"Jenna, now that we've eliminated two settlements, how many are left?" I asked early the next morning. My General looked proud at me.

  "Only eight more settlements. The Lizardmen remain inside the Grasslands. They can't move far into the Jungle, and there's no food for them on the beaches. The Island has no other places where the Lizardmen can survive. Those Lizardwomen who are living here can only do so because we are aiding them during the cooler times of the day. Our nation isn't large, but there aren't many places in the jungles where people can survive, and only one of those is far enough in where the Lizardmen can't reach. That's where the resistance was holed up. With two settlements taken, it shouldn't be long before we clear them all, even the resistance might take out one of them within a year if they're smart,... which they aren't. It wouldn't surprise me if they got themselves killed on one last-ditch effort to remove a settlement."

  I was stunned, only eight more settlements, incredible. "How far apart are these settlements?"

  "No more than three weeks walk from here. Were we to repeat the process of small raiding parties to draw off their guards, we could clear another settlement this week. Next closest settlement is only four days' march from here."

  I thought pensively for a moment, then abruptly came to a decision. "Get us ready for a raid. I want you and your wife, as well as Lyssrah and I, to do the luring. You're pulling, and the rest of us as your support. Then the best of your resistance fighters, around ten, to handle the larger groups once they've been lured out of the village. After we get the largest number out of the village, you and I will clear the village itself." Jenna saluted and made her way out of the hall. "Marta, arrange for a supply party to leave three days after us, meeting at the midway point campsite." Marta saluted as well.

  "It will be done, My Queen."

  Lyssrah hugged me in excitement. "Another sssanctum to ressscue. I hope it goessss assss ssssmoothly asss the lassst." I kissed her, and hugged her tightly.

  "We will save them all in time. I simply want to take it one settlement at a time. If we move too swiftly, we'll be unable to support the people we save. This third settlement is close, so they may find us by accident, so it's our next target."

  I returned to the Smithy project for the remainder of the day, and even while the sisters watched, I effortlessly built the structure, including a waterwheel to power the bellows with a steady wind that could be diverted from intensifying the flames, to cooling the interior. The structure rose two stories, with an ample living space above the smithy itself, and now it was completed; it only needed time for the Mortar to dry. Then furniture would be their only need, but Trina wasted no time in firing up the forge, and getting the collar scraps to be melted down, along with the mangled weapons I had once used, or destroyed in combat against the Lizardmen. Her sister, shaking her head in fond exasperation. I smiled gently at both of them and looked on with approval as the first plates were beaten into submission.

  Satisfied with the day's work, Lyssrah and I went to bed in order to get an early start on the long trip. I had no doubt that both the Smithy and the first house would be fully furnished and occupied by the time I returned, and I had already cleared additional building sites and piled the blocks needed for construction. If the work were managed properly, ten more housing units could be built over the next month and furnished within a week of that time.

  We set out as early as we could, with Jenna and I carrying our wives in order to set out even earlier than their cold-blooded bodies would have allowed. Both were wearing robes now, and in fact, all the Lizardwomen had taken to wearing robes for the purpose of retaining the heat longer. Our ten soldiers split into two groups of five, following single file behind Jenna or I as we travelled. With the added weight of our wives on our backs, the five following wouldn't even register in the soft soil of the grasslands. Anyone tracking us would only see a single set of prints, rather than six individual sets.

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  The Lizardmen scouts we ran into had no chance as we killed them from cover, stripping them of any metal or useful leather, and leaving them behind for scavengers. Our travel speed and hours of travel were brutal, as we'd have to move slowly on the return journey. Thanks to our haste, we managed to save a day off the trip. Late on the third day, just as the sun was setting, we arrived in sight of the settlement. We backed off out of sight of the settlement, finding two hollows, one for our ten support, and one for the girls and I.

  Jenna, bronze mace in hand, moved stealthily off into the grass, and before long, we heard the commotion of her "ill-timed" attack on a not-so-solo Lizardman. She then pretended to run in fear, having misjudged the timing of her attack. Unsuspecting, the Lizardmen chased her, and as she ran through our hollow, they followed. Six heads tumbled onto the grass as my sword effortlessly moved through their necks.

  Pulling the corpses out of the pathway, we prepared for Jenna's next pull. As in the last settlement, she pretended to have made an error in direction while attempting to lose her persuers. This time, ten hissing Lizards chased our lure, and she led them to the group of ten soldiers waiting in ambush. In a one on one match with steel weapons verses bronze, the Lizardmen didn't even have the time to call out in surprise.

  Another pull led to us, and the last four Guards who would be willing to leave their posts lost their heads to my sword. Not a single call went out. The last four Guards who were awake fell silently, never knowing how they died. Jenna and I silently crept through the village, clearing one hut after another, killing the Lizards, breaking collars, and moving on, cautioning them to remain hidden until the all clear was called. Standing outside the headman's hut, I thought about entering, but held back. Motioning Jenna to the side, I took up station on the other side, waiting. "I'll get your food, Sssskrelg hold your Garsssesss. Not like he'sss ssstarving anyway fat bassstard!" The second muttered sentence was his last as my sword came from behind to remove his head. We then crept into the hut before the door came shut.

  "Filthy ingrate! Trying to ssstarve me, after all I've done for thisss sssettlement. If it weren't for me, thossse femalesss would have enssslaved them through the mating bond. Insssufferable!" The Headman wasn't paying attention to the door, having heard it close behind what he assumed was his lackey, and Jenna's mace crushed his skull after he had finished defaming his dead companion.

  "Good riddance to bad rubbish!" I said loudly, and we moved to the Sanctum. As before, the Lizardwomen were somewhat fearful, even as the few human slave women looked at us in shock. "Everyone, and I mean every one of you, Lizardwomen, and Human alike, are now free. We will gather the eggs before we leave, taking all food and metal with us, and destroying this settlement outright. There are only seven settlements left, and they won't last long. This war will be over within the year, I expect." Shocked gasps came from everyone in the Sanctum, and happy tears welled down many faces.

  "Your Majesssty, do you truly mean to ressscue ussss too?!" Asked a Lizardwoman incredulously. I nodded, and one of the human women, once relieved of her collar flung herself at the speaker embracing her in a fierce hug, which was returned eagerly. However, she stopped frozen in fear a second later to turn her head towards me, only to see a gentle smile on my lips.

  "I'm glad to see this display, as it means I know to keep the two of you together. That mating bond is not something to be trifled with. I assume the Headman hadn't expected a human to trigger a mating bond, let alone a human female, but once it was triggered, he couldn't keep you apart, or lose a rape victim. Disgusting pig, wish I could kill him again, more slowly!" Both women smiled at that, with an evil grin of people who agreed wholeheartedly in giving a specific person a lot of pain.

  Luckily, it seemed that even the men within this group understood about the mating bond, and not one person, man or woman, blamed the Lizardwomen for the crimes of the Lizardmen. As Lyssrah and Glissselda flung themselves into mine and Jenna's arms respectively, and we hugged tightly in happiness at another successful liberation. A human man approached, and bowed in respect. "My Queen, thank you for your aid today, I..." Our eyes met, and we both froze, as did Lyssrah.

  The Emerald of my Coronet flashed with information about this man's bloodline, but it hardly mattered. Even if he were a popper with no family name, it wouldn't have mattered. "Thisss ssshouldn't be posssssible!" Lyssrah stated emphatically, but regardless of anything in the past, the mating bond had triggered again for Lyssrah, but it took me along for the ride it seemed. All three of us started to kiss and hug passionately. "I don't undersssstand thisss, never hasss a Lizardfolk been boned twiccce!"

  Slapping my face, I rallied what little sense I could muster. "We need to move, now! Recover the broken shells and place them in the nursery. I'll carry the eggs in this bag. Surround each layer of eggs in sand, and make sure they can't break during our trip. It's a four-day journey. Gather all the food and metal, leave nothing behind. Split into smaller groups to travel, humans in the lead with Lizardwomen following, with any luck, it will look like the humans are being chased to any trackers that come here to investigate." A flurry of activity ensued, and soon the village was emptied, and I created an Earthquake that swallowed the village in its entirety, leaving little to show that there had ever been a village in the first place, but the sinkhole that opened was totally natural.