Ch 23- Beast- People

After the past two exhausting weeks, Glacé decided to slow down his journey towards Lesha and leisurely strolled along on his way.

"Hey Bai! There's a small village that should be somewhere in this area! What do you say we stop by and sleep in an Inn for a night?". Glacè stared down at the map with shining eyes 'just one night, no dwarves or pestering busybodies. Maybe I can take a long bath and eat some good food'. The more Glacé daydreamed the bigger the grin on his face got.

"It's up to you, you're the one leading us and we will follow your choices". Bai gave a humble reply but the excited look in his eyes completely betrayed and revealed his inner feelings and desire.

"Then it's decided! Let's pick up the pace! Hold on tight!". Glacè used the skill 'Haste' and left an afterimage as he darted his way down a dirt path to a small village called Zell.

*Ding* You have discovered 'Scorched ruins' your map has been updated

Glacé heard the notification before his eyes managed to fully take in the sight ahead. 'Ruins?'. He ran even faster and soon the whole situation was laid bare before their party.

Before them stood a mid-sized village, that was still radiating heat and smoke. The flames had long gone out it seems; however the embers still burned in some areas. Glacé froze like a statue at the sad sight before him and ran through the village frantically.

"IS THERE ANYONE HERE?!"

"IF YOU CAN HEAR ME PLEASE SHOUT!".

Glacè ran all over; shouting like a mad man.

'It's still smoking, this has to be recent occurrence' Glacès eyes brows furrowed as he kept searching the surroundings.

'But why would the map call it a Ruin? Obviously, this is recent, as long as people are still here they can repair and rebuild'. Glacé followed the main raid through the village going into various simple houses and buildings as he went along.

'There's hardly any corpses… did the people here leave? Or maybe taken as slaves?'.

Glacè felt suffocated as he searched, at first he hope there'd be some clue; whether items, people, or bodies. But he found nothing he made it so the edge of the village and sat on a large rock and held his head in his hands.

"Just what happened here?". He sat dejectedly for a bit and then he heard a small voice.

"A-are y-you a bad guyy too?".

Glacé whipped his head around and saw a small, dirty-looking child poking his head out from behind a tree. He could detect the child's vigilance toward him and spoke softly "no, I'm a traveler who hoped to stop here to rest. But I saw the village like this, do you perhaps know what happened here?". Glacè thought he saw the child visibly heave a sigh of relief. "C-can you ffollow me? It's not safe to talk here".

Glacé look at Bai and Tera who both nodded their heads and he left to follow behind the child. The child moved especially fast, even Glacè felt a bit surprised; very quickly the child led Glacè to the entrance of a cave.

"Alright! Let's head inside, we should be safe there".

Glacé stared at the child and noticed his eyes darting around. He also noticed he was fidgeting his hands. 'He seems really nervous… is it because his village was attacked?'.

Without much other thought, Glacé walked into the cave, however the next moment Bai jumped before Glacé with bristled fur.

"Bai? What's wrong?".

Glacé looked blankly at the puffed-up ball of white hair; as he looked back up and soon realized why he reacted like that. His pupils dilated instantly and he quickly took two steps back.

"Shield!" A barrier appeared before Glacè, Bai, and the young child as he watched a group of wolves charge at the barrier. Glacè turned his head back to the kid "it's not safe here, we should leave".

Glacè reached for his hand and turned to run but felt a burning sensation hit his back. He turned around and saw the child was gone and instead another wolf stood behind him, bearing bloodied claws. It took a few seconds for Glacè to process the situation.

"You… you're a beast person?". Glacé stared at the silver wolf and raised his head back to the mass behind the shield. The longer he looked the more he realized something was wrong. It wasn't just wolves, there were also bears, cats, dogs, reptiles, and other kinds of small animals filling the cave. Glacé suddenly understood the entirety of the situation and looked over gently at the young wolf-person.

"I see… your village. Was it a hidden beast-people village? If it was known my map would have shown it, and since you guys are a wanted race and normally targeted for slavery it makes sense to hide to protect yourselves". Glacè crouched down on one knee before the wolf and slowly reached a hand out toward the young wolf.

"I promise I didn't come to harm you, in fact, I myself am very similar to you all. I know it may be asking a lot, but can you tell me what happened here?". Glacé stared at the wolf with earnest eyes, the young wolf stared warily and bared his fangs to Glacès approaching hand. The wolf was lightly shaking but still managed to pounce and ended up biting into Glacès arm. Glacé winced in pain but tried to maintain a strained smile. He continued to reach his other hand forward and softly caressed the wolf's mane; while fuming internally.

'Who could wipe out a whole village of beast people like this?! Now there are so many orphans left behind. What should I do?". Glacé barely exhaled an almost inaudible sigh 'what can I do to help?'. Glacé felt somewhat overwhelmed; however, he knew he couldn't leave them be.

Glacè spoke softly as he continued stroking the wolf. "I know you're probably scared, you all are orphans who have been left alone. I know you don't trust me, but I can prove to you I'm on your side, if you just back away and give me a chance". As the child listened to Glacès words his mouth bit down even harder.

*Crack*

'Well, there goes my left arm'. The child manages to completely break Glacès arm. Although Glacé was cursing in pain internally as he broke out in a cold sweat; trying to forbear the pain. Glacé tried to keep everything in and remain composed and coax the child. "Just let go for a second, I will show you what I am. I am not a human by any means, and I will stand by your side and help you all through this. I promise".

The child's ears flattened and shook, seeming to waver. He slowly released Glacès arm and in that instant Glacè changed back to a winged unicorn before them. 'I swear I just heard these beast people "ooh" and "ahh" even as animals. He he'. Glacé could feel the tension easing as the children became curious and relaxed towards himself.

'The longer I stay in this game the longer I get used to it I guess. Although I may not completely like my race, it's actually very good. Many people like me, but not in a physical sort of way. It's almost as if they see me as a God'.

As Glacè took in the worship and admiration in these people's eyes, he felt that maybe his race actually was a super powerful and manly existence. 'After all when people think of Gods don't they typically think of robust, strong men first?'. Glacès ego felt inflated and he looked at the children even more kindly than before.

"As you all can see; I'm really not a human but a divine creature. I won't say I'm the strongest or the most reliable, but I do want to save and help you all. However in order to help I need to know the situation. So can you please explain; what happened to your village?".

Glacè lowered the barrier and stared at the various animals in the cave. One by one the animals started to shift into human form, as he watched: Glacè noticed that it was not just children. He saw elderly and even some injured adults in the cave. 'There must be around 300 people In here'. Glacè stared at them blankly and then stomped his hooves. 'Fuck! 300 people! It's not like they can stay here or go back to their village. I need to find them a safe place. But where the hell can I put 300 beast people where they won't be easily discovered?!'

Glacè felt a headache as he worried about these people, he had every intention to see things through. He wanted to see these people free and spirited as they should be, he gave a heavy sigh and looked back up, upon receiving no response he spoke again.

"Who is the leader here?".

"That would be me". At the forefront of the group, propping himself up against the cave wall for support was a heavily injured young man. He reached out a hand in Glacès direction and spoke up as powerfully as he could with his very broken body.

"I am Tal, I was the village head's youngest son before the attack. I was put in charge of leading those who couldn't protect themselves to this cave; which is our emergency hiding spot. I am a lion beast-person, and was the successor to the hidden beast-person village called Zell". Tak gave a weak smile "I never thought I'd ever in my life get the privilege of meeting your kind". Tal tried to lower himself to the floor to bow but slightly stumbled on his way down.

"Tal!" Several children moved to help support the injured man. "It is truly an honor to meet you, unicorn. I believe in your words, but unfortunately, there is nothing we can offer you in return. We are nothing but a target; we have nowhere we can go and there are many of us. Are you sure you wish to intervene and help us?".

Tal raised his head and stared at Glacé; his tone was coarse but his eyes were shining as he looked at Glacè.

Glacè changed back to human form and slowly walked before him; he gazed down at Tal intently. 'Ahhhhh look at that body! Now that's a man!' Glacè felt envious; Tal was evenly tanned, his skin was a beautiful honey color and his muscles were ripped. Glacè could even make out his phenomenal pectorals from his v-cut white shirt. He had short black hair and eyes are as dark as obsidian.

'Hahhh, how envious. Why can't I be a man like this'. Glacés eyes roamed over Tal's whole body for a couple minutes; Tal who had fixed his eyes on Glacè this whole time felt uneasy, especially after Glacé shifted back. In the dim lighting of the cave he didn't realize before; however, with Glacè directly before him he could see properly.

"You're so beautiful" Tal blurted out bluntly without thinking. The next moment Tals face flushed bright red and he averted his eyes away and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, unicorn". Tal dared not look at Glacè again, fearing he may say something even more stupid.

Glacé stood frozen and felt the heat within rising 'this bastard! Just another fool who only cares about looks!'. He was pissed again, he looked down and saw Tal's shy appearance and avoidance and was stunned. 'Why is such a big man blushing like a fair maiden?'.

'...…..'

Glacè chuckled 'it doesn't suit him haha'. He stared at Tal ardently 'well he seems like a pretty good guy, and to be fair I'm looking at him for his looks too'. Glacè nodded his head and justified both Tal and his actions as nothing unusual. 'Just difference of preferences in body type, right?'. Glacé felt satisfied and continued to talk to Tal.

"So… what happened to your village?".

Tal stared at Glacè and slowly opened his mouth to tell their unfortunate tale.