SafeHaven

by Xander Jade

  “Let’s try this again. Only one, yes or no.”

  He replied hoarsely, “Yes.”

  “Good. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Okay, next question. Overlords, when are they arriving?”

  He growled at me, “In three weeks.”

  “From what direction?”

  The naga said, “Mair,” in a normal voice.

  I nodded and thanked him. “What are you going to do to me?” the naga whispered when he realized my questions were done.

  I turned to the others who were behind me.

  ‘Nespea, you’re up.’

  She nodded and came over. I walked off towards the cages, letting the yikarian handle it. My trio followed me to the area where the wens had been congregating. There was a table set up with folders on it. I wondered if they had a safe. Checking around, I found it behind a cage. The prisoners yelped and moved away from me. It was metal but had a regular lock on it. I swiped the lock, breaking it, then tore the door off. It contained a ledger that had dates of when prisoners were brought to the mountain and how often, currency, gems, and a key to the collars. Jackpot. Grabbing the key, I got up and observed the area. All eyes were on me, every one of them.

  I chuckled to myself before speaking. “We mean no harm. My group is going to come around and bust the locks off so you can leave this place. Those of you who can’t move on your own, someone will need to assist you. As far as we know, all the bad guys are taken care of.”

  The captives murmured and started talking to each other.

  ‘Nespea, do you know the way out?’

  ‘Through the tunnel furthest from us,’ she responded, and I thanked her.

  “Now, when we let you out, please be courteous. The way out is through that tunnel.” I gestured towards it. “Oh, if you have a collar, come see me.”

  The murmurs started getting louder now.

  ‘Guys, go around and break the locks. Then search the tunnels to free the others.’

  They complied with my request and soon the cavern was full of free beings. I went over and shifted back to my human self and dressed quickly. Picking up my pack, I walked over to the safe and pushed all of the treasure into my pack, then went over to the table to place all the folders in my pack as well. I didn’t know what was inside, but I would find out soon enough. Returning to the waiting crowd with collars on, everyone gasped as they gazed upon me. I gestured to the first one to come forth. A dark elf. He was hesitant but came over and I took the collar off, freeing him.

  For the next hour, I performed the monotonous task of pulling the collars off and throwing them into a pile. Couldn’t tell you all the races that were wearing collars, but all races were present, even orcs and amazons, which was surprising. There were not very many centaurs or barbarians, but I counted around a dozen each. Almost everyone looked malnourished.

  After the last one, I got up and stretched out, popping my neck and back. People were still leaving, but some were hanging around. It was a mixture of races.

  I turned to my crew and asked, ‘Is that everyone?’

  ‘Yeah, with the exception of the ones still congregating over there,’ Herc answered with a smile in his voice.

  ‘And I suppose you lot know why they’re still here.’

  Sig chuckled and replied, ‘Of course. They want to know about you.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Let’s get this over with.’

  I walked over towards the group. Around fifty, I counted on my way over. There wasn’t really a majority in the bunch. If I had to pick one it would be the elven representatives. Dark, moon, sun, and wood elves. There were beautiful, muscular individuals up front waiting, which meant weres. Looking behind them, there were orcs off to the side away from the others, dwarves and either humans or mages made up the rest.

  The orcs walked up to me before kneeling, calling out that fuckin phrase in their language. Just as Tavoria had done. The weres also went to their knees.

  Fuck.

  My group snickered when they heard me in their minds. The other races weren’t sure what was happening but didn’t say or do anything.

  “Rise up, everyone. This isn’t the time or the place for that shit. Now, tell me why you’re still here.”

  They glanced at each other before a female were and elf spoke at the same time, I didn’t understand either and held up my hand. “One at a time, please.”

  They looked at each other. The wood elf gestured to the were for her to proceed and the blonde smiled at me before speaking, “Thank you for saving us. We will be in your debt for the rest of our lives.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.”

  She cleared her throat and continued, “Can we ask your name?”

  Scanning the group, I didn’t see anything suspicious, but played it subtle. “And why would you need to know my name? When we leave here, you probably won’t see me again.”

  The wood elf stepped in at that moment, “Because we want to make sure of who you are.”

  I didn’t respond. A dark-haired male were spoke, “Let’s cut the crap, everyone. We already know who he is. You are Maximus Drago. The person who freed the prisoners in a mine in Augustia and we know that all races were welcome to join you at your place. ...We are scattered among our kind; our packs, clan, or tribe were slaughtered and have no place to go back to. ...We want to join your people.”

  Sighing inwardly, I said to my crew, ‘Well, we set out to get others to join.’

  The others chuckled but didn’t respond.

  “Okay, if we go down that road, I will let you know that it isn’t easy. You will work for your spot at my settlement and be loyal to everyone there. We have a mixture of races and they work together. If you can’t do that, then leave now.”

  Nobody moved. I nodded and looked over at the orcs before speaking again, “All right, now, who speaks for the orcs?”

  One of them in the front stood up and bowed to me. “I do. My name is Churac.”

  I bowed my head to him. “Why do you want to join me and not another clan?”

  “We do not think they will take us in, sir,” he replied quickly.

  “Hmm… and if I could get them to let you join, what then?”

  The lot nodded and he replied, “That would be exceptional if you could.”

  “Good, we have to make a stop on the way back anyway. We will speak to them at that time.”

  He bowed again. The others gathered had surprised looks on their faces. I wondered what that was about but shrugged it off. I walked towards the exit and advised my crew what my plans were.

  ‘I haven’t forgotten about the rare metals; we will come back for them. I have a feeling they will be of use in the days to come.’

  ‘Agreed, it will be expensive going forward with the way you’ve been recruiting,’ Reap said in a snooty voice.

  The others laughed and walked behind me, except Nespea who led us out of the mountain through the tunnels. We actually picked up stragglers that couldn’t find the way out. As we came out into the open, I took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around, then stopped. The others halted as well. Fuck.

  ‘You didn’t really think they would all leave, did you?’ Herc chuckled and Reap laughed.

  ‘I was definitely hoping. Maybe they just need directions.’

  My crew just chuckled at me.

  I shook my head as I scanned the area. It was full of people. Different races were chatting to others as we came up. An amazon and centaur walked over.

  The centaur bowed. “Greetings, Lord Drago.”

  “I’m no lord. How did you know my name?”

  He turned and gestured to a dark elf. “Daric told us that he heard your name inside the mountain. He also said you were leading others out of this horrid place. Would it be acceptable for us to join you until we reach the Tetrand Crossing? We will then go our separate ways.”

  Huh, awesome.

  “That’s fine. We have to stop in an orc village for a few minutes, but other than that, we should make it b
y tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

  He bowed his head and said, “Thank you.”

  I grunted and went to find Zeus. The big bastard neighed and moved others out of the way to get to me. I smiled at him. He hit me in the chest with his snout.

  “It’s good to see you too, buddy.”

  “Wow! He really likes you.”

  I looked over to see a male and female, both moon elves. They were smiling at Zeus. He stomped his hooves on the ground and bent down. The female elf curtsied.

  “It’s nice to meet you as well, mighty Zeus. I’m Tisha and this is Almon, my brother.”

  Huh, beast mages. Had to be, guess they can somehow communicate. I nodded to them. Tisha looked over at me, “Can I pet him?”

  I chuckled. “You have to ask him.”

  She smiled and I turned to walk over to an empty spot. I took my tunic off so Nespea and Sig could go back into their tattoos. People gasped, then yelled and backed away from me. I smiled and shook my head, pulling my tunic back on.

  Reaper and Hercules came over.

  ‘Time to go.’

  ‘Yeah, let’s get going. Long road ahead,’ Herc agreed.

  I called out to everyone that it was time to leave.

  Chapter 12

  Cass and Val left at first light with their group. They wanted to travel as far as they could each day, and hopefully not run into any unexpected problems. The group made good time across Augustia. Each night they discussed what issues may come up and had solutions to each problem. On the fifth day, Notholm forest came into view. They came upon the scene where the battle took place; some weapons and other material were visible, but no bodies. Cass and Val found the piles of ash, marking that Max had indeed been there.

  “All right, spread out and see if we can find a trail or something that lets us know where we need to go,” Cass commanded, and everyone did as told.

  A few minutes later, one of the weres found what they hoped was the trail. They followed it into the forest and walked for about an hour, stopping to make sure they were still on the same trail. Not twenty minutes later, the traveling group came upon a clearing and before anyone knew it, they came face to face with a herd of centaurs. The sounds from behind them notified them they were surrounded. Cass and Val and the rest of the group turned to see the centaurs had arrows pointed in their direction.

  Three of those mentioned came forward and stopped. Two males and one female. All three were muscled up and had dark hair. The center centaur spoke, “Greetings, my name is Thadoneus. Why have you intruded on my lands?”

  Cass replied, “We’re here for the lions. A group of amazons advised they were here waiting for my husband.”

  The female centaur spoke out, “You’re with Max?”

  Val responded, “Yes. Are the lions still around? Or did they leave?”

  Thadoneus nodded. “They are here. Just because you know of them, doesn’t mean we’re going to let you in to see them. We don’t know you and with all the shit going on right now, I want proof that you are with the human.”

  The group laughed and Cass advised, “He’s not entirely human. We know you’ve seen him in his primary form. We also know you watched him and his siba, kodiak, and fire elemental take care of your wen problem. You’re allowing orcs to wait for my beloved to retrieve them and you’re also aware that demons are causing chaos across Giseria. Now, what other proof do you need?”

  The three glanced at each other and nodded. Thadoneus waved the centaurs to stand down.

  “I apologize for our welcome, but the past few weeks have been eye opening.”

  Val nodded and replied, “No problem. Better safe than sorry.”

  The centaurs led the group from the settlement deep into the woods to a village of sorts. Numerous races were present, centaurs, barbarians, and weres. Thadoneus stopped when they reached the east side of the village.

  He pointed at the people congregated in two camps. There had to be over a hundred in total. Orcs and weres.

  “The lions are over there. Not sure if you know, but at the moment, Kristoph is the lead until Maximus gets back. Elonis and Melia will guide you the rest of the way. I have business to attend to.”

  Cass and Val nodded. The former said thanks. The group was then led to the camp of the weres. Both the lions and orcs saw their group come closer and watched. Four weres came out to meet them.

  Elonis called out, “Kristoph, you have guests.”

  “Thank you, Elonis. We will take it from here.”

  The centaur group left. Cass looked over to Val and both walked up to the four waiting.

  “Ladies, what brings you here?” Kristoph asked with suspicion.

  Cass and Val smirked.

  Val spoke, “We mean no harm. We received word that you’re waiting for our husband.”

  Tara asked, “Max is your mate?”

  Cass answered, “Yes. He has numerous.”

  She nodded and asked, “Why are you here? Are there problems?”

  Val replied, “No, just making sure there will be no discord when you arrive. Where is the Axwell pride?”

  Kristoph nodded and said, “They’re over there, mixed with the others. We assume you know that both lead and second are dead?”

  Val nodded and said, “I’m looking for Isabella Amcottes in particular.”

  Tara called out over her shoulder, “Bella, someone is looking for you.”

  A brunette came out of a beige hut and made her way over but stopped in her tracks. Her lips trembled and tears started flowing.

  Val walked slowly over to her. When they got close, both wrapped their arms around each other and cried.

  Cass said to the others who were watching, “That’s Valencia, her daughter.”

  They nodded and Tara asked, “Have you heard anything from our Alpha? He said a few weeks, but it’s been well over.”

  Cass nodded and looked over at Gurak before saying, “Gurak, go find who’s lead over there and tell them we need to meet.”

  He bowed his head and walked over to the orcs.

  She turned back to Tara and Kristoph. “We will wait for them to come back.”

  Tara gestured to a spot within their camp. “Would you join us in our camp?”

  Cass barked out orders to the others. They waited outside the camp while Cass, Soph, Tia, Rachel, Leena, Frank, Jacob, and Val walked with the lions to their meeting place. Isabella was still hanging on Val. Gurak came over with two of his kin in tow. They got situated and began their meeting.

  Cass spoke at that time, “Gurak, please introduce us to your kin.”

  “Everyone, this is Tavoria and Racar, lead and second of their horde.”

  Cass nodded and said, “Well met. We know you’ve all met our Alpha and have been waiting for him. We’ve been informed by two warriors from Amenoa that he has changed course after completing his quest in Mair.”

  Everyone glanced around and murmured. Cass went on, “They followed him at a distance until he traveled into Azgrag.” A few gasped. Tavoria and Racar exchanged glances but didn’t say anything.

  Cass continued, “We’re not one hundred percent positive, but we believe he went to cause chaos for the evil ones in some of your villages before ending up at the prison you told him about.”

  The gathered didn’t respond for a couple minutes. Tavoria spoke up in the silence, “What does that mean for us?”

  Val looked over and said, “Nothing new, unless you want to go back to your village.”

  She looked at Racar and he nodded. The female orc responded, “Our families are there, we will stay until he gets here and if he freed our village then we will check on them.”

  Cass looked over at the lions. “Our group will rest today before heading out tomorrow. Since our Alpha is elsewhere, then your packs will come with us and learn our ways.”

  Kristoph nodded and questions were asked and answered. The meeting adjourned and they all went to their own camps.

  ***

  The
morning came early. Everyone was getting situated and about to get sustenance when shouts of alarm came from the outskirts of the camps. Centaurs were about, yelling to their leaders. Cass and the others watched as did the leaders of the were and orc camps.

  Two centaurs came over.

  Kristoph asked, “What’s going on, Elonis?”

  He smiled and replied, “Your camps are being summoned to the Tetrand Crossing. Your leader has asked for you.”

  Cass and the others gasped before barking out orders for them to get their shit together. Fifteen minutes later, weres, orcs, and centaurs marched towards the Tetrand Crossing. Not many people were talking. Most just wanted to go home. It took an hour to get near the crossing. When the gathered groups came upon a clearing that overlooked the crossing, they stopped. Most were shocked. Others shook their heads.

  “Damn, he must’ve freed the prison. Look at all those people,” Jacob whistled.

  “He’s not playing around anymore. We need to get those projects done. No telling how many are coming with us,” Cass advised, and the others agreed.

  Leena smiled and stated, “He certainly doesn’t waste time.”

  “That’s for damn sure. I’m just excited to see who joined as his bond,” Frank commented while scanning the area.

  Soph said, “Well, no time like the present.”

  Cass nodded and said, “Agreed. Let’s go.”

  The centaurs and weres followed, looking shocked. No one had thought he would be able to free that prison with the few he had with him. It took them another twenty minutes before they reached the crossing. The leaders called for a halt and walked towards the army, sizing them up.

  ***

  It was a long journey to get to the crossing from the mountains. Nine hundred and four free beings followed my group. We made multiple stops due to injuries and fatigue. I understood that being cooped up in cages for that long and not being able to move around took a toll on one’s body. Scanning the procession, I observed how they were handling the trip. They seemed to know that freedom awaited them when they got to that crossing and fought back exhaustion to make it there.