Halbraker brought us to yet another pair of large ornate doors. The doors themselves were identical to the other pairs we’d seen, but the intricate patterns were different, and I wondered if the different patterns had meanings. I didn’t bother asking Halbraker. He was a man on a mission.

When we reached the end of the secondary tunnel beyond the doors, we exited from a small, rocky outcropping next to a large town. I was both surprised and intrigued as to who lived here. It looked very much like one of the Malatian towns we’d visited. As we approached the place warily, Sania sniffed at the air before speaking to me.

“The town is all but deserted. I can sense a small number of people in the center, but that is all. I can't make out what race they are, but I can tell you they are neither beast kin nor demon. Could be human or…”

“Are there humans up here?” I asked surprised.

Halbraker looked back at me confused. “Up where?”

“Sorry, I meant humans in Kalabri.”

“Of course there are. This is a human settlement. Who else do you know who would build like this?”

“Well, I don’t know every race there is,” I answered while inspecting the city. “I didn’t realize we might be saving humans too.”

“Does it matter?” Sania asked.

“No, not at all, just surprised is all. No one has ever mentioned humans living in Kalabri at any point.”

“We didn’t mention a lot of races up here,” Sania said, now with a look of confusion.

“Well, we’ve mentioned Dokalfar and beast kin and even Fensalfar to go rescue. Why not human?”

“Perhaps because no one here is human. Perhaps because humans are the least trustworthy and most manipulative.”

“Well shit. So you really don’t like humans?”

“As a race, no, I do not,” Sania answered, and I could tell she was being honest, and it shocked me.

“Neither do I,” Grastad boomed from only inches behind me.

“They’re very hard to like,” Danivra added.

“Agreed,” Halbraker offered too.

It left me feeling awfully strange about the whole thing. Especially since I technically wasn’t even human anymore.

“Well, just so you know, if we find humans in need of help, I will be offering it.”

“Of course,” Sania said. “Why wouldn’t we?”

“I dunno. I think I’m reading too much into this. Come on and let’s find out who’s hiding in here.”

We moved slowly and carefully into the town, watching out for signs of trouble. The place was an absolute mess. Collapsed buildings and rubble-strewn streets throughout.

I looked over to Halbraker, speaking quietly, “So you traded with this town?”

“Not from Nuinaer. This is in Agorak’s trade sphere.”

“Ah, right. So do you know what this place is called.”

“Issel,” Halbraker said, looking around, taking in every detail.

“Did you know it had been attacked?”

“No. Though, I will send a message back through Kalin when we return to the Nideland.”

“Yeah, I wonder where everyone is?”

“Dead or fled,” Halbraker answered.

“I don’t think they all died, or there’d be bodies everywhere.”

I received another curious look from him. It was Danivra who replied.

“My Lord Clive. Most of Destruction’s forces would devour the remains of their kills, bones included. Every level of demon, certainly even the imps, would come to a place like this and lap up the blood from the cobbles.”

“Urgh. Fucking gross, man,” I said, feeling a little ill at the thought of it.

“No more gross than us using every last part of our kills when hunting. To do so would be disrespectful to the creature killed. It is just the way of the demons.”

I shook my head, but I understood what she meant. “Fair enough. I think I need to work on my perspective a little,” I said as we came up to the central building.

The similarity to our own castle in Far Reach was striking. I noticed it was literally the only building that stood relatively undamaged. That filled me with a little confidence for our own future battles.

I marched forward and banged on the big wooden doors that barred the entrance.

“Move!” Danivra, Sania, and Grigor all cried at the same time.

I didn’t hesitate for a second and dove out of the way without knowing why yet.

It didn’t take long as a huge slab of concrete dropped in front of the door where I’d been standing.

Everyone had jumped into action. Danivra and a few of the Dokalfar had returned fire, but from my position on the ground, I couldn’t see anyone from the top of the building responsible.

“Stop!” I shouted. “They could still be friendly and just thought we were an invading force. Gimme a minute,” I said, getting to my feet.

My rise from the cold hard floor didn’t stop there as I lifted straight into the air toward the roof. I moved relatively slowly so as not to cause alarm. Sania, quick as always, flew up to catch me.

As we crested the crenelated rooftop, there stood around ten human soldiers, bearded, grizzled, and angry. A few arrows flew at us immediately. The ones I didn’t manage to move out of the way of smashed harmlessly against my body.

“Clear off, demons! You’ll never take the last of us,” one of them shouted, leveling his longbow at me.

“We don’t want to hurt you. We can help you, though.”

The big man holding the bow eased the arrow a fraction. Not enough to remove the threat, but it took the visible strain from his arm.

“How could you possibly help? Our town has been massacred.”

I calmly explained about Far Reach and what we were trying to do there, while holding my position in the air.

“If you look down at the people you just nearly killed below. You’ll see only neutrals from Kalabri plus a handful of Dwarves acting as escorts.”

“Why are they helping you when they have turned their backs on us?”

“That’s not for me to say. Now can I come in and land and we can talk properly?”

He conferred quietly with those he stood on the roof with. After a few long moments, he finally turned back to us. “You two may enter the roof, the rest below will have to stay where they are.”

“That’s cool,” I said, slowly floating over toward him.

The extra control in my flight from the additional meridians was impressive. While it didn't make much difference in what I was doing at the moment other than making it easier, I knew that in battle I would be in a much better position to both fly faster and with far greater maneuverability. I touched out on the roof, Sania only a second behind me landing lightly.

We both towered over the human soldiers on the roof. The head soldier who had held the longbow drawn now took a step forward. He was heavily built, particularly around the shoulders, and his grace of movement belied the exhaustion I saw in hollow expression.

Johan: Level 48, General of Issel, Elman (Human II).

I could tell they were neutral as they had no other colors of Neuma coalescing around and inside them. To my surprise, unlike all of the neutrals in Far Reach, these soldiers didn't have any other colors connected with them. Which I took to assume that they didn't use any processed energy from the world, either.

“There’s three of us with Ascension weapons,” he warned. “So don’t do anything stupid.

“Cool, I’ve pretty much got two of those.” I grinned. “Either way, let’s not argue. Tell me what happened here. Are the people within this castle the only survivors of the town?”

“We are. The rest are dead or ran away. Whether they survived their escape, I do not know.”

“You know if you stay here it’s only a matter of time before you’ll all be dead too, right?”

“We’re aware,” Johan said flatly.

“We have a settlement to the south below the Forsaken Lands. If you decide to run, run there. We need as many soldiers as we can get for our own war against Destruction.”

He laughed bitterly. “We would if we could. It sounds ideal. But we would never make it.”

“You look strong and fast and capable, and it has to be better than waiting here to die.”

“It’s not my men, it’s the children of the town. All that is left of our people are their children. They were all herded into the castle for safety when the assault began. Then the entire town fell around us. We have twenty town guard and three hundred children.”

“Oh fuck. Yeah, that’s not ideal. Gimmie a minute, will you?” I said, gesturing for Sania to follow me back down to land among our group next to Halbraker. “I know we have the rule that we can’t send people through the tunnels, but can we make an exception for some kids?”

“Absolutely not,” Halbraker snapped. “It will draw far too much attention.”

“It’s only one group of defenseless kids, man. Have a fucking heart, will you?”

“This is the first group we’ve encountered and you’re already trying to break the terms of the deal, Lord Clive. Everyone we meet up here will be desperate. Why should this group get preferential treatment?”

“Because they’re kids,” I snapped, feeling my face get hotter by the second.

“If I let these pass though the Nideland, then I will have to let all of the other desperate people we meet through too. It’s not happening.”

“This is really shitty, man,” I said, holding back an insatiable urge to punch Halbraker in the face.

“What is wrong, Clive? Why are you so desperate to offer safe passage for these people?” Grigor asked.

“You didn’t offer the Krysan we met the same!” Ralaex said.

I spun on him, rage no less diminished.

“They’re completely different fucking circumstances. If we discovered a nest of three hundred children and a handful of exhausted guards, you don’t think I would have made sure they were looked after?” I said, looming in his face. “Plus those Krysan didn’t want our help. These people do.”

I saw a few of the faces soften, but not Halbraker’s.

He shrugged at me. “I have my orders.”

I stood and thought for a while on it. Grigor, Sania, and Danivra all spoke in my mind, but I ignored them while I got my thoughts in order.

The first thing my mind solidified was that I couldn’t leave these people here like this. But Ralaex was partially right. The Krysan we’d met genuinely didn’t think they could make south alive, and that wasn’t okay either. Once I’d finally formulated a plan in my mind, I told my bonded friends first.

“Guys, I can’t and won't leave them. I understand the problem that presents for all of the others we meet. From now on, I’ll make sure everyone gets the same treatment, providing there’s trust at the very least.”

“How?” Grigor asked.

“We travel back with them.”

“That’s insane, Clive!” Grigor retorted, dropping the honorary lord in his dismay. I didn’t mind. In fact, I preferred it, but he refused to do it permanently.

“It goes against the very reason we are here in the first place,” he continued.

“I agree with Grigor,” Danivra said. “We haven’t even reached any of our top targets yet.”

“You guys might as well give up. If you know Clive even half as well as I do, you should know he’s not even listening to your protests, even though I agree with you guys. Whatever our reservations, we're walking back to Far Reach with all these people,” Sania said with a wry grin.

“Sania’s completely right. And honestly, I’m not your keepers, and the range of the bond is much longer since I became Elman. You can all decide to continue onward, But I’m going back with this lot. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up at some point.”

“If this is what you wish then I will come with you,” Grigor said.

“Agreed,” Danivra said, though I could tell she wasn't happy with my decision. There was fuck all I could do about that, though, as I turned to my own people and the Dwarves.

“I'm afraid I can't walk away from these people and leave three hundred children to die. I intend to head back with them across the surface. We will try to find the Wultr of this area first and also try to encourage the Krysan to come with us.”

“This isn’t what we agreed. This is not what the king said was happening,” Halbraker snapped.

“You have to follow orders, man. I understand that. But I follow my own heart and I couldn’t give two fucks about your orders when they sentence a bunch of kids to death. So for me, you can fuck off back into your tunnels. Consider it a job and knock. You can get yourselves back home safe and sound.”

“I can't do that. Not without you. If you wouldn't mind coming back to the entrance of the Nideland so that I can at least send a message back to Nuinaer?”

“Sure, I can do that. I’m just going to speak to Johan first and let him know the plan.”

I didn’t wait for a response and took off to the castle top once more, Sania never far behind me.

Once in front of Johan again, I gave him a thumbs up, which was clearly lost on him.

“Okay dude, so I can't leave you all here like this. The Dwarves are gonna speak with their bosses. I don’t have much faith in a positive outcome from that, so I want you to know that, as a bare minimum, my people and I will walk back with you to Far Reach. Though we will seek out the Wultr of the area first.”

“Even with your people, do you think we would make it that distance across Kalabri?” Johan asked doubtfully.

“Well, we will hopefully have some Wultr and Krysan reinforcements with us too, so sure. What have you got to lose?” I asked, looking around at the devastation of Issel.

“WeIl then, I suppose I must agree to come. I hope you know what you're doing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Does anyone?”

Halbraker led the way back to the tunnel. There was a distinctive storming quality to his walk, and I found myself slowing in spite of him so that the Dwarves stretched out a slight lead.

“I don’t even know why we’ve come back here. I shouldn’t have to be begging to save those fucking kids,” I growled to my bonded companions around me and Grastad who stood with us.

“It’s hardly a surprise,” Danivra said bitterly. “Standing idly by while mass genocide goes on above their heads has become the standard for Dwarves.”

“I can agree with that,” Grigor growled.

“Why did we walk back then?” Grastad asked.

“Because Halbraker asked me to. They’ve led us this far and made sure we’ve been fed and rested. I owe them a few minutes at least.”

“Even if they use it to betray you?” Danivra asked innocently.

“Even then, Danivra. Anyone at any moment could betray me. What should I do, not trust anyone?”

“You’re in a position where you have people you don’t need to worry about. But yes, I see your reasoning for coming along for this charade.”

After around half an hour, Kalin and Halbraker looked over to me.

The mage spoke first. “There is a message from the king for you, Clive,” he said as we closed the distance to each other.

Kalin cleared his throat, then began. “‘Lord Clive, I was under the impression that you went on this trip to strengthen yourself and Far Reach. This act will achieve neither of those things. Yet you are needlessly putting yourself into danger. However, given the specifics of the circumstances, I am willing to allow special dispensation. We are not without pity.

“‘Therefore, I will allow the children passage through the Nideland to Far Reach. Only one guard may accompany them. The remaining guards will have to make their own way to your town.’”

I thought Kalin had finished, but then he cleared his throat again. “Then there is this message from Grimstrom: ‘Clive, stop being an enormous prick. Do what you're supposed to be doing and stop farting about.’”

The corner of my mouth crept up into a smile on its own accord. “Well, to be fair, that is a lot better than what I was expecting. I’ll have to ask the guards how they feel about it.”

“No, Clive,” Sania said in my mind. “I understand how you feel. But you have a responsibility for far more than the people here. You’ve gotten them the best deal possible, and now you will go and tell the guards what is available to them now. If they choose not to take the offer, then that’s their fault, not yours.”

“And just leave the guards here alone?”

“They’re not defenseless, and they’re so much safer if they don’t have the children to protect. We can still send any Wultr we find to them, and there’s the Krysan still. There will be further safety in numbers. I’m putting my foot down on this one, Clive.”

“Sania is absolutely right, Clive. This is the best possible situation. If the guards don't accept the offer, that is not your fault,” Danivra added.

“Alright then,” I relented. “I suppose I can see your point, and we do have many more people to consider.

I took off toward the roof of the castle, landing in front of the waiting Johan.

For the first time since meeting him, he offered a smile. “What news, Lord Clive?”

“A bit of good and bad, I'm afraid. The situation has changed.”

The smile dropped from his face. He stiffened, as if expecting a physical blow. “Out with it then.”

“Well, the Dwarves have agreed to allow passage for all of your children and one of your guards through the Nideland all the way into Far Reach. The remaining guards will have to cross the surface and make their own way to Far Reach.”

Johan stood in silence for a while, his men looking at him equally perturbed, but they said nothing.

“I suppose it’s better than we could have asked for, given the circumstances and the stance of the Dwarves so far. Could we come with you? Wherever you are going?”

“Sorry, but no. We’re using the tunnels and we have a limit of forty people allowed with us. I know, man, it’s totally inane. Like I said earlier, though. We intend to find the Wultr pack that lived in these parts, if you can hang on here until we return.”

“We have few dealings with the Wultr, though we are not at odds. If they are amenable to traveling together, we would accept the company. May I ask before we agree to anything, do you trust the Dwarves, Lord Clive?”

I mentally recoiled a little from the question. It was a tough one to answer. Once I’d gathered my thoughts, I took a deep breath and answered, “I trust them as much as I am able, Johan. For escorting your children to Far Reach, I’m going to give them a trust factor of ninety-five percent. For having my best interests at heart, I’m going to drop that to around seventy percent if I had to put a number on it.”

Johan let a small smile creep on his face. “Well, that sounded about as honest an answer as I could have hoped for. We will accept your deal and await your collection of the Wultr before we risk heading out.”

“Sorry I can't do more, Johan. My hands are tied with this.”

“I understand. If the children make it to safety, then you have done more than I could ever ask of anyone, and a part of Issel will survive.”

“You’re gonna make it back too,” I replied. “I just know it. Now let’s get this show on the road and get these kids on the road to safety?”

I went back to the ground, and we set about posting a scouting line between here and the tunnel entrance.

The castle doors opened after about twenty minutes, and Johan came out first with fifteen guards, alert just in case this was all a subterfuge of some sort.

Following behind them was a stream of ragged children. I was pleased to see they hadn’t been starved in their captivity at least. Once they’d left, another five guards brought up the rear, and together, we led them to the access for the Nideland.

At least half of the guards openly wept as they said goodbye to the scared and nervous children. I just hoped that I could trust the Dwarves to deliver them safely. I almost felt like I was sentencing the poor little buggers to death with the somber atmosphere that hung in the air.

The guard who was to lead the kids was a rugged, old veteran. He moved slowly and had multiple scars on his hands and a long one down the side of his face.

Harold: Level 46, Issel Guard Lieutenant, Elman (Human II).

“Hey, Harold,” I shouted over. “When you get back to Far Reach, you go and see Joel the builder, and you tell him we need a force out scouting for your brothers here coming. Tell him that, when they’re spotted, I want a strong escort to lead them home. You got me?”

Harold snapped a salute at me. “Yes, my lord,” he replied. “Thank you for that message to carry. It means much to this old man.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed by the moment, I stuck my thumb at him and smiled. He seemed to take it as intended and headed off at the head of the children and one of the Dwarves who’d come to with us. Another Dwarf followed at the rear of the sad column.

Once the children had gone, Halbraker came over to me. “No escort this time as you search for the Wultr. We’ll wait here for your return.”

“Have I upset you, Halbraker?” I asked with an attempt at sincerity.

“You’re not making this easy, but then Grimstrom said you wouldn’t. Still, we’ve been told to leave you to it this time. Just don’t return with a load of Wultr puppies, or I’ll leave the doors to the Nideland closed.”

“Do what you need to do, Halbraker. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

“A cat? What are you talking about, lad?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a wave as I walked off to escort Johan and his men back to the castle. I heard Halbraker huffing and puffing as I went. He was not a happy Dwarf.