Chapter 29

Ingrid and Cherish looked at one another and broke out laughing. That only served to anger Enton, who neither expected to see again and cause looks of confusion on the faces of the soldiers accompanying him.

“Wow, this is got to be the second time, now,” Ingrid said to Cherish. “Just how stupid can these people be? First Kayla, now us, but then ... they are being led by that dolt and they do not have the abilities we have, either.”

“What?!” Enton yelled in frustration. “There is no way you could have known we sent someone to collect that bitch and her mutt!”

Ingrid turned cold eyes on him and replied, “Do not EVER call her that again! Do you understand me, you pathetic piece of horse shit?”

She then shoved, hard, on his breastplate, sending him flying back into his men. He looked at them in surprise and terror, realizing the mistake he had made.

Cherish knelt down and said, “You assumed that Davik was the one with the abilities, and maybe Janet, because she was our leader. Your sexist and pig-headed views never considered that all of us were just as strong and powerful.

“We are second only to the Dran in authority,” Ingrid continued. “Meaning, none of you can touch us and the charter prevents the Dran from abusing his or her authority over us. Now get out of our sight before I make an example of you. Do you want to have to live with the humiliation and shame that our punishment will exact upon you?”

He shook his head in disbelief and scrambled to get up before stomping off with his soldiers following, each of them having a look of fear and confusion on their faces as they followed their disgraced commander.

Ingrid and Cherish glanced at one another before deciding it was best to get to the others as fast as possible.

I was not in the least bit surprised at the events that occurred with the others. Thanks to the bond, we knew what happened, and why, as well as that the others were fine and, on their way, back to us. With everything dealt with here, we prepared to leave. I glanced at Janet before opening the door to leave, only to find a full platoon of soldiers waiting for us.

“Davik, Janet and other Torgal,” announced the apparent leader of the group. “I, Ralton, High General of the Vishant Military, hereby place you under arrest for assault on military personnel, interference in a military investigation and treason.”

Janet and I looked at one another and then burst out laughing, which irritated the General quite profusely.

“I am sorry, Ralton,” Janet replied once she got her laughter under control. “It is just that we knew you were going to say that. Just as I know you have no authority to do so. We supersede the military and are second only to the Dran. There is a very lengthy process to truly disband or prosecute us, which could not have happened in the time we have been gone and your claim of treason is bogus, as we only just returned.”

He sneered and said, “If you value the safety of your comrades, you will surrender now. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that something could happen to them.”

I closed the distance between us and was only an inch away from him, startling him at the speed with which I could move.

“First, that threat is meaningless as both groups you sent to arrest our comrades failed. Kayla and my wolf will be here any minute, while Cherish and Ingrid will be a few moments longer. Second, do not ever threaten those I care for if you value your life. I will turn the capital to rubble in the pursuit of their protection. Never forget that. Now tell whoever decided to attempt this poorly conceived idea that they failed.”

A flash of rage appeared over his features and he reached for his blade. I grabbed his wrist and applied just enough pressure to hurt him and damage his bracer in the process. Anger gave way to fear as the sound of groaning metal signaled my response and he released his hilt and stepped away from me.

“This is not over,” he roared, causing his voice to crack from the strain. “You have interfered with us for the last time. Mark my words; there will be a reckoning for this!”

I glowered at him and said, “Yes, there will be. Too long have the people suffered under both the Voguel and a greedy Dran. We know that the death of the Dran was orchestrated and possibly carried out by the Voguel leader. We also believe the same person killed our friend here last night and had a hand in your orders today. I am not going to rest until this threat is gone, once and for all. Either help me do that or get out of my way. If you stand between me and this goal, I will not spare you.”

My words left him and his men speechless and afraid. It took them a few minutes to find the will to move away and they all were unsure of what I would do. The General looked the most disturbed by my words and it looked like he was trying to deal with the things I had said. The idea that someone who could give him orders was tied to the Voguel was a scary proposition. In his position, I would begin to question everything that had been happening. Still, I was not him and I have seen enough blind loyalty to not hold my breath for a change of heart.

I needed to nip this in the bud, but first, we needed to regroup and go over what we had found. There was only so much that could be shared over the bond and there are times where talking can convey more information, as the mind is free to sort through thoughts and ideas more freely. Everyone agreed to meet at the inn and the rest of us started our journey there. Despite the supposed safety of the capital, we had our senses searching for any threats. We arrived at the inn in good time and made our way to our room.

When we entered our room, we were shocked to find the room and been torn apart. We went through everything and made note of what was damaged or taken. My bow and sword had been taken, along with the weapons of everyone else. If they had not been wearing their armor, I would have guessed that, too, would have been taken or rendered unusable. We went downstairs to find a nervous and apologetic Estona.

She was holding back tears as she said, “I am sorry, everyone, but they said that you had been arrested and that they needed to search your room.”

“Janet, where would they have taken our things?” I asked, as I fought to keep my anger in check.

“They would have probably taken it to the main barracks,” she replied, her own anger bubbling to the surface. “It is back inside the city and near the center of it.”

I nodded, apologizing to Estona for the commotion we caused, and strode out of the inn, heading for the nearest entry point. As we approached, I could see the soldiers scrambling as they saw us nearing them. They knew how dangerous we were and moved out of our way but made no attempt to assist us. I grabbed the bottom of the portcullis and drew energy from my well, allowing it to fill me with its power. Taking a deep breath, I began to pull the gate up, until it was above my head. The others walked through, and I gave the gate a shove, giving me the time I needed to get to the other side.

It came back down in a loud crash and everyone nearby looked on in shock and surprise. Janet ran ahead of us and directed the group to the barracks. I was not surprised to find that they were waiting for us. All of us were tired of being harassed and let that fuel our rage. There were two armed platoons waiting for us in front of the entrance, with a row of archers above.

// Everyone, listen up, \\ I said to the group. // Janet and I will take care of the archers while you guys take care of the soldiers. Do not kill unless you have no choice but let us make sure that they know not to fuck with us anymore! \\

Janet and I glanced at one another before dashing towards the building at full speed. I was thankful that the archers were all stationed along the roof of the first floor. We leapt at full power and landed at either side of the group. We used the surprise our actions created to attack before they were ready and within minutes, the group of archers was incapacitated. Janet and I looked down to find that most of the soldiers were either unconscious or nursing broken arms or legs. I looked and found a door leading inside and kicked it in just in case there was someone behind it.

I heard a yelp of surprise as the door burst off its hinges and a groan of pain from the soldier now lying underneath it. I stretched out with my sense and made my way inside, with Janet right on my tail. Ingrid and Cherish jumped up to join us while the rest attempted to get inside the front door. As we made our way through, we would come across soldiers and give them the option of fighting and losing or running. Many had seen what we had done through the many windows of the building and opted out of fighting us. There were a few, however, that decided to try their luck and received some broken bones as a reward.

Janet took the lead as we made our way through the compound. She had a feeling she knew where our weapons were, and she was determined to get them back. She took us to their armory, but we did not find anything of ours there. We were worried they were destroyed or sent away when she darted back into the hallway. The rest of us met up as we followed Janet to a large ornate door. With a thrust of her foot, she kicked the door so hard it shattered to splinters. We stepped inside to find our weapons and a very shocked and terrified High General.

“Hello, again Ralton,” Janet said in a pleasant, but off-putting manner. “We are here to collect our things that were wrongfully taken from our room. Unfortunately, some of your men were unwilling to step aside to allow us to retrieve them. They will need some time to mend the broken bones they suffered but we tried to limit any lasting damage. So now the question is, do you hand over our property, or do we take it? Do you want to end up like your men?”

Fear washed over the face of the High General and I could see the battle raging in him. His duty to the Dran, his honor as a soldier and the utter fear of what we could do. In the end, his fear won out, as he cast his eyes down and simply nodded. With his surrender, of a sort, we collected our things and left the barracks through the front door. We took our time returning to the inn and I was amused to see that they opened the portcullis for us with no issue. The use of our abilities made us feel a bit peckish, so we left an order with the front desk before heading upstairs.