"Okay, sorry. Now, we can't move until both teams have memorized the city map and the locations of every elf. I will scout again right before we move to make sure nothing has changed. Oh, and the teams will be taking turns, so Silverstream, the next city you will be entering."

Silverstream says "That sounds fair!"

Brightfire says "I am good with that. Let's get our teams in here to start studying!"

"You do that. I am going to scout again once it is dark, since the positions will probably be different."

Silverstream says "I assume we will be acting at night?"

"Absolutely."

Silverstream says "Then I have a request. Can you make some items that will improve our ability to see in the dark?"

"Good idea. I should have enough gems leftover to make night vision goggles for everyone. Any other requests?"

Brightfire says "Maybe something to help us sneak around the city?"

"To do that I would need a lot of decent quality cloth."

Silverstream says "Sorry, I don't think we have that."

Brightfire says "How about we steal some from the humans during the raid?"

"That could work, it is a trade city. But no looting until after the elves are freed."

Brightfire says "Absolutely!"

"I guess I should make everyone a pouch while I am at it then. Otherwise they won't be able to carry much."

Silverstream says "Is this going to become standard practice?"

"I don't see why not. The humans are our enemies after all."

Brightfire says "Sounds good to me!"

Silverstream says "Won't this just attract more attention to us?"

"We are breaking into their city, freeing a bunch of slaves, and killing anyone who gets in our way. Why would you be worried about a little thievery?"

Silverstream says "I guess you have a point."

"Alright, if there is nothing else we should get to work!"

Both of them nod and leave to gather their teams so they can start memorizing the city layout. I first find Stillwater and fill him in on the current plan, then I find my kids. Once I find Nala and Albion, I let them hang out with me while I make items.

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While waiting for it to get dark I work on making goggles and pouches for the elves. When the sun goes down I stop working, have dinner with the kids, and then fly back to the human city. Just as I was expecting, some of the elven slaves are in different locations.

After scanning the whole city I head back to the ship and update the sandtable. Then Brightfire and I start making plans and assigning teams to rescue missions. The elven slaves are too spread out for the amount of warriors we have, so each team will have multiple targets.

Not only are we having to figure out what paths they should take, but we also need contingency plans. It is always important to plan for things to go wrong and have escape routes planned. This takes most of the night, but we will be ready to make our move the next night.

Once the elves leave to get some rest I go back to working on making items for them. I finish all the items by morning and after having breakfast with Nala and Albion I get some sleep. When I wake up I take the items and give them to Brightfire and Silverstream.

They hand them out to their teams and then board the rowboats to head to shore. They will be moving to the area outside the city by the overland route. I will fly ahead of them and scout one last time before we begin the operation.

However, since it isn't dark yet I find Nala and Albion to have dinner before I leave. After we are done eating I leave and fly back to scan the human city for the last time. Then I meet up with Brightfire and Silverstream, since nothing has changed we begin.

Brightfire and her team move out first, they are going to sneak over the city walls. Silverstream and her team will wait a bit, giving them a head start, and then attack the gate. My only job this time is to head to one location and free the elves kept there.

The reason I assigned this part to myself is because I was able to sense a lot of magic at that location. From what I could tell it is the guildhouse of the city's mages or something similar. The elves being kept there are most likely being used in some kind of experiments.

I want to handle it personally for two reasons, one I am the best at magic, and two is because I might have to kill them. If the experiments have driven them insane or turned them into monsters I will deal with it. Brightfire and Silverstream might not be able to kill their own people even if it is necessary.

So, after making sure that all of Brightfire's team makes it into the city without raising an alarm I fly to my target. There are no guards on the building at first glance, but scanning with mana shows differently. There are several guards hidden around the building as well as wards and detection spells.

First, I disable all of the detection spells, then I start erasing the wards one by one. Only once they are all gone do I quietly kill all the guards with spells. Unfortunately, I must have missed something because the entire building lights up.

Multiple people in robes come out and start looking around, but by then I am already inside. I moved in through a small door as soon as I saw the building light up. Since stealth failed I am going to use speed instead, so I run towards where I sense the elves are.

Luckily, once I am inside the building I am able to scan it with mana and learn the layout. This prevents me from going the wrong way or stepping on any traps. I quickly make my way into the building's basement where I find over a hundred cages.

The ten elves are all crammed into a single cage, but luckily they seem alright. What interests me is all the other cages, each and every single one has an occupant. Other than the elves the rest of the cages all have beasts locked inside.

Most of them are not anything I have ever seen before, but none of them look weak. I walk over, open the cage the elves are in, then step inside and lock myself in with them. Of course, I have shapeshifted into my elven form so as to not alarm them.

When I lock myself inside with them they all look at me like I am crazy. However, I ignore them and focus on my mana which is spreading throughout the room. I send a quick message to Brightfire to warn her there is about to be a commotion, then I shatter all the locks.