Soul Knight - Stubbing Book 2 9/7 Read NOW or lose it!

Fang and Luna stepped inside the Path of Kings 9th Floor Safe Zone, the Oasis, with their party of monsterfolk. Dragging the sleds, Fang gave a happy sigh as the oppressive heat and essence gave way to a gentle breeze.

“Finally we made it. This trip was shorter thanks to the reduced difficulty, but it still took a lot longer than I wanted!”

The three wolflings shook themselves off, their fur flinging sand everywhere. A snakefolk hissed in response as more sand was flung into their face, and a kobold glared at them.

Luna chuckled at their methods of shaking out the fur–it was something that didn’t work too well for her any longer–but soon she wouldn’t even need it, thanks to learning Clean from Eirwen. “It was still almost four days. But our new friends have come a long way.”

Fang looked over them with a proud smile. “You have done great! The Boss, your Alpha, will be pleased at your success, I just know it!”

As per usual, they celebrated with clapping and woo’ing. The snakefolk had trouble with the latter, but they did their best.

Fang had her hands on her hips, Luna having stowed away her shield already. “Hm, but you still haven’t evolved. The ninth floor had so much essence…”

Luna shook her head. “They are awarded some on kills, but this is limited. They are not yet cultivators. Most of their essence will come from food, or Boss Essence.”

Fang suddenly smiled. “Oh! I know–we just need to stuff them full of all these bugs!” She pointed at the sleds, which were stacked high with the corpses of creatures from their last fight. “We’re going to need you to eat all of this!”

The snakefolk’s eyes bulged, and they shook their heads fervently, and the kobolds whimpered. The wolflings titled their heads, and their tongus started to lull out–the Ironclaw wolflings were already used to eating centipedes and their chitin whole.

Luna chuckled. “Not to worry-we shall cook it together. We have up to twenty-four hours to rest. Let us use the most of it.”

They dug a large pit, and set up a large fire to begin cooking the copious quantity of bug meat. The wurms were smaller and more manageable to bring this time, so they had a few cuts of the larger creature as well.

It took some time to cook them up, but when it was time to eat, even the snakefolk were excited to try it thanks to the delicious smells drifting from their meal. They ate the monster meat happily, and the Ironclaw wolflings appeared to have a special essence technique which allowed them to consume more.

The kobolds and snakefolk did their best to copy them, and were moderately successful with their body essence. That meant they managed to eat a lot of cooked bug meat–which Nick said taste a lot like crab, whatever that was. The essence of the ninth floor meats was especially dense, only a bit beneath the drake meat they had eaten so much of.

And eventually, the special moment arrived. The three Ironclaw wolflings began their evolution, and so did the one of the kobolds and one of the snakefolk. Fang cheered and helped bring them over to sleep in their hammocks, provided by Jasmine.

Luna hummed. “Hmm, maybe they must succeed on that Optional Test on the first floor. It’s the downside of not having the tribulation for additional traits. Maybe we need to pass around that ore and demon cores from the Frostspire Mines…”

Fang narrowed her eyes on the remaining three that failed to obtain a trait on the first floor and put her hand on her hip, and wagged her finger at them angrily. “You need to work harder next time. We moved on so that you could get some more training before you tried again, but you failed the Boss, and yourselves!”

The kobolds and snakefolk looked sadly at the ground, unable to meet Fang’s eyes. They didn’t fully understand what she just said, but they could feel her displeasure–and it certainly had to do with them not evolving when their brethren did.

Luna smiled, and tried to reassure them. “Don’t be so harsh on them, Fang. We both know you all have worked very hard for your Alpha. You are cold-blooded, it makes sense that you would have difficulties with the cold. You will have to work hard to overcome your limits and become more, so prepare yourselves for the next attempt.”

The kobolds nodded, and the snakefolk flickered their tongues and swayed their bodies in response.

Luna looked over to the ones covered in essence. “They evolved, but I don’t think we should go on to the next floor, Fang. You pushed them hard, but there’s no way they are ready for the boss, weakened or not.”

Fang sighed. “I know. I wanna take it on, but we should be safe and head back. Next trip though…”

“Those who evolved will now be able to lead others through. They still need a lot of training to stand up to that final boss. We carried them through the fifth floor boss, and much of this floor, as it was. It would be best if we took another group next time.”

“Awww…” Fang sighed, her ears laying flat on her head. “But I wanted to impress Boss…”

Luna smiled, and hugged Fang from the side. “Not to worry. I’m sure he’ll be happy with what we’ve accomplished–it’s just the first week, after all. Even if Jasmine is scarily efficient–but she didn’t take on the boss.”

Fang’s ears were still drooping. “Just what did she do to those poor beetles? They all evolved, and in just a couple of days she made it here… but… just what is power leveling? They seem so scared of her now.”

Luna checked the Menu for the clock. “I don’t know, all she said was pew pew pew when I asked. But let’s put this all away and rest up for now. When they wake up, we’ll help them get used to their bodies, and cultivate in the sandstorm before we leave.”

They set up their own hammocks and all napped off their meal. When Fang and Luna woke up, the monsterfolk had finished their evolutions. The Ironpaw Wolflings had become Noblefrost Wolfen, the two girls and one male smiling and barking with pride–they hadn’t been around long enough to fully learn Orion Common it appeared, and so they would need to spend some time with that.

The Wolfen were learning it quickly though, picking it up rapidly as they talked.

Only one of the three kobolds had succeeded in obtaining a frost related trait on the first floor, and only one of the two snakefolk as well. Both had blue-colored scales, and had become more humanlike.

The evolved kobold became a slightly smaller human with a scaled tail, and blue scales tracing up their spine and around the back of their neck and to the front, near the clavicle. Some scales went down their sides and covered their feet and hands, along with wicked looking claws.

Luna smiled. “The kobold became a Noblefrost Scalefolk instead of a drakan.”

The evolved snakefolk looked a fair amount like a human or elf, but with a snake lower body. They were still relatively small in comparison to humans or beastfolk, but their torso seemed a little larger than Luna and Fang’s. They were much like the scalefolk in their upper body, in that there were scales interspersed around their neck and sides of their face.

“Oh! A Noblefrost Naga, huh. That’s neat. This guy looks pretty tough! We’ll need to get them some new equipment.”

Fang looked over her new Wolfen tribe members. The girls both had blue hair and fur just like herself, and the male was covered in blue fur. He was also a fair amount larger, likely just short of Nick’s height.

Two handfuls of their thirty original wolflings had already evolved, so seeing that they could get the rest evolved so long as they received a trait on the first floor was a significant advantage.

The three who failed to evolve looked on with envy, but their eyes eventually took on a determined look. They eagerly joined the sandstorm aura training, and did their best to copy what their evolved brethren were doing–even if their usage of aura as monsterfolk was simply different. They were preparing for when they could become more.

Fang beamed with pride as she trained her new tribe members. There were many more to prepare, and they would do even better next time.

***

Just like Nick had hoped, the priestesses had created a smart schedule where they would patrol around and visit homes within the many parts of town. The dozens of priestesses would in small groups and keep each other and the people of Silverbrook safe with their presence, but a lot of it hinged on one thing–that the Captain of the Guard approved of the plan.

Nick, Kaya, Rebecca, and Eirwen were all heading to meet with this captain now, walking through the city early in the morning. Many of the people they helped over the course of the week waved hello, a majority of them being pleasant.

Only a few scowled and made them feel unwelcome, and Nick easily smoothed this over with Rebecca. She had a wide smile as they walked through the busy city and saw all the happy people.

Not everyone in the city needed healing, but many had a family member or friend that the clergy had helped in one way or another. The clergy and adherents also provided food in one of the tents, feeding the less fortunate–those in need of a free meal, much like the orphanage back at home.

They arrived at the barracks, yet another special building supplied by the Ordeal. It was much like the training grounds but was perfect for soldiers to condition themselves and slowly level up. It would allow the town guard to reach a level above most of the people within the city.

The presence of yet another special building once again showed how Lord Silver’s investments had definitely been in his people. They had learned that there was even a fourth special construction: a seaport, complete with an essence-powered lighthouse and administrative buildings.

It extended the essence control radius further into the ocean, and even protected ships moored there through minor weather and sea monster control.

Since they arrived early in the morning, a majority of the town guard were in the middle of their drills. The barracks was shaped much like a small keep with a gate and a courtyard, the gate already open and allowing them entry.

The captain of the guard was leading them through their drills, the men and women practicing with their weapons. Some were fighting off to the side with training weapons, and the masked elven man was watching over them and shouting out orders, his dagger-like ears peeking out of the sides of the silver mask.

He wore a silver tabard and ornate chainmail armor with a rapier at his waist. The man noticed their approach through the courtyard, and called out to them. “Ah! Lord Noblefrost–right on time. One moment, please.”

He shouted some more orders to his men, and walked over to meet Nick and his family. Nick had originally been concerned about meeting this man if he was complicit with Blackthorne’s bandits, but seeing his bright soul, he knew it wasn’t the case immediately.

Getting a better look at the mask, it was a lot like one used in a theater, which covered the area around the eyes, but left most of the mouth and lower half of the face visible. It was a silver mask, with black filigrees with images of swords and shields drawn throughout.

“Thank you for coming to see me, Lord and Ladies Noblefrost and Arch Priestess. I am Captain Aronde–Let’s head over to my office, and we’ll be able to speak in private.”

His party followed him into the stone keep, heading to a second level office. As they went in, Nick didn’t really detect anything amiss within with his Soul Sense, so he was satisfied to know that the majority of the town guard likely wasn’t a part of the criminal element in the city.

The office was mostly spartan with little decorations, but the chairs and desk were ornately carved wood, and there was a secondary desk off to the side. A tanned elf woman was working on paperwork at it, and she stood at their entry.

Aronde gestured to the elven woman, “This is my assistant, Eleanor. She’ll be monitoring the health check and likely helping with your request.”

Nice to meet you’s were quickly exchanged, Nick and the girls nodding at the assistant.

Captain Aronde asked, “Shall we get the health check out of the way, or discuss your request first? I’m eager for you to take a look and see if you can help, if you don’t mind.”

Nick took a look now that he was standing closer to him, and found an odd haze wrapped around his soul. It made it difficult to see if there were any problems.

“Might as well. Rebecca, go ahead and go first.”

Rebecca nodded and walked over. “Excuse me.” She took his palm in her hand with her eyes closed, and Nick knew she was examining him.

“Nothing odd with the body, though you seem fatigued or stressed.”

Aronde grimaced. “Yes, it’s been a challenge to maintain order, and climb monthly in the tower. Our runs have been taking longer, and we’ve been accomplishing less and less. It’s been a challenge to proceed safely with us being so fatigued.”

Rebecca smiled, and sent a wave of healing energy into him. The aches and pains within his muscles were removed, and Nick could sense that Eleanor had her own magical senses and aura, probing what Rebecca was doing.

Meanwhile, Nick was watching the man’s Soul Core with his Advanced Soul Sense.

Aronde gave a pleased sigh. “Ah, that is much better. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll now check the health of your brain and mind core.” She spent a moment probing him with her magical senses. “I notice that…there’s a film, or aura, preventing me–and it feels a bit different than you rejecting me. Is this…your connection?”

Aronde sighed. “It is. I figured this was going to be difficult. Normally, the mask is a strength, but… it does appear to prevent other healers from properly diagnosing the issue.”

It sounded a lot like the mask might provide an ability much like Nick’s Soul Fortress–but probably directly for the mind.

Nick asked, “Is it possible to remove the mask temporarily?”

Aronde shook his head. “We cannot. It is not infallible, however. Can you try…sending healing energy, without properly gauging the problem?”

Rebecca frowned. “It is…risky. The Mind Core and the brain are both delicate, sending too much energy could harm you–even as pure as faith essence is. I could try sending a miniscule amount, but I doubt it’d have much effect.”

Nick decided to ask, “When did the symptoms start?”

“Hm, I’d have to say around a year or two ago. It’s just slowly been getting worse and worse.”

Eirwen and Kaya had stood off to the side, and Eirwen noted, “That’s a pretty vague timeframe.”

Aronde sighed. “Whatever’s been happening among us that wear the silver masks, it has been slow and insidious–we hadn’t noticed something was really wrong until about a year and a half ago, and it was then we’d realized it had likely started before then. We have tried numerous methods, and some have helped–much like Rebecca’s healing. But none have had lasting effects. They only slow the decline.”

Rebecca frowned. “Yes, I see that. I already see the fatigue returning, and we’re early in the morning besides. Do you want to try now, Nicholas? I’d rather you try first, over the aimless healing.”

“Might as well give it a try. Let me take a look.”

Nick approached from his back instead, causing Eleanor to arch her brow at him.

He smiled. “Just less awkward to reach the soul from back here, though less so for men. Excuse me.”

When he was this close, Nick could see the small soul core much better. There were certainly some hairline cracks, and it wasn’t just a haze on the soul–it was a greenish hue that almost both felt and looked like a poison.

“I do feel something odd. I will try to heal it with my soul healing spell.”

Aronde nodded, though Eleanor looked concerned. She frowned as she watched intently, and Nick had a feeling of danger as he was about to cast his spell. He arched his brow at her. “Worried about what I’m going to do?”

Eleanor glared at him. “Why wouldn’t I be? The priestess has an aura of purity. As for you, your eyes glow in a strange way, and while I feel kinship with you as an elf, you seem…different, somehow. You also have a…dangerous air about you.”

Rebecca folded her arms, blushing. “I knew I wasn’t the only one.”

Kaya chuckled. “I bet you like that part of him now, though.”

Eirwen teased, “You’re one to talk, Kaya. But Nicholas is only dangerous to bad people. He’s healed women and children with a warm smile on his face, and it’ll be no different this time. You can reassure them, right, Hubby?”

Nick nodded. “Of course. I understand people will be reluctant to bear their soul to someone else, even a healer. However, I swear that I mean no harm, and I will attempt to heal Captian Aronde to the best of my ability, as an Expert of Soul Magic.”

He only added the last bit to help reassure them, and the Soul Magic washed over them, his pledge to not harm the captain. Eleanor relaxed somewhat, and Aronde gasped in surprise.

“An expert of Soul Magic? Even long-lived High elves have difficulty obtaining such a level of proficiency. Please, continue.”

Nick cast his spell–Soul Mend. It wrapped around the man’s soul core, and it purged away the infiltrating essence, restoring the hairline cracks that appeared on it.

The man sighed with relief as the weight was lifted off his soul, and a small smile touched his lips.

“That helped. I can feel it.”

Rebecca and the girls beamed at his success, but Nick was watching and feeling closely. Whatever it was, it began seeping into his soul core again. “I can tell. But I can tell the issue will return. The problem must be coming from your link.”

Aronde nodded. “It’s what we thought, but we’re not sure what’s causing it. That you can help at this level is a huge boon. Perhaps if you heal us all within a short period, it will bring us back to fighting strength and we can expel it on our own. I’ll let the others know to all come meet you.”

Eirwen asked, “How many others are there?”

“There are seven of us, including Lord Silver. Each with our own role of leadership and governance within the Ordeal and the city.”

Nick arched his brow. “Why’s the Mayor not one of you?”

Aronde chuckled. “It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s because of two reasons. A Mayor’s role of governance is too similar to our Governor’s, Lord Silver. The second is to maintain the city and chain of command, in case the worse happens while we climb. If Lord Silver were to fall inside, Mayor Allen would become the new Ordeal Owner. You might find this somewhat common among certain Paths–that their Mayor is like the second in command.”

Aronde clapped his hands. “Now, let’s hear your request. Please, sit.”

The group sat, though Eleanor stood at Captain Aronde’s side as he sat at his desk.

Rebecca detailed their request. The plan was the town guard to alter their patrols, and to, in a non-overt way, monitor her people, and listen for any spiritual shouts. While the rogues might be aware of their pacification aura and may work against this, thanks to the demonstration, they should not be prepared for the effectiveness of the priestesses’ spiritual shouts–and their proficiency with their staffs.

Because of what happened at Zura, Rebecca was far from the only one who had begun training with the staff among the priestesses. None of them were outright amazing with them, but even without their magic, they were far from defenseless. It was getting to the point that many of them could nearly act as paladins, and some had actually been given the option for the class.

And some might ultimately take it. However, many were in a wait and see sort of mindset because they intended to recruit more paladins for Seraphara from this pilgrimage. So far, they had made quite a bit of progress and were successful in increasing the number of prospective paladins, and that number would increase among the settlers and ex-slaves once they arrived in Frosthaven and had more opportunities to see Seraphara’s Wisdom in action.

Captain Aronde was skeptical at first about the underground tunnels, but he was willing to play along until they uncovered the first one. Thankfully, the man understood the nuance required, and that they shouldn’t just barge into the locations outlined on the map, as their enemies might just flee.

Eleanor looked concerned. “I’m really impressed you have obtained this amount of information in such a short time. Of course, we’re aware our city is not free of criminals. However, they hide their tracks well, and they are well-organized. Any busts we’ve attempted have resulted in only a handful arrested–see this location, here.”

She pointed at a place underneath a tavern. “This is the bar many of the mercs hang out in, and it’s in a bad area of town. We frequently tear the place down and arrest the scoundrels, but new ones always come to take their place. But this looks like an underground passage…which we haven’t found.”

Rebecca frowned. “That was one where my girls and I aren’t well-equipped to handle.”

Nick chuckled. “You’re right. I think the right person for this job is Andross.”

Kaya laughed. “Oh, you want him to start a fight! He’ll love that.”

They ironed out the last parts of the plan, and they’d be executing against several, disconnected locations, almost simultaneously. They would have their own investigators working, their more trusted guard members capable of espionage.

Aronde was surprised at one of the details of Nick’s plan. “Are you sure you want us to take all the credit for this?”

Nick nodded. “If you can, I want you to play it up a little. Make a big deal out of each of the squads that catch the bad guys. If you can make it look plausible–all the better. Like have a beastfolk squad member say he smelled something odd, or one of the dwarfs feel something different in the earth. If possible.”

Eleanor nodded. “We do have some with these skills, but they have failed to find anything before. We’ve even commissioned special artifacts to aid in our search. Maybe we could use that.”

Nick was happy that they had some ideas of their own, but that brought him to a new concern. “It’s questionable that you haven’t landed a significant blow in those types of operations in the past, despite your efforts. My source is good, but you should have those skilled in investigation among you, no? I think it’s important that you keep this operation on a need to know basis, to prevent our enemy from potentially hearing.”

Eleanor frowned. “You…think we have a…betrayer, among us? That…we’ll be careful. It’s true when we purchased the artifacts, there were too many aware of their arrival. They could have made countermeasures.”

Eirwen asked, “So normally, you capture the criminals and what–they get sent to jail?”

Eleanor replied, “Many become criminal slaves, and then sold off to the slave merchant. It depends on what their crimes were. We obtain as much evidence as possible when we arrest them, and then bring their crimes before the magistrate. They decide on sentencing after a questioning.”

Aronde added, “The magistrate is one of our esteemed climbers. We’ll make sure all of them can meet you before Lord Silver within the next week.”

Nick nodded. “That makes sense. I hope I can help the others as much as I’ve helped you, but do let me know if anything changes. If it’s a plot by an enemy, they are not going to allow me to heal everyone quietly. Do all the linked people know already?”

Aronde shook his head. “The link is primarily used in combat, with Lord Silver’s ability. Aside from me, most of those who wear the masks are not that capable of fighting. But pooling our resources together, we can create powerful constructs that can fight much above our usual level. It does allow for communication among us, but it takes a conscious effort.”

He continued, “We’ll do our best to keep the healing operation and our focus on the search a secret as best as we can, for now. Eleanor and I will see to this personally. Thank you for your aid both in healing us and with trying to uphold the law in Silverbrook, Lord Noblefrost. If we can close down just a few of these underground tunnels and catch a similar number of these criminals, it will do a lot to keeping the people of Silverbrook safe.”

They left the meeting with the guard captain in good spirits, walking down the street together. Rebecca was quite pleased, and Nick was certain they’d have a decent outcome with their plans.

Nick grabbed Eirwen and Rebecca’s hands, Kaya’s needing hers to be free for her bodyguard duties. “Let’s head to the docks. It’s been busy this past week, and it’s about to get a lot busier. I’d like to take my girls out for lunch.”

Eirwen smiled, her ears wiggling as they changed course. “Oh, how nice. We’ve always met up at the inn at night, but it’s nice for us to have a break during the day.”

Rebecca nodded, and Nick could see she was in a good mood. “Excited about the plan, Becca? Your girls are going to be a little at risk, but I think they can do some major good for the city.”

Rebecca beamed at Nick, slowing in her steps. “No, you summarized it perfectly. Thanks to you, we have nothing to fear. With our wisdom, we can accomplish a lot of good, and the lesser evils of this city will be unable to stop us.”

Eirwen chuckled. “I can’t wait to see you girls in action. If the orcs have difficulty overcoming you, these rogues will be even more pathetic.”

Kaya asked from behind them, “All the priestesses are not quite at the level of those that demonstrated, are they?”

“They’re not. But even adherents can contribute to the pacification aura, or use the spiritual shouts. We’ll make sure our small groups are led by one or two senior priestesses. The adherents can wander nearby, and help call the guard or reinforce if something happens.”

There were only about two dozen priestesses that arrived for the Pilgrimage, and about double that in adherents, men and women both. Not all would be viable at patrols, but the smart priestesses would come up with a pattern to catch the villains unaware and protect the people of Silverbrook at the same time.

They arrived at the seaside restaurant he heard about, which specialized in seafood. They sat in a table on a balcony, that overlooked the ocean. The large port could be seen in the distance, the sparkling water and clear skies a breathtaking view.

Nick ordered a large paella-like dish for two or three and shared it with Eirwen, and Rebecca enjoyed a fish that smelled a lot like salmon.

Kaya was happy with her surf and turf skewers, which had steak and shrimp–and allowed her to focus on her task of watching over them all.

“You been busy just like I have been, Winny. Everything going well?”

Eirwen nodded. “We got a big shipment of difficult to source tools and supplies ready to head to Frosthaven, including books and even cultivation resources we’re sorely lacking. I’ve sold much of our local goods to the merchants here, though the price wasn’t as good if we had our own Merchant’s Guild. Still, Marissa, Rebecca and I have done our best to get the most we could.”

Rebecca nodded. “At the very least, we haven’t dipped too far into the treasury for this. This trip we’re still in the red, but we’ve tried to invest in the city’s future as you’ve wanted.”

Nick saw the value in trying to get their own merchant’s guild, but he was much more interested in a crafting guild, first. Since Silverbrook specialized in trade and had a port, there wasn’t much value in competing with this at this time–at least until Blackthorne was defeated.

He was already starting to build relationships with the merchants here, and had secured a regular caravan to head his way–and not run by the bandit warlord. It would need to be protected, but the pathway was direct, and soon they would be working to improve the roads.

“Thanks a lot for your efforts, Winny, Becca. Thanks to you, we’re getting a lot done.”

Winny smiled. “I’ve enjoyed this trip a lot. Meeting a lot of people, staying in a nice inn…and now eating some good food, it’s been fun!”

Rebecca smiled and nodded, and played with her necklace for a moment. They had already been over how thankful she was for the pilgrimage many times at this point.

“Ah, that’s right. I guess now is as good a time as any.”

Nick reached into his new spatial device–a simple pouch stored in a breast pocket of his kingly martial robes. Retrieving the necklaces, he held them in his hand.

“Rebecca already got hers, as you girls have noticed. But yours and Kaya’s took a little more work. I had to find someone with the right tools to make it for Kaya.”

He opened the necklaces, showing an image of Mira. Kaya was definitely the spitting image of her mother, the only visible difference was that she was slightly older than Kaya was currently, and had a light discoloration–a scar on her cheek from a claw or blade.

“I got you both these, and in truth, they are but trinkets. But I know how much Mira meant to you both, so I wanted you to be able to carry her close to your heart when you feel like it.”

Eirwen beamed, as she took it in her hand. “Oh, I love that picture! But that’s smaller…oh, you must have had someone copy it!”

“I did…you like it?” He teased, “I realized you might like it while I was out with another woman.”

Rebecca laughed and Eirwen giggled, her ears wiggling. “Hehe, that’s okay, Hubby! I’m happy–you still thought of me and got me a gift.” She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tightly from his side at the table.

Nick handed the necklace over to Kaya, who had to put down her skewer. “I had to specially enchant this. It should grow when you do, the ambient feral essence helping it stretch.”

“Thanks, Nick–I love it.” Kaya looked over the picture with a smile, before putting on the necklace, and kissing him on the cheek as well.

Rebecca noted, “This has been a fun trip. But things are about to become even busier.”

Kaya was done admiring her new necklace, as was back on the lookout–and eating another skewer. “Nick’s nearly done with the goals of the Ordained Lord Quest. You plan on seeing the slave merchants soon, right?”

Nick nodded. “The first caravan has arrived, which should carry most of the settlers on its way back. The second load will be near the end, and will have the slaves and any stragglers before we head back on the bikes and our vehicles. We just have to clear out all the bad guys, and everything should be smooth after that.”

Eirwen said, “That’ll be easier said than done, but you’ve been training hard, and Sable has really gone above and beyond. I don’t know that your plan would have worked at all if not for her, Hubby.”

“You’re right. That girl is definitely punching above her weight on this. And I’ll make sure to reward her for her efforts. All the belly rubs she wants.”

Kaya snorted, and Winny laughed as they wrapped up their meal. A little over a week’s work was done, but they had a long ways to go.