* * *

Joe frowned, agitation vibrating through his body while he chewed on his lips before staring at the seekers, the building, then at the map, instinctually firing off another party locate while staring at the map. The faint green dot formed off to the side, a good hundred or so paces away. He chewed his lip again and stared at the building. Something… there’s something… what’s this… Party locate fired again and his eye’s opened in surprise. Garnedell was behind him, so the fiery heat of his presence slapped into his back, and the heat from Kilniara aligned with the green blush of a dot on his map, just off to his left side. However, he felt the smallest brush of heat hit his face, square on as he stared at the building. He fired party locate again. There! I did feel it. There is… what?!

* * *

This time, Garnedell could actually feel the swelling of Master’s Presence. This was the first time Master had ever enforced his Presence and Garnedell could barely feel it, his control so powerful that it barely affected those on the street. Despite that, Master’s Presence held a texture, an aspect subtle but easily noticed that made him… different. The difference was stark, in spite of the subtlety, in a way that made Master’s presence unique and somehow terrifying.

Everyone on the street froze. The overwhelming feeling Garnedell felt was one of… safety, or protection. When he glanced at Gwenvair, tears flowed down her face and she stared up at Master like one obsessed. Seeing Gwenvair’s reaction, Garnedell began to glance around at the others. The Seekers stiffened, staring at him wide-eyed while the staff and workers of Gwenvair’s teams froze, looking down and away, but all still stood. Garnedell turned to look back at Master.

As he watched, Master’s Presence grew, greater in power, fading in from a great distance as Master put forth greater and greater effort into his skill. Even then, Master controlled it so that it was not even a minor discomfort. Garnedell felt no pain or pressure. It was a caress, an acknowledgment of existence without force, though the strangeness became much more pronounced, and the strangeness became terrifying though Garnedell felt no fear.

Suddenly, the world popped. A shell of power surrounding the house exploded into existence before disintegrating into a shower of rapidly shrinking and fading sparks. Master collapsed to one knee and grunted, his hand slamming into the alley street before he stood. Garnedell felt his eyebrows rise when he saw blood dripping from Master’s nose, but nothing else was visible. Garnedell breathed warily, his heart pounding and fear strangling his thoughts and throat. It was an incredibly strange sort of fear. It was a fear of a great power before him but knowledge that that power would bring no harm against him: a great and terrible fearful respect.

* * *

Gwenvair shuddered, Joe’s Presence snuffed out and she struggled to return to normal. Her heart pounded and tears slid down her cheeks as she struggled to bring her emotions under control. The warmth and safety that she’d felt while basking in Joe’s Presence had been almost overwhelming, and she shuddered in the memory of it. She continued, lost in the memory until Joe growled out in anger.

“She’s in there!”

Joe stepped forward and slammed his foot into the door, mana swelling into his digits as his foot hit the door. The door splintered under the strike of his foot, the lock in the frame remained but the door shattered around the lock as it blasted open and slammed against the wall inside. Master did not wait, stomping into the room without thought. Gwenvair scrambled in after him and found a room with a table, desk, and alchemical ingredients scattered throughout.

Joe didn’t even wait, strutting straight across the room to another door after a short moment to orientate in the room. Again, his foot slammed down on the door. The door splintered slightly, but Joe did not even wait, allowing the rebound to step him back and return with another hard slam into the door. This time, the door gave, sliding in with a screech and Joe shoved in without concern or pause. Again, Gwenvair found herself immediately behind him, pushing into the room as he once again took a moment to study the room before immediately heading to another door.

Gwenvair struggled to keep up after him, strange boxes littering the room with a table off to the side. Joe easily threaded his way through and came upon another door. This, too, fell to his booted foot, but took almost four strikes before it screeched violently off the hinges and pressed back into the next room. Joe had to slam his shoulder and push with his entire body to get the door open. When it did, the growls of monsters and the moans and painful groans of women erupted out into the room.

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Gwenvair froze, fear spiking through her body like a spear thrust. She glanced back around the room and noticed the strange boxes. Horrifying insight came to her a few moments later, and Gwenvair began to sob as she struggled forward, pressing into the room after Joe.

The next room was strangely constructed. It was a room within a room. They were in an outer room only slightly larger than the inner room, making the outer room almost feel corridor like. The boxes from the previous room made up the bottom of the walls of the inner room, each box holding a woman or girl, their heads lolling on the ground while their rears made the walls surrounding the inner room. Above the boxes of girls, heavy slatted wood kept the space above blocked, not allowing what was inside a way out and heavily blocking the view. But Gwenvair didn’t need to see. She knew what was inside.

Her breath came in panting sobs and she found herself drawn to look inside, unable to refrain. Leaning over the boxes of the girls, she looked down through the slats and found dozens of goblins, some babies, sprawled throughout the room with the walls made up of the various girls, their privacy exposed to all inside.

“Breeders! Oh gods! Breeders!”

Gwenvair stepped back in horror, a gasp of breath strangling itself against her immediate need to gag, vomit threatening to surge upwards. She struggled to hold her stomach down even as a hand came up to cover her mouth, her tears now of horror. Her mind rebelled and she was no longer able to watch, her body forcing her face away so she could not see anymore. Her gaze broken, she found her original worry return to her in force and she began wildly searching for Kilniara.

“Kilniara! Kilniara!”

As she glanced around, Joe waved a hand, calling out to Gwenvair, “She’s here, Gwenvair. Calm down. She’s here, and she’s safe.”

Gwenvair brought her focus to where Joe crouched next to a box against the outer wall, allowing for people to still walk the edge of the room. He had taken his cloak off and draped it over the box and legs which stuck out of it. She raced up and saw Kilniara’s head laying on the floor staring up at the two of them, sobbing in horror and relief.

A large knot bulged on the right side of her head and Joe was grasping Kilniara’s hand that was peeking through the cloak while comforting her.

“Shh. Shh… I’m here now. You’re safe. You’re good. Don’t worry!”

Kilniara couldn’t be comforted, however, her mind overwhelmed by the realization of her near death from breeding. Her hand snaked out and sought out hers, and Gwenvair took it eagerly, adding her own comforting words to Kilniara.

“We’re here, Kilniara. We’re here. We found you. You’re safe.”

Kilniara burbled incoherently but nodded and smiled up at both of them tremulously, finally able to breath out repetitively and almost incoherently, “Thank you! Thank you!”

Joe smiled at her and brushed her face with his hand, “I’ll always find you. Now, let’s get you out of this box, OK?”

Joe released Kilniara’s hands, but this caused her to grow agitated. Gwenvair put a hand on Joe’s shoulder and nodded before taking both of Kilniara’s hands in hers. Joe nodded at her, smiling.

“Thank you.”

Gwenvair shook her head, “You found her! I can … Thank you!”

Joe chuckled and turned to the box, searching its mechanism and function carefully before finding out how it worked. He then unlatched the contraption easily and quickly pulled Kilniara to her feet into a cloak he’d been holding for her before he wrapped the cloak around her.

Kilniara pulled away from Joe once she was up, turning away and wrapping her arms around herself. Joe sighed and looked to Gwenvair. Both stared at each other a moment before Gwenvair frowned and glanced at Kilniara. Right… OK. Thank you, Gwenvair. Joe took Gwenvair’s hint and immediately stepped forward and forcibly pulled her into his arms. She began shuddering gasping sobs into his chest. Gwenvair stepped forward and wrapped her own arms around her, both of them sandwiching her into a hug that quickly calmed her. Kilniara looked up at Joe, obviously afraid but Joe quickly quelled her fears when he dipped his head down and kissed her without fear or consideration for the public. Gwenvair shuddered in relief, her sister was safe and accepted, and she barely kept her own tears in check.

The kiss lasted much longer than Gwenvair found comfortable, but Kilniara seemed to greatly enjoy herself. After a few moments, she pulled back from Joe, smiling up at him, before turning and throwing herself into Gwenvair’s arms. Both held each other and Gwenvair looked up at Joe. Kilniara sobbed, her joy lost once again.

“I’ll take care of her!”

Joe smiled, grateful relief flowing through his eyes, “Thank you!”

* * *

Joe could barely contain his nervous energy, his body still running haywire on adrenaline, but he couldn’t help but be utterly grateful for Gwenvair’s help.

He nodded to her with a soft smile, “Thank you!”

Joe then turned to look at what could only be described as horror. He could see the girls trapped in the boxes, their rears pressed into the room on display for whatever was in the middle, and he could only think it was some kind of forced prostitution.

“Some kind of … whore house? A bad…”

Gwenvair interrupted him, shaking her head in dismay, “They’re breeders.”

Joe glanced at her, “Breeders?”

Gwenvair nodded and pointed to the middle of the room, “Goblins.”

Joe blinked before horror settled firmly on him like a lead coat. He quickly flashed out monster locate and cringed in disgust when he realized the monsters were in the middle of the room. He leaned forward into the room and exclaimed in disgust when he saw the goblins. His eyes flashed across the room and found one goblin in the act, his hips thrusting and Joe turned away, stumbling to the wall and struggling to hold his vomit down. He then stood immediately and raced around the room.

“In here! Now! Get these girls free!”

Joe raced around the room and looked down at the heads of the girls, looking for the telltale sign of regular movement. He turned the corner and immediately saw the young woman who was being raped, her face streaming tears, horror and despair utterly destroying her visage.

“Hold your head up.”

She did not respond and Joe reached down, lightly tapping her on the cheek, “Hold your head up. Now!”

She came to and looked up, and that is when her despair turned to utter shame and she turned her head away. Joe growled in rage.

“There is no shame! Now. Hold. Your. Head. Up!”

She kept her gaze averted but lifted her head and he immediately pulled her from her slot in the wall. A screech of rage came from inside the room, but Joe cared nothing for it and rapidly slid her to the wall and out of the way, turning the box so that her head didn’t slam into the wall.