“Lawrence? Is that you?” The broken voice of my father

I land another solid blow against the ratman’s face, before pushing myself up and turning around.

“Dad,” I say as I turn around.

I keep my eyes on the ground. What do I say to him? How do I apologize, both for the life I had led, and the disappointment he must have felt in me, and for the punch I gave him before leaving?

As these thoughts go through my mind, I feel his emaciated arms wrap around me.

“You’re alright, Lawerence?” His voice is sober. For the first time in the fifteen years, since he started drinking, his voice is sober.

My shirt moistens a bit.

“I swear, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since the day you left. I’m sorry, Lawrence, for everything.”

“Me too, Dad,” I answer as I hug him back.

With my hand on his head, I cast a barrage of Lesser Heals through his body; and the lacerations across his back.

“You don’t have to be, son. I should have been a better father.”

“How did you get here, Dad?”

I ask as we separate.

“I don’t know. Some military men came by and got your things from your room, and then right after that a couple of those rat-looking things came and grabbed your mom and me.” He said, “Lawrence, what are you doing here, and how did you do that?”

He points to the twitching ratman on the ground, and then to the dogman impaled by the spear. The mention of a military man meeting him right before being grabbed alarms me. I think back to the meeting we had that morning last week; was there really a traitor then? For what reasons were they allowing humans to be grabbed; surely not just for slave labor and food.

“This is my job.” I say, “Do you remember when I told you I got one?”

“Not really, I was really drunk that night. Really drunk. I’m sorry again, Lawrence.”

“It’s okay, Dad. I forgive you. Where’s mom?”

I glance at some of the women among the small crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle.

“She’s down there somewhere.” He answered. “Lawrence, are you here to break us out of here?”

“I am,” I answer.

The look of life that had been absent from all of the prisoner's faces lightens.

“Can you find her, Lawrence? Please. I haven’t seen her since we got here.”

“I’ll find her, Dad. Don’t worry. Not just everyone here; I intend to break everyone out of here.”

I glance at the others, and the joy stays on their face. I walk over to the group, pull my wand and cast Lesser Heal on some of the more seriously injured; staring at the young girl who got snapped by the bullwhip. The wound on her forehead seals. They begin asking questions; when were we leaving, why did it take so long for me to come for them, and if I had a plan. I try to answer as best as I can.

“Mister, are you a cat?”

“No, but I can turn into one.” I say, “Also probably a dog, though I haven’t tried it yet.”

“That’s so cool!”

“Now, are there any more prisoners up here this late? The ratman there was complaining about having to come in late.” I say as I glance around the camp.

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“The ratman? You can understand them?”

“Only temporarily. Now, are there other prisoners up here?”

“There are, but...”

“But?”

“They’re not human.”

One of the young girls says.

“What do you mean? They’re like that thing or the dogmen below.”

The girl shakes her head.

“No! They’re like cats and deer.”

Cats and deers? The catmen I had seen in the locket, perhaps? And deermen? Maybe the original inhabitants of this area.

“Where are they?”

“You’re going to rescue them?” One of the women asks.

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

“Why? They’re not human.”

“But they’re people, no? And they’re obviously enemies of these things.” I kick the body of the ratman, and it goes flying into the impaled body of the dogman.

“But-” The woman behind the argumentative young girl, settles her.

“They’re on the next island over.” She answers, “They keep humans and the other separated.”

“Why is that?”

“Well...my,” she sighs sadly, “My late husband attacked one.” She glances down, “Blamed them for us being here.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah...” the woman rubbed the back of her neck.

“Regardless, I must help them.”

“Are there any other humans on this island?” I ask.

Floating in the dock, next to our skiff were two others. If they held as many people as this one, there would be at least 30 others on this island. However, I could only see this group and the two dead Efrans. On these islands, there were those berry-bearing trees that I had seen in the lands below, and peaks of stone that were cool to the touch like metal left in the wilds for too long. Each of the islands seems to be about the same size — about 200 feet across, and 200 feet wide.

“There should be.” My father answers, “In the mines.”

“Mines?”

I glance around. From the docks, there was a little bit of a path I hadn’t noticed before cutting through the grass heading around the stony peaks, and vanishing in the small woods that surrounded it.

“That way, I’m guessing?” I moved in the direction of the path.

My father nods.

“I’ll be back. You guys watch each other’s backs.”

I pull the enchanted shield off my arm and hand it to my father, and do the same with the scimitar.

“You’re expecting me to fight?”

“Yes. I’m expecting as many of you to fight as possible. It’s the only way I can think of. To get as many of you out alive as possible.”

“But that’s supposed to be your job!” One of the men in the group interjects. He’s an elderly man, with bushy white eyebrows. He was primarily the one criticizing me for being so late in the rescue when I was healing the group.

“Is it? I could just leave you all here, you know? I’m under no obligation to get you out. I could just destroy the outpost,” I point to the town below, “And get out of here nice and easy. I won’t do that, of course, but I can’t protect everyone here. I don’t have the skills for that.”

“So you want us to put our lives in danger?”

“Your lives are already in danger.” I correct, “Do you think they were going to keep all of you around forever? I’ve found proof of them eating a human already.”

The man rubs his arm.

“Still...”

“Someone pick up those two’s weapons,” I motion to the dead ratman and dogman pair next to one another, “And get ready to defend yourselves if needed.”

“How about the rest of us?”

The man who had been arguing with me, and the mother of the children went and picked up the weapons; a spear, a short sword, and the whip. The old man took the short sword, and the woman took the spear. She gave the whip to one of the larger men.

“Hold up.”

I cast Earthen Spike on the stone peaks near them, pull the metallic spikes off one by one, and hand them to the others; making smaller ones for the children in the group.

“If any other boats come up, kill the enemy, and get their weapons. There’ll likely only be one of them, so use your numbers to your advantage.”

They nod, and I head off; following the path.

"Be safe, Lawrence. I don't want to lose you again." My father calls off.

My heart stings, and I turn around.

"You too, Dad. Use that shield if it comes to it. I'll get you and Mom out of here, I promise."

Even through the darkness, I see his faint smile. It takes all of my will not to just jump down right now and find my mother and destroy the outpost and leave with him and the others in tow. If I did that, however, what would I tell the families of all of those I left behind? How would I face them?

I head off again. Soon, torchlight begins to pierce through the darkness, and I hear the sound of metal clanging against metal, and the cracking of whips on the air. I round the corner, and I catch sight of two ratmen standing guard outside of a cave mouth. They see me as well, and before they could raise their voice in alarm, I cast two Earthen Spikes and impale them from the head down with two pikes from the ceiling.

“You that bind the All, guard me against those that would cause me harm.”

I tap my forehead with my wand and move once the shield forms around me, I head inside of the mine. A certain smell, like rotten eggs, lingers in the air. Sulfur? If that’s so then they wouldn’t be using torches for light, right? I look at one of the light sources hanging off the ceiling. Inside a glass jar that hung there, were dozens of light bugs. I suppose they have those here as well.

Judging by that, fire spells were probably off of the table, and I'd want to use as few earth spells as possible while down here; the wooden beams that held up the ceilings already have cracks forming in them, after all. I turn around and pick up a spear from one of the ratmen up front, and head deeper into the tunnel, toward the sound of the clanging metal on metal, and the cracking whips.