“Gahh…” groaned Blake as he squirmed. Groggy from recent events, he slowly opened his eyes. His vision swam briefly as he saw only the blur of passing trees. His body shook slightly while wavering left and right.

“Wha..?” he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. As he moved his arm, pain shot through his hip, making him wince.

“Ah, you are awake finally?” said a voice. Blake slowly turned his head towards the source. It was Zan-adar, holding half of the stretcher Blake seemed to be on.

“Ugh, I dunno… More or less,” said Blake, trying to get his mind working.

He slightly lifted his head, taking a look in front of himself. Another pyron was carrying him in the front, it was the female scientist who glanced back at him and gave him a curt nod.

Blake responded in kind and let his head fall afterwards. He had no strength left in his body at all. It was a while since the last time he had pushed himself this much. At least it seemed to have paid off. He glanced around as he was lying in the stretcher. Sun got in his eyes as it peaked through the tall tree tops here and there. Blake’s brows furrowed. These trees grew in the general area of his settlement.

“How long was I out?” asked Blake in a weak voice.

“About four days,” said Zan-adar softly. “How do you feel?”

“Like a train hit me…” groaned Blake, carefully bringing his hand to his hip. Pain immediately spread through his body. “Ugh, I think I have a broken hip.”

Zan-adar nodded.

“Probably. We treated it with some potion your other companion gave us,” said Zan-adar. “However it doesn’t seem to be strong enough, the surface looks fine but beneath… well I’m sure you noticed.”

Blake groaned again.

“It’d be difficult not to…” said Blake with a weak voice. “I guess we are already close to the settlement..?”

Zan-adar nodded and Blake continued.

“Did Ceglar tell you the situation?” asked Blake, still trying to actually wake up. “Did anything happen while I was out?”

The female scientist who was also carrying him chimed in.

“Ceglar brought us up to date as far as the situation is concerned, otherwise nothing really happened,” said the woman in a relaxed tone. “ You should rest some more, that last orb of yours nearly killed you.”

Blake closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.

“It got bigger than I wanted, I was a bit distracted,” said Blaked. “ But it seems to have worked out. How did it go after the explosion?”

“The monsters parted after it, trying to avoid the blast,” said the female, shuddering as she remembered. “We used the opportunity to run through, before the flames settled. A minute later stairs appeared in front of us and then we stormed to the surface. Good thing your other werewolf friend was guarding the entrance, he had to carry one of my companions who fainted.”

Blake nodded tiredly.

“Good, no casualties then,” he said. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Ah! Leilarra, pleased to meet you,” answered the female and bowed her head. “I can’t thank you enough for what you and your friend did. You saved my life, if you ever need anything tell me.”

Blake laughed lightly as he saw the woman doing her best at giving him her gratitude. It didn’t seem like she was used to formal speech as an awkward expression appeared on her face. That however didn’t bother him at all, he smiled tiredly back at her.

“I’m sure Ceglar already talked to you about the settlement,” said Blake. “We can use capable scientists and mages. Follow our rules and work in the settlement and we can provide you with food and shelter. Give and take.”

Zan-adar nodded at the words, but Leilarra didn’t seem to be satisfied with the answer and shook her head.

“Ceglar mentioned it, but I meant you two in specific,” said Leilarra unsatisfied. “I’m in your debt and don’t shrug it off again!”

Blake’s brows furrowed for a moment. It seemed like Ceglar left a fair bit of the story to him.

“Ceglar forgot to mention that I’m the ruler of the settlement, did he?” said Blake, determining it’s time to fill them in. “If you stay as my subject then it really is give and take. I give you a place to live safely and you work for me, which means you work in the settlement.”

He held back a chuckle as Leilarra’s eyes widened and her face brightened.

“Oh, that would also cover your debt to Ceglar more or less,” continued Blake. “He is the werewolf high priest, their leader.”

“I… I see…” said Leilarra with an even brighter face, thinking about Blake’s offer.

“Take your time with the offer,” said Blake, calming her down. “First you should see the settlement and have a guide tell you the whole story in detail, I’m too tired to do that myself.” He stopped for a second and continued with a gentle voice. “I know you don’t have much choice with the situation being as it is, but I promise that I will treat you well if you follow me.”

Blake lifted his gaze from Leilarra who thought in silence and looked at Zan-adar. “You probably have some remaining questions, Ceglar usually doesn’t talk about my business. Go ahead and ask.”

Zan-adar didn’t seem to be overly bothered by the previous conversation and he immediately thought of a question.

“You mentioned that you are the only human you know of in this world,” said Zan-adar with curiosity. “Why are you the only one? Ceglar mentioned that the manipulating system vanished along with the humans a year ago, but he didn’t want to say anything about you.”

Blake nodded, the werewolf knew which things he could talk about and which not.

“That’s connected to a kind of ritual I went through, “ said Blake, picking his words with care. “ It allowed me to bypass the existing system. This is tied to a topic for which I’ll get you a guide, he’ll go more in depth.”

Zan-adar looked unsatisfied but he didn’t press the issue.

Blake laid calmly in the stretcher, watching the passing treetops.

“How about a question about the settlement?” suggested Blake, wanting to cover the main things as fast as possible.

The pyron nodded and he continued.

“I roughly know what Ceglar says and what he doesn’t so I guess he didn’t tell you who exactly was in the settlement except the werewolves and the refugees?”asked Blake at which the two pyron shook their heads. “Then let me tell you why it is even possible in the first place that we can defend ourselves against the Newcomers. Golems are part of my settlement.”

Shocked expressions appeared on the two faces, making the female nearly let go of the stretcher.

“The golems? The actual golems?” asked the female with wide eyes, her head glowing much brighter than before. “How did that happen? They are the exclusive workforce of the Alliance!”

Blake smiled tiredly again, mentioning the golems never failed to get some amusing reactions. However they were in no way unjustified, the golems were indispensable to Blake.

“They were the Alliance’s slaves,” said Blake. “Now they work for me.”

Leilarra wanted to press Blake about the matter but Zan-adar was quicker.

“How do you mean that? How is it possible?” asked Zan-adar totally confused. “They are insentient Alliance constructs! Did you steal them?”

An uneasy expression appeared for a moment on Blake’s face as Zan-adar was talking but vanished quickly.

“You could say that, but… I’m not sure anymore,” said Blake as he hesitated. “ I did use an artifact to get them to obey, but lately... “ He cleared his throat before continuing. “The bottom line is that they serve me now, just consider them your guardians.”

Leilarra looked at Blake with a flabbergasted expression.

“Guardians?!” she asked with shock. “You use those tools as guardians?! They were made for uncomplicated physical labor! They don’t have the needed ability!”

Blake carefully shook his head, cautious not to cause himself pain.

“I’m telling you that they do,” said Blake, not wanting to get swept up in a discussion. “ I have no idea if it’s a mechanism for self-preservation or they are a new model, but they are the reason why we managed to survive a year against the Newcomers.”

Leilarra squinted her eyes but decided to take the statement as it is.

“Other than that nothing has changed?” she asked nervously.

Blake nodded with a complicated expression.

“Yes,” he said. “They don’t even move unless I tell them to…”

Blake saw a shadow appear from the treetops and a moment later Ceglar jumped down, softly landing on all four next to the stretcher.

“Oh please, you are just getting nervous because you took them from the Alliance,” said Ceglar as he smiled wolfishly. “The rocks were their tools, now they are ours. If something was off I’d have already noticed it.”

Blake looked at the overconfident werewolf displeasedly.

“Well now we have the scientists which can help me understand the principle behind them.” He looked at Leilarra who gave him a nod.

“I’ll gladly help,” she said. “The magic structure must be a lot more advanced than on the old ones.”

Blake nodded with a pleased expression and turned to Ceglar.

“You aren’t going to keep lookout up there?” asked Blake.

Ceglar shook his head.

“The air is clear. I can go up in a few minutes again. The softy is checking our front anyway,” said Ceglar, waving his hand. “Why, need me?”

Blake cocked his head grumbling lightly.

“You know Kegaut hates when you act like this,” said Blake. “When are you going to consider him your kind.”

Ceglar waved his hand again carelessly.

“When he earns it,” said Ceglar simply.

Blake sighed, not having the strength to fight the werewolf on this topic. If the hundreds of times before didn’t help then this one won’t either.

“I think I’ll have to leave a few things to you,” said Blake. “ I’ll go home today.”

Ceglar seemed a little surprised but he nodded.

“With that hip you wouldn’t manage to get things done even if you stayed,” said Ceglar, thinking about what chores he had to do. “Well it’s just a week sooner than planned and most of the things are routine stuff.”

Blake nodded at Ceglar.

“Yeah, if I go rest at home then I can at least give Rose a hand,” said Blake. “Just make sure that all of the usual stuff goes smoothly and don’t overestimate yourself on patrols and clearing missions!”

Blake pointed his finger at the pyron who listened to the conversation silently, continuing to carry the stretcher.

“Get them a guide, uhm… Preferably one of my closer faction mates if you understand, “said Blake, tip-toeing around the term Gar’rac. He didn’t know how much the pyron knew about them. “And make sure that they tell them everything, afterwards assign them some fitting job.”

Blake shifted his look from Ceglar and spoke to the pyron.

“Is that okay with you?” asked Blake. Zan-adar calmly nodded and Leilarra followed suit, a bit more hesitant.

“Good,” continued Blake and turned back to Ceglar. “ Don’t forget to tell the kobolds that I’ll look into their matter when I get better. As far as diplomatic things go it’s the usual, tell me if anyone outside the normal refugees appears and I’ll come.

Ceglar nodded, he had already stepped in for Blake a few times so he knew what was expected.

“We are now entering the settlement,” said Ceglar.

Blake’s brows rose. He expected them to be close but not this much. He lightly lifted his head from the stretcher to get a better sight of what was in front of them, but pain immediately shot through his body. All he gained for his effort and agony was a glimpse of wooden houses and a few stone constructs behind them. Blake clenched his teeth as he waited for the pain to pass, but his thoughts grew more relaxed. He saw golems spread out in an orderly way around the settlement, everything seemed to be alright.

“Bring me to the main hall,” said Blake tiredly. “I’ll immediately go if there are no problems I need to deal with.”

Ceglar pointed to one of the wooden buildings. It was wider than most others and gave off a more serious, elegant atmosphere. The pyron nodded and carried Blake in that direction.

“Don’t forget to send me reports Ceglar,” said Blake. “Now go ahead and ask your council if anything needs my attention, otherwise I’d like to go home while I still have some strength.”

Ceglar nodded and disappeared from Blake’s side. The latter was now just lying, scanning the settlement calmly. It seemed like everything was alright. People from various races were walking here and there, going to their work places, carrying things and doing similar tasks. When the people saw Blake on the stretcher their eyes widened but they just gave him a small bow continued.

There was also a small construction site nearby, filling the settlement with sounds of hammering and rocks clashing as some werewolves and one of the Gar’rac worked with two golems on a stone constructions. The foundations seemed to be done as they now slowly stacked stone blocks. When the werewolves noticed Blake they, like the others before bowed briefly and got back to work. The Gar’rac however started jumping lightly in excitement and lifted one of its paws a bit.

Human behaviour didn’t really function all that well with the Gar’racs big flaming body but Blake found it charming.He couldn’t help but smile and weakly wave back.

Blake glanced carefully at the two pyron but they either didn’t recognised the Gar’rac or they just didn’t see him. Good, they could take it slow later with a guide, preferably a shapeshifted Gar’rac.

A shadow appeared next to his stretcher.

It was a man in loose linen clothing who seemed to be in his thirties. He had short black hair and a beard of similar length. His expression was calm and serious.

“How are you feeling my lord?”

Blake turned to the man, looking a bit surprised.

“Ah Kegaut, I feel tired and injured but nothing a week or two with potions and rest won’t fix,” said Blake with a complicated expression. “Why did you shift? Are there some visitors?”

Kegaut shook his head, seeming a bit bothered.

“There was no need for that form anymore, I just did it without thinking…” said Kegaut with a slightly uncomfortable tone.

Blake sighed and motioned the man to calm down.

“Look, I have no problem with that,” said Blake calmly. “However you are a werewolf, try to get comfortable with your actual form… I’m sure Ceglar would give you a hand if you asked him, he is much nicer than you think.”

Kegaut shook his head lightly but said nothing.

“You know that I’m right,” said Blake. “Continue working on it.”

The man nodded and went away after a small bow.

Blake leaned his head back and continued looking at the settlement around himself until the two pyron brought him to the big building.

Ceglar waited at the door with a group of werewolves behind him. They were all a bit smaller than him, wearing some light clothes and looking at Blake seriously. They nodded, greeting him.

“There were no major incident,” said Ceglar as he approached the stretcher.

“Good, give me a hand then,” said Blake, bracing himself.

Ceglar lifted him carefully from the stretcher. Blake’s hip agonised him again but he ignored it, clenching his teeth for the few moments Ceglar needed to carry him into the building and put him in the middle of a circle which was carved in the floor.

It seemed like the big building had just one wide, empty room. There were two windows on each wall, illuminating the wooden tiles it was made of and giving the room a very calm atmosphere.

Blake forced his breathing to go back to normal after the pain and he slowly went with his hand over the carvings, checking if he was in the right position.

“I checked, it’s the right spot,” said Ceglar as he kneeled next to Blake. “So… Enjoy your rest, make sure that you are completely healed before you return. I’ll take care of everything on this side.”

Blake nodded, he had no problems trusting the werewolf when he was serious. He proved himself enough times.

“I’ll make sure to do my part with lore research,” said Blake, trying to remember if he needed to do something more before going. “I’ll hear from you by parchment reports. Make sure to keep things peaceful over here… well as much as possible.”

He breathed in deeply and calmed his mind.

“Mind if you lend me some fuel?” asked Blake, already starting to concentrate.

Ceglar wordlessly put his big paw over the carvings. A dark blue light spread from the spot he touched and flew across all carvings, making it seem like a small stream appeared around Blake.

“Thank you,” said Blake and activated the formula. The carvings around him lit up and he disappeared into thin air in the next moment.

******

Thanks for reading, if you like the story review/comment/follow.

I just want to give you a heads up, I have uni stuff coming my way so I won't upload for a few weeks (between 2 and 5, not sure).