“Are they going to be able to tell where the souls went?!”

  Seronia says “No. They will know that they were stolen and where they died, nothing more than that.”

  “Then there is nothing to worry about. The most they can do is come after me and that just means I can find out what my new technique will do to an avatar.”

  Seronia says “Don’t get cocky! You are currently in their territory, they could send armies after you!”

  “They would have to send an eight-wing angel or a prime avatar for me to worry. If they send an army, all they will do is provide more souls for Krenocia. You mentioned dark gods, would they have angels, or demons?”

  Seronia says “Angels. There is no way for a god to have demons. I still think you are underestimating what the gods of the continent might throw at you.”

  “Honestly, I am not. I just know my own strength and I have gone way beyond the point that humans can threaten me. I know there are monsters and other things that could possibly kill me, but humans aren’t on that list. If I were worried about humans, I wouldn’t be marching into the Magic Kingdom.”

  Seronia says “You are impossible to talk to!”

  Seronia breaks the connection before I can respond, but it just makes me chuckle. I would have been done freeing the slaves by now, but the groups brought back a lot more. They even found three more elves, bringing the total up to twelve, and the beastmen now number over fifty.

  Myria returns bringing with her a few more slaves and as I am dealing with them I ask her to speak with the beastmen. I noticed that they were very intimidated by me when I was removing their restraints. She will probably have a much easier time talking with them and can find out where they are from.

  Once all of the slaves are freed, cleaned, and fed, I send my mana out into the town. I verify that no one got missed and that there is nothing left living in the town. When I am satisfied, I open a large gate back to the oasis and start urging everyone to go through.

  Myria says “What about Lizzy, Leylisha, and Koko?”

  “Oh, right. I will check with Lizzy. Who knows where Koko went!”

  Myria heads through leading the beastmen and I send out a thought to check on Lizzy. However, she tells me she is tracking someone and will contact me later to summon her. With a shrug, I head through the gate behind the last of the elves and let the gate close.

  Once through, I direct all the desert natives to the tribe camped on the other side of the oasis. I will let the tribe worry about getting them back to their tribes, I don’t think they will have a problem with that. They are going to need to talk to the other tribes to talk to them about the port anyway.

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  I wave over a guard and send him to ask Gremshow and Mavel to come join me. Gremshow arrives first and I open a gate to his castle so he can make arrangements for the people from his kingdom. It doesn’t take him long and by the time he gets back Mavel has arrived and I do the same with her.

  That leaves around two dozen humans from the kingdom that we are heading towards. I figure we can just take them with us since we are heading there anyway. With that figured out I head over to talk to Myria and find out what she learned about the beastmen.

  “Figured out what they want to do?”

  Myria says “Only ten of them want to try to get home. The rest want to go to the peninsula and start over among our people. I didn’t think you would mind?”

  “Nope, not at all. I have to open a gate for the elves anyway.”

  Myria says “Alright, but can you wait till the morning?”

  “Of course I can, but why?”

  Myria says “Because my time is up and I need to head back tomorrow anyway. I may as well go with them and help them adjust.”

  “What do you mean your time is up?”

  Myria says “What? You don’t expect me to have you to myself for your entire trip, do you? How would that be fair?”

  “Oh, so you are all going to take turns keeping an eye on me?”

  Myria says “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “Alright, I guess that makes sense. So, who is coming next?”

  Myria says “Well, it was supposed to be Brightfire, but she wants to help the elves. So it will be Mercy instead.”

  “Alright, I will leave it to you girls to figure out the order, but make sure Lin isn’t with me when I reach the Magic Kingdom.”

  Myria says “Actually, none of us will be with you. Too much chance of someone trying to use us as hostages.”

  “Good. That works! Are the avatars also getting a turn?”

  Myria says “Of course! Even if it isn’t official, they are your wives too!”

  “Good! I am glad you are all getting along! You are getting along, aren’t you?”

  Myria says “There have been a few bumps, but we worked them out. We are all agreed that we will settle any issues we have without disturbing you.”

  “Well, you can ask my opinion on things. I just don’t want to get pulled into the middle. You know what I mean?”

  Myria says “Yeah, you won’t have to worry about that.”

  “Alright, good. Then I guess we need to get the beastmen and elves settled for the night. I will talk to Chief, see if we can get safe passage or a guide for those that want to try to get home.”

  Myria says “Sounds good. I will get everyone settled and meet you at the carriage.”

  When I seek out Chief, he is super happy that so many of his people were saved. He instantly agrees to grant the beastmen safe passage and provide a guide to increase their chances. He also informs me that he already sent runners to locate the other tribes and summon them for a conclave.

  I let him know that while the port and the surrounding area are clear right now, it may not last. Bandits, pirates, and slavers tend to move around, so not all of them would have been in the port. If he and his people don’t claim it soon and defend it, the enemy will probably retake it.

  Lizzy says “Ash! You might want to get back here! There are a bunch of pillars of light in the town.”

  “Angels! Awesome! I will be right there!”

  Not wanting to gate into the town itself, I lock onto Lizzy and use her as the target for the gate. When I step through the gate I am surprised to find myself inside of a cave. Lizzy and Leylisha are there of course, but I also see Koko and five other women.

  One is an elf and the other four are beastmen, the strange part is that they are all bunny girls. Lizzy informs me that they tracked a fleeing human to the cave and found the girls chained up inside after killing him. I quickly convince Lizzy and the others to escort them through the gate, I will get any details later.