead in her tracks. She recognized Cyrths handy work. Quick and efficient unlike the other bodies. They had been brutalized, it looked like one had been caught off guard while the others had tried to fight back. Had Rivnear killed them all? trying to make Cyrth look worse or was he planning to get the guards riled up for something Ashera wondered.


    Ashera heard the ding of the elevator as it started to move again. It was headed down once again, she breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up at the whole behind the glass pane everyone was there. Ashera motioned for Hayami to follow everyone. Asher went over to grab the glass so they could put it back.


    ¡°We need to fill in this hole tonight. At least the part up against the building. We can¡¯t have the guards finding this,¡± Ashera ordered.


    ***


    Suntiana was preparing for the return of the group. She was hoping everything was going according to plan but couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious. She gathered supplies, food, water and anything else she could think they might need in the cafeteria.


    Suntiana was hoping all the new recruits were settling in okay. With everything going on she hadn¡¯t had as much time as she would have liked to check in on them. Most of them were frail from being abused or neglected by other inmates and guards. She knew some were only there because they had nowhere else to go. She didn¡¯t care if they would fight or not, all she wanted was for people to be safe. She worried Ashera would push everyone to fight.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Suntiana was pulled back into the moment by the sound of the door barging open. A bunch of new people poured in followed by Ashera and Artemis. They didn¡¯t stop for pleasantries as Ashera ran straight for the intercom.


    ¡°We need to be prepared for war. Rivnear knows Artemis and I have escaped and might be coming after us. Rothar, Lyna bring your best up here. We¡¯re accelerating the timetable. We need to make sure Cyrth isn¡¯t the first casualty,¡± Ashera said.


    With that she turned to Suntiana and smiled.


    ¡°We¡¯re back and we¡¯ve brought help. This is Hayami. She¡¯s been held here for quite a while it would seem. Her presence here shows that the elves aren¡¯t holding up the treaty with the Northern kingdom. This is Seslyn. She¡¯s from the largest elven city in the North. Not sure why she is here but we didn¡¯t exactly have time to sit down and talk,¡± Artemis said. ¡°The rest of these ruffians are recruits who failed, prisoners from roaming tribes, mystics, Shamen and other religious figures.¡±


    Suntiana looked around, trying to take everything in. She couldn¡¯t wrap her head around it. They weren¡¯t supposed to bring back other prisoners. They were only supposed to get the magic they needed and then come back. No wonder Rivnear and the other guards knew Ashera and Artemis were gone.


    ¡°Well,¡± Suntiana said, ¡°this definitely wasn¡¯t according to plan.¡±


    Suntiana shook her head and followed everyone else. Rothar, Lyna, came into the room with Bjarne and a few others following not far behind. She looked over the group. There were less people there than she wanted but it would have to do.


    ¡°This is Bjarne, he''s going to be useful. We were talking about strategies¡­¡± Rothar started.


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± Ashera said, not really paying attention. ¡°They don¡¯t know how many of us there are, they don¡¯t know where we are, but they know Artemis is out here on the island. If Rivnear has set things up like I think he has, there is going to be a lot of trouble for the people we have stationed at the docks. We need to keep the guards contained to the city. We start tonight, everyone who is able will grab weapons. We¡¯ll have Seises and her group¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Bjorne interjected.


    Ashera looked at him with anger in her eyes. She did not enjoy being interrupted.


    ¡°What?¡± She snapped.


    ¡°I was just thinking if you want to go for a frontal assault why not have the object of Rivnears ire front and centre. Make Rivnear lose his head a little bit. Have Artemis yell out that he knows Rivnear killed all the guards in the tower. While they are blindly charging at him, because let''s face it the guards aren¡¯t going to believe him, have us ready to flank in and take them. Then have Tyrnal¡¯s group handle long ranged attacks drawing their attention in yet another direction. While having the engineers, Sumal and his group, along with a small detachment of soldiers, take out the towers. At least that¡¯s what I would have had my group of soldiers do,¡± Bjorne said.


    Ashera looked him up and down, ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡±


    ¡°Bjorne, ma¡¯am,¡± Bjorne said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good plan. I¡¯ll be putting myself and Hayami in the front as well. We need to sweeten the pot a little but otherwise we will go with your plan. If it turns out you¡¯re somehow working with the guard, and this is a trap, I¡¯ll personally handle your execution.¡±


    ¡°I was sent here for refusing to kill innocent people. I have no intent of betraying you,¡± Bjorne said with confidence.


    Ashera smiled, Bjorne would make an excellent addition to her plans. So long as Cyrth was still alive everything was going as she had hoped.


    Cyrth found himself being held in the guard tower. He willingly went along with the guards. He saw no reason to make them more suspicious than they already were. Rivnear had come out of the tower swinging. Ordering the surrounding guards to grab Cyrth on counts of conspiracy of treason and for murder. The guards might not have liked Rivnear but when he showed them 10 guard badges covered in blood they were quick to act. Cyrth had killed four of them. That much was true. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder why Rivnear had killed the others. it didn¡¯t matter. For now, he just had to focus on staying alive until he could make his move.


    Ashera handed out the assignments to everyone. Not a single member of the group was left out. Rothar and Lyna would lead the group of soldiers splitting the forces in two. That way they could attack from both sides once everything began. Lyra was put in charge of the ambush as Xix and Seises were at the dock. Sumal¡¯s group would be taking a few people from all assignments to protect them while they destroyed the towers.


    Barin was excited for Sumal to test out some of the new explosives he had cooked up in his short time in the base. Ashera and Tyrnal had shown him the stockpile of bombs, grenades and other explosives the humans had stored in their tower. Most of them were expired, at least according to their labels, some though had potential still. He had found interesting ways, at least he thought so, of using what was left.


    Tyrnal oversaw the ranged unit. They would be raining down arrows and spells as everything kicked off. Suntiana was charged with focusing on triage for the wounded.


    Ashera, Artemis and Hayami headed to the front of the city. Everything was in place now all they needed was for Rivnear to take the bait. It didn¡¯t take long for them to find out. As soon as the guards spotted them the gates were opened and out stepped a group of heavily armoured guards carrying weapons that Ashera and Artemis recognized from the bottom floor of the tower. This changed things, they had magic weapons. This took away one of their big advantages. Artemis looked over at Ashera, if she was concerned it didn¡¯t show on her face. In fact, it was the opposite. She looked almost excited. Artemis recognized the look on her face, it was blood lust. He knew one way or another this was going to end tonight, and Ashera was going to see it though.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Rivnear not willing to come out yourself? Sending your flunkies after us. Aren''t you just the bravest of leaders. Will they still follow you once they know you killed all those guards in the tower?¡± Artemis bellowed.


    To the group''s surprise it had caused a moment of confusion. The guards seemed to not know what to do. Some looked around at the heavily armoured group they were surrounding and noticed they were all guards loyal to Rivnear. The moment passed all too quickly as Rivnear came out of the gates surrounded by more heavily armoured men.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the mutt mislead you,¡± Rivnear bellowed, ¡°we have the traitor Cyrth in custody. He let this filth escape. We don¡¯t take prisoners this time around. We kill them!¡±


    Cheers erupted from the guards as they started towards Ashera and the group. Ashera smiled and slowly started to laugh. Quiet at first growing louder and more maniacal as it went on. The guards, unfazed by her seeming loss of control continued towards them.


    ¡°Fire,¡± Ashera screamed.


    The guards looked confused. Was she trying to goat them into attacking the three of them from afar? Their moment of confusion was enough for them to be caught completely unaware of the arrows and fire raining down from behind Ashera¡¯s group.


    The unarmoured guards screamed in pain as arrows and spells came whistling around Ashera and the others homing in on their targets. Fire rained down on their heads burning their fur and flesh. The smell of blood and burnt fur quickly filled the air as the screams continued. Before they could regroup a second volley came raining down upon them. Those guards that had gotten out of this unscathed were running back to the gates.


    Rivnear was confused, he had noticed none of the weapons were missing. Yet it was clear to him that Artemis¡¯s group was using some kind of magical weapon. Where had they gotten them, he wondered. He was supposed to have the upper hand by using the arsenal he had found yet it was barely keeping them on even footing. He was furious, but it would have to wait till later. For now, he needed more men out there.


    ¡°They''re coming from the sides,¡± one of the guards yelled, as he looked around.


    Rothar, leading a band of soldiers armoured in black plate and wielding guns made for holding spells and swords designed to cut through the hardest metal. They crashed into the side of the retreating guards. The guards stood no chance against them and were quickly put down. Lyna¡¯s group seeing this hid hoping to get the drop on the other guards as they stepped away from the gate.


    Rivnear stepped back in shock. He hadn¡¯t thought there would be so many of them. He looked as his armoured men just stood there.


    ¡°What are you standing around for? Get them! This is why I gave you that armour and those weapons,¡± Rivnear said with a shaky voice.


    The armoured group looked between each other and started forward, sprinting into Rothar¡¯s group. The guards were wielding similar weapons to them. The guards were cutting through the heavy armour that Rivnears group was wearing like it was butter. The groups clashed trading hits and bullets. Rivnear had support from Tyrnal who continued to rain down spells upon the guards. It had a limited effect though; their armour had been made by the elves during the war to resist magical damage. The group of guards started to let loose the magic stored in their weapons. Unleashing furious flames and lightning with each strike against Rothars forces. Likewise, Rothar¡¯s forces drew their guns and unleashed tremendous waves of force knocking the guards off balance. Giving them an opportunity to follow up with melee attacks. Some glancing off of the armoured guard¡¯s others landing with deadly precision lopping off heads and other extremities.


    Rivnear pushed more men through the gate funnelling a bigger and bigger group of guards onto the battlefield. Rivnear¡¯s second group of armoured guards made their way into the battle. Focusing on surrounding Rothar and his men. pushing them tighter and tighter together. Lyna took this opportunity; the guards were so focused on Rothar none of them noticed Lyna¡¯s group approaching from behind. By the time Rivnear went to yell at his men it was too late.


    The guards in the city had finally gathered themselves on the towers and were raining down bullets, and arrows on to all the forces. They were indiscriminate in their task. This only added to the chaos caused by Lyna¡¯s group rushing in. The guards were working on slowly training the ballista''s on Tyrnal¡¯s  group. Firing shots as fast as they could manage. Most going wide, but as it went on, they got closer. Tyrnal ordered the retreat of the group. They would be focusing on keeping the healers safe now. The guards thinking, they had eliminated whatever force was behind them focused on bringing the shots closer to home, aiming for Lyna¡¯s group that was still moving in.


    Explosions shook the wall causing the guards to stumble. Some spilling hot tar on others. Screams of pain followed by expletives not fit to be repeated followed. Sumal would have to thank Barin for his handy work. These explosives went off with a bang, but then continued to burn, like thermite, through the remaining structure. Within minutes the walls were collapsing under the weight of the ballista''s bringing the towers down.


    The gate creaked as its supports on either side were shaken as the towers fell. Dubree falling down on either side. Rivnear not wanting to get caught under it darted back into the city. The gate swayed back and forth for a moment, appearing as though it was going to fall. Then it stopped and remained where it was. Rivnear looked around to see if anyone had noticed him cowering. It appeared everyone was too busy with the chaos going on.


    Through the battlefield strode Artemis, Ashera and Hayami towards the gate their sights set firmly on Rivnear. If they could take him out what little leadership, there was would fall apart. Making it an easy job to mop up the rest. Some of the guards who had made it through Rothar and Lyna headed straight for them. Artemis went to intercept them. Ashera raised a hand and stopped him. Instead, she stood there the ink of her tattoo flowing off her body to form ritual circles lighting up each character as it fell into place. As the last character fell into place the circle started to glow, energy swirled around the outside. Heat emanated from the circle as a blast of energy sprayed onto the battlefield engulfing the guards. The blast burnt away their armour leaving the guards surprised. They had been told this armour was magic proof by Rivnear. They scrambled to make a new formation.


    ¡°Circle up,¡± the leader yelled.


    It was too late though, the guards had dropped their weapons and dropped to the ground. Without remorse and without hesitation Ashera let out a second blast. Leaving nothing but ash in its wake.


    ¡°By the God''s Ashera they surrendered,¡± Artemis exclaimed.


    ¡°What¡¯s your point? Were you going to stay here and watch them. We don¡¯t have the luxury of taking prisoners,¡± Ashera said, coldly.


    Without waiting for Artemis to respond she moved forward wading through the battlefield. Hayami pushed past Artemis and picked up two of the swords left by the guards. Artemis followed along behind, still in shock. He had killed before many times but never anyone who had surrendered. They weaved their way through the combat striking down any guards that got close enough. All the while making their way towards Rivnear.


    ***


    Rothar met three heavily armoured guards head on trying to stop them from closing in any further. He knew how strong they were. He had watched them take down many of his men and injured even more. He needed to buy time, time enough for Lyna¡¯s group to get there. Rothar watched helplessly as more of his men were cut down.


    ¡°Hold fast,¡± Rothar yelled, ¡°help is on the way.¡±


    Rothar barely dodged a blow from one of the guards encircling him. He blocked and parried as much as he could, but he was being pushed to his very limits. He managed to reach out with one blow but it glanced off the guards armour. It was a mistake for Rothar to go on the offensive. The guard on his left struck back Catching his arm, it didn¡¯t go through the plate on his arm, but it did shatter it. The problem was the fire that followed. It burned his arm. It was hot, quick and intense. He stumbled back looking down at his arm, blackened down to the bone, which was now showing through. He screamed in pain, as he was falling, he saw hope coming in as Lyna¡¯s group came barrelling in. Then everything went black.


    Lyna¡¯s group crashed into the back of the guards, throwing them into a moment of disarray.


    ¡°Get out of here,¡± Lyna roared at the remainder of Rothar¡¯s forces. ¡°We¡¯ve got this.¡±


    Lyna cut deep into one of the guards around Rothar¡¯s fallen body. Severing his head from his body. She followed up with a second swing that was barely blocked by the second guard''s arm. She didn¡¯t waste the opportunity from her hip she pulled her gun. She pressed it against his stomach and let loose a massive chain of lightning. The guard shuddered as the lightning coursed through his armour and through his body. He fell dead. Lyna went to move on the third who had now recovered. He blocked her attack with his weapon and unleashed a massive fire spell of his own. The sword spewed forth a wave of fire that engulfed Lyna and the surrounding soldiers, friend and foe alike.


    Screams rang out as soldiers from both sides fell down burning. Lyna stumbled back brushing off the fire from her head. She struck back at the guard severing his outstretched arm. In the next motion she took his head.


    ¡°Get Rothar out of here,¡± Lyna ordered two of the soldiers who were injured and headed for healing.

 Chapter 14

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 Chapter 15

    Weeks later, construction on the city was going well. Sumal, his team and the engineers from the guards were working together as if it had always been that way. Suntiana¡¯s group of medics had done an amazing job patching up those they could. Now they were just running check-ups and stopping subsequent infections. Rothar was working with Ashera who had found designs in the tower, now that they could enter it willingly, for an adaptive armour that could be used to replace lost limbs. Similar but more advanced compared to Venthal¡¯s leg.


    ¡°So, when do you think you¡¯ll be done?¡± Rothar asked with a growing impatience. ¡°We¡¯ve been at this for weeks.¡±


    ¡°Patience, Rothar. It¡¯s not easy to integrate elven magic with human tech. I¡¯m almost there, then you can get back to smacking people around,¡± Ashera said stifling a laugh.


    ¡°Good! The damn wolf isn¡¯t doing a good job of whipping the guards into shape,¡± Rothar grumbled.


    Ashera returned her attention to drawing the diagrams around the newly constructed arm. She went over the inscriptions on the arm. Making sure she didn¡¯t make a mistake or miss anything. She loaded up the program on the computer, linked to the magitech, as she was now deeming the combination of elven magic and human technology, that would be used to power the arm. With a click of a button, the arm was slowly injected with the magitech, the magic circles started to glow. The light grew as the arm turned a vibrant red. The markings on the arm became so hot they melted into the arm. The injection finished, and the magic glow died.


    Ashera turned to look at Rothar and said, ¡°Well here goes nothing.¡±


    Ashera picked up the arm, small tendrils extended from the shoulder. They reached out looking from somewhere to attach. She held it up to Rothar¡¯s arm. She looked at him to make the final move when he was comfortable.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Is it going to hurt?¡± Rothar asked.


    ¡°Probably¡­ lots actually,¡± Ashera told him frankly.


    Rothar nodded and pushed his shoulder against the arm. The pain was agonizing, dropping him to his knees. Rothar screamed until no scream came out. His face froze in anguish, his eyes pleaded with Ashera to make it stop. It dug into his shoulder connecting to his nerves and muscles. They were integrating themselves into his anatomy. The pain seemed to last for days, in truth it was mere moments. Rothar fell limp on the floor drenched in sweat.


    ¡°This was not just painful,¡± Rothar whispered.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have predicted the level of pain that was coming. Sorry, Rothar,¡± Ashera said.


    Artemis and Lyna were training the guards who had changed over to their sides. Some of them showed real promise and were taken to the training. Others were less skilled and would need extended training. With each passing day the guards grew more capable. Lyna had high hopes for them running the island under Cyrths leadership.


    ¡°Hey you not like that,¡± Artemis yelled.


    ¡°Like this?¡± the guard asked.


    Lyna chuckled and made her way over to them. She couldn¡¯t wait for Rothar to get back. Artemis as a combat instructor left her wanting.


    Ashera had left Rothar to recover and headed over to meet Cyrth. She wanted to discuss the plans for the city and the entire island now that it was under their control. She found Cyrth standing outside the barracks looking up at the sky.


    ¡°Being free has a way of changing how things look, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Ashera asked.


    ¡°Ha,¡± Cyrth laughed, ¡°we aren¡¯t free. Not until the elves are completely removed from power.¡±


    ¡°Good answer,¡± Ashera said, with a smile. ¡°Listen I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡°No need to say it boss. I know you want me to stay here and run the island recruiting those we can and protecting those we don¡¯t.¡±


    Ashera wasn''t surprised he had figured it out. After all his quick thinking was why he had been used to infiltrate the guards in the first place.


    ¡°Can you guess what I¡¯m going to say next?¡± Ashera teased.


    ¡°That you¡¯re going to miss me and want one final night of...¡± a hard punch cut Cyrth off.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be cheeky,¡± Ashera said through a smile. ¡°After we get the city up and running, we¡¯ll be using the ship to get off the island. You¡¯ll have to report it sunk to the mainland. I¡¯ll be taking most of the people we trained back in the base with us. It¡¯s a good thing most of the guards came around in the end.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, better chances we won''t get found out right away if there are familiar faces around,¡± Cyrth said in agreement.


    Ashera looked up at the sky once more and said, ¡°this is the beginning of something that will change the world.¡±