Greyson took a deep breath as he walked. He maneuvered through the trees toward a location that was given to him by a group of Exous traders who he came upon. The thought caused anger to rise within him. The thought of Dae always did that. Since he arrived in this strange world, he had seen nothing but the worst of these creatures. He glanced back and saw his three companions. Dorian, an older Asian man whom he had met after his escape from Visoth. He shuddered at the memories. Torture, pain, isolation and violence. Beside Dorian was Lauren. A younger woman with light brown hair and blue eyes. He met her while rescuing her from slavers in Dominicia. He grinned at that particular memory. Those bastards suffered. And finally, heading up the rear of their small group, was Ashley. A girl who shared his ebony complexion, and who had been rescued here in Eleutheros from a group of cultists. The same cultists he was now hunting.

Greyson raised his hand toward a small building partially covered by trees. “This is the one.” he said, looking back toward his companions. “They’re in here.”

Dorian walked up to him, followed by Lauren and Ashley. “Are you sure?” The older man crossed his arms and sneered. “It just looks like one of their shitty houses.”

“This is it.” Greyson reached down and unsheathed his blade. “We were told by that last group that this is where the Espi-Dunam were hiding.”

Ashley spat at the mention of the cult. After her experience with them, she wanted nothing more than to kill them all, Greyson knew. “Then let’s go.”

“A-are you sure?” Lauren asked, grabbing Greyson’s arm. “The other humans in Eleutheros are scattered. After the battle, they could be anywhere.”

“If they’re anywhere.” Dorian chimed in. “Then these bastards will know where. If you’re too scared to get your pretty little hands dirty, just sit it out, like last time.”

“Enough.” Greyson barked, shooting Dorian a cold look. “She’s not used to this sort of thing. If she wants to hang back, let her. We can handle it.”

Dorian shrugged, drawing his own weapon. Ashely followed, baring her teeth. “Let’s go make some friends.”

~

Greyson made his way toward the dwelling. His heart pumped in his chest as it always did before a fight. The Dae’s power was something that perplexed him when he first arrived. Waking in the midst of a desert, surrounded by coarse sand and nothing as far as the eye could see. The Dunamis was dangerous. He had seen what it could do to living things. With that on his mind, he stopped several paces from the structure. He extended his hand and began to channel the spiritual energy from around them. He felt the pressure building within him, and he forced it into his hand. With a snarl, a massive blast of murky water shot out from his palm and slammed into his target.

Chunks of stone exploded from the house, and almost immediately, screams followed. He charged in, followed by Dorian and Ashley, and leapt into a hole he had just blasted into the wall. His boots splashed in a large puddle of water, curtesy of his attack, and he scanned the inside for threats.

A Dae was writhing in the water on the ground. Blue blood gushing from a wound at his wrist. Greyson didn’t hesitate as he stabbed his blade into the Dae’s back. The unfortunate creature gurgled in protest but fell silent. He only needed one of them alive. Several more scrambled through the flooded interior toward the entrance of the house, trying to escape.

Dorian and Ashley pounced on them, butchering them as they screamed and pleaded for mercy.

“No!” The last remaining Dae screamed as she was picked up by her robes and thrown outside into the mud. She struggled to stand, her feet slipping and bringing her to her knees.

“Shut up!” Ashley said, raising her blade to strike.

“Hold it!” Greyson yelled, closing the distance between them. “Did you forget why we’re here?” He gave her a stern look, and she cursed, bringing her blade back to her side.

“P-please!” The Dae cultist pleaded, holding her hands up defensively. “What do you want from us?”

“Shut the hell up.” Dorian kicked her side, harshly. Causing her to gasp in pain.

Greyson knelt down to her while she recovered. Soon her yellow eyes met his. “We need some questions answered.” He held up his hand and pointed his finger at her. “There are three humans in Eleutheros. We need to know where they are.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“The…” She looked at him, shocked. “The Spirit-Sent?”

“That’s right.” Greyson’s voice was calm and collected. “It’s a simple question. We may just let you live, if you answer me truthfully.”

“I…” She swallowed hard, the realization of her situation dawning on her. “We only know where one is right now. The Spirit-Sent named Reku of house Roh. He’s in Vul De Rah with King Alektor. He will be going shortly to Visgo though! He was just married to Queen Athica. They are set to leave to Pontos soon.” She winced, “As for Daniel and Katrina… we don’t know. Daniel was believed to be dead, but has recently resurfaced in Eastern Lokkadonia. We believe he’s going to Baa’Yega. And Katrina…” She shook her head. “We… we don’t know where she is. All reports of her ceased in the Northern province of Lokkadonia. I swear, that’s all I know. Spirit-Sent, please have mercy!”

Greyson took his time to process what he’d just learned. Part of him hoped they would have one or more of them here. He took a deep breath as he stood. Then looked at Dorian and Ashley. “Any other questions?”

Dorian shrugged. “Other than why she just wasted our time with bullshit? No.”

“I got one.” Ashley leaned down and got right in her face. “Where the fuck is your leader?”

The Dae girl reeled back in fear, “I… I don’t know. After many of our members were killed in Baa’Yega, he fled. He’s probably in Dun Vel!”

“You mean after we killed them.” Dorian chuckled.

“I… He said it was Daniel and Prince Oros of house Ignos.” The girl said.

“Daniel?” Greyson was surprised at that. “You mean the temple in Baa’Yega? Where you were holding Ashley captive?”

Ashely grunted something, but Greyson didn’t catch it.

“He… He said that the Spirit-Sent, Daniel, and Prince Oros came to rescue…” Her eyes glanced at Ashley. “I only know of you by your description, Spirit-Sent. Please you must—”

She was cut off by Ashley punching her in the face. The Dae girl cried as she fell into the mud below.

“You pieces of shit held me captive!” Ashely roared. “You tortured me! Put me in a fucking cage!”

Greyson turned away from the scene and looked at Dorian. “So, Daniel went there to save Ashley. That’s a new development.”

“Yeah.” Dorian rubbed his chin. “Of all the things… Maybe he’s looking for humans too.”

“We’ve gotta find them.” Greyson knew why, of course. Humans were essential for their plan to defeat the Dae. Mu'Dok made that clear. Humans were the key to opening the gates. His mind drifted then, back to his time in captivity. When he awoke in the desert, found the Dae, and was captured by them. He didn’t know at the time, but he was in a Kingdom called Visoth; and was brought before one of their nobles. Jegh, he thought. Lord Jegh of house Tross. The memory again brought up feelings of rage that burned his insides. He had been brought before him, unable to understand them and pleading for his life. Only for the bastard to throw him in a dungeon and torture him for months. Mu'Dok had saved him… The spirit found him in his dream state… the only place he could go to escape the pain. The loneliness and despair.

He was brought out of his introspection at the muffled sound of the Dae sobbing and Ashley screaming at her. He looked to see Ashley pushing her face in the mud. “We’ve got to move, Ash.” He said, turning to leave the house. These new developments were actually pretty interesting, but made their situation so much more complicated. Every other human on their radar was in a secure position. Now, in Eleutheros they would need to find a way to locate Daniel and Katrina. And if they could, rescue Robert. If he can be rescued. He might have gone totally native.

“What do you want me to do with this bitch?” Ashely asked,

“Make it quick.” Greyson said, his mind racing at the obstacles they now faced. “There’ll be plenty more for you to kill.”

He heard the desperate pleading of the Dae cease with a distinct slice from a blade. Greyson didn’t look back; he made his way to the tree-line, where Lauren was standing, her gaze downcast.

“You didn’t have to kill them.” she said, meekly.

“Not now.” Greyson pushed past her.

“Greyson! This isn’t right. We can’t keep doing this.”

“Right!?” He whirled on her, his fury spilling out. “After what they did to us? After what they did to you? They were going to put you in a brothel as a sex slave, Lauren. If Dorian and I hadn’t been led to you by Mu'Dok, you would have been fucked. Literally, by every Dae noble in Visoth. Fuck these people. You know the plan, and you know what we have to do. The only way home is to open the gates. And the only way to open the gates is to get humans. That or kill as many of these bastards as possible.”

Her eyes glistened, but she sneered. “I know that, Greyson. How many times do I have to say thank you? You guys saved me from a fate worse than death, but… I can’t just sit by and watch you slaughter these people. It’s…”

Greyson shook his head, calming himself. “I know you have reservations about it, but we’re in it for our survival. Don’t you want us to find your brother?”

“Yes.” She said, looking at the grass again.

“Good. Then we need to follow the plan. Get the humans and open the gates. That includes Alex.”

“What are you bitching about now?” Ashely asked, walking up to them with Dorian in tow.

Lauren shot Ashley a look of pure hatred and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

“Enough.” Greyson held his hand up. “No more fighting between you two.”

“Well.” Dorian dusted off his cloak. “I take it you know where to go?”

Greyson took a moment to think, then grinned. “We need to get into Dun Vel.”

“The capitol.” Ashely sighed. “It’s gonna be dangerous.”

“If the Espi-Dunam leader is there, we’re going to find him.” Greyson turned and started to walk. Finding the other humans was paramount. And the Espi-Dunam knew where many of them were. Whether they liked it or not, they were getting that information.