Rekka's POV
I was overwhelmed with joy.
I was looking over a holographic screen that showed various messages being sent to me of different numbers with each one being higher than the last.
28,000,000
30,000,000
40,000,000
45,000,000
...
With every second that passed the number only grew and my joy along with it. This girl was a true treasure and better yet with the kind of a dragon she was the chances of anyone coming to find her was relatively low along with what those idiots told me of this girl wandering far from where her people were she was more than likely abandoned. I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard a voice come from the other side of my door.
"Excuse me my lady. The captain is here to see you." The voice said.
"Let him in."
At my response the door opened and the captain of this place nervously walked in and stood in front of my desk.
"M-madam it's a pleasure to see you again after all this ti-"
"Quiet."
The blubbering fool quickly shut his mouth and stood still awaiting for me to address him.
"Captain. I'm sure you're well aware as to why I'm here and why I called you here?"
"Y-yes Madam. Y-you're referring to the dragon girl right? Don't worry I made sure to let all my men know not to touch or go near her!"
"Good. If any of you touched and damaged or tainted her in any way before she was sold off I would have brought every single one you in front of me and cut off each of your little friends with my flames." I coldly told him.
The man shivered in fear at my promise and bowed deeply. "No of course not Madam! None of us would dare to go against your orders!"
"Good. Now as for my second reason for calling you here. How is our other special product doing."
"T-the wolf Madam?"
"Is there another?"
"No Madam! The Wolf is secured and has not shown any signs of resisting or any other other signs of attempting to attack anyone! We've put him to work in the mines and have had no problems as of yet!"
"Mmm."
"M-madam?"
"Captain. Just because it's a child does not mean it doesn't have ideas of escape in it's head nor that it has no intention of hurting someone, especially if they're desperate."
"Y-you think he may try to escape?"
"Captain, you and I know what his kind is capable of and if given an opportunity he WILL try to escape and could up dooming us all regardless of the shackles or how many of us there. We cannot let our guard down child or not."
"Then would'nt it be better to kill it?"
"No. Something as valuable as it and the fact we have it in captivity is a once in a lifetime opportunity. With the right buyer it could make what we earn with this girl look like nothing. All we have to do is find the maniac willing to buy it.
"W-what do you suggest we do then Madam?"
"Once we sell the girl I will return here to transport the wolf to our main base. My men have prepared a special cell specially for the wolf that will ensure he cannot escape nor that he would be able to use any of his power until we can sell him off."
" Of course Madam! When do you plan on moving him?"
As he asked me this I glanced back at my screen and after seeing a number pop up I smiled.
"Two days."
The number was 500,000,000.
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Gales POV
A few hours after coming up with a plan with the group, the day was ending and we were all being sent back to our cells. As we were being led back into our cells and the slavers going to get the next batch of slaves to take our place I made eye contact with Lucas who was thankfully in the cell across from mine along with the other two and we silently waited for the slavers to be out of earshot to begin speaking.
Once we were in the clear I spoke to Lucas and asked "So where's this dragon girl you spoke of?"
"She's over there in the back of our cell crouched in the corner." Lucas replied and looked behind him.
Looking in the direction his head turned I saw Clover and Max talking to a young girl with long black and somewhat bushy hair who looked slightly taller than I was crouched in the corner holding her knees to her chest with a tear stained face. I could also see the two small jagged horns on her head as well as the long tail adorned in pitch black scales. While they spoke wirh her I focused my hearing in their general direction to listen to them.
"Hi there it's nice to meet you! My name is Clover, what's yours?
At Clovers introduction the small girl looked up at her and with a croak in her voice she softly spoke " ....Ashes."
"That's a nice name it's a pleasure to meet you Ashes!"
Once Clover finished speaking the girl known as Ashes began to shiver and cry. "I'm scared. I dont want to be here anymore. I wanna go home."
Clover then kneeled near Ashes and gently pulled her into a hug and soothed the crying girl until she calmed down a little.
"I know honey. It's a scary place to be in and I know you want to go home. That's why we need your help."
Hearing this Ashes looked at Clover with a bit of confusion in her face. "My help? You mean we can get out of here?"
"Yup we have a plan to get out of here and head back home!" Exclaimed Max with a toothy grin.
Hearing this Ashes smiled and had a look of pure hope on her face when hearing that she would be able to go home and asked" OK! What do I do!"
"We're gonna need one of your scales."
Hearing this Ashes flinched for a moment and clutched her tail to her chest and asked " My scales? But they won't come off unless new ones start to grow."
Taking a deep breath Clover began to speak "I know honey and this is a big ask of you but we would have to rip off one of your scales for our plan to work "
Ashes face paled instantly after hearing Clovers intention and removed herself from Clovers embrace and shuffled as far away from her as possible until her back hit another wall.
After seeing her reaction I called out to Lucas "Is everything ok? Is it bad for them to take a scale from her?"
At my question Lucas paused and responded "From what I know a dragon demihuman don't lose scales unless they begin to grow new and stronger ones in place of them. If they were to have a scale forcefully removed it would expose the flesh underneath until a new one took its place."
Hearing it almost reminded me of a person having their fingernail removed and it exposing the sensitive flesh underneath. It was an uncomfortable thing for me to learn exactly how they planned on getting the scale and I was not entirely sure I wanted this small girl to experience that pain.
"Please I promise that we will make it as quick as possible and we'll cover up the wound to make it less painful afterwards" Clover responded.
Ashes simply shivered at was terrified at having one of her scales forcibly removed. The other slaves in her cell who all listened into to Clover and Max's notion at a supposed plan to escape all began to stare at Ashes upset that the young girl was making it difficult for their supposed plan to come to fruition.
"Come on it's just one scale." Spoke one of the slaves.
"I'll pull it out myself if you don't." Spoke another
They all began to crowd Ashes which left me with an unease in my stomach and not feeling good about pressuring this small girl who was scared out of her mind. I knew we needed her scale for Max to stop the effects on these shackles but I still felt bad for putting her in this position.
Eventually Lucas with a resolute expression on his face let out a sigh and said "Alright we don't have much time. Hold her down." As soon as he said this all the Slaves grabbed Ashes and her face down and restrained her arms, legs and tail. Before she could let out any scream for them to stop her mouth was gagged with a rag and then Max went to her tail and began to pull on one of her scales.
Ashes began to cry and yell into the rag out of fear and pain as Clover attempted to comfort the young girl to no avail as Max and soon after Lucas continued to pull on her scale. I grit my teeth while watching the small girl being put through all that pain and being held down by people she didn't know. I knew it had to be down but the guilt didn't stop and eventually it got to to a point where I eventually called out to the girl.
"Ashes!"
At hearing her name being called from a distance the girl opened a eye and looked towards the voice and soon gave a panicked look in my direction and began to shed more tears. I expected that response but I continued to speak to her.
"I promise that you'll get out of here. No matter what happens I'll make sure you get to go home. I swear."
Through watery eyes the girl showed a small look of confusion and shock that was quickly replaced by a look of pain as she shut her eyes and grit her teeth as Max with one last yank eventually ripped off Ashes scale.
"Got it!" Exclaimed Max as he held a small bloody scale.
The other slaves smiled and as Lucas and Clover then wrapped Ashes tail in a small rag , the slaves then let her go causing Ashes to let out a whimper and crawl back to her corner shivering after what had happened. Clover and Lucas attempted to talk to Ashes but she simply looked away and and refused to listen to anything that they had to say. The two showed a look of guilt for putting the girl through the ordeal but Lucas quickly shifted his focus back to Max.
"Is the scale right for the job Max?"
"Hmmmm... it's not an adult's scale but..." As he Max said this he quickly scratched the bars of the cell and with very little effort left a notable scratch on the metal "it should get the job done!"
"Perfect. As soon as you know where to start, carve the new rune and let us know when you finish. In the meantime we'll talk about the plan with everyone here and what everyone will be expected to do. Clover could you come over here and help me explain."
At hearing her being called Clover gave one last look to Ashes and eventually made her way to where Lucas and the rest began to group up and talk of their escape.
As they spoke Ashes soon peeked out towards the cell at the group and then looked at me. As I made quick eye contact she quickly looked away and stared back at the group.
Why did I promise that. I silently cursed my foolishness as I made a promise of escape to a girl I met no more than a couple of minutes ago. I let myself be taken by guilt and made a promise I couldn't guarantee. I needed to prioritize my survival, I couldn't focus on someone else before me.
As I thought about my decision I glanced back at Ashes who snuck glances back at me every now and then. I let out a sigh, I'll do what I can to help but I can't guarantee her survival. Whatever happens will happen but I will survive.
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30 Minutes later
While I sat in my cell waiting for Max to complete his plan the other slaves in his cell also began to anxiously wait for him. Lucas and Clover also took the opportunity to speak with the slaves in my cell and let them know about the plan and for the first time in a while I saw a look other than defeat and despair in them... hope. This was probably the first time in a long time that anyone had given them this level of hope before and they were filled with a new energy.
"....Alright I think I have it planned out. When I start no one distract me I have to do this as quickly as possible to get the runes on my wrists and my ankles. To do this I also have to carve a slight delay into one of the runes along with the changes and can't make a single wrong move or it will activate and cause me to lose my limbs " Said Max
At this everyone's attention directed to Max in this moment and all watched as Max took a deep breath and began to carve into the metal of the shackle and into the rune. It only took a few minutes but it felt like hours just watching Max carve into the shackle. Every scratch he made gave me nausea as I was partially prepared to see the sickening red glow activate and watch the boy's limbs explode. Then for a moment he directed his attention away from his wrists and to his ankles and began to scratch into those next much faster this time but just as careful. I could clearly see the sweat forming on his forehead and could hear his breathing begin to grow in speed as he focused all his efforts into his task. I then saw a glow. I felt my blood freeze when I saw Max's shackle begin to glow and prepared myself for the horrible scene. As soon as I prepared myself I realized that it wasn't the same red glow but instead a soft blue begin to glow from his shackles and watched in amazement as both the shackles on his wrists and ankles come off.
Max let out a sigh of relief once he completed his task and before anyone could celebrate, Lucas quickly motioned for them to be quiet so as to not draw any attention from the slavers. Lucas then told Max to take a quick break and then do the same thing with another person. At this a look of hesitation appeared on the other slaves faces as they were clearly afraid of putting themselves on the line. When she saw this Clover quickly stepped up and volunteered herself to be next. Everyone quickly accepted this and although he had a slight look of panic at hearing his friend would be next Max agreed and once he took his break then got to work on Clovers shackles. In less time than when he did his own he quickly completed the runes on Clovers shackles and she too was then freed. At this everyone's faces changed and soon everyone began to crowd Max asking h to take their shackles off next but they were quickly calmed down by Lucas who then informed them to make a line and wait their turn.
One by one the group of new arrivals lined up and awaited their turn as Max quickly got to work and with each completed rune his work became faster and smoother. Upon seeing him quickly free his fellow captives all the slaves in my cell began to talk amongst themselves and became ecstatic at the notion of being freed and eagerly awaited their turn.
Eventually Max completed his task and once he completed his task then called over Ashes to have her shackles removed. Startled at being called, Ashes flinched and stayed in place for a while until she eventually made her way over to Max and nervously waited as the young boy quickly and efficiently removed her shackles. She wore a look of relief before she nervously moved away from the group and went back to her corner.
"Me next!"
" No me next!"
"I've been here longer than any of you!"
Once they saw Max free his fellow cellmates all of the slaves in my cell began to call out to Max and demand that he free them. I understood where they were coming from but they were making far too much noise.
"If you all want to get out of here in one piece then I suggest you all shut your mouths before you all get us killed."
When they heard me speak all the clamoring slaves quickly silenced themselves and retreated away from both the bars and me. After seeing this I looked back to the cell ahead of us and saw that the rest of the group took a good look at me and began to panic and back away from their bars.
"Oh my gods is that what I think it is?!"
" P-please don't hurt us we just want to go home."
At their groups reaction Lucas, Clover and Max all calmed the group down and told them that there was no reason to be scared and that I was an ally.
"I know you're all scared but he doesn't mean us any harm and he even promised to help us leave this place" Lucas told the group.
"How can you trust what he says?! He might be trying to trick you into freeing him and then he'll kill us all!
"That's right! You know his kind are killers! You've heard the stories."
I only listened to the cries of the panicked crowd and silently wondered what is was that scared them so badly, what are the stories they heard and what exactly will be waiting for me in the outside world.
Lucas then let out a sigh and said " Alright how about I show you that he means us no harm." He then looked a teenage silver haired girl who shared the same cell as him and said "Sasha you can manipulate metal right? Can you open the bars for both cells and let Max work on Gales shackles?" And then pointed at me.
The girl known as Sasha became shocked as Lucas's request as though he had lost his mind "What?! You can't expect me to bring him in here!"
"Please Sasha I swear he means no harm, without him we can't possibly expect to leave this place." Said Lucas
As he said this Lucas stared back at me and at his gaze I simply responded " I promise that I won't hurt any of you. All I want is to leave this place and to survive." Although I still wasn't sure as to the reason behind their fear I promised them nonetheless.
At my promise Sasha hesitated for a moment and after checking around for any signs of the slavers she approached the bars and putting her hands to two of the metal bars a dull gray glow emitted from her hands and the two bars she touched quickly shrunk in size allowing her to step through. After she stepped through she approached our cell and repeated the same process and looked at me said " You and only you step out of the cell and follow me." I did as she said and followed her to the other cellaand when I stepped into the other cell I could feel the tension in the cell as nearly everyone looked at me with a bit of fear in their faces. I then sat down in front of Max and offered my hands and ankles to him and waited for him carve the runes. As I did this Max swallowed nervously and started to work on my shackles and while he did this I could see everyone on edge waiting to see what I would do with Lucas and Clover cautiously watching and Ashes sat in her corner silently staring at me.
Max then completed his task and after many long months I was finally freed from these awful shackles and could freely move my wrists and ankles again. I slowly stood up and as I did this I could see the group clearly ready themselves to attack but before they did Lucas approached me and held his hand out as if asking for a handshake. I cautiously looked at his hand and grabbed it.
"Pleasure to be working with you' said Lucas
"Same here." I replied
At this exchange some of the group let out gasps and a few a sighs of relief with both Clover and Max looking relaxed and Ashes in her corner staring in amazement and as I looked towards my cell I saw the same reactions from my cellmates.
"So... how can you help us leave?" Asked one of the slaves or I guess it's just captives now.
"I know where all the paths of the mine system take us and the different paths all of the patrols take, as well as where the central keep is at." I responded
The group stared at me in suprise. All these months I've been in here I kept track of every detail that could help me escape and took time to focus on those details in particular. While the first two weeks I took time to adjust to my surroundings and especially with my new senses it was only after I got used to both that I began to detail what I could.
"So you could lead us out?" Asked a captive
"It's possible. Thanks to our shackles being taken off we now have access to magic which increases our chances of escape. We just need to cause a distraction that will lure the slavers into the mines including Rekka and take her airship for ourselves." I replied.
"Rekka's airship?! That's how we're getting off this place?! Replied a captive
"Yes. Its our best chance at getting away quickly and safely before they have a chance to catch us. That's why we need to work together, if Rekka leaves we probably won't get this chance again for a long time. The first thing we need is information. We need a way to find out where Rekka is and what we can do to lure her away."
"Umm..."
After hearing the small voice I looked towards one of the captives in my cell a demihuman rabbit man spoke up and said " I know sensory magic. I can raise my hearing by several levels and if I concentrate I can locate and listen in on her as long as she's here."
I was pleasantly and surprised and we had the man come through to have Max take his shackles off, once the job was done the man activated his magic and I saw him lift his ear up and I could see a dull green glow as he closed his eyes and listened.
"Alright while he finds Rekka, Max will continue to free the others and we should decide on a plan of action and how we plan on moving and the type of distraction we plan on using to lure them away. " I said to the group.
As we spoke about a potential distraction, Max continued to free the others one by one thanks to Sasha escorting each one to and from their cells to ensure that any passing patrol doesn't catch on to what we're doing. During our discussion the rabbit demihuman let out a gasp and broke the concentration on his magic and looked back at us.
"I think I found her." Replied the man
"Where is she?" I asked
"She's on a much higher level than down here probably on the top most floor but..."
"But what?"
"She's planning on moving out tonight."
I froze at his answer. I expected her to leave in a few days at the very least not by the end of the day. I then asked what else he heard.
"She's said she plans on taking the dragon girl with her to a buyer within seven hours and by the next day she plans on coming back and transporting you to a more secure location."
I felt a lump in my throat as I heard this and in the corner of my eye I could see Ashes pale in terror in response to this news. I had a feeling that I would eventually be moved due to the reactions of everyone around me but I never imagined it would be in a few days. As I silently panicked and thought of what I could do I was snapped out of my thoughts by Lucas's voice.
"Then we escape today before she leaves. The plan is still the same we just need to move faster than expected."
"....yeah you're right." I replied and looked at Lucas " we should all get some rest and get ready to leave in a few hours. Once Max finishes we go back to our respective cells and rest a bit to prepare ourselves for the escape."
At this all the captives silently nodded their heads and each went to lie down facing in the opposite direction from the bars to prevent anyone from noticing the unlocked shackles and each mentally prepared themselves for the struggle that awaited them.
As I laid down I tried to prevent my mind from racing and thinking of every worst case scenario. I refused to be imprisoned again and I swore to myself that I will escape and I WILL survive. At that final thought my mind slowly began to calm and I drifted off to sleep.
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Elsewhere in the world
3rd persons POV
A man wearing a white uniform reminiscent of a Templar uniform walked quickly through a facility filled with various mechanical equipment and with various employees running around the facility panicked at an apparent issue.
The man walks down a corridor into a large oval hub area filled with different sensors and each manned by a different person.
"Have you charted it's course, is it heading to a major city?!"
"No sir it's not on course towards any major civilization nor any land with multiple villages!"
"As soon as you can pinpoint any significant area no matter how large or small let me know immediately! We need to find out where it's heading!"
"Sir I hae informed all commercial flights and ships , as well as any merchants on all frequencies to avoid the Opulent Ocean until further notice!"
As the man in the Templar uniform listened he approached the one giving out orders.
"Commander."
The old man wearing a uniform similar to that of a navy officer turned at the voice and stood upright and placed his fist on his chest and greeted the man.
"General it's good to see you!"
"At ease. Have you determined where it's heading?
"No sir not since it left it's territory. We've been tracking it's movement but we have no idea where it's heading."
"Did you track anything that could have caused this? An invader it's territory? An idiotic adventurer that decided to pick a fight with it? A severe change in it's ecosystem?"
"No sir none of the sort. A few days ago as it was moving around in it's normal pattern within it's territory it suddenly began to move outside of the area we determined it's territory to be in and moved far into the middle of the ocean."
"What about the others are they moving out of their territories as well?"
"No sir the rest haven't made any moves and are acting normal."
After hearing the commanders report the general approached the largest screen of the hub and stared as it displayed a map with a moving red dot and showed a model of a monstrous creature swim through the murky depths of the ocean.
"Where are you heading?"
As the general pondered this the map showed the creature swimming towards a seemingly unimportant part of the ocean and towards a very small island.