After supper James showed up to the mansion looking for Bennett.

Ben guided him into the private study and asked him to sit down.

“How was the meeting with Eve?” Ben asked James.

“Our translator was a bit shaky but we got the jist of it.” James said, “This is what we gathered from the meeting.” James handed him a piece of paper.

On it summarized what Eve had reported to James. She covered a 10 km radius around the city, looking for anything of interest. Looking through it, Ben found most of it pretty generic. Goblin nests, small hordes of beasts and the odd zombie here and there.

Ben’s eyebrows suddenly scrunched up. On the sheet it read that the wolves had spotted Speed Zombies north of the city. They had been spotted more than once in the past week alone. The weird thing was that when they were spotted the zombies didn't attack but retreated back north.

‘Are they scouting us? Are they that intelligent already?’ Ben was worried. The city wasn't ready for an attack yet and needed more time.

Ben’s thoughts were interrupted when the door suddenly flew open with a bang. Lily stood in the doorway with an angry look on her face.

“What did you do to Cloey!?” Lily spat out.

Ben rolled his eyes in exasperation. ‘What is this woman’s problem!?’ he thought.

“Nothing you old hag. Now get out, I am in a meeting.” Ben scolded her, annoyed with her constant interference in his and Cloey’s relationship.

Lily’s face became furious, she was an elder of the Snow Elf race and now a baby human was scolding her! “You dare!” An icicle shot from her hand towards Ben’s head.

Lightning covered Ben’s hand as he caught the icicle and crushed it. It was cute when Cloey did it but he found it annoying when Lily did it.

Ben was about to retaliate when James got in between them.

“Hi, I’m James.” Flashing Lily a large smile, his eyes never left her face. He was enraptured by her beauty it seemed. Ben couldn't really blame him, Snow Elves were gorgeous by nature and Lily was no exception.

“H-hi, I’m Lily.” she stuttered, startled by the sudden interruption by this man.

“Lily? What a beautiful name.” James said smoothly.

Ben rolled his eyes at his general. ‘Did these lines ever work?’

Contrary to his expectations, Lily blushed and looked away shyly. Seeing her shy expression, James mouth fell slightly open, completely under her spell.

She shot Ben a look and muttered, “I will settle this with you later."

She left the room in haste, not looking back. James eye’s followed her out of the room until he couldn't see her anymore. He stood there in a stupor.

Ben walked up to him and slapped the back of his head, “What you like older women?”

“Older women? If she is old then I must be an infant.” he said still looking at the doorway.

Ben shook his head, not bothering to tell him that she was extremely old compared to human standards. “You should go after her. Just be careful, she has gone through alot.” Ben said solemnly.

“What do you mean?” James asked curiously.

Ben explained the condition they had found her in and what the previous city lord had done to her and the other women. Ben found James with an enraged look on his face, veins bulged from his arms and neck. What Ben found strange was the air around him seemed to be agitated.

‘Does he have wind element?’ Ben wondered.

“Jack… I knew I should have killed him.” James said through clenched teeth.

Ben patted his shoulder, calming him down. “Only thing you can do now is to get her to trust again. It will be tough but I think you might have a chance.” encouraged Ben. Though she was annoying, Ben truly did want to see Lily happy after what she went through.

James unclenched his hands and let out a sigh before giving a toothy grin to Ben, “You know I always thought that love at first sight was the biggest pile of bullshit I ever heard but… wow. When I saw her it felt like I left my body.” James explained with a lovesick expression.

“Get a hold of yourself. We have work to do.” Ben said, slapping the back of his head again.

James rubbed the back of his head, “What work do we have to do?” he asked.

“The zombies have me worried. We should check it out.” Ben rubbed his jaw, he wanted to find out how much of a threat they faced.

James nodded in agreement, “That bothered me as well.”

Judging from the map in the system, the city was near the Canadian/US border. To the north of the city was the Canadian city of Winnipeg and to the south was the US city of Grand Forks. Cities is where zombies populated and were the danger lied for humans.

“In four days we will do a scouting trip. Make your preparations. Go tell the other four I wish to see them tonight.” Ben concluded, dismissing James.

James nodded and headed out of the room.

Ben went and found Cloey, Lily and Cathy talking by a large fireplace. Ben sat next to Cloey and gave her a kiss on the top of her head before taking her hand in his. He looked at Lily provokingly, daring her to say something. Lily gritted her teeth in anger at the display of affection. Cathy smiled at it, happy for her son to have found someone.

Cloey slightly blushed but didn't pull her hand away, “How was your meeting?’ she asked trying to break the tension.

“Good but someone decided to interrupt it.” Ben looked at Lily accusingly.

Lily simply scoffed and looked away.

“But I guess it's a good thing you did. James seems to be enamored by you and asked about you after you left. He seems to be very interested in you.” Ben said with a sly smile.

“Oh that's just great isn't it dear? Though we shouldn't be surprised, you are gorgeous.” Cathy said clapping her hands in excitement.

Lily started to act shy but a sad look came over her face. “What did you tell him about me?”

“Don't worry, I didn't tell him you're old.” Ben teased.

An angry look flashed across her face, “Not that you ass, about what happened to me?”

Ben’s face became serious, “Yes I did.” Seeing Lily’s sad expression made Ben feel terrible, “But he said he is willing to wait and gain your trust first. No matter how long it takes. He is a love stricken fool but a good guy.”

“My trust? What do you mean?” Lily asked confused.

“He knows what you have been through and knows it might be difficult to trust a man again but he is still willing to try.” Ben explained.

“He still wants to try? Even though I’m… not pure?” she barely whispered the last part.

Ben looked at Cloey confused.

“To elves, especially Snow Elves, your purity is extremely important. Most of the women’s first physical contact with a man is their husband on their wedding night.” Cloey explained as she squeezed Ben’s hand.

“Oh,” Ben understood now, “well you don't have to worry about that Lily. Humans don't really care about that.” Ben assured Lily.

“Really?” Lily asked surprised.

“Really really. Most humans have had sex with other people before getting married.” Ben said, trying to dismiss her concerns.

Lily looked at Cathy questionly, “It is true my dear, though this last generation is by far the worst. Sluts all of them.” Cathy shot a glare at Ben.

Ben let out a light cough, avoiding her eyes. Ben suddenly felt his hand growing colder and colder. He found Cloey glaring at him with a dangerous look.

“City Lord, the four generals are here and wish to speak to you.” a maid announced suddenly.

“Oh well I got to go!” Ben said, turning into a blur.

Cloey glared at his retreating figure and muttered under breath, “Let’s see how you escape next time.”

…

Ben let out a breath of relief as he escaped that dangerous situation.

He entered his private study and found his four generals already seated and waiting for him.

“Sorry for asking you here this late.” Ben apologized as he sat down. “How are your divisions coming along?”

“Healers are difficult to train as they need people to get injured but so far it's progressing smoothly.” Lilith spoke first, she was wearing a white robe.

“My soldiers are in need of more training.” Lane crisply said.

“Same.”

“Same.”

Shenelle and Colton agreed with Lane.

“Understandable.” Ben nodded his head. It was too soon for any real results and didn't expect much. “The reason I called you here was this.” Ben lifted the piece of paper that James gave him. “This was the report the Red Forest Wolves gave us. On it has some news that makes me nervous.”

The four generals seemed to straighten up and gave Ben their full attention.

“Speed Zombies have been scouting the city. This tells me two things. One, they are planning an attack and two, they have higher intelligence then what we first thought. Both are bad news for us.” Bennett said gravely, looking at each one of his generals.

All of their faces darkened at the news. They knew it wasn't good news for them and could mean their early demise.

“What are your plans?” Colton asked, knowing Ben would have a solution.

“James and I are heading north to scout them. I need more information before making any serious decisions.” Ben told them.

“What about us? What do you want us to do?” Shenelle asked.

Ben pointed at the paper, “There is a cave filled with monsters according to Eve. I want two of you to investigate it and report back what you find. The other two I want to head south. There are a couple a small towns that I want you to clear the zombies out and look for survivors if there are any. You can take people from your division and use this as training if you want, because from the looks of things they will be seeing the battlefield soon.”

Ben’s generals all nodded in agreement, serious expressions covered their faces.

“That's all I have to say. Decide amongst yourselves who will do what.” Ben finished saying.

After they left Ben let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. Pressure was slowly building on him to prepare for the upcoming bloodbath. He just hoped he was doing enough.

‘I have to get stronger myself.’

Instead of going to bed, Ben left the mansion and summoned Ava. They took off into the night, deciding to train all night.