Sitting in the rain, Drake felt his heart drop into his stomach. The words from the crystal, still hanging in the air like a cold sickness.
The world went silent as if it refused to speak, to give credence to Natto's words. But Drake was forced to.
He threw out his hand, gripping Sah Ul's arm tightly.
"You can't go alone."
Sah Ul' wouldn't turn to look at Drake.
"I am bound to avenge him… Or would you stop me?" she asked stoically, but Drake could feel her arm quiver under his grip.
Drake was still in such agony from his last spell he could feel the muscles underneath his skin rip and tear with the effort of holding Sah Ul' back.
"I will not lose you too. I'm telling you to stay and wait!" Drake grunted, wincing in pain.
She still did not turn, "Is this an order from the Patriarch?"
"No. This is a demand from your husband. A husband who is afraid to lose his wife!" he said firmly.
He felt Sah Ul's body slacken, her shoulders slumping, but she complied, relenting her resistance.
Drake let her wrist go and struggled to get to his feet, snapping a water spell to force his endowment to heal himself, despite his body feeling as if it was constantly being torn apart.
He looked around, the only people surrounding them, Hudson, some of his soldiers, and a few of the people they had freed.
A face he recognized was the dwarf woman, Yula, looking at him concerned.
He ignored the stares and cycled through the people's faces. Finding Hudson's face with an expression that seemed to want to ask Drake a mountain of questions.
"Sarah, give me just a few minutes. Gather what you can of the stones and spatial bags. We will leave as soon as we can. Hudson," he said, turning to address his old party member, "I need you to bring these people back. Quetz, Clotho, Atropos, and Charlotte should be fine to fight in a few hours after some rest."
"Boy…" Hudson grumbled, "A-aren't you ganna talk about it?!" he shouted finally.
"There's nothing to talk about. That undead will die, just as I promised. It doesn't matter who they were before. But this comes first… Unless you are saying you knew?"
Hudson recoiled, his face turning red, "Don't insult me! I've done terrible things in my life but I would never!"
"Then bring these people safely back to my city. When I've removed whoever had the audacity to…" Drake clenched his teeth, unable to finish the thought, "This will be different going forward. Sah Ul' and I will go on ahead, I trust you and everyone else knows the way back. My students will be able to deal with anything normal along the way."
Drake pulled the long-range communication crystal from his pocket, handing it to Hudson.
"If anything happens, anything at all that you don't think you can handle. Use this to contact its pair. I'll be picking it up when we reach ReUnite."
Hudson nodded, storing the crystal.
"L-Lord D-Drake… you are leaving?" Yula asked in a weak voice from behind them.
Drake turned, seeing the dwarf girl's concerned expression, next to her another face he recognized from before the fight with Xavier. An elf girl named Tanya, or should Drake say a dark elf girl?
Tanya was unlike the other elves he had seen up until now. Her skin was a light caramel, and she had ghostly white hair, with purple jasmine eyes that reminded him of Quetz but a lighter shade. She also of course had the iconic long ears that poked through her shoulder-length hair. Ignoring the ridiculous outfit she seemed to be forced to wear, she almost looked like a movie princess.
"Not leaving, just going ahead of everyone. You'll be safe with this group," he answered.
"We understand," Tanya said, bowing slightly, "We just wanted to thank you… What you did for us, what all of your people did, I do not know how we will repay you."
Tanya's bow deepened.
"Then make sure you thank Landin when he wakes up," Drake said, unable to help himself from grinning slightly, "I hope you will look over him until he does."
Tanya straightened and nodded, tears on the verge of spilling from her eyes.
Drake put on a sympathetic expression, pulling a cloth from his inventory and offering it to her.
"Don't worry, you can all rest easy now."
But Tanya shook her head, "No, my sister is still out there… And I know who sold us off to that horrid man."
She wore a grim expression, one filled with disgust and contempt, but Drake would have to ask her to elaborate later. His body had taken a beating from the overuse of his endowment, but his senses were as sharp as they had ever been.
On the edge of his aura sphere he could feel the tens of thousands of people they had liberated, but there was a small group rushing towards him. A single person shooting off ahead at speeds only capable of a few that he knew.
Drake braced himself, his hair shimmering from blue to yellow as he dropped the cloth and pushed mana into his tattoos, his arms glowing golden.
A crash of metal against mana sounded like a hammer hitting a gong. Drake held a serrated dagger the size of his forearm just inches from his stomach.
He flexed his aura, a dark-skinned woman with white hair and spiraling drill twin tails melding back into view, her face a deep scowl bristling with abject rage.
"What have you done to my sister!? My people?!"
Drake was in no mood for whatever this was and pulled his fist back, holding the blade in his other hand, refusing to release it to his would-be killer.
"Piss off."
He began throwing his fist forward, it bathed in gold and red light from his tattoos and skill. Only forced to stop not a hair's length from Tanya's face.
"Stop! Please!" she said, face pale and drained of blood as she sweated bullets, "T-this is my sister, Princess Aralleen! Araleen, stop! He isn't our enemy! This is the person who saved us! All of us!" she pleaded, not willing to move her gaze from Drake's fist.
"He is what?!" Aralleen asked, her voice quivering slightly.
Drake lowered his hand and sighed, "You heard her Sarah, she doesn't seem to be an enemy, just a concerned sister, you can lower your ax."
Tanya and Aralleen turned around. Sah Ul' raising her hands above her head, with ax in hand ready to cleave them both in half.
Apparently, neither Drake nor Sah Ul' were willing to play around after hearing the news and were on full alert.
"While I won't fault her for attacking me because she was trying to protect you without knowing the circumstances. I am one for equality and she did just try to kill me," Drake frowned.
"I will take on any punishment you see fit for my sister!" Tanya said, determined.
"Nope, just her," Drake said casually, throwing a jab over Tanya's shoulder, her hair flapping wildly in the aftermath.
Tanya gasped and turned back around to see her sister several feet away on the muddy floor. She struggled to get up with one arm while her other held her nose.
"Someone get her a healer or a potion. Since she is here that makes it even safer for you all," Drake paused, looking slightly further out of the dug-up crater that used to be Sandal. A small contingent of people rushed to them and yelled.
"Looks like you have a small entourage too, Princess Aralleen. They can help keep your sister and my people safe on their way to the city. I'm sure you have questions and we can talk all you like once I am finished with my immediate problem."
Drake didn't wait for an answer, walking past them with some difficulty, his body still in agony from the backlash. With a snap of his fingers, his hair changed to a striking yellow as he scooped up Sah Ul' in a princess carry, running off and leaving the group behind.
—------------------
"Princess Aralleen!" several soldiers shouted as they arrived.
"What happened?"
"Who was that man?!"
"Are you hurt, my Lady!"
Aralleen waved them all off, too embarrassed to answer. She looked at where the man had stood before practically vanishing her stomach tying into knots with each passing moment.
He could have killed me… He saved my sister and I tried to kill him! I… She thought in frustration.
She had not conducted herself well. Without knowing more she had seen and heard the fight ensuing from the city. And after witnessing the destruction of the city her mind had gone into disarray, with only concern for her sister and her people at the forefront.
Aralleen rushed off ahead of her guard, desperate to find her sister before it was too late again.
And then she found a man she didn't know trying to touch her. Some filthy man dared to put his hands on her sister.
"Aralleen?" Tanya said, offering a red vial and snapping her out of her thoughts.
Aralleen's expression softened and she took the container, sipping on it gently as she felt her broken nose return to normal, the pain subsiding.
Once she finished the potion she threw the vial away, wrapping her arms around her sister, ignoring the dirt and muck she wore.
"I…I was so worried Tanya… I didn't know where you went. I'm sorry, I should have been more attentive! I should have double… triple checked the guards!" she cried, breaking down.
Tanya sniffled and pulled her sister in close.
"No! It wasn't your fault! H-he sold us all off… He sent us here and sold out his own people!"
Aralleen forced herself to separate from her sister, holding her at arm's length and her face stricken with confusion and tears.
"Who?" she asked.
Tanya's face held a difficult and frustrated look, "I think you already know… It was Valor. He sold us to that man!" she said, looking with disgust at a corpse not far away.
"Then," Aralleen thought aloud, "That man that was just here, he really saved you all? How?"
"I-I'm not sure. He is unfathomably strong. The man who kept us imprisoned was exceedingly strong. No one could defy him… But that man, Drake, no Lord Drake Wallen. He fought him as if he was playing with a child. Sister…" Tanya said, her expression turning serious, "We need his strength."