Rory POV

Heat slammed into me as I ran through the grove of trees toward the West Gate of N’ila. A bright blaze came into view as I burst through the treeline. The smell was both disgusting and smokey, which made my nose burn. On the other side of the fire stood Ema and the guys. They were watching a roasting pile of rotten fish burn. They were safe. My heart slowed down to a normal pace as I trotted toward them.

I sat beside Ema who acknowledged me by a matching behind my ears. “I will never get tired of how soft your fur is.”

Braxton was focused on the fire, trying to be sure he didn't set the town ablaze with his magic. I cooked my head to the side to watch him focus on keeping the flames under control like we did during my magic lessons. I noticed that no one has taken any steps to create a barrier between the fire and the town. They could have at least dug a small trench to prevent the fire from spreading. My body started moving toward the fire to dig a trench. All three of them started calling me to get away from the flames, but I was a stubborn wolf on a mission.

Once I had tunneled a small trench, I trotted over to Silas and grabbed his sleeve. I pulled him over to the trench and nudged him with my nose, hoping he would understand what I wanted. He stared at me and looked back at the trench confused. I pulled on his sleeve again toward the trench when Ema yelled at him to fill it with water. That’s my best friend! She understood me easily without the use of words. Sometimes…

It was night by the time the fire had burned out, and I hadn’t bothered to shift back. Ema had my bag with her as I ran about freely on my paws. The stars blanketed the sky above, and I could tell Braxton was exhausted from his constant use of magic. Silas was dragging us around our campsite. I wasn’t sure if Silas was physically tired or emotionally exhausted after burying the dead. Ema sloshed some soup in a bowl for me, and I lapped it up in a hurry.

“Did you find something on your exploration earlier?” She asked me as I was about to lay down beside her.

Find something? Oh! Shit. The cart… I had been so concerned about the damn fire that I forgot about the dead body I found. My whole body stood on alert as I nudged Ema to follow me. Sure, I could shift back, but it would be easier to see in my wolf form again. She looked at me weirdly before asking if she should follow me. I nudged her again and started walking back toward the south side. Ema grabbed her quiver and bow before climbing onto my back as we made our way to the broken cart.

Crickets were chirping about as we hurried through the grove of trees. I heard owls singing into the night, and for a brief moment, I imagined how peaceful this would have been in other circumstances. I ran the mile toward the broken cart. The longer the evidence was left there, the more likely a scavenger would come to eat the elf’s body. Ema got off my back and approached the cart carefully. Her night vision aided her in seeing the dead body and the newly minted obsidian cuff on the elf’s wrist.

“Slavers did this?” She questioned. “They took a whole town of elves? That’s impossible.”

I whined back at her in agreement, but we were looking at the evidence. Whether I wanted to believe it or not, someone made this elf a slave before he died. Ema said we should take the body back with us, but I wasn’t ready to turn back yet. There was an unusual smell coming from the obsidian cuff that I hadn’t noticed earlier. I sniffed it with my nose and trailed on to the ground. It was from a person that smelt of sweat and iron. Someone must have come to retrieve the obsidian cuff since they are so valuable. The scent continues toward the south along the path. This could be a big break in trying to find the missing people.

I shifted back for a moment to speak to Ema. “Someone else was here recently. There’s a scent I can follow headed south. I am going to follow it. You remember how to track me by following the faint claw marks in the trees?”

“Yeah, but you can’t go on your own. Last time you got trapped in a giant ice cube when we were separated.” Ema argued.

“Right, which is why you will only be a few hours behind me.” I tried to reason with her. “Braxton and Silas need time to recharge their magic. Once they are good to go, come find me.”

Ema pouted. She hated my plans when they separated the two of us for a while. “I swear you remind me of Uncle Elias more and more each day.”

“I am going to think of that as a compliment.” I grinned trying to assure everything would be fine. “Besides, if you swing through the trees in your simian form, you will find me within an hour.”

“Fine,” She agreed, hugging me tightly. She let go, and I shifted back. Ema pulled some clothing out of her quiver and tied it to me. “Now, you won’t be naked next time.” She petted my head and shooed me away.

My nose stayed low to the ground as I trotted along the path. The sweaty iron scent filled my nose as I followed it along the trail. My gut told me I was heading into a dangerous situation, but the thrill of the chase was too enticing not to follow. Instincts were kicking in as I began to run down the path, stopping every once in a while to mark a tree. I could hear the wrestle of the forest dwellers as I crossed their territories. Some animals warned me off with their loud calls while others merely watched me in curiosity.

I looked up at the stars on occasion to find my south heading south still down this unkempt path. It wasn’t a normal road, but it was smooth enough for wagons to get by. If this path continued to the coast then eventually I would cross into the Kingdom of Solis, but that would be at least two weeks' worth of walking. If I were following the slavers, then they would need to move slowly, traveling at night to avoid unnecessary attention. I stood a small chance of finding those people, but I had to try.

Two days later…

Ema, Braxton, and Silas caught up to me last night. We finally found fresh tracks this morning of what seemed like a small army of people. How were these slavers moving around with over two hundred people? Braxton had said that this was the powerful, experienced slavers were capable of during the Orc Freedom Wars. Why did they need so many slaves? Weren’t there enough people who fell into debt every day to feed the slave market? It was ridiculous.

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“Ro, remember, you need to shift back soon,” Ema cautioned.

I had stayed in my wolf form this entire time. It was easier to sneak about the forest as an animal than a human. I whined at her, but her no-bullshit gaze remained on me. Fine. I jumped into a nearby bush to shift. “You sound just like Myrra.”

“Myrra?” Braxton interrupted. “The same Myrra that we met almost two months ago?”

Ema glared at me like I was careless. I shrugged her off. If she was going to have a real chance at romance with this guy then we needed to be a little more truthful with him. I need to establish trust with these guys. “I like to think she’s someone I knew in another life.” I smiled. There was a way to be vague and truthful, and I will walk that line for her.

“Yeah, she gave off that vibe.” Braxton agreed.

Silas appeared out of the shadows of the forest. “I found them.”

We all looked at him stunned.

“As in the people of N’ila?” Braxton asked in a serious tone. His whole attitude shifted like someone flipped a switch in his brain. “Did you see Yuli?”

Silas nodded. “I saw Yuli, Mr. Garrison, Florist Vulpa, Mayor Tennison, Starly Winslow…” Silas named plenty of names to assure Braxton that we had indeed found them. His face wasn’t one of victory. “I think I saw over a hundred people up ahead.”

“Just over a hundred?” Ema frowned.

“Yeah.”

The mood had soured. We were still missing over half of the town. Still, this was significant. We needed to focus. “Look, it’s not a grand victory like we were hoping for, but we need to rescue them regardless.”

Everyone agreed. Silas told us of the forty slavers controlling the group of slaves. He noticed how the children were at the front of the caravan, chained together. That’s how they were controlling the adults. Braxton presented two ideas to rescue the people. One, we could try to ambush the group and use magic to separate the kids from everyone else with the hope that the adults will fight back with us. Or two, Ema and I could cut down the bad guys with arrows and speed. Each plan was risky. Most of the bad guys likely had some sort of magic, which could be a big problem with option one. The other problem was the obsidian cuff that was latched onto the slaves’ wrists. It takes special magic to forge the cuffs and unlock them.

“Let’s go with option two,” Braxton decided. “Rosewyn is a rogue. Her specialty is stealth and speed. Emera is a sniper. She has never missed her target as long as I have known her. I think we should use physical abilities over magic with such a large crowd at risk. Magic can be wild and inaccurate, plus we probably need to save mana to heal the injured. We only need a few of the slavers alive anyway. Silas, update the Captain Onyx Yalton on our situation. He should be able to reach us by day’s end from Le’Anisa.”

“Yeah, I will send out a message.” Silas agreed. He walked away to scribble a note on a piece of paper before using his magic to summon a white owl. My jaw dropped at the beautiful owl. Only the highest members of a royal court can summon white owls.

Ema tugged on my arm as Braxton began setting up a safe zone for the slaves to run to. Being a general allowed him to learn complex battle magic and shield barriers. This was magic on another level beyond members of the White Rapids Guild. I was working with high-level wizards that were far beyond anything I thought I could do.

“Geez, you're drooling,” Ema commented as she pulled me toward the slaves’ location.

“Their magic…” I muttered.

“Yes, yes. It’s powerful, but not as powerful as us.” She said, coolly.

I wanted to disagree with her, but I needed to act like I was that powerful if we were going to pull this off. When we were out of range of the guys, I turned to Ema with concern. “The best chance of us rescuing those people is if we pull out all the stops.”

Ema stopped walking. “You don’t mean your frenzy form, do you?”

“Hell, no. I mean my natural form. Half human, half beast form. I am at my fastest in that form.” I hadn’t taken that form since Aunt Leah forced me to shift in my room at the guild.

“Really? Faster than a wolf?” She had a dumbfounded look on her face.

“Yeah, I top out at 43 miles per hour.”

“And, you didn’t think to use it against the saber bears? The bandits? The centipede? The mountain lion? The damn dragon woman!” Ema shouted. Her tail bounced with rage.

“Stealth wasn’t required then. We needed strength and power.” I crossed my arms in defiance. “There weren't any children involved at that time.”

Her body softened when she thought of the elf children in danger. “I still don’t know if you should. Word could spread about you being here.”

“Okay. I won’t use it.” Unless a child was about to die that is.