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Trinity

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The inside of the room looked like it was a large barracks mixed with a prison. There were a dozen bunk beds in the center of the room, each had two children chained to them. There were no tables or chairs the children could get to, they were confined to their bunks and nothing else.

There were six men and four women in the room with the children. Four of the men seemed to be standing guard. The other two men and all four women were wearing black collars and cuffs and seemed to be quite afraid.

The moment we entered the room, the six people wearing cuffs ran to the children to protect them, each of them hugging onto four children at a time.

"Stay calm children." One man soothed his group.

"Please, don't harm the children." A woman begged as the children cried around her.

"We're not here to hurt them." I assured them all. "We're here to save them." I saw hope flood the eyes of the six people protecting the children.

"We will not let you." The other four men sneer at the same time.

"You don't belong here." One of them added. All four men both had their heads shaved and were wearing identical black robes.

"Get ready." I told my team as I readied my arrows. There was no need to worry about if they were going to be prepared, they were top notch.

At my signal the arrows flew and David appeared instantly next to the children on the far right.

"I'm here to take you home." He soothed the children as the others rushed the room. Rawlynne went to the children on the other end. They were working on freeing them of their bindings.

"Queen Trinity, those wearing the cuffs are being forced to serve here."

"He's right Trinity, they have no connection to Edmond outside of those servitude cuffs."

"Why are they being forced to serve them? Doesn't he have his own lackeys?" Shane asked as he produced his lightning sword to cut down the rebounding attack from the warlocks. They were a little harder to deal with than the monsters outside. They had summoned shields to block my arrows, but they would not be able to stop us all on their own.

"Perhaps none of those crazy bastards were capable of taking care of children so they needed to outsource." Dietrich offered his perspective.

"I think you're right Dietrich." I told him. "No matter the reason,they aren't with him and are just as much victims as the children are, free them and take them with us." I immediately saw the light of hope enter their eyes.

"Dietrich, I think your specialty will come in handy here." Shawn told his mate.

"I think you're right mein Schatz." Dietrich smiled as he responded. Did Shawn know that Dietrich had just called him his darling?

I left the four guards to the others and went to help David and Rawlynne with freeing the children.

The shackles on their legs were not coming off easily, and we did not have the keys yet.

"Are these done magically?" I asked the woman closest to me.

"Yes." She nodded at me. "The chains and these." She pointed to the collar around her throat. "If we try to take them off they send an intense burning throughout our bodies." That small light of hope that had entered her eyes was already fading. "We can't leave here Miss." The woman was completely broken."

I knew then and there that I needed to save them all. Every slave of Edmond's would be saved.

'Don't hurt the people with the collars and cuffs.' I told everyone through my mental link. 'They are slaves and here against their will.' I wanted them to know in case there were more slaves in the other rooms.

I focused my attention on the shackles binding the children and did not immediately notice the arrival of several of those beasts. I was alerted to them being there by the screams from the children and terrified looks in the eyes of the caretakers.

When I turned around I saw half a dozen monsters already in the room and more coming.

"Everyone, cover me while I free the children." I ordered the room full of guards.

"You got it."

"Yes Luna.

"With pleasure my Queen." These words and others echoed behind me. I did my best not to pay attention to the battle. I told the children and their caretakers to look at me and to not watch the monsters.

When I touched the metal of the chains it sent an electric shock through my hand. It was so powerful that my hand immediately felt numb. The metal was obviously spelled. Too bad I didn't really know magic yet.

What I could do though, was try to use the same abilities I had when I first shifted. I had been practicing them before and was able to use them on command before. I didn't want to hurt them so I figured my wolf's affinity would come in handy the most right now.

I put my hand on the chain again, ignoring the electric shock feel. I thought of ice, the blistering cold. I concentrated it on the chain only. I willed the ice to infuse itself with the metal, to weaken the metal and make it as fragile as ice.

When I saw the metal change color and frost over, I knew that I had succeeded. All I needed to do now was add pressure to the cuff around the child's ankle. I tightened my fingers and twisted my wrist slightly.

The moment I moved my hand I heard the sounds of the metal shattering between my fingers. I watched as the child was freed and the relief washed over her face.

"You'll be safe now. Just stay here and wait for me." The little girl nodded showing me she had understood.

I went to every child, quickly breaking them free now that I knew how to do it. Once they were all able to leave, I focused on the cuffs on the caretakers. These were not made of metal, so they probably would not break in the same way, but I tried it anyway.

In the end I was right. They didn't become fragile enough to shatter. I decided to try another element. The feel of the collars and cuffs seemed like a sturdy cloth. I wondered if fire would burn them away.

I concentrated on the flames. Just a small thin line of flames running up the cloth. Thankfully it worked. I repeated the action for all the cuffs and collars. All of them were free of their bindings.

It seemed like it had taken me a long time to free them, but it had been just two minutes, if that. The powers were coming more naturally than they had ever done before. I guess ascending in my title had made things easier for me.

When I turned around the battle was still raging. All those that had come with me were fighting the beasts to the best of their abilities. None of them were overwhelmed yet but the monsters just kept coming.

I summoned and unleashed a barrage of arrows on the creatures. The arrows flew around and swerved my friends as they found their way to the true enemies. Within seconds the monsters storming in were on their knees. They weren't finished off but they were less of a threat to those fighting them.

I watched as they were dealt with swiftly. Vincent delivered a finishing blow the last one as it tried to get back to its feet.

Once our room was cleared of threats and enemies, I led the group out of the room, instructing them to protect the children and caretakers.

When I was back in the hall, I saw the long corridor flooded with beasts and warriors fighting. Reece was in his wolf form, fighting against three bests at once. This section of the basement was overrun by the monstrosities. There were simply too many of them.

"Take the kids back into the room and protect them." I ordered Rawlynne. "Gabriel and David you go too. Keep them safe."

"Queen Trinity, we cannot leave you in here." Gabriel objected.

"Just go and do as I said." I ordered him. "I will be fine."

And in truth I would be. I would not let anymore people get hurt because of me. If I failed to protect them in the beginning, then I will save them in the end. This was my battle because these were my people.

"Go." I made the word a command.

As I focused on the monsters before me, I only had one thought. 'Protect my people.' I steeled my resolve, and set my mind. I would do this. I could do this. I would not fail.

I shifted into my wolf, not bothering to worry about the clothes that were about to be ripped in my rush. Then I once again summoned my arrows, and prepared to fight.