Chapter 036:

It had only taken eleven days for Anton and the new villagers to make the return trip. He had pushed them quite hard, something they seemed only recently accustomed to, to make it back as quickly as he could. While he had not seen Verona, or anyone else for that matter, running through the forest to meet them he was still worried about them all, and not just because he had nobody to tussle with.

The thick forest was finally starting to thin, the first proper rays of light that they had seen in almost two weeks graced their bodies. It would be just a few minutes more and Atros would be in sight.

He looked up at the unfamiliar sight of light and pondered on what they had found at the lake.

What little they found.

There was nothing to show that there had been an attack on the Orcs, no blood or bodies. While they resupplied on water Kal had scouted around the edges of the clearing for any sign of them, dead or alive. Despite nearly an hour of frantic searching she found nothing. Any scent they would have left had long disappeared. Kal seemed the most upset by this. Apart from a few of the villagers, the Orcs where one of the very few that treated her with any level of respect. They had even asked if it was wise for her, a half breed beast-kin, to be heading to a human city. It took quite a while to cheer her up.

Currently he was sitting in the first cart of their sprawling convoy. He had walked for a considerable portion of the trip but with Atros so close, he wanted to have as much energy as possible.

Opposite him sat Raston, looking very cheerful. Kals vague prediction of him and Dana becoming a couple had seemingly come true. With over seven hundred people in their group it was quite easy for the two of them to slink away and then emerge an hour later, both moving with a mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction. Anton was going to question their relationship, as to whether Dana had gone through enough time since her ordeal at the mountain for a physical relationship but he held his tongue. Most people would have said that his and Verona's relationship moved extraordinarily quickly, even in a world where courtships happened much more quickly than on Earth. As to whether Dana had recovered or not he reasoned that she was a full grown adult and able to make her own decisions. She did not need his interference.

Lastly, Kal sat beside him. She was still completely covered in her cloth wrappings and kept her arm protectively over the chest with their money inside. It seemed that she would only let Anton near it, something Raston found out to his detriment.

She had remained very quiet on the trip back. There was no way of telling that she was a beast-kin, especially as she had remained on or near the cart the whole time. One night she had prepared another large batch of mushroom soup for the bondsmen and had created quite a rucuss over it. People saw that the mysterious shrouded woman was preparing food, and good food at that.

All of a sudden, dozens of people were firing questions at her while they heartily devoured their food. Questions like who she was, what her real name was, why she was covered head to toe and what her relationship with Anton was.

All the questions launched at her caused her to panic and try to run away. As she was surrounded she could not escape without having to push through people, potentially revealing her beast-kin heritage should someone try and stop her.

Verona had told him that she did not come to the communal dinner after the battle with the Kobolds because there were too many people, and some deep trauma associated with lightning. That was just people sitting about and eating, not in her face with dozens of questions. Anton had intervened when it become obvious that she could not get out of it herself and seemed to be nearing a mental break. She had thanked him profusely after that for many days.

“Kal?" Anton asked to gain her attention.

Her head snapped from looking up at the trees straight towards him.

"Before we get back, and it might get difficult to have a moment free for the next few days, I just wanted to thank you for coming along."

Kal tilted her head even further. It was hard for her to convey her emotions without giving away that she was a beast-kin.

"I mean...we did just kind of drag you onto this trip without really talking it through with you, and it was to travel to a human city. Somewhere you would avoid if you were by yourself, but you came anyway. And looking back on it the reasoning was pretty shitty, all things considered."

"What do you mean?"

There was a serious sense of nervousness in her voice.

"I mean, that as we did not know the limitations of the red crystal... "

Anton looked over at the small box that contained the strange red crystal. They had been following the instruction of burying it in the ground every night and they had not been attacked since the incident with the wolves.

"Oh..." Kal sounded very sad. Her head drooped, something he did not intend for her.

"But," Anton said quickly to cut off any bad thoughts that she might be having. "Without you we would all be dead from those wolves. Besides, I enjoyed having you on this trip."

Kal tilted her head again. He glanced around to see if anyone was listening in. Everyone seemed to be chatting merrily away, even Raston was looking back towards Dana on her horse, like a puppy in love.

"I guess that it's a little hard to put into the right words...It would have been quite boring without you here. I enjoyed having you on this journey, even if the last half has been a little difficult for you."

"Less than it usually is...but, thank-you Anton. I enjoyed this trip as well, even if it did get a bit scary in a few places."

Anton laughed.

"It did, didn't it? But, thanks to you, we pulled through."

Kal nodded, her ears twitching ever so slightly. She straightened her head and body up.

"It was a good decision to come along, even if it was made in haste on my part," Kal replied, "One I know I would have never even dreamed of doing before. Coming here and meeting you all."

She looked down and chuckled nervously and lightly.

"Finally able to trust someone."

Anton chuckled as he reached over and rubbed her head. She lightly mewled at the sensation.

"I hope soon that it will be more than just a few people."

Kal nodded.

"I hope you keep your promise to me." she said in the lightest whisper. It was so quiet that he was sure he was not meant to hear it.

"I will Kal. I'm not going to run away from the promise I made to you."

She seemed a little startled but he could see that he ears and tail were moving so much that they looked like they wanted to burst free. Curiosity was getting to him, he really wanted to know what her tail looked like. Was it like a cats? A dogs? Or something else entirely?

Regardless, he was going to see through in rescuing as many beast-kin as he could.

"Anyway," Kal said somewhat awkwardly, patting her backside and head to stop her body from moving. She seemed to have little control over them when she had strong emotions, "How many of these trips do you have planned?"

She seemed anxious to get onto a topic that would not make her so nervous.

"This is the second time that I have been away from Atros, and I think it will be the last time I head over to Maxill and the Qaiviel Kingdom for a little while."

"But how will you keep getting more bondsmen?"

Anton stretched out his legs before speaking.

"I was thinking of sending a small, well armed group through the forest every time we can get more. A group small enough that they will be protected by the red crystal but strong enough to fend off any attackers."

"Is your plan for the future to go to far off places, establish contacts, get someone else to continue the deals while you head off to the next one?"

Kal seemed genuinely interested, it may affect her as well.

Anton nodded.

"For now, yes. There are so few of us to risk their lives. More now."

He turned back to look at the mass of people following them. For people that had been oppressed they were surprisingly obedient. Or perhaps that was why they listened to his words so easily. None had really questioned where they were going beyond what Raston had told them. For all they knew they might be slavers about to sell them off to Seocuria, even if they may not have been profitable.

The mention of that place was still a very touchy subject for Kal. If they are going to make it there and begin slowly freeing and bringing the beast-kin back successfully, they would need to have a long talk with her on how that empire worked, as well as the one in between, Graterious. But that was an issue for another time.

"Who were you thinking of sending?" Kal asked, not liking the silence that followed during Anton's mental thinking.

"It would need to be someone that we could trust and so could Duchess Belinda."

Anton turned and looked at the person opposite him. Kal let out a strange sound of approval.

“That seems like a good idea.” she mumbled to him, a rare hint of slyness to her voice.

Raston heard the odd way Kal spoke and turned to face them. It was clear that his attention was still focused elsewhere.

"What's happening?" it was clear through his voice that he was clearly still distracted.

"Kal here has just decided that you would be the right person to continue our relations with Qaivel and the Duchess Belinda."

Kal squeaked in surprise, not thinking that he would use her name, even in jest. Raston though looked horrified.

"In all seriousness though, we do need someone to keep relations good and ensure that we can keep getting more bondsmen, as well as start to sell some of the things we make."

"But-"

"And it can't be me as I'll be heading to Graterious, to the north east, soon."

Kal perked up. Beyond that lay Seocuria, and the rest of her kind.

"Well... Am I really the best person for this? Someone that used to be a bondsmen in the Duchess's service?"

Anton shrugged and smiled.

"Even though she, and by that I probably mean Alfred, will be physically dealing with you, you will be acting on my behalf. And vice versa."

Kal cocked her head and Raston looked a little confused.

Oh, right.

"Basically the same applies to you. Also, since you were a former bondsmen it will give you a lot of sway over them."

Anton looked back to the bondsmen. Word must have spread from the homesick villagers that they were almost there, their faces had lifted and they moved with a renewed energy.

"I doubt that they would have come along so smoothly without you being here to help them."

Raston chuckled and smiled warmly.

"A few blasts of that magic of yours would keep them in line."

Anton shook his head.

"Fear, fear of me, will only get us so far. It will work in the short term, but it would not last and need to become greater each time something went wrong to keep them in line. We need something else as well if we want Atros to grow properly."

"You... You aren't going to rule through fear?" Kal asked. "With someone like me here... It might be hard not to. And if you find more..."

"Rubbish." Anton waved his hand dismissively, Kal seemed quite taken aback. "Despite your.... Heritage, the villagers have no problem with you, and they haven't blabbed to the bondsmen either. They just need some time to adjust and someone to make sure they don't do anything stupid."

Kal hummed in agreement.

I have not forgotten what you said, about most of the beast-kin not looking even remotely human. We will deal with that when we come to it.

She rapped her clothed fingers on the wooden crate. Her head turned to him but then backed down. He was not going to try and force every little thing out of her. She had already shown, with a punch to his gut, that if she wanted to do something she would.

"But, back to our original topic, I would like if it were you."

Raston did not look convinced.

"You'll be taking with the red crystal, and about the same number of well armed soldiers with you each time."

"I... Uh."

"And it'll look good for your girlfriend."

Raston frowned.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Who isn't?" Kal asked, tilting her head.

Anton had no idea if Kal had planned that, or if it was just good innocent timing, but it did the trick. His face started to flush and he tired to desperately hold in his embarrassment.

Kal, amazingly, giggled at the sight, making Raston even more embarrassed. He calmed down and mumbled that he would think about it.

Dana raced her horse towards them, stopping when she come along side the cart. Her usual stoic face had softened over the last few days. Anton hoped that she was not worried about why the both of them were laughing at Raston's reaction.

There seemed to be something else on her face, something that he could not quite put down.

"You two love birds seem to be having fun." she said in her usual cold voice.

"If anything, I should direct that at you two." Anton retorted, enjoying the sudden flush of embarrassment on Dana's face.

"Wha-"

Anton chuckled.

"Come on, everybody knows about it."

Dana and Raston glanced at each-other before looking back at him. Both seemed a little embarrassed.

"You both disappear for a while and then you come back looking completely different. All relaxed and whatnot."

He did not know why, but he wanted to tease them a little. Hopefully not because he was feeling pent up himself.

"That-"

"We-"

They both tried to talk their way out of it but could only fumble.

"I'm just teasing the both of you. I think it's really cute."

It only made them redden even more.

Dana coughed to try and steady her mind, with some success.

"I did not ride up here just to get involved with an embarrassing conversation with you."

No, you wouldn't.

"But have either of you looked towards Atros?"

Anton had not. The trees were very thin and it would be only a hundred meters or so before they were clear. Even with the foliage still covering some of his vision he looked out.

There seemed to be more smoke, but that could be explained by the increase in their industrial output. But it was where it was coming from that started to play on his heart. While there were quite a few small, and one large, trails of smoke coming from where he knew Atros stood, there were quite a few further south. Roughly coming from the bone-yard.

He said nothing, those near him said nothing until they were clear of the forest. Kal even moved the cloth away from her eyes so she could see clearly.

The city was smouldering.

Terrible images of Verona and the others burning to death flooded his mind. He felt his breath and heart increase while he stared. It was Kal who snapped him out of it. She grabbed his hand hard, enough so that her claws dug into his skin. The sharp flash of pain brought him to his senses.

She said nothing as she looked straight at him. He patted her head, which got another cute whimper from her, and turned back to the village.

He chanted the sight prayer in his head, making sure for it to last until he wanted it to stop. Now was not the time to start experimenting with whatever he could do with the prayer power.

It was nowhere as bad as he first thought. While some buildings seemed they had been on fire, they seemed to be new ones. New ones, unfortunately probably built to house the new bondsmen. Smoke still billowed out of the remains. There seemed to be a second wall as well. The villagers had done well to build it so quickly. This second wall was larger and seemingly more well built than the previous one. With his eyesight enhanced to unimaginable levels he could see many marks, white scratches, covering the entire outside of the western section, mainly on the southern side. He had no idea what could have done this.

The further to the south of wall he looked the more red it became. There was blood, old blood and flesh, ingrained into the wall.

What the gods told him before, the demons, came back into his thoughts. He had not seen one yet but they were meant to be horrific creatures of fire, teeth and hate. The marks did not look like they were from any creature he knew of, but there were the strange creatures in the gods realm when he was brought here. They were nothing but teeth and eyes, hidden in shadow. Images of those shadowy creatures descending upon the city were terrifying.

"There's something to the south." Kal mumbled loudly.

The new bondsmen were talking amongst themselves quite loudly as they cleared the forest. They could see the city, the one that Raston had promised them would herald a new future for them, was in serious danger. Raston stood up and moved to the back of the cart in an attempt to calm them down as they continued towards Atros.

To the south, where the other lines of smoke came from, were six stone pillars with a round larger tablet on top. They circular tablets were side on so he could not see what was on their faces but, in his heart he knew what they were.

Kobold totems, ones that worshipped the elven goddess of the forest, Nithroel. An enemy of his gods, and now of him.

Just like at the lake there were dozens upon dozens of the small leather tents with six larger tents behind the stone totems.

That camp that we destroyed only had the one. Have they been attacked by six groups of kobolds?

There was some movement around the camps. There were grey, brown and a red-brown coloured creatures moving from tent to tent. He had no idea as to how many kobolds there were but they had not seen them yet.

"Kal, you said the kobolds have a good sense of smell but bad eyesight, right?"

She nodded frantically.

"Yes, but they will see us coming before we make it to the safety of the walls."

He was about to ask what she meant when she pointed towards the wall.

There was something long and shiny rising above the wall. It almost glittered in the early morning sun. The further he looked the more he saw. They were spears, resting against the wall.

A head, bandaged and a little bloody, raised itself up, glanced around to the south before dropping back down again.

There are people still alive in there. We have to help them.

Anton withdrew the enhanced vision and turned to Dana.

"Can you carry another person on your horse?" he asked somewhat frantically.

Dana seemed to understand right away.

"Yes. With just the two of us we can move very quickly." she answered, bringing the horse close enough so it almost touched the side.

Anton motioned for Raston to move, who did so a little reluctantly, and hopped onto the horse behind Dana. It was an odd sensation, having a massive animal beneath him, but Dana and the other horse riders seemed comfortable with it.

"We'll go on ahead and find out what is going on," Anton told Raston and Kal, while Dana was getting the horse ready to charge, "Once we've gotten far enough away, get everybody moving towards Atros."

Anton took a deep breath, readying himself for an unpleasant possibility.

"If it is not safe...we'll turn around and head back to Maxill."

Raston opened his mouth to protest the last part but said nothing.

"It won't come to that." Kal said defiantly.

"I really hope so." Anton replied.

"You don't want me to come with you?" Kal asked, just as Dana was about to whip the reins.

Her hand was held out, just like she did at Lester's shop. She wanted to come with them. But this was not the time.

"I want you to stay with the bondsmen," he replied, "Keep them safe for me."

She nodded fiercely, moving her arm around the money box and holding it tight.

Not exactly what I meant but that'll have to do.

He turned to Dana, her head was side on as she looked back at him.

"So, how do I hold on?"

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

"No." Anton replies, sounding somewhat regretful. "The closest I got was learning how to steer one of these Ix creatures."

If on cue the lead reptilian Ix snorted loudly, he could see the vapour from its breath.

"Well, just hold onto my sides then so you don't fall off."

It felt a little odd to hold the waist of someone else's partner, especially when that person was a meter away. Anton did not look over. He did not want Raston to think that there was something going on.

As soon as his hands made contact, Dana whipped the reins and yelled a short yelp, and the horse bolted forward.

---[]---

Halfway to Atros and he could see nothing different. He was glad that he had deactivated the sight enhancement, bobbing about on the galloping horse would have made for a truly nauseating experience.

Dana occasionally looked back, to make sure that he was still alright and the bondsmen and their villager guards were following. They were but they seemed to be in no rush.

Less than minute later a horn blew out from the city wall. He had no idea where it came from. From this distance it was hard to make out any difference between a cautious head peeking over and the buildings behind.

Dana slowed the horse down. Now it was slow enough that he could use the sight enhancement magic without being sick. He chanted the prayer power once more and looked out.

There were more heads appearing over the wall, some of them had a roughly formed steel helmet. It appeared Jonathan was continuing his good work. The faces underneath were tired and dirty. It looked as if they had not slept for days. Perhaps they had not. Their eyes were squinting to get a better look, they must have had no idea that he could see them.

Over the next minute more villagers made their way to the western wall and its lumbering gate. It was too far away to shout yet, they would have only heard intelligible mumbling.

Some villagers rose up to get a better view, still half obstructed by the wall. They were quickly pulled back down, quite forcefully so. Everybody was still on high tension.

Finally, the gate groaned open. One of the halves of the gate creaked backwards and a man on a horse ventured forth. Whomever it was they were very nervous. He looked back at the wall and appeared to shout something back.

He brought his horse to a quick run and rode straight towards them.

Anton turned off the enhanced sight. He did not need it so see what was going through his mind.

At first he appeared very nervous like he was walking into a trap. A few seconds after that there was a profound sense of relief, visible even from such distance. He smiled and cheered, the horse running as fast as it could until he was a few meters away. With a forceful pull he brought the beast to a halt, turned it around and began trotting next to them.

"Thank all the gods that you've returned. You two are a welcome sight for us all." he said, he was almost out of breath but he smiled with reckless abandon.

"It's good to see you too,". Dana said with a rare smile.

She looked back at Anton and then to the rider.

"What has happened?" she seemed very nervous. Anton knew that she had a brother, one that had braved the mountain with him to find her. The last thing she would want to hear was that he was dead.

"Kobolds. It...It has been a trying time." the rider replied, some of the happiness disappeared along with it. "But everyone will be glad to hear that you have returned."

"Is Verona still alive?" There was a slight pain in his chest. He did not want to loose his smiling silver fox.

The rider nodded, but there was something in his face that unsettled him.

"Yes, she is alive." He replied, "Everybody on the council is alive. We lost very few people considering what we were up against, at least Jeff says so."

Hearing that they had lost some villagers made him feel a little nervous. How would they treat him now that he returned with more people, if he had stayed their own would not have to had died. He felt Dana tense up as well.

"How many?" she asked, nudging the horse to move faster.

The rider matched their speed before answering.

"At the last count, I think forty or fifty I think." He shrugged, "Would have been a lot worse without that second wall."

It would have been even less if I had been here.

"Even more without those weapons you brought from the west."

Anton cocked his head.

"Those crossbows that you brought back worked really well when they were clambering over the wall."

There were that many kobolds?

"But really, it was Jonathan's new forge that helped us the most."

The rider thumped on his chest. It resounded with a dull thump. Underneath his shirt he was wearing some some of metal armour.

"This saved me from a few strikes that would have laid me down for dead."

"How many kobolds attacked?" Anton asked.

The rider shrugged.

"Not sure. The others will be able to explain it better."

His hands tightened on the reins, giving the horse a quick whip. It jolted forward and it ran towards the gate.

"I'll let them know the good news!" he shouted back.

"Should we go back for the others?" Dana asked.

He took another quick look south to the Kobold camps. They seemed to have noticed them but did not appear to be doing anything. Of course, that could all change when they got sight of the seven hundred unarmed bondsmen.

"Good idea. It'll let the others get ready. We also don't want those kobolds trying g something when we are inside the safety of the walls."

Dana nodded and turned the horse around.

---[]---

Anton returned to his previous position on the cart next to Kal. They all seemed very nervous when they came back but those originally from Atros seemed the most relieved. Although the news that there had been some deaths did not help the mood.

Kal seemed very happy herself. She wouldn't have to go back to wandering the wilds and soon, if the new people took the news that she was a beast-kin well, would no longer have to cover herself up.

The kobolds gathered at the edge of their camp but they did not attack. From what he could see they were badly wounded. It would have been extremely foolish of them to attack such a large group of people in their current state. There still seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

When they were very close the gate swung completely open. The soldiers stood up from the protection of the wall and cheered. He heard his name being called out to many times. They did not seem angry at him for leaving.

More and more bleary eyed villagers emerged. They all seemed to be wounded to some degree but as soon as they saw him their faces lit up.

I'm going to be doing quite bit of healing for the next few days, if nothing else.

Dana and Raston ordered the carts to all fit inside. It was a bit of a mess as most of the drivers wanted to stop the moment they had made it inside the walls, the somewhat temperamental Ix did not help.

The few guards on duty started to swarm around them. They were tired, dirty and wounded. Most of them looked to on the verge of tears at seeing them return.

The inner gate groaned open, even more villagers poured out. He recognised a few but he was missing a very important one.

He moved his head about to get a better view. As she was so much shorter it was hard through the taller villagers. Eventually, as the villagers neared the carts, he saw it. A small head of silver hair darted through the crowd, pushing its way to the front. Above it was the red crystal tip of her spear.

All the villagers were talking at him, asking what had happened, but he could not hear them. He he could hear was deep feminine voice telling them to move out of her way.

As he hoped of the cart, ignoring the sound of the old and new bondsmen talking, the silver head moved even faster. His heart skipped a few beats as she disappeared once again.

The moment his feet touched the ground she burst through the final wall of villagers. She dropped the spear, not caring where it landed, and lunged at him.

She collided with his chest with an almighty thump. Her arms wrapped themselves around him and he did the same to her. Tears streamed down her face as she buried her face into his chest. She attempted to speak words but nothing came out other than incoherent mumbles. Warmth, one that he had not felt for some time, flowed into him, calming his heart.

Many of the new bondsmen looked at the scene but said nothing.

He freed one hand that was holding her tight and slowly stroked her hair. It was hard, greasy and gritty. He did not want to judge but she looked like a mess, but he was just glad to have her back in his arms. She was quietly sobbing and laughing into his chest.

"I've missed you so much...I was honestly starting to wonder if you were going to ever come back to me." she cried while suppressing a laugh.

"Did you honestly think for a moment I wasn't?" Anton asked back.

Verona released her death grip around his chest and looked up at his face. Her ice blue eyes, that were red and puffy from crying, stared deeply into his own. Eventually she cracked and laughed. He had missed that, and her smile.

"Never."

She pulled him down hard by the shirt and kissed him deeply. It was one of longing and lust, all mixed into one. It was some time before they broke it. When they did, Verona's face was scarlet red. Despite what she had done before, intimate acts in public were very embarrassing to her. And to him if he was honest. He enjoyed it too much to try and stop her.

With a free hand he brushed her long silver hair out of her face. She giggled slightly at the sensation of his hand touching her face.

With their kiss broken Verona rested her hands on his hips. He moved his own hands to hold hers, but she let out an odd noise as her hand recoiled from his touch. One that was for him to stop. She had not used it before.

It was only then, despite hugging and kissing her, that he actually took a good look at her. He had been too distracted by relief to notice until now.

She was dressed like Kal was; long sleeved shirt and pants underneath her armour, her hands were covered with roughly bandaged cloth as was her neck. Only her face was exposed.

He moved back slightly, and despite Verona's quick protest, held her hands. The bandages seemed rushed, they were not as well done as Kal's. Each hand was made from different coloured pieces of cloth that bulged over each finger, rather than the slim and tight wrappings of Kal.

Her face was pained but not from some physical pain. It came from deep within, something etched onto her every thought.

Relenting to Anton's stares, she undid the bandages on her hand. He was expecting deep wounds, or at the very worst an infection of some kind. The reality was much more peculiar. As the bandages came free it revealed her white skin but red tribal marks covered at least half of her skin, the same as those that extended from her glyph. They snaked over her skin, following the lines of her bones and covering right up to the tips. Before they had only been on her back and parts of her limbs but never this far.

There were almost tears in her eyes when she looked up at him again.

"They...They started to spread when the kobolds attacked," she began to explain, a strange look of shame on her face, "I've had to keep using my power every day to help keep them from getting over the wall and killing everyone."

Her neck, right up to her chin, was bandaged as well.

"I...thought it the right thing to do to try keep everyone safe. But, now I'm afraid. They..."

She moved closer and lent her head against his chest. He rubbed her head again. In the few spots where the hair was thin he could see snakes of red running all over her scalp. He could even see the tiny flickers of red reaching out from her neck bandage now that he was close enough. As if the marks were trying to strangle her.

"Does it hurt?" his voice nearly a whisper.

She shook her head, still leaning into his chest.

"No. But..."

She pulled her head back upright and moved back for a hug which Anton gave.

"There are...other...things. Things that have gotten worse each day I've fought with my power. They aren't happening when I don't use my power but...I am worried what this means. For me. For us."

It sounded like she was about to cry again.

He lent down, tilting her head backwards and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Her face flushed with embarrassment as they were doing it so publicly, the people around them were starting to quieten and look to him.

"We're going to figure this out. Together."

Her eyes welled up and tears started to flow. Something could not let him see her like this, so he wiped them away as delicately as he could.

"Okay." she said, nodding deeply.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Both hands came up and slapped her cheeks quite hard. A slight tinge of red formed on her cheeks as she began to smile again, he would need to ask what she just did later, but she did seem to be acting a little happier.

"We've got a few things to do before that."

She nodded to the waiting bondsmen. Her eyes continued to travel around until they stopped at one figure. She took a deep breath and readied herself for something.

"Kal!" she exclaimed happily. "What are you still doing up there?"

Kal had not moved the whole time, now she looked quite lonely on top of the cart all by herself.

"Hello Verona. I'm just guarding this box."

Kal patted her cloth wrapped hand on the locked box. Verona turned to him and threw up a quizzical silver eyebrow. He lent in so the others could not hear.

"She's guarding the box with all the money in it." Anton explained. "She has taken it as a sort of mission to look after it until we returned."

"Huh. Well, you're back now so you can come on down." Verona tried waving Kal down.

Kal shook her head. "Someone might try to steal some."

Verona groaned, loudly and dramatically, before picking up her spear and starting to climb onto the the cart. When she was halfway she turned and held out her hand for him to join her.

As he took it, her finger tips flinched at the moment of contact. Her face was pained, hidden well underneath her wide smile. The extended marks terrified her, but seeing him must have reminded her of the recent past when she did not have them. Touching them brought her back to the present, and the knowledge of whatever the marks were doing to her.

He did not want to see her like that. It made him feel quite ill that someone he loved was going through so much pain and apprehension about even touching him.

We will figure this out.

He took her hand and got back up onto the cart. Verona motioned for Kal to stand up.

"I-"

Kal never finished her sentence. The moment she was standing upright Verona pulled her in for a hug, her face landing square into Kal's breasts. She squeaked in surprise, quite cutely so, and looked to Anton for help. He could only smile at her. He did not think that Verona had many friends her own age, or at all. Now probably less so.

Finally she parted, eyes transfixed at her chest.

"Wow." Verona mumbled softly, causing Kal's hands to start twitching from embarrassment.

"It's good to see you too, Verona." Kal said somewhat shakily as she pried Verona free.

"Sorry," Verona said as she moved underneath Anton's arm, "It's been tough here for a while and seeing a friend again is a really good thing."

Kal looked between both of them.

"I've known you only for a few days, Verona. I don't know if that makes us friends."

Verona shrugged.

"It does to me." she said. "Thank-you for bringing him back safely."

Kal then looked at him.

"I think you're a good friend too, Kal."

She tried to hide it but here ears perked up.

"By the way Kal, why are you all...?" Verona waved over her own face, referencing Kal's cloth wrappings that covered her whole body, specifically her face.

Anton lent down to Verona's ear.

"We haven't told the bondsmen yet that Kal is a...you know. There were seven hundred of them and a lot less of us on the way back. I didn't want one of them doing something stupid while we were travelling through the forest."

Verona nodded thoughtfully.

"That's a good idea. But they'll need to be told soon, they could get even angrier when the truth comes out. It'll be like they couldn't be trusted with it."

Anton was taken a little aback by the change in Verona. She was more thoughtful and was trying to think into the future. He liked it a lot. It was a shame that it coincided with the Kobold attacks.

He parted from Verona's ear and stood upright again.

"I was meaning to ask, but I'm guessing that the Kobolds are not much of a threat now. If they are I would hope that you weren't just waiting for me to ask."

Verona smiled and looked up at him.

"Most of them are gone. Well, dead. I saw to that. There's still quite a few left but they're pretty wounded. We decided not to go out just in case they manage to ambush us. Besides, now that you're here it wont take more than a few of yours explody things and they'll be all dead."

There are those totems to Nithroel in the camp... I don't like where this escalation is heading.

"You took down thousands Kobolds by yourself?" Kal asked, some of the air seemed to escape from her lungs.

"Yep." Verona answered matter of factly.

Kal sighed and shook her head, bringing a hand up and pushing hard on her temple.

"I shouldn't be surprised with you two anymore. You are the strangest humans I've ever met."

Verona could not help but laugh, quickly followed by Anton and Kal. It felt good to laugh.

Raston made his way through the crowd and joined them on the cart.

"How are they doing?" Anton asked.

Raston smiled.

"Considering the city they just moved to is under an attack from Kobolds-"

"They'll be finished off soon." Verona cut in.

"Regardless, I think they are doing well. I was very nervous when I first arrived here. It looks like the other villagers are quite welcoming, though that might be since they think that a whole bunch of reinforcements arrived."

"Can anyone see Bertram or one of the others?" Anton asked.

They looked around. Kal made a noise and pointed towards the center of the village. Slowly making their way through the crowd was the unmistakeable bald head of Jeff, behind him looked to be Sam, Sybil and Bertram. The crowd parted as they realised they were important people.

"It's about time that you got back." Jeff said in a booming voice.

"We came as fast as we could. Not that we knew what was happening." Anton replied. "I hear that you got into the a bit of trouble while I was gone."

Jeff laughed.

"Yeah. It hasn't been that fun. They've been attacking the past twelve or so days, but now they've got nothing left. If you hadn't appeared in a few more days we would have seriously thought about heading in there and wiping them out. Now we got these new guys to help us...”

His head looked around to the new bondsmen, letting out a long whistle of surprise.

"This is a lot more than I was thinking you would bring." Bertram looked a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of new people present. It was almost their whole village again. “Maybe two or three hundred...how many have you brought?”

"A little over seven hundred. With everything that has happened, there isn't time to delay. Especially with these Kobold attacks."

Anton was not going to reference the Yellow Goblin attack they suffered before he left in the range of the bondsmen. He squatted down so he would be able to talk to Jeff without having to shout. Jeff and the three moved closer.

"All of these carts are filled with weapons and armour that we so desperately need. They're not the same quality of those special weapons that we found in the mountain but they look pretty good."

He opened up a thin wooden crate and showed the contents within. They looked quite pleased and happy to see the shiny pieces of armour packed tightly together.

"How many did you get?" Jeff asked. He began rubbing his hand over to metal chest piece.

"Quite a few. There's a lot more armour sets, swords, bows and crossbows as well as the arrows and bolts for each."

Bertram frowned.

"This looks like it cost quite a bit."

"Nothing too much." Anton replied. "About twenty gold coins, or one of those ruby crystals."

"Is that how much they are worth?" Bertram and Sybil asked. They had been sleeping next to a room filled with an unimaginable amount of wealth.

"I'll fill you guys in later about what happened at Maxill. But right now we have the Kobolds to deal with. I'm guessing that the Kobolds aren't going to attack just yet, but...how many did we loose?"

They all looked a little grim.

"About two hundred are badly wounded." Sybil answered quietly. "We've lost sixty seven."

"Fuck." Anton hissed.

There were not that many villagers and they would need all they could get, they could not afford to loose any to a gods grudge.

"Most died on the seventh day of the siege," Jeff continued, "When the third and fourth Kobold groups attacked. They just ran up the walls and poured through a breach. Verona put a stop to that but the damage had been done."

There was a faint and pained smile on his face.

"We lost a lot less than we would have if we didn't have the walls, or if Verona went with you."

If she had, you would all be dead.

"We'll get to the Kobolds soon enough, but I really want to get this sorted first. I'll have Verona explain it to me in a bit."

His eyes turned to the patiently waiting bondsmen.

"Do we have enough space and food, for these people?"

Bertram and Sybil nodded.

"We do,” Sybil answered, “So long as we all are willing to make some sacrifices to our rations and they are willing to sleep a little cramped. Verona made sure that we keep each-other informed on everything that happens around here. It seems strange that we did not do it properly every day, taking her to point it out."

He turned up and saw that Verona was looking very happy with herself. He was liking the change even more.

"I just want to get one thing sorted first, then I'll have to leave it to you guys to get the new bondsmen organised as best you can. We'll then deal with the Kobolds."

"You two aren't just going to...." Sam asked, eyes glancing between himself and Verona.

Verona scratched her neck, showing off the tips of a few of the red marks.

"We're going to have a talk first."

Sam looked quite regretful and mumbled an apology. She seemed to care quite deeply for Verona and to a lesser extent, him. It had been her that had pushed them both into a relationship. He half dreaded what she had managed to claw out of Verona about their sex life. Now she seemed very worried for her. Someone had to have told Verona the marks were spreading where she could not see, and that someone was probably Sam.

"What do you want to get sorted?" Bertram asked.

Antun looked towards Kal, still standing silently. His answer was obvious.

The last thing I want for her is to stay wrapped up like a mummy. Eventually people will get used to the strange person, and if she comes out with her heritage then, I don't know how they would react. Get it out of the way now. I might have to throw in a bit of flair to get the message across that she is not to be touched.

"We'll handle that now, then we can talk about what happened here exactly. Not really a good idea to do it out in the open."

"No. No it isn't." Bertram replied. There seemed to be something greater behind it but Anton did not want to push it now.

"Actually Sam, can I borrow you for a moment?" Anton asked.

"Sure. What do you need?"

Anton picked up the money box and handed it to Sam. She seemed surprised at how heavy it was.

"Can you put this back in the Main Hall along with...the rest of it."

She opened the box and peeked in, slamming it shut the moment she could see in.

"Um, sure. No problem."

She started to walk away, with to be box safely nestled in her arms, when Anton stopped her.

"And, could you leave these just inside the door to our house."

He placed the small bag on top of the box.

"What's in there?" Verona asked, hugging him in an attempt to get an answer out. Physical contact was fine for her, so long as it did not remind her of the new marks.

"A few presents for you." He said.

Her face lit up at the prospect.

"Really? Thank you Anton." she hugged him like it was for the last time.

"You don't even know what it is yet."

Verona shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. I know I'll like it." her face was beaming with her wide smile.

He rubbed her hair roughly and gave her another kiss on the forehead.

“Bertram, there are several barrels in the carts. They need to go to Jonathan's smithy. They're a part of the special project I have going. Just be careful not to get any fire near it. If you see any sort of light blue powder leaking from them, definitely don't get any fire on it.”

Bertram nodded.

“I'll get some people to do that once you've do whatever you're doing right now.”

“Thank-you.” Anton replied.

Now, how to do this right...

He turned to Raston, still standing and waiting. A plan was forming in his head.

"I think I'm going to need your help with this next bit. Just to make sure it all goes well."

Raston smiled and nodded.

"What do you need?"

---[]---

It took five or so minutes for the plan, such as it was, to form. His plan was basically the same that had been used on him to try and get the villagers to act against him, now just in reverse. He hoped it would work.

Verona had decided to sit on the money box to keep it safe. She sat with the spear across her lap, seemingly content to just sit there. He could read a bit of her face though, she was thinking deeply, probably about what she wanted to say to him about her growing marks.

Kal, on the other hand, was a complete mess. She was having trouble standing after Anton explained what he wanted to do. She asked if it was wise to do it this way but relented after he explained his reasoning. It did nothing to calm her down.

"Kal?"

She did not respond.

"Kal?" Anton said with a little more force, enough to get her attention.

She turned to look at him. Her body was shaking and her ears were pinned back as far as they could go.

"I need you to take some deep breaths to calm you down. You look terrible and stressed out."

"I am a little." Kal admitted.

It's not like I'm asking you to strip naked and run through the streets...although, from your perspective, this probably is like that.

"It'll be over before you know it. Then you'll be able to walk around with the sun on your face, just like you said."

Kal glanced over and nodded. She took several deep breaths which seemed to calm her a fraction.

“Okay. But only because I trust you.”

Kal took another deep breath and readied herself. There would be no going back in a minute.

Raston knocked on the edge of the cart, letting him know that he was ready.

Alright, let's get this over with.

Anton stood on top of one of the larger boxes to elevate him well above the crowd. Verona stood up as well, keeping the money box infront of her.

"Everyone, can I have your attention please!” he said as he clapped his hands.

Two seconds later the whole area was dead quiet, one could have heard a pin drop. It was a bit quicker than Anton expected. They had been kept waiting long enough.

"Thank you all for waiting so patiently while we sorted out some issues and said our hellos."

He paused for a moment to make sure they were all listening. They were, which made him feel all the more nervous.

"As you have probably heard, there have been some Kobold attacks."

Some light murmuring began from the new bondsmen.

"This threat has been neutered and will be finished off later today. We have more than enough strength in this village to see them off."

Anton raised his hand, summoning five large lightning and fire bombs above his head. They burst into life, the light from both types reflected in the eyes of all those that saw.

The bondsmen, as if they had been stunned for a moment by what they were witnessing, burst into life and conversation. Looks of fear, surprise and terror covered their faces, many covered their mouths with their hands. It was not exactly the response he intended. He had not used his magic during the travel so they had no idea what he was capable of. They probably thought he was just some sort of strange eccentric.

Many times were the words 'By the Holy Father' were uttered at him, in the same way that people on Earth said 'Jesus Christ'.

From what little he had gleamed from the Qaiviel religion from Raston, was that it was almost a complete distillation of the stereotypes of Christianity. There was a divine being, the Holy Father, that made everything human and good, while another unknown, hateful and horrible, creature made everything bad and sinful. Beast-kin certainly fell into the second category. He hoped that they his display of power would help keep any anger at bay, should the plan not work.

The crowd began to quieten down. He saw some of the new bondsmen looked to the villagers to see if this was some kind of trick. Their blank faces, some looked to be in awe or relief, that told them it most certainly was not.

“While we have you all in one place I wanted to tell you about your state as bondsmen.”

There were many murmurs of dissatisfaction from the new bondsmen.

“Like Raston and the bondsmen that came with him, you are all free.”

He waited a moment for it to sink in. It appeared to be taking some time for them to process.

“There will be no whips, chains or threats of punishment here for those who work and contribute to Atros. You will be given food and shelter for living and working here. Those are the conditions for your new life.”

They seemed to be liking the idea. Most nodded and smiled in agreement. They looked to Raston who nodded, that seemed to make them quite a bit more relaxed. After coming from the oppressive rule of Duchess Belinda, and now promised far better conditions, he hoped it would make the next part easier.

“But, before we get to the specifics of what life will be like for you here, which my good friends here will explain,” Anton motioned to Bertram, Sybil and Jeff, “There is something that I need to talk to you first about, one that may cause some concern."

The bondsmen grumbled something lightly but held their collective tongues.

"During the trip, you would have undoubtedly met or at least seen Kal."

Anton moved to the side a little bit so they could get a good look at her. It seemed to be nothing good for her nerves. He could hear her whispering her mantra at great speed while she tried to stay still. Verona, thankfully, saw this as well and stood beside her for support. That seemed to help.

"She has been a great help to all of us here, especially on the way to Maxill."

There were many murmurs of agreement from the villagers that went with him, and a surprising number of bondsmen.

"But you have probably wondered why she is completely covered."

Here goes nothing.

"That is because I was a little worried what you might think or act if you saw that she is...different. In fact, she is a Beast-kin."

The bondsmen went silent. All their attention snapped to her. Kal kept her calm, somehow.

"Now, you have all been travelling with her for the past twelve days so you know she isn't dangerous just to be near her. I don't know what you have been told about them but I know that she is a kind and caring person, despite all that she has been through. She is a close friend of mine and I want her to be treated the same way as anybody else."

He looked back, Kal taking this as the sign to show her face. Her hands entered her hood and loosened the knot. The cloth came free as she pulled it away with one hand while the other pulled back her hood.

Her dark aqua hair and fur almost shone in the light. But it was her eyes that caught their attention, there was no way to hide the green horizontal cat slit iris's. They were a dead give away for her heritage.

The silence was getting to her rapidly. Her ears were starting to draw back in fear and her body started to retreat.

"Like the rest of you, she is a free citizen of Atros, and I will see no harm come to her from anyone! Now, I do not know what your holy teachings have to say-"

"Fuck the Church!" came a loud voice from the back of the group.

All attention moved to a tall man at the back.

"I remember their teachings, that Beast-kin are the result of our most vile sins and sent to wander the world to haunt us of our failings."

Kal looked a little distressed at hearing this.

That's a bit much for rhetoric.

"But they haven't done a thing for us. Apart from take our money, land and children for their stupid beliefs."

They aren't going to end up being paedophile priests, are they? At least just let them be corrupt.

"They didn't protect us from the Duchess."

The man pointed a finger towards him.

"When he came along the Duchess changed for the better. If he says that beast-kin is alright, then I'll believe in something that actually helped us."

The crowd murmured, mostly in agreement. Some still looked a little dubious about even looking at her. A few more pushes might be needed.

Another voice broke through the noise, this one older but softer. It was an old woman. The crowd parted slightly to let her voice be heard.

"My granddaughter stabbed her foot on a thorn from a Vorpa vine. That lady took the time and removed the thorn, which I could not, and healed her. Had I had known that she was a beast-kin I would have never have let her anyway near her. I'm glad I was wrong. I...I think differently about your kind now."

Anton turned to see Kal looking a little sheepish. She was not on the cart all the time. He felt relieved and strangely proud to know that she would help people who would otherwise hate her so much.

“It causes rot of the flesh if it's not removed right away.” Kal told him in the lightest whisper. “It has special spines that hook into the flesh and releases a poison, so it has to be removed carefully.”

Most of the crowd were, at least, okay with her presence.

"She's pretty cute too!" came another voice.

Anton could not tell where it came from but it lightened the mood. There were a few chuckles from the men, and some angry looks from women directed at those men.

He turned to see that Kal was trying her best not to turn scarlet. Even the tips of her ears, hidden underneath a layer of dark aqua fur, was noticeably more red. If truth were to be told, he did find Kal pretty cute, and not because she was just exotic. Her face no longer looked haggard and had filled out somewhat. So she still looked slim but looked more alive and healthy. The eyes were certainly not off putting, in their own way they were quite pretty.

What the rest of her body looked like underneath the tight cloth wrappings had cropped up in his head more than once. The way her ears moved when she was happy or embarrassed was the most entrancing. They made him feel happy when he saw them twitch and pull back in happiness. He did want to know what they felt like, he knew that the fur on her feet was incredibly soft so it was probably the same. Verona had wanted to get a chance to feel her tail for some time, she would be pretty annoyed if she found out he had knew how soft her fur could be.

Verona saw Kal struggling to hold it together after being called cute and nearly burst into laughter. Kal turned to Anton for help, she would have not had something positive said about her said in such a public venue. Or anything positive at all.

He smiled warmly, which turned out to be the wrong thing for her.

Her head lurched back as her face rapidly overtook scarlet in colour. She let out a cute whimper as she covered her ears with her hands and held her head down.

Verona lost it and started laughing. It was not long before others were as well.

Kal started to laugh herself, something he had not heard her do before. There had been an odd chuckle but never a laugh.

"Okay. Okay." Anton said as he waved his hands down to control the crowd. "As you can see they get embarrassed just like anyone else here would if they were put on the spot like that. She is more 'human' than quite a few people I have met."

Kal started to return to her normal shade while Verona tugged on her sleeve and started whispering into her ear.

"But on a more serious note there isn't going to be a discussion on the matter. Ever. About whether beast-kin should be allowed to live here; that they're sleeping in a house, where they can go and what they can do and talk to. There will be none of that."

Everyone was completely quiet.

"If anyone, and I mean anyone, has any ideas of doing something like that they can answer to me."

He summoned another large lightning bomb, this one made as powerful as he could while keeping it small. The ball shuddered and felt like it wanted to escape its small confines. Arcs of lightning burst out, half a meter long then fizzling out with a loud crack, before Anton withdrew it.

The message was clear. Kal, and any future beast-kin, would be under his protection and if they did not like it there would be lightning and fire to deal with.

He hoped it would be enough until they got to know each-other better.

"If you don't want to live in a city that houses beast-kin, you can turn around and leave right now."

He held out his arm towards the forest.

A few people going in there, without any protection or weapons, was a death sentence. They could either get used to the idea or they could die. Those were their options.

There appeared to be no objections.

"So," Anton clapped his hands loudly to get their attention, "You have all been waiting long enough. We will get you some food and somewhere to sleep. Work will be assigned to you after lunch."

There were some murmurs amongst the new bondsmen.

"Compared to Maxill, and the Duchess, life will be easier for you here. But this is not a charity." He explained. "Everyone has to contribute in some form."

Before any more objections could be heard, Jeff's booming voice quashed any new voices. He quickly started to move the new bondsmen into groups with armed villagers escorting. Some very small groups formed to the side, judging from the faces they were the more specialised former bondsmen.

Raston hopped back onto the cart, looking quite pleased with himself.

"That all went well." He said.

"For now, yes."

Raston tilted his head.

"Once they've had time to settle in and relax, time to think, that's what I'm worried about." Anton answered.

"That they might decide they don't like the idea of living with a beast-kin?" Verona asked.

Anton nodded.

"Yeah. But they've seen my magic and they'll probably ask about you to."

Anton wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she moved closer. The marks were not giving her any mental pain, for now at least.

"So there shouldn't be any trouble."

Raston smiled and needed.

"Your people worked wonders." Anton said, just as Raston was about to leave.

"The last two weren't the people I had."

"Who were they?"

Raston shrugged.

"Two people with honest thoughts. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Yeah, your girlfriend is getting away."

Anton nodded to the edge of the dispersing crowd. Dana waited at the edge, still sitting on her horse.

"Girlfriend?" Verona asked quietly. Anton gave her a little squeeze.

Dana started moving away to the central plaza along with a few other riders.

"Um. Yeah." Raston stammered as he hopped off the cart. "I'll see you all at dinner then."

He raced through the crowd following Dana. It reminded Anton of he behaved when he was much younger, back on Earth.

"When... When did that happen?" Verona asked, seemingly not believing what she was seeing.

"On the return trip. They kept disappearing after a few days and it's not hard to figure out why."

"Wow" Verona answered.

"Sorry about having to put you through that Kal but it kind of needed to be done now." Anton said.

Kal smiled.

"It's fine. I'm glad that I don't have to cover my face for a while."

"You really liked it when they called you cute." Verona slyly teased.

Kal's face started to flush again but she kept it from getting as bad as it did before.

“It was manipulative what you did. Just like what you said you did with the last bondsmen. And now with me. Very manipulative.”

Anton smiled and shrugged.

“I'll do what needs to be done. I don't think it was as bad as last time. Now they are free and have some friends to help them settle in.”

Kal smiled again, she scratched at the torn off ear.

"What Um...Ugh" Kal coughed to correct herself. "Are you going to deal with the Kobolds now?"

Anton nodded.

"Yep. Shouldn't take too long. Can we take you along as well? See if there's anything valuable in the camp."

Kal smiled, not enough to see her teeth, and nodded deeply.

"Yes. I would...like to." she said.

She looked down at Verona's hands, still covered.

"I've been wanting to ask but why are your hands covered? Have you been injured?" There was genuine concern in her voice.

Verona looked very awkward.

"Not exactly." she said quietly.

She unwrapped a section on the top of her hand, showing the snaking red marks underneath.

"What...?" was all Kal could manage.

"Yeah. We're going to have to figure out what they are. Later."

Verona's face frowned deeply.

"Do you know anything about this?"

Kal shook her head.

"Damn. I thought you might. Oh well."

Verona missed it, but Kal opened her mouth to speak but shut it soon after. She was probably about to give an apology where none was needed.

"Alright, we better get this over with." Verona said, freeing herself from Anton and climbing down the cart. Anton followed with Kal taking a moment to hesitate before descending.

Verona turned around to face them as Kal's feet touched the ground.

"Avery's still at the south wall with the soldiers. Jeff should be there soon, once he's got everyone started to get settled in. I'll show you what we've been up against."

She turned and started to walk to the south, making sure they were both close behind.

"Let's finish those bastards off!" she said with no small amount of glee, throwing her spear tip into the air.

------------

(Updated Map: http://imgur.com/jhTZLJC )

Hello.

I wanted to put this one out now, so you guys don't have to wait another month and a half for the next one.

So, this chapter.

The return to hom, finding it had been under siege for nearly half the time. Not a fun thing.

Back at Atros, and quite a few people died. The villagers, with Verona's help, managed to hold against 6 grouos of Kobolds and quite a few of them in each. Some people have died but not someone from the 'main cast', it's not like Atros would get away with no casualties under siege for that long with many thousands of enemies.

Verona's marks have grown immensely, and so has the strain on her mind from her power. So long as she's not using the power it's not a problem, also she's treating it as a 'out of sight and out of mind' problem right now. She's not mad though. She's pushing it back for later as there are things that need to be done for the whole group, so a bit more on how she's changing.

Got Kal's heritage out of the way quickly, while the new bondsmen are still new. Used a bit of magic for intimidation and a bit of crowd control to get the people thinking in the right direction. Kind of hard to go against someone that is essentially a walking nuke, that can use magic as easily as one breathes. It won't take them long to ask about Verona and what she is capable of too, and that she is with Anton and a friend of Kal.

Next chap will be finishing off the remains of the Kobolds and securing their area for the immediate future, starting to find out how much the Elven goddess, Nithroel, actually has to do with this attack and preparing for the future.

If everything goes as planned, should be actually meeting Nithroel at Chp. 39, so look forward to that.

Right, that's everything.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.