When I open my eyes I quickly see that I am not alone, there is a red skinned imp staring at me. I start to reach for Blitz but then remember what Krenocia said and relax. It has small wings and a large set of teeth but despite that its appearance is more comical than threatening.

"Um, hello."

It gives me what I am assuming is a smile and holds out something about the size of a ruler wrapped in cloth. I take it from the imp and unwrap it to find a long wooden wand, it is rough and twisty and surprisingly heavy.

"Thank you!"

The imp vanishes in a puff of smoke and I look around at the heroes trying to decide who to release first. After a minute I decide to free the wolf first, after all that is my mission, the heroes are just bonuses. Besides, Krenocia wasn't sure how many charges were left in this thing so I will prioritize just in case it runs out.

As I touch the wand to the wolf I feel a strong surge of magic from within the wand and the wolf is instantly back to normal. I was expecting a gradual release rather than instant, this wand is more powerful than I thought it would be. The wolf staggers a little as it is freed and after a quick look around it whines at me and then licks the hand of the young woman that was standing beside it.

When I see the plea in those strange but beautiful silver eyes I can't even think about saying no. So I touch the young woman with the wand, she is freed instantly and collapses. The young wolf catches her to keep her from completely falling to the floor.

Emelia says "Oh, thank you Silveria! What happened? AHH! What are you!?"

"I am Ash, nice to meet you."

Emelia says "Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Emelia, but you can call me Emmy! And this is Silveria!"

"Hello, Emmy and Silveria."

Emelia says "Thank you for saving us! Can you save my friends as well?"

"I can try, I am not sure how many charges are left in the wand. Which of your friends should I save first?"

Emelia says "Hm, probably her, that is Rachel our priest. If you run out of charges maybe she can help the others."

"Alright, I will free her. Please be ready to catch her, I don't think she would react well to waking up in my arms."

Emmy and Silveria move to stand on either side of Rachel, then Emmy gives me a nod to say she is ready. I reach out and touch the wand to Rachel to free her. Like Emmy, Rachel's legs collapse as soon as she is freed, but Emmy and Silveria manage to catch her.

Rachel says "Ugh, what happened?"

Emelia says "We were turned to stone, but this guy has freed us."

Rachel says "Thank you! Wait, aren't you the beastman the king wants dead?"

"Yes, the king wants me dead almost as much as I want to kill him."

Rachel says "Well, then that should at least mean we aren't enemies?"

Emelia says "No, he saved us, we can be friends! Silveria likes him too!"

"Emmy, who should I save next?"

Emelia says "Um, Justin!"

"Heh, alright. His reaction should be interesting."

As I move towards Justin, Emmy quickly moves to his side and after a second Rachel moves to his other side. When I free Justin, Emmy and Rachel catch him but he regains his footing fairly fast. Yet when he sees me, he jumps so bad he almost knocks both of them over.

Justin says "You!!"

"Yes, me."

Justin says "What's going on? Why are you here?"

"I am here to save Silveria at her mother's request."

Emelia says "You met Mother Wolf?"

"Yes, she summoned me to her forest and asked me to come save her daughter."

Emelia says "Wait, she summoned you?"

"Well, she sent brother raven to fetch me, he's waiting outside in case I need help."

Justin says "Why would you be treated differently than us? We didn't even get to meet them."

"Probably because I am not human, I guess."

Rachel says "Forget that for a minute. Can you free our other two friends?"

"I can free one more, maybe both. I'm not sure how much is left in the wand."

Emelia says "Free Koko next."

Rachel says "Why not Giles?"

Emelia says "Because Koko is more useful if we have to carry Giles out of here and find someone to free him."

"Emmy said you were a priest, can you remove petrification?"

Rachel says "Actually I am a cleric not a priest, and no, I'm not strong enough to remove petrification."

"Which deity do you serve?"

Rachel says "None, I don't believe in gods."

"Haha! Would you like to meet two?"

Rachel says "Huh?"

"Nevermind we can talk about it later. For now I will free Koko and if the wand survives I will free Giles."

Emelia says "Okay!"

Emelia and Rachel take position on either side of Koko and then I touch her with the wand. Unlike the others she doesn't fall down, she finds her feet instantly upon being freed. Before I or anyone can move she has drawn and thrown two daggers which stick in the armor over my chest with a thud.

Emelia says "Koko! No! He isn't an enemy!"

Luckily the daggers did no damage, they may have pierced my armor but not my skin. Her reaction speed is truly impressive though, I would say she is the most dangerous hero I have seen so far. Her aura is also the strongest I have seen, and while it isn't completely pure it is enough to reassure me that she is a good person.

Koko says "Door?"

The others look confused and look around for a minute before they notice the door Koko is talking about. To think she is the only one who noticed the door has been opened. She must have gone through some form of training even before being summoned.

Justin says "Wait, that wasn't open before. We couldn't find a way to open it."

Emelia says "It looks like it was ripped from the wall, frame and all!"

"Ah, actually I opened it. I was looking to see if there was anything in here that could free all of you."

Rachel says "So you found that wand? Lucky!"

"No, I didn't find anything to help in here. I ended up asking the goddesses for help. Krenocia gave me the wand."

Justin says "You talk to gods?!"