First, Nell checked on the woman who had saved her as she stumbled over to the dragonewt woman. Who was currently staring at her in shock. Nell was honestly unsure what to do as Ves usually handled the talking. “Thank you for saving us. Do you need help getting up?” Nell said as she leaned down, offering the woman a hand.

  “How are you alive?” the woman asked.

  “Because I am? I am not sure how to answer that.” What a strange thing to ask Nell thought. Of course, she was alive. She was moving and everything.

  “But… but.., you were stabbed! Through the chest! I watched you pull it out like it was nothing.”

  “I wouldn’t say nothing, it did and still does hurt. Rather a lot, actually.”

  The dragonewt woman just blinked at her.

  “Ok, I see you're confused, but is now really the time? That one may be dead, but it’s not like he was the last.” Nell said as she pointed to the corpse of the man she had just fought.

  That seemed to get the woman out of her stupor as she finally accepted Nell’s offered hand. “You're right, not the time.” Back on her feet, she awkwardly walked toward the man’s corpse. Between her strained gait and haggard breaths, Nell assumed the woman had broken at least a few ribs. As the woman reached the body, she rummaged through his pockets only to pull out another set of keys, then she grabbed his short sword before turning back to Nell, “Let's go”.

  “Hiroko should still be down here somewhere,” Nell added as the pair walked over to the door the wolf body lay behind. The guards must have done a number on it, as several spears were currently pierced through the door. Literally nailing the body to the door. Nell had a small hope she could save the body, but the connection had been severed. It was truly dead. They could hear guards still fumbling around on the other side, likely trying to get the door open. The woman and Nell got into position as Nell carefully unlatched the door. The weight of the dire wolf pressed against it, nearly slammed it open. Seeing the slain man on the other side, one of the fools rushed in, only for the woman to jab a sword through his side. Seeing this, the rest of the men in the tunnel began to fumble and draw their swords, only for Nell to charge in, cutting them down in seconds.

  The exertion immediately took its toll, and Nell could feel her hastily performed first aid begin to falter as the patch on their heart started to tear. Falling to her knees, she took a moment to stabilize herself. She could even feel Ves judging her, which Nell took as a good sign if Ves had calmed down enough to pay attention.

  “So, have a name?” a voice called out as Nell looked up to see an offered hand.

  “Nell,” Nell answered as she accepted the help up, wincing in pain. In battle, they could tune physical pain out to a degree, but now she could feel in full just how bad the injuries were. Especially to their claw, easily several fractured bones and cracked exoskeleton. She didn’t want to flood their body with painkillers as it had the side effect of making their movements dull.

  “Thank you again for the rescue, Nell. I’m Ryuko, Yujiro is my brother you said he is here?”

  “Yes, him and Hiroko. They are the ones who asked us to help rescue you.”

  “Us? Is there someone else here as well?”

  “Ves she is-” Nell was about to explain before stopping herself. After seeing Yujiro and Hiroko’s reactions, she realized maybe now was not the best time and place to explain her and Ves’s situation.

  “Actually, long story best for another time. Hiroko should still be down here. Let’s make sure he is ok.”

  The woman, Ryuko, raised an eyebrow at that, “Okay…, but you're right, it can wait.”

  It didn’t take long to find Hiroko, who was standing before an elaborate cage. This one had a hum about it that Nell couldn’t place. Like, there was an energy radiating off it. Inside the cage was an impatient-looking, short, and gangly woman with long ears and unhealthy looking pale skin.

  “Wyrm’s breath, you can feel the magic radiating off this thing,” Ryuko said as she walked up and ran her hand across the surface of the cage.

  “Glad to see you're still alive,” Hiroko spoke as he smiled warmly at Ryuko before turning back to Nell. “I’ll take it you already found and freed the others.”

  Nell nodded, “Everyone we found along the way, all the guards are dead or trapped in the mess hall, drowning in their own vomit.”

  “Wait, what?” Ryuko asked.

  “Rat poison and a barrel of something called whiskey”

  Ryuko whistled at that, “remind me never to piss you off”.

  Hiroko then butted in, “I doubt myself and Yujiro could have done this alone. Thank you, Ves. I really mean it.”

  “Ves? Didn’t you say your name was Nell?” Ryuko asked.

  “Long story,” Nell and Hiroko replied in unison.

  “Hello? Please don’t forget about me.” The woman from the cage called out.

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  As all three turned to look back at her, Hiroko spoke up, “I haven’t, but none of these keys work. Doubt we could forcibly open it either.”

  “Here, try these,” Ryuko said as she handed Hiroko another set of keys, “Found them on a cultivator down here.”

  “Wait, is Xander dead?” the caged woman asked.

  “Xander?” Nell replied.

  “He was my captor, escorting me to some hotshot in Kohdessia.” The woman said right before the lock opened with an audible click. As soon as it did, the hum Nell felt pulsing from the cage stopped.

  “Not like we exchanged names while trying to kill each other. Pretty sure he cracked half my ribs.” Ryuko winced.

  “Stabbed me through the chest.”

  Hiroko and the woman stepping out of the cage just stopped and stared.

  “She is telling the truth. I watched her remove the sword.”

  Hiroko sighed, “Explaining you to the others will be such a hassle.”

  “Is that not normal?”

  “No!” three voices shouted out loud. Nell could even feel Ves's chastisement.

  With the last of the captives free, the group journeyed to the entrance, only to be confronted with one last problem, as they could hear a commotion.

  “We can’t leave them here,” an older woman’s voice called out.

  “It's not like the rest of you can stay here either,” Nell recognized that voice, it was Yujiro.

  “What’s wrong?” Hiroko asked as they arrived.

  “Hiroko, it is good to see you alive and well,” greeted an older dragonewt, the same voice from before.

  “You as well, Elder Setsu. So what’s the issue? While we dealt with the guards, from the sounds of it, this place receives regular checkups every few days. We want to be long gone before then.”

  “My point exactly,” Yujiro chimed in, “Several people here were already contracted, with those collars preventing them from leaving. I hate to say it, but there is nothing we can do, not like we have the means to remove the collars.”

  “So you think we should leave them behind?” Setsu retorted with minor outrage.

  “Elder Setsu, it’s not like I want to do this, but we can’t risk being here when the slavers return. As well as the rest of our clan, is still out there, down several of our best hunters. They need us to return quickly as possible. I wish there was something we could do, I really do.” Yujiro said that last part softly.

  Nell looked around to see people with collars. Including the strange pale woman, there were a few humans, including the mute woman who risked herself to help out Ves. Nell could feel Ves’s sympathy for them. They couldn’t just leave them, but Yujiro had a point. Resolved to help them, knowing it’s what Ves wanted, Nell was about to offer to stay behind when another voice spoke up.

  “Did none of you read the contracts? There is a way out of this.” Everyone turned to look at the speaker. The pale woman.

  “What do you mean?” Setsu asked as a few of the contracted looked at the woman in confusion as well.

  “That thing has several loopholes. In this instance, we can exploit one in particular. For example, while we are not allowed to escape, that is only so long as our lives are not in imminent danger. If there was, say, an emergency that required an evacuation, we are allowed to leave even without explicit permission.”

  “You actually read it?” one of the contracted humans asked.

  “You didn’t? I get we were all more than likely forced to sign under duress, but you still should read what you were signing,” the woman sighed. “Anyway, it’s a clause to allow us to leave in an emergency. At the end of the day, we are a product. They can’t sell us if we are dead.”

  “I take it you have a plan?” Yujiro asked.

  “Sure, just burn the place to the ground. I suppose you could also kidnap us as the collar only keeps us from leaving under our own volition, but I don’t think anyone wants to carry us.”

  “Hmm, if you’re sure that will work, I support the plan. Would also help cover up what happened here.” Hiroko added.

  After no one objected, it didn’t take long to set the plan into motion. After carefully looting the place for as many supplies as the group could carry, they carefully started a set of fires which would begin in the deepest parts of the hideout, working their way to the front. At first, there was a degree of concern as, despite the smoke, the contracted were still unable to leave. With all of them huddled in the small shack that disguised the entrance. As the heat and glow of the inferno approached the entrance, having likely consumed the entire underground, the collars finally gave way, allowing escape.

  Nell did take a moment to ponder the fates of the trapped guards, but Ves didn’t seem to mind, so Nell wouldn’t either.

  From there, the group set off into the forest, their immediate goal being to regroup with the rest of the dragonewts. A few of the contracted were hesitant to come with, but what choice did they really have? By midday, the group decided they had made enough distance to risk taking a rest. The dragonewts had not eaten in days and were in desperate need of food if they were going to make it the rest of the way.

  Ves had also collected herself enough to take over, which was a huge sigh of relief for Nell, who had never been around so many people before in her life. Not that it was saying much, considering her age.

  Needing food after the intensive healing, Ves was sitting around chewing on dried meat. Largely sitting by herself, as no one dared to approach. Which suited her just fine, she wasn’t really in the mood to talk. She had been dangerously close to dying in the fight earlier, or worse, being recaptured and returned to her master.

  ‘Ves, why are they staring at us like that?’

  “They’re just scared Nell.”

  ‘Why would they be scared? Didn’t we save them?’ Nell asked as Ves could feel her annoyance.

  “It’s the same as it was with Yujiro or Hiroko. People are scared of the unknown. I don’t doubt they are thankful, but think of how we look all grimy, covered in blood, wearing a wolf pelt.” Theirs was a violent world, so the blood and death weren’t likely all that new to these people. The issue was people fought with weapons; claws were for beasts. Based on the looks around her, most were trying to decide which side of the line they landed on. Regardless, for now, she would stick with the group to ensure they safely reconnected with the rest of their clan. After that, though, Ves was unsure.

  She was interrupted from her melancholy when a hand reached in front of her, offering a cup of water. It was Alice, unlike the others, she had a warm smile across her face.

  “Umm, thank you,” was all Ves could awkwardly get out before accepting the drink. To Ves’s surprise, the woman then sat down next to her. As Ves looked at the woman, confused, she saw that the woman's eyes were not on Ves. Rather, she was looking around at everyone else. As if seeing the same frightened stares, Nell had noticed the woman’s smile began to falter. Until finally her own face was solemn. It was then the woman, nearly teary, gently grasped Ves’s hands, claw included, to the surprise of the onlookers if the gasps Ves heard were anything to go by. As she looked up at Ves, trying to force herself to smile, she mouthed but one phrase, over and over again.

  Thank you.

  It didn’t take long before the woman lost all composure and cried without restraint as Ves awkwardly tried to comfort her. Having a woman who looked several years her senior crying in her arms was something Ves didn’t know how to handle. Unsure what to do, Ves frantically looked around for help, only to see a new expression in some of the onlookers. No longer one of fear, but shame.