My crafting time was shortly interrupted. I could hear frantic activity from outside the door. I hastily packed away my gear and went to see what the commotion was about. It looked like everyone was packing up and preparing to head out. I could see a new group of individuals by the main entrance talking with Sharla. I decided to make my way over to listen in.

"Mistress Cotton, so good of you to return. We had thought you lost to the wilds." a man wearing formal business attire said, in a haughty tone.

Just looking at Sharla, I could see her ire building. I made sure to stay out of her line of sight.

Surprisingly she kept her feelings contained.

"Yes, well we had some delays. Nothing that I couldn't handle though."

The man's gaze roamed over the remains of Sharla's troops. A significant amount had been lost to fighting in the north.

The man let out a disdainful snort, "Yes, I can see you only brought back the dregs. Perhaps next time you will have more luck in your endeavors."

Sharla was clenching her hands so tight I could see blood beginning to seep from where her fingernails dug in.

"I weeded the chaff from my command, only bringing the strongest fighters and slaves back," she responded tartly.

"How odd, I recall the missive saying to return with anyone past level ten, yet I can tell just by looking there are quite a few here, under that level. Perhaps you need to be removed from command if you can't follow simple orders."

Sharla's hand started glowing with power after the man's insult. The man just looked at it and smiled. With a snap of his fingers, I felt a wave wash over me. Sharla's hand no longer glowed. I checked my buffs, they were all gone. The man had dispelled all magic within an area. No wonder he didn't fear Sharla.

"Calm your temper Mistress Cotton, you wouldn't want to make an egregious error on your first day back, now would you. Your father is waiting. I suggest you gather the remains of your people and get them to the compound as quickly as possible. There are enemy patrols about, but even your low-level slaves should be sufficient to handle the forces."

The man turned and left, taking his retinue of ten along with him. I was about to do the same when I felt a hot gaze land on me.

"Paul...come here!"

I gulped but complied, making sure my face was a mask of stone. I walked over to the seething woman.

"Would you have stepped in to protect me, if Darius attacked? Don't lie to me."

Shit, I had no choice but to tell her the truth.

"No, mistress."

"What if I ordered you to kill him?"

"If you ordered it, I would give my life in the attempt mistress."

It would be a failed attempt, I knew that. Even if I thought I could take the man, which I didn't. The collar would prevent me from harming him.

She back-handed me across the face with all her strength, her gauntlet ringing as it hit me. She was a small woman but she knew how to hit. I collapsed to the floor my jaw dislocated from her strike. She was stronger than she looked. I suspected she had an item that enhanced her strength.

"Fix yourself, and pack up my stuff."

I rose to comply before she struck me again.

We were on the road ten minutes later. All the slaves either in front, back, or to the sides of the column. I guess they meant to protect the important people inside a ring of fodder. It was all rather pointless as no enemies appeared. We arrived at a large barricade between two buildings.

They had managed to pour a concrete wall twenty feet high, spanning the entire width of the road. Two watchtowers sat on either corner, able to watch the gate as easily as down the cross street. At least ten people patrolled those towers. Another two stood in a third post above the gate. Thick Iron bars ran vertically with a few inches in between them. A large iron crossbar sat across the inside. As we approached I saw this crossbar retract to one side with a whirring sound.

I recognized that sound from the mana engines the Army was using. Now that I looked closer, I could see spotlights on the guard posts.

We passed through the gates. The guards eying us just as much as they eyed the streets. We walked another two blocks before we came to a parking structure, turned barracks. The slaves were all ushered inside to be redistributed among the rank and file, or placed where they were needed. I went to follow but was stopped when Sharla grabbed me.

"Oh, no. You need to come with me. I need to meet with my Father, and we need to get your collar situated."

"Yes, mistress," I replied, following along behind her.

I couldn't catch a break today, and it seemed like Sharla was on edge. This didn't bode well for my situation for tonight. We made our way past the parking structure, having to go another block up. All of the buildings in this area were at least five stories tall, if not more. The one we headed towards looked to be about twelve stories tall. It was hard to tell with the glass facade. One thing did stand out about this particular building. It was fully lit up. I could see lights coming from inside the lower windows on the shaded side of the building.

Sharla made her way directly to the main entrance. Four guards stood outside. They watched us but otherwise didn't interfere with our entrance. It was strange watching Sharla head straight for the elevators. It made sense though, the entire lobby had electricity. The doors on the elevator opened quietly and I followed her in. I was going to stand behind her but she stopped me.

"From now on when you are with me you are to act as my guard. That means you will protect me from any direct threats by being a shield. If I am in an important meeting you will remain quietly behind me but within striking distance of anyone that might wish me harm."

She seemed to hesitate on the next bit, "While you are protecting me I release you from your bond not to harm anyone wearing the Black Dragon armband. The only two people you are to never harm during that time is me and my Father. Am I clear?"

"Yes, mistress."

This choice of her's didn't change much for me, it just made me the sacrificial pawn in any inter-sect dispute involving her. Perhaps I could do something to widen this crack in the sect.

The elevator arrived at the top floor, opening to a large waiting area. A gorgeous slave woman sat behind a desk, greeting us as we arrived.

"Welcome back Mistress Cotton, Master Cotton has been waiting, please go in."

Sharla barely even acknowledged the woman as she strode towards two large black doors at the far end of the room. I followed in her wake, barely able to keep pace. She pushed the doors open, striding inside. I followed behind, closing the doors. Then I took up station near the doors remaining as still and silent as possible.

"Father!"

A stern, taller man looked up from his paperwork to take in his daughter. I didn't miss his glance and frown at my attendance. He got up, a large smile on his face and Sharla literally jumped into his arms. They hugged for a few seconds before the imposing man put her back down.

"You're late," he said in admonishment.

Sharla started to pout, "I had a few things to wrap up before I could return. I knew things here would be fine."

"That's not the point, my plans have a time table we must stick to for them to succeed."

The man put a finger to his lips before he headed over to his desk to press some sort of button. I couldn't see the item clearly but what I did see was some strange geometric patterns engraved across its surface. When the item activated it felt like my head was filled with cotton.

This must be an enchanted item. I remember Horace the merchant talking about them. I don't recall seeing any designs on the blades or other enchanted items we found, but the designs could have been cleverly hidden behind the grips or inside the clothing.

Thinking back to Fiona made my chest tighten. I had to work hard to push those feelings back down again. There would be time to mourn when I was free of these people.

"We can talk freely now. This item will prevent anyone from eavesdropping on us. I wanted you to return as quickly as possible because..."

The man stopped and looked at me, "Slave you will not utter or write a word that is spoken in this room today if you do so you will immediately end your life. Understood?"

"Yes, master Cotton."

The man stared at me for a few seconds, it felt like he was glancing at my soul to get a measure of me. After he was satisfied he went back to conversing with his daughter.

"The council is fed up with the slow progress we are making, I fear they might move to eliminate us soon if we can't make progress."

"That's absurd, it's their own damn fault that we are in the mess that we are in. If they hadn't stalled the activation of the node we would own this entire area by now."

Sharla was getting heated, her hands clenched again.

"Calm yourself, child. We both knew this day would come eventually. They have been nothing but a hindrance since we began. Unfortunately, we can't kill them. We don't have enough support within the sect to get away with it, yet. If we can take down the Sons of Autumn, or the Triad perhaps we will gain the favor we need."

I didn't know who these other two groups were but I could guess based on context.

Sharla hissed, "Like those fools could deal with them any better. Those religious nutjobs seem to multiply endlessly from what you told me. And who is the Triad?"

"They are the remnants of three groups, The Forsaken, Children of Dawn, and the remnants of the local army."

"Bikers, drug dealers, and corrupt soldiers, why are they such an issue?"

"They outnumber us four to one. They just can't match us in battle, not with our slaves leading the charge," he says, specifically looking towards me.

'Yeah, well fuck you too buddy,' I thought right back at him.

"Their numbers mean little when they flee from any engagement."

"They are not fleeing child, they are wearing us down, bit by bit."

"What about the last group?"

"We haven't managed to locate their base of operations yet. They keep doing hit and run attacks on all three groups. Eventually, one will find them and eliminate them from the board."

"Why don't we just do it."

"We could, but that wouldn't gain us the leverage we need. Nobody really sees them as a credible threat. I believe our best bet is to eliminate the Sons of Autumn. They are suicidal enough to engage our army in open combat."

"Fine, when do we engage them?"

"Soon, I need to get a measure of the reinforcements you brought with you."

Sharla gave me a shark-toothed smile. Well, that couldn't be good.

"Before we do that, who did you bring with you."

"Father, this is the man that broke my arm. I was able to capture him with one of those new styles of collars I told you about."

"Come here boy!" the man said in a commanding tone that brooked no argument.

I walked swiftly towards the man, stopping a few feet away. He slowly walked around me, his eyes going over my armor and my rings. I felt like a prized pig being inspected for slaughter.

"Your class?"

"Mantra Enchanter."

"Yes, I can clearly see that, stop playing dumb. What does your class do."

"Buffs, heals, and some AOE damage."

"Your weapon."

I pulled my war staff out from my ring.

He took it from my hand to inspect the item. All the while Sharla sat back and watched. He handed me back the weapon.

"What is your strongest attack ability?"

"Flurry of Blows."

"Demonstrate it for me."

I took a few steps back and activated the ability. I have no clue how it happened, one second he was standing off to the side the next he was in the path of my attack. Slapping away each strike of my staff. Then he hit me with his palm. I flew across the room, slamming into the wall. I crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain. I felt like I had been hit by a wrecking ball.

"Well, he survived, it's more than I can say for your last pet project."

I rolled over and tried to stand, failing miserably. I took a glance at the damage notice.

510 damage taken

That left me with only 35 hit points. And this was with all of my buffs active. Good god, how high leveled was he, I sure as hell wasn't going to risk scanning him to find out. As my senses returned I could hear Sharla giggling.

I healed my injuries before I attempted to stand again. Feeling my ribs pop back into place as the healing magic worked. I stifled any signs of pain as I rose.

The man watched me.

"I see you broke him," he said, turning to Sharla. Who stopped her giggling to look chastised at her father's tone.

"Take him down for his test."

"What about activating his collar?"

"I did it before our little fight, now go."

"Yes, Father."