As there was still about an hour or so left of daylight left I kept myself moving to cover as much ground as possible. When night finally fell I was then going to turn west and keep walking until I found me a river.

I knew it would not be good for me to not get my sleep but there was not much cover out of the canyon, because what I saw was that I was in the Toa Mirr desert. It was nothing like the sands of the Sahara Desert but what vegetation was here was small and dry, aside from an occasional sad-looking tree.

Now that I knew what the area was like around me, I headed off to the south-east. A while after sundown I stopped and ate a meal. I had seen no signs of pursuit and Kitten had not disappeared so I was confident I was safe at the moment.

When I had rested for a while I decided to head towards the Non' river. I had no idea if I would find any roads or settlements on the river but I would at least have a water source. I also knew that I would be more likely to run into people there. Hopefully, any I did meet were either not intending to go on any Terran hunts or they were still expecting to find me in the canyon and would overlook me. Unless one of the men that had elected not to chase me up the cliffside had already made it to the river and spread the word.

My journey was not too difficult in the dark. Thanks to the light given off by the two moons, despite neither being full, I easily navigated around the rocks and bushes.

I walked all night and still seen no sign of anything. I was having a hard time staying awake but kept walking well until the sun rose. Even then I kept walking until the heat began to pick up. As I was getting low on water I decided to take shelter under one of the trees. When I finished setting up a sunshade I went to sleep.

I awoke to the stars. Since I was now rested I hoped to make even better time tonight. I walked all night yet again. Unfortunately, I was almost out of water. I knew that I could go a day or two without it, but I didn't want to test it.

A few hours after sunrise the next day I made it to the river. This river was much bigger than the one in the canyon, looked much deeper, and was moving much more quickly. There was also a road alongside it. Other than that I saw not a soul.

I immediately refilled my water flasks and then set off down the road to the south-west. I had little desire to go to Eto but I had even less desire to keep wandering the desert. I also needed to go there to get the best prices for the items I had acquired in the canyon.

* * *

I had been following the road for two days now, and for the most part, nothing much had happened. I had met several groups of people along the way, but since I usually hid in the vegetation along the river I was never seen. Kitten always ran off before they came so I knew they were coming.

I knew I could have made faster time by asking for a ride on one of the occasional wagons that passed me, but I didn't want to risk being around anyone for too long. Most of the people I saw didn't look very wholesome, and I had even seen a wagon train with cages filled with slaves. Suffice to say I felt I was much safer on my own.

It was on the third day that something finally happened. As I hid in a dense thicket of bushes another wagon train, coming from the way I had come, came. It was another wagon train filled with slaves. What was different this time was that they had dogs, as the lord in the canyon had.

One dog picked up my scent and headed right towards the bushes I was hiding in.

"You smell something interestin' over there?" A man on a horse said, following the dog over. "Better be something tasty."

The dog entered the bushes and soon saw me. It immediately started growling.

"Is someone in there?" The man on the horse said.

"Something going on over here?" Another man on horseback said, coming over too. The second man had been accompanied by two more dogs.

This was bad. Of all the people to find me it was slave traders and they had horses as well. There was no way I was going to outrun these guys and there were several men with bows and they looked as if they knew how to use them…

"The dog smells someone in the bushes." The first man told the second.

"Think it's a fugitive?" The second man said.

"Does it matter?" The first grinned.

With that said the two new dogs were sent into the bushes after me. As they knew I was here I had no more reason to stay silent.

"Go away," I said.

"A child?" The men said to each other at the same time.

"Come out girl, we promise not t' kill you." The second man said.

"Move along, no new slaves for you here," I said.

"You do not have much of a choice, child." The first said.

Three more men came and joined the first two.

"Why has the caravan stopped?" Said a wealthy-looking man with a thick, graying beard.

"We found a child hiding in the bushes." The second man said. "She knows who we are and will not come out."

"Not even the dogs have scared her out?" Grey Beard said.

I looked more closely at the men. Of the five that were here all of them had short swords and two had bows. None of them had drawn their weapons.

"Come out girl. You WILL be injured if we have to come get you." Grey Beard said to me.

I sighed. It looked like I was going to have to teach some more men what Salis' self defense consisted of.

I ignored the dogs, who had been growling at me but nothing else, and aimed my bow.

Grey Beard soon had the distinction of being the person to hold one of my nicknames for the shortest time ever and soon had an arrow sticking out of his chest.

Thanks to the confusion of their boss being killed I managed to shoot the two men with the bows before anyone reacted.

"She has a bow!" One of the remaining men shouted.

Six more men appeared from around the wagons, two on horseback and three with bows, and three more dogs. By the time these six men had come, taking cover behind the nearest wagon, I had killed one more of the first five men and all the first three of the dogs. I even killed one of the new bowmen before he could get behind cover.

The next thing I did surprised the men almost as much as when I had shot their boss. I had put my bow down with the rest of my belongings and rushed out of the bushes, a dagger in each hand. It only took me a matter of moments to move past the wagon they were hiding behind and I threw each of my daggers at the two remaining men with bows.

I then drew my sword and headed for the nearest man. They had already drawn their swords, so when their surprise wore off all of the remaining men came to meet me. I was too fast for them and my sword too awesome. As I fought I danced through their attacks, slashing chests, severing limbs, and even breaking a sword.

I had surprised even myself at how well I had done. I knew my training might put me at an advantage, but my strength and speed had somehow seemed a little faster than I should have been capable of. Had this been another side effect of what the servant had done to me?

I felt eyes on me. It was the slaves caged in the wagons. None of them made a sound. As I looked at them I wondered what I should do with them. Should I release them?

I decided that it would be a good idea to scout out the rest of the caravan. I didn't want any other men to sneak up on me if they were still there, especially if they had a bow.

I ran from wagon to wagon, looking for signs of danger. When I came to a carriage at the back of the wagon train I stopped. I had seen no other men in the area but I wanted to check the carriage before I let my guard down.

When I opened the door I found that there was indeed someone hiding within. It was a young woman. She was wearing revealing clothing, her chest nearly spilling out. It was most likely the leader's sex toy.

"Please don't kill me!" The woman shrieked and crawled backwards as far as she could.

I ignored her and looked around the inside of the carriage. It was well furnished and even had a small bed inside. Whoever the man that owned this was, he was rich.

"Out," I said to the woman.

She nodded and hurried out from the carriage.

When she left I quickly looked through all the drawers and soon found a key chain. I also found a Wanted Paper with a description of me, a note telling I would most likely be in that canyon, and a reward of two thousand gold for my dead body. When I saw how much the reward was, it made sense why so many men had come after me. I just wondered why it was not 'dead or alive' and just 'dead'.

With the keys found, I exited the carriage. I saw that the woman had already taken off down the road but since she was of no concern to me I let her be and walked to the nearest wagon. I then climbed the wagon and held out the keys to unlock the cage.

When I did this the slaves crowded to the side opposite of the door. The looks of fear on their faces meant nothing to me and I unlocked the door, swung it open, and then jumped from the wagon.

I did this to each wagon. By the time I had finished the slaves had lost some of their fear for me and had climbed out of the cages.

"What will happen to us?" A slave woman said to me. She looked worn and had a few bruises on her body that were barely covered by the thin rags she wore.

"I don't care," I said.

I walked over to the body of Grey Beard and began to search it.

"Why did you save us?" Another slave said.

"It was a side effect of me practicing self defense," I said truthfully.

The slaves murmured to each other but said nothing more to me.

I soon finished searching through Grey Beard's body and stood up.

"How far to the nearest city?" I asked the slaves.

"About another day, I think." One of the few men said.

I walked back to the bushes and retrieved my things before heading back to the carriage. I then made one quick look in the back just in case the woman had returned and dropped my belongings inside before taking the driver's seat and leaving the caravan behind, the slaves watching me with uncertainty as I passed them by.

When Kitten finally came back I said, "Do you know how to drive?"

Kitten grumbled at me and then sat on the roof of the carriage.

* * *

The Servant looked at a sad scene. A large group of newly freed slaves were arguing. It was the group Deko had told him Salis had freed. He saw this as an opportunity.

"Do you need any help?" Servant said to them.

When they saw him the group quickly backed away, aside from a few men that held swords.

"Put the swords down, I am unarmed." Servant said.

The men approached Servant and searched him.

"What do you want?" One man, the biggest, said.

"I want to ask for your services. In return, I promise you will not have to fear slavery again."

"We will be paid?" Another man said.

"If you want, but it is power I offer."

The men looked at the Servant with suspicion.

"What kind of power." A boy said, breaking from the group of slaves, another boy, most likely his brother, followed him.

"Power like the girl that freed you, if not greater."

"We will help!" The second boy said, the first nodding in agreement.

"Are there any others?" The Servant said, looking around.

"Why should we trust you?" The biggest of the men said.

The servant looked at the two boys. He thought they would do. To offset Salis, he needed test subjects willing to do what she would not. Subjects that would not hold back.

The Servant called the boys next to him and touched them each on the forehead.

"If you want power, you must first take it from others."

"How?" The boys said.

"Touch them and take what is theirs. You will know what to do, but be quick." Servant said, motioning to all the other slaves.

The boys looked at him a bit confused but each grabbed a man. The men looked at the boys with irritation and tried to shake them off, but soon each boy had a smile and the men collapsed.

The boys took his advice to be quick and went quickly to their next victims. The boys simply had to touch their victims from this point on and with the men that were holding the swords dead none of the other slaves could stop them.

The Servant was pleased. These boys would be excellent test subjects. He just wondered how long it would take them to overtake Salis. The boys would be no match for her skill but they had already absorbed the life of more than she had and with what he had planned to do with them the gap would soon be vast.

"Come, boys." He said when the last slave lay dead. "There is someone that requires our service and I promise there will be plenty of opportunities to get stronger as we help him."

The two boys rushed over to him and the three soon vanished.