“You are joking right?” Diego and Mateo spoke at the same time.
“I am not. I do not wish to disappoint the gods.” Auna had explained the request to save the slaves coming in one week. She had been shown an image while she was sleeping of the spot their ship should make landfall.
Soon the entire group devolved into a mess of overlapping complaining.
“It would be free labour.” Bruno was very quiet. Everyone almost missed his words.
“What?” Auna looked at him as everyone else went silent as well.
“Yes, they could live here. They would work the farm, and the two villages. What they gather could first feed them, then store a bit for emergencies. The rest could be sold. We could even have more laying birds bought, and raised here or in the crater. It would be self-efficient. Hopefully they have talents as well that could bring us more money.” Bruno finished as if he was speaking about what he was going to eat for dinner, not the use of vulnerable people for profit.
“Would that not just make them slaves?” Auna gave him a glare.
“No, they would be making a life for themselves. They can always have us drop them off in the nearest city. We don’t have to force them into the dungeon.” Bruno explained his point of view. “They would have a chance of being recaptured if we drop them in a city. However, they could gain strength and live in a comfortable community. Not saying they would never visit a city ever again though. They just might not have the means to survive in this country without living here.”
“I think you might be right. They are being brought in on a boat. I would be surprised if they were welcomed here, or even had somewhere to go.” Auna sighed she wanted to keep the people anyway. She just didn’t think about putting them to work.
“It would be silly to have them here and not working. Were you just going to support them for free?” Bruno was now the one sighing.
“Besides that, we have another issue.” Meredith rose her hand as she spoke. She did not want the conversation to derail into how dense Auna was. Too often did their conversation derail into this conclusion.
“What is that?” Jensen asked also wanting to avoid derailing the conversation.
“How are we going to do it? Sure, they maybe are weak. There is no real reason for anyone to regularly cull the population near the water in the great monster forest. The monsters in the outer ring of the forest are usually the monsters actively culled. The deeper you go the more dangerous the monsters. This keeps people from going deeper to cull them, thus they get stronger.”
“Oh, that shouldn’t be an issue they should be landing near the ocean door.” Auna nodded looking at her map she made visible to everyone.
“What ocean door?” Diego asked.
“Did Jensen not tell you? He said he would after he had some alone time?” Auna gave a shrug effectively shifting the attention to a whistling Jensen.
“See I did say that. However, I was not done with my alone time.” Jensen yelled as the triplets chased him around the fishing village. They had finished cleaning it while Auna slept.
“We also want to be near the ocean without having to be lectured by our parents!” A triplet yelled as they missed a tackle to Jensen.
“Calm down everyone.” Auna smiled as she walked towards the now wrestling boys. As she walked into the sun without her mantle her skin sizzled slightly turning a deep red.
“Careful!” Jensen came over covering her back and wings. It was midday in the dungeon for twelve hours and night for the other twelve no in-between. It was hypnotized at some point it did rain in a cycle on this floor like the first. It would have to for the fields.
“Relax. It is not like I don’t burn my skin often? My shoulders are always red.” Auna laughed as she went back to the shade. When not in direct sunlight her protective creams worked well, only allowing her skin to burn to a slight red.
“But your wings?” Jensen asked clearly exasperated.
“Oh, right. I took my mantle off to sleep.” Auna gave a shy smile.
“Anyway. Can I ask how you sit by the sea without the strong monsters eating you?” Meredith asked giving Auna her mantle. She had gone to fetch it for her, along with her protective cream.
“Easy. Auna made secret rune stones. Should we show them?” Jensen was practically jumping towards the dungeon podium.
“Sure, sure.” Auna laughed walking after him.
It did not take the children long to leave the dungeon and head to the ocean door. They stood just inside the treeline to the forest. The door had been carved into a tall stone slab nestled between two trees.
“Can you see the rune stones?” Jensen smiled pointing to the trees, and random other places scattered around him.
“No?” Ciela and Chloe were both squinting at the last place he had pointed.
“Why are you acting so proud?” Bruno asked. “We all know you have no patience for runic magic. Especially since there doesn’t seem to be any easily obtained skill for it.”
“I can be proud of my moon!” Jensen huffed.
“Here look closely.” Auna pushed aside a few leaves in the tree showing runes running the whole span of the branch having been carved into the branch and the trunk. They were very small and almost not noticeable even while looking closely.
“Did you really carve tiny runes into the tree?” Meredith looked at the tree with intrigue.
“Actually trees, I found out through trial and error that trees with the protective runes cover more area. Most likely because the magic extends to their roots. Runic magic is very odd though. I have finally got the skill Rune Magic, but it is at low. Even after all my work!” Auna gave a huff.
“Don’t forget the attempts at carving the roots of different plants. She has also buried normal rune stones at the base of trees with out the runes. There are a few very big rocks buried in the sand and anchored with purposely grown tree roots.” Jensen gave a big smile.
“So do you have rune magic now?” Bruno gave Jensen a poke in his cheek.
“No way, that is way too hard! I don’t even understand what they mean! My moon can keep her skill all to herself. Years of work and only has low? No thank you.” Jensen kept saying no shaking his head. He really did not have the patience for it.
“Why not just put stones like the clearing and crater?” Chloe asked.
“I did not want anyone seeing them. I did not know no one accesses the forest by the ocean. I thought being on the edge people would come here as well.” Auna sighed. “That was a lot of work when I could have just placed rocks.”
“How long did this take?” Diego asked.
“Over a year.” Auna sighed again leaning against the closest tree.
“I’m sure the skill was not a waste. We should look it up more?” Diego tried to soothe the girl.
“I could, but when I tried the librarian said they were restricted.” Auna sighed again.
“Aren’t you going to start runic magic classes this semester coming up?” Bruno laughed. Giving Jensen a pointed look. “Are you also taking it?”
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“Yeah, but a year ago it was very annoying to be told I had to wait.” Auna gave him a glare. Answering first.
“No, I have no interest in such a dangerous and boring skill. Maybe if it wasn’t so boring. Instead, I will be taking the home making classes. They also only have two levels at the same time as the runic magic classes she will be taking.” Jensen smiled wide at the stunned looks of their friends. He always just handed in his schedule with “Match A, Jade.” Written in big letters on it.
“You two are too similar at times.” Meredith patted Aunas’ head. “Now why don’t we come up with a plan? I recently learned sleep magic it should help.”
“We know sleep magic as well.” Mateo pointed at himself, Jensen and, his brothers.
“You do?” Meredith tilted her head in wonder. She was mostly a caster but the four boys didn’t seem to be that.
“Yeah, we learned because we thought we could sneak out easier that way.” Jensen gave his signature wry smile. “Our mom is immune though, and caught on too fast.”
“She made protective charms for the staff.” Mateo sulked.
“Anyway. Maybe that is why we were given this task? You five having that skill is most likely our best option.” Auna pondered out loud.
“I agree.” Meredith sat down.
The rest of their week before slave arrival was spent hatching a plan. They laid a few different traps just inside the forest edge. They knew the traders would need the cover of the trees to travel to the Jade territory. They could not risk the islanders happening to sail too close and see them.
The children also prepared the two villages each with at least one hundred homes still standing. Some could house a family of four while others only had one bedroom. They estimated they could hold about 250 people to their own homes. Closer to 450 if whole homes were used one person per bedroom. The fishing village had farming plots that Ciela had seeded for a quicker start for them. The ore mining village did not have any farming space, though it did have processing buildings that could be useful later.
The day of the slave traders’ arrival came quickly. The children sat on the tree branches near the edge of the forest. It was the middle of the night, which made Auna very happy.
“These guys probably think the cover of night will help them. Little do they know we have our moon with us.” Chloe said snickering.
“My moon.” Jensen corrected.
“I am not just yours.” Auna also corrected.
“Stop bickering they are here. Did you set up the stones that are filled with light magic?” Diego asked.
“Yes, I will bounce from stone to stone. I will trigger the stones near people needing sleep magic. If that doesn’t work, we can always send Chloe in to bash their heads in.” Auna joked.
“Hell yeah.” Chloe did not catch the joke. It made everyone else sigh deeply. Their friend was truly a maniac.
“I’ll see you guys on the other side.” Auna said as the ship made landfall. She melted into the moon rays scattering the shore. She always felt absolute peace as she became one with the moonlight. Nearly forgetting what she needed to do as time always slowed for her in this state.
Slowly she made her way to the ship watching the slaves and their traders disembark. There were huge claw marks and even roughly patched holes in the haul. A great battle must have been fought. She moved around trying to find which traders to have the others put to sleep first.
After about ten minutes she found what she thought was the highest-ranking person. He was stumbling in the sand yelling orders to everyone to get into the forest quicker. She activated the stone by his feet by pushing a bit of her mana into it. His whole body was covered in a soft yellow light. Before anyone could understand the man was asleep in the sand. It was too dark to see where the sleep magic had come from, especially when blinded by the stone.
Auna moved around looking for the next person to take charge of the situation. As soon as some order was established, she would light another stone. Soon the slaves were forgotten as the traders ran into the forest to escape. Unfortunately for them hunting traps of nets and rope snares had been liberally placed.
The whole ordeal only took one hour. The children finished tying up the last slave trader and making sure they had an extra hit of sleep magic. They placed them in their boat which still had some dead slave bodies. They couldn’t be tossed into the sea as it would attract sea monsters to them. Tied up they were sitting ducks. Hopefully another boat would find them not a monster. Auna used her water magic while she skimmed along the water in the moonlight to pull the boat out. In the moonlight most monsters didn’t even see her. Auna finally left the moonlight to walk beside her friends.
“I did a quick look. It seems there are at least six hundred people. We do not have nearly enough supplies ready. We don’t even have enough beds for that many.” Auna sighed as she saw an elderly man and woman of the elf race step towards them.
“We have been the leaders of the resistance. Many of us were taken from our homes in rural areas. Thank you for saving us. We know we number many however a dry warm place is just as good as a bed. For now, at least. We have many children that can share space. As well as many families willing to share. Please do take us in, we will work.” The elders gave a deep bow, which spurred everyone else to do the same.
“You will work? We have a fishing village and a mining village that have about two hundred empty homes between the two. The beds are mostly unusable though. You can eat what you fish and farm. Process what you mine.” Auna left out the fact it was a dungeon not wanting them to know if they did not stay.
“We have many races, and workers. We have smiths, tailors, waterborn, and more. For a safe place to heal, live, and grow our children we will work.” The elder woman answered confidently. They were still working on removing the chains from everyone.
“Bring the empty chains, they can be melted down as used as practice material. Everything you learn about us children must remain a secret. I will allow you elders to continue to manage this group. However, I will have final say.” Auna walked them to the door.
“Where are we going?” The elder man asked. They had been relaying the information down the lines of newly freed slaves.
“Well, I am going to my dungeon. I will have Ciela standing by to guide people into the dungeon. We will send people in groups. Ciela will come and guide more in when I am ready. I will set you all up to be only researchers in my dungeon. You will only be able to travel to special floors. For the first while I will make the doors unusable to you all until, I trust you can use them safely.” Auna began to walk away. Auna had learnt how to leave her doors in an open state recently.
“She is nicer normally. She gets a bit cranky right after she leaves the moonlight form of hers.” Jensen shrugged. “She has a crater home deep in the forest. I have written the rules down for you.” The small booklet he gave the elders described the rules. It contained rules about how to interact with each other, the main children, and the outside world.
Glancing at the book the rules were very simple. They would not disclose information about their crater, dungeon, or the children to the outside world. They would not fight among themselves, or the children. They would only fight people outside their group if needed for survival. There were other rules around the farming on the first floor, and not removing the flowers ever. All in all it was very simple, they had to be good people, keep their lives secret, and work for the community.
The children started guiding the new citizens of Ember Moon into the crater to the dungeon. The process was relatively easy. Auna would allow dungeon entrance to the ten people as researchers and ask them which floor, they would like to live on. She took a booklet separating it out by age ranges she would write their name, age, profession, and floor they wanted to live on. Some did not even have a name having been born as a slave, starting at B she gave them each a letter. Promising that they could either pick a name, or she would give the youngest ones names later.
“That took a very long time.” Auna sighed looking through her notes. They had a variety of professions in their group. Tanners, tailors, builders, smiths, cooks, fishers, hunters, teachers, and farmers to name the groups with the most. There were a few with unique professions such as story tellers, scribes, and even an alchemist. Alchemy was rare as a job, to actually make money from it turning it into a profession was rare. Not everyone was in a profession that matched their jobs perfectly. Even teachers didn’t have a teacher job.
“Thank you again.” The elder man gave a bow looking at a boy hastily writing.
The scribe, who was a thirteen-year-old boy named Nero had ink all over him. His race was human he had soft red hair, and a freckled face. His father was a king, and Nero was born to a young woman who worked in the castle. His father doted on him, loved him, and paid to give him a great education. He had happened to be the first born to his father. His mother was set to become the Queen after she gave birth as to not put stress on the baby. She happened to die in childbirth.
“Almost done!” Nero gave a warm smile. He had become a slave due to his stepmother, the woman who became Queen when he was three. She quickly had a son who was now nine. She had tried many times to kill Nero, and failed. This time she merely sold him to a slave trader. She had let the slave trader into the castle in the night to gather him nearly four months ago. He would not tell them where he was from though.
“Thank you for making a copy, Nero.” Auna smiled.
“No problem, my scribe job is perfect for this! Apparently, my mother was a great scholar so I was born with the basic class scribe. So, it is nice to be able to use it for once instead of messing around with it.” Nero kept copying down the information on the last few pages. The scribe job allowed him to store a copy of anything he ever wrote down, and magically make more. He had a high enough level in it could make edits in his skill before making a copy.
“I am glad to have you.” Auna gave a slight bow to the lost prince.
“Anyway. It is very late. I think we should all rest.” The elder woman spoke as Auna yawned.
“I agree.” Auna gave a nod of goodbye before leaving the dungeon. The children spent the nights at the Pearl home. It was safer as everyone thought they were in the Bloodwave home. They never left the house so it was unlikely anyone outside of the trusted servants would know.
“Do you think it will work out?” Ciela asked cuddled beside Auna. Chloe and Meredith shared a room with them still. It was similar to their school dorm except there were more washrooms around the home.
“We will make it work.” Auna gave her a tight hug not letting go until she felt the smaller child fall asleep.
“We will make it work. You don’t have to worry alone.” Meredith gave a reassuring thumbs up in the dark knowing Auna would see it if she looked her way.
“Thank you.” With that Auna fell asleep dreaming about a thriving nation inside her dungeon. A safe place for people seeking it.