by Xander Jade
‘Sup bitch?’ Herc smirked and made his eyebrows go up and down.
‘Where did you learn that shit?" I laughed even though people were looking at me like I’m crazy. ‘Have you seen any mages?’
‘Wasn’t checking for them,' Reap replied. 'Good idea though, that should help.’
I nodded, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking some of them were unconscious with the shackles on. If we’re lucky some of them are earth mages. Let’s get everyone to settle down and listen. Which one of you wants the honor of disturbing the peace?’
They both said, "ME!"
I looked around to lots of noise, everyone chatting with others. I turned to my friends and nodded. They both dug deep for the roars they thundered off the walls, echoing for what seemed like minutes. I had to hold my hands over my ears as the people shrieked, thinking my predators were coming for them. Everyone backed up and provided about a fifty foot space between us.
I chuckled while scanning the cavern we were trapped in at the moment, finding the elves close to the front, as were the dwarves. Huh, I wonder if they are still bitchy to each other. It didn’t take long for that answer, they glared at each other, daring anyone to come closer.
"Settle down everyone, and listen up! If you don’t know me by now, my name is Max. We don’t have much time, so I need all the mages front and center." I waited for some movement, but for some reason, nobody moved.
‘Idiots! Why aren’t they moving?’ Herc asked with contempt.
"Will, Gordon, come up here." They moved through the crowd up to me and stopped.
"What’s up Max?" Gordon grinned awaiting my reaction.
"Where are your mages?"
Gordon’s smile faded, "Bastards killed them first."
"Will?" He shook his head no and I took a calming breath.
"I’m sorry for your loss. Look, we have a ton of things to discuss, but I’m about to bust some balls. You with me?" They both laughed, we fist bumped, and then moved to my side.
"Okay, I suppose you don’t know who I am, or you were asleep when my compadres and I took out your captors. Well, let me explain something to you, I don’t care who or what you are right now. At the moment, the only authority you need to worry about is mine. When we get out of here, then you can go back to whatever station you are.
"What gives you the right to order us around?" One of the elves sneered. "Do you not know who we are?"
Then a dwarf spoke, "What r we ta do, eh? R we na stuck don here?"
"You obviously are not competent enough for this, let us handle it before you get us killed," a human ridiculed. "We were better off before you got here, peasant. You almost killed us by letting the mine collapse."
I nodded as an idea popped in my head and smiled, "Show of hands. How many think you were better off before we got here?" ‘Herc, Reap, about to make some examples, come on up.’
‘HA! This ought to be good, take it to the fuckin ingrates.’ Herc chuckled.
‘Do what you need to.’ Reap agreed.
As we were silently talking amongst themselves, about seventy-five hands went up. I glanced at Tia and found she was staring intently at me with a big smile. I’ll never understand women, but did notice some of the elves had their hands up. "Those of you that have your hands up, please come forth so we can discuss options." They all were smug, and had a little strut to their steps. When everyone was close I asked, "What should we do about escaping this cave?" Gordon and Will gaped at me wondering what was going on. The volunteers were all giving their opinion and it got out of hand quick. I decided to implement my punishment.
"Shut up!" They turned around to look at me and I let them have it. "I gave you a chance and you blew it. Everyone gave their input, but never listened. So, I’m going to take over, and you motherfuckers are going to walk right over to those cages and get in. Reap and Herc, would you please do the honors?"
‘Damn, that’s wrong. HAHAHAHA!’ Herc laughed.
They all whined and pleaded about going back into the cages. Some of them actually had tears in their eyes. Pussies. "Someone lock those fuckin doors!" I stood there silently for a few minutes until the doors were locked before starting up again.
"Now that those idiots are out of the way, we can get back to our original discussion. Any more objections?" All I heard was silence, except for Gordon and Will snickering. I glared at them and they shut up quickly.
"Only three words needed. Mages. Here. Now." I pointed in front of me.
The words not even completely out of my mouth when I saw them coming to me. I counted about thirty different faces of mixed genders, a mixture of races, and hopefully an assortment of mage powers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, glad you can join us. I know you don’t trust me, but right now I could care less. Just listen, and we will get along. Now, when I call out a power, step forward. I need healers, earth mages, elemental mages, fire mages, and air mages. Group up with your element and wait for my instructions." While they were moving around, I thought about my plan, hoping it works. I ended up with all the elements I had asked for with multiple people in each group.
"Here’s what we’re going to do. Healers, pick a group and start healing, but begin with the earth mages. Earth mages start figuring out the best way to tunnel out. Elemental mages, take those cages apart, we’re going to make some ramps. Fire mages, be ready to assist with that project. Air mages, make sure none of that debris or dust hits us. Get to work, and let me know when we are ready to put my plans to the test." Groaning, I walked away from them to clear my head. Taking a deep breath, I noticed some people looking at me, so I shrugged and walked away.
Winding through the mass of people, I was trying to keep to myself until the mages come up with something, but evidently I couldn't be discreet enough. I heard my name being called by a group near the cages, so I made my way over to see what was going on. Reap and Herc hadn’t moved from guarding the two cages that had people in them, I grinned and nodded to them while passing by and they bobbed their heads to acknowledge me. Walking up to the group, I noticed Gordon, Will, Tia, and several others I didn’t know, talking in hushed whispers. They stopped talking as I came up to them.
Gordon smirked when he saw the look on my face, "Ah, Max, we were just talking about you. How are you doing?"
"Hmm… I’ll tell you how I’m doing after someone tells me why you’re whispering."
"We don’t have to tell you anything," some elf scoffed.
"Wrong answer. The next one I don't like, I’m leaving."
Tia put her hand on my left bicep and squeezed. My brows rose at her brazen move, but she smiled while looking into my eyes daring me to say something about it. I winked and smiled back. "Max, we were discussing what will happen if and when we get out of here. We don’t know where we are, and how we can contact our people. Lord Ackley and Master Will were gracious enough to let us know that you’re very proficient in tracking and survival." I glared at the two traitors that threw me under the bus. They must’ve not taken my threat seriously, the bastards were grinning at me. Paybacks are a bitch, fellas. "I for one want to hear the story of how you found us. Will here said he had been trying to locate the missing, but couldn’t find any tracks or trails until the codes in a ledger you sent him was decrypted. They were captured while trying to find us.
I stared at them blankly, and contemplating if I should tell them anything. Gordon saw my hesitation and knew what I was thinking. "I know that look, Max. The news must be bad if you are reluctant to speak about it, at least tell us something we can handle."
Will spoke calmly, "Are we in still in danger when we get out?" I nodded and a collective groan came from the group. "What is it? Can we defeat it or get around it?"
"If we don’t get away from this area soon, we won’t ever see our families again."
"What does that mean?" Gordon probed.
"You really want to know?" They nodded so I told them.
"Someone called the overlords are coming with a battalion of dar
k ones. I don’t know when but soon."
"Dammit, how the hell do you know that?" Will asked.
"Learned from the wens before I killed them."
"What’s your plan?" Gordon quickly asked
"Plan? Why are you asking him?" The pompous elf popped off. "We should be deciding our next steps."
"If anybody is going to get us out alive, it’s him, Reap, and Herc," Gordon scoffed.
"He’s just a soldier, a weapon if you will, nothing more. They are fodder, Lord Ackley," pompous mocked. Gordon smirked at his reply, waiting for my reaction. Looking at the fuck wad, I noticed he was around 6’3" in height with blonde hair and blue eyes. The pissant had some muscles, but nothing stood out for me that he was special in any way.
I walked over to the arrogant prick and got in his face. "What’s your name?"
"I am Lord Morgan Enjor of Hellon."
"Damn proper name for your territory; Hell, probably a desolate place. Listen Morgy, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I knew you were some kind of self-proclaimed leader of your people by the arrogant way you talk. A fucking noble, always talking shit and have no way of backing it up. You pussies are all the same, let everyone else do the dirty work and you take the glory. Not this time asshole. You see, in my mind you're a dying breed and if you don't shut your mouth, I'm about to kick your teeth in. I. DON’T. GIVE. A. SHIT, what you think."
"You insolent peasant, I will have you flogged eek--," pompous gasped and I picked him up by his throat. I brought him up to the point that his feet were dangling off the ground, and he was desperately trying to kick me to let go so he could breathe.
"If you haven’t figured it out, I don’t like it when people threaten me or call me names. Tell me one good reason why I shouldn’t leave your ass here when we leave." I whispered in his ear. I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder and looked over expecting Will or Gordon, but Tia was looking at me, concerned.
She whispered, "Max, would you please put him down?" Like a whipped pussy, I obeyed the beautiful woman by dropping the haughty elf on his ass, he gasped out trying to breathe in air. Tia then pulled my head down to meet her eyes, she was tall, about the same height as Morgy at 6’ 3", so I didn’t have to bend down that much. "I don’t want any more of my people to die. I thank you for letting him go, but will you let the others in the cages out?" Gazing into her eyes I tried to not look away before speaking out to my duo with my mind. ‘Reap, Herc, let them out.’ They did as I asked and popped the locks off the cages.
"How did they know to let them out?" Tia excitedly asked. Shrugging, I winked at her and got back on track.
"I’m going to check with the mages. When I get back, we will discuss the evacuation plan." I walked away from them and headed to see if there was any developments. When getting to the group, I called a meeting.
"What progress have you made?"
"We are about to start tunneling and found the most direct route we could without bringing the ceiling down," one earth mage replied.
"Great! Do we need the ramps?"
"Negative sir," another earth mage responded. We will be able to angle it where we won’t need them."
"Excellent. Okay, when can we start?"
"About five minutes, sir," the first mage said.
"I’ll let everyone know. What I want to happen is, the earth mages first obviously, but fire and air close to you for protection." They nodded and walked away. Shit, I was nervous, what if it doesn’t work. We’ll figure it out. I had to be ready for a fight when we came out. Hmm…I’ll put the weres on the front lines, and hustled back to Gordon’s group, "Do you know who the leaders of the weres are? Find them and bring them to me, I have a request to be made." They agreed and left to search through the crowd.
‘Reap, Herc, time to go."
‘Sounds good to me.’
‘I’m ready.’
My crew slowly made our way to the mages, and waited for the signal. The lead earth mage came to me, "We’re ready to get started, keep everyone back until it is safe to proceed. We’ll send communication to let you know to begin." I nodded and turned back to see the four hundred or so captives. Will, Gordon, Tia, and a group of five came up to me. I let them know to be ready to move out.
"Max, this is Sean, Marie, Phil, Rachel, and Farah. They are the selected ones to come talk to you," Will said.
I went and shook their hands, "Nice to meet everyone. I need to know what species are here with us."
"Wolf, panther, jaguar, avian, and lion," Sean replied hesitantly.
"Good, when we leave I’ll need them between my crew and everyone else. You will be on the front line, just in case we have any visitors waiting for us."
"What do you think will be waiting for us?" Rachel responded.
"Dark ones. Now, how many of each species do we have?"
"60 wolves, 4 panther, 6 jaguar, 5 avian, and 3 lion." Marie calculated.
"Any alpha’s?"
"Only a couple, jaguar and eagle," Rachel answered again. I watched her demeanor, she spoke with confidence, and her aura suggested she was powerful.
"I’m assuming you’re an alpha then."
She nodded, "Jaguar."
"Where’s your pack from, and are they still there?"
"We had a strip of land west of here, but was overtaken. The six of us are the only ones left." Rachel advised sadly.
"I’m sorry to hear that. Wolves, who’s in charge and how many packs are represented here?"
"Different packs, they put me and Misty in charge for now. We were betas in our packs." I nodded at his statement.
"Are your packs around, or nearby?"
"Probably not, the rest of Misty’s pack were killed. My pack is probably gone from here. They were bastards anyway, but we were planning to try to join with a pack close by. We love it here," Sean replied.
"I may know someone for you to ask. I’m not good with names, but if I remember right they were called the Berenger pack." I heard gasps all around me and looked around at the surprised faces, wondering what the big deal was.
"Did you say, Berenger?" Sean asked.
"Yes, the Berenger wolf pack." They lost it then and started laughing.
"Where did you meet them?" Will asked.
"What is the big deal about this particular pack?"
Rachel smiled and replied, "They are the most well-known pack in the south. Ranging from 250-300 members."
"They are also known for the female that leads them. She is ruthless, but loyal to her pack. No one wants to cross her," Sean mentioned.
I thought about what was brought up about Sophia, and had to agree with the assessment. "I have noticed that about her. Soph can be quite lethal, but kind and ambitious."
Marie gasped, "You’ve met her? How did you meet her and survive? I heard they don’t let any male around because of her not having a mate. They supposedly don’t want any competition."
"Well, let’s just say some of her pack would be here if I hadn’t stumbled onto them getting attacked."
"Why am I not surprised?" Gordon chuckled.
I grinned and Sean spoke up pleading, "Man, would you put in a good word for us if you see her? We would be very grateful if we could join them."
"Umm… you can tell her yourself when we get out of here. They are probably outside waiting for us." That statement brought out more shouts and gasps.
"Why would they be here?" Will asked.
"That is awesome," Sean said.
"Long story short, they followed us here to get some revenge and help retrieve you. There are only about eighty total though. The others were on other hunts when I stumbled upon them. Also, they might be a little worried that the cave collapsed. The reason for bringing them up is, I don’t want any hostility between them and us. You guys can work on everything else when we get to safety. Agreed?"
"Agreed." The group of weres said in unison.
"Before I forget, Rachel, I don’t know how packs work, but you can join mine if you want. It’s not
a normal pack though, I have a lion, an avian, and a group of elves that joined me recently."
She hesitated for a moment, "Can I think on it and ask the rest of my pack?"
"Sure, you can also let the others that don’t have packs know that they can join me. I have land south of here that is very well hidden." She nodded and would let the others know.
"When did you get some land?" Gordon asked.
"Months ago, it was my grandfather’s."
"Well, I was coming to find you, and suppose it would have taken longer since you left BlackCrest. When this is over we need to have a chat," Gordon stated.
I nodded to answer him. "It’s close to the elven and amazon borders. I have a cabin in the woods," I replied looking at Tia for a moment to see if she knew the place.
"That’s very interesting Max, I know exactly where your place is." Tia responded politely.
"Is that so? Will it cause problems for us?"
"Oh no, my people roam that forest next to your land. I have actually seen it when I was younger. Didn’t meet the tenants, but we left each other alone."
I chuckled, "You might change your minds after we get out of here. I have a feeling those woods will be filled with weres for some time, and don’t forget, someone will be looking for the one responsible for this whole debacle."
She laughed with a harmonious sound, and it was something I liked to hear. "Don’t worry about that, I like a challenge," she replied with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Grunting on that statement and staring blankly at the woman, I thought about a comment her pleasant voice made not too long ago. I’ll never understand women, but stopped those thoughts when the earth around us trembled. "Alright, get everyone organized to move. The order will be mages, my crew, weres, then everyone else. Let’s move."
We all got into place waiting for the signal, anxious to get out of this hellhole. I had put my harness back on and placed my gear in the right compartments. When putting my knives away someone came up beside me, I looked over and found Tia staring at me.
"What can I do for you, Tia?"
"I’m staying beside you, so don’t try and persuade me to move back. I can hold my own, and feel safer being next to you." Her defiant look that she gave told me the lovely woman wouldn’t budge, but before I could reply Mr. Pompous decided to talk.