Slave

Waking up, I could already tell it was late in the day. Despite that, my body was resistant to my command to move.

Knowing that sleeping would be very irresponsible, my will superseded temptation, getting me out of the bed.

As I freshened up in the bathroom, my rational side was complaining that my body did not get its deserved rest, while my emotional side wanted me to stay with Ela even longer.

Soon my hand was pushing aside the door to my room. Taking the time to stretch in the hallway, Ned's door opened as well.

Ned came out slouched, having difficulty opening his eyes, and immediately yawned as he left his room.

Finishing my stretch, I smiled at Ned.

"Looks like you slept pretty horribly like me."

Ned used his knuckle to rub his temple and furrowed his brows.

"Casting so many spells yesterday gave me a splitting headache that refuses to just go away."

Thinking back, Ned really did cast firebolt an egregious amount of times.

"Haha, how many times did you cast firebolt?"

Ned smiled bitterly with his hand on the back of his head.

"Too many times. Anyways, how are you holding up? Honestly, when I first started you casting I thought you were going to die or something. It makes me feel like what I did was child's play."

I waved away an imaginary fly.

"Everything still hurts a bit, but way better than I imagined I would feel like. If I had some talent my spellcasting process wouldn't be so dramatic."

Ned laughed while leaning back.

"Still, I don't think I would be able to endure whatever you were experiencing. I still get chills down my spine thinking about it."

I made my way towards the stairs.

"It was not nearly as bad as you might think, I was also casting a healing spell which greatly reduced the pain."

Forcing a laugh out of my mouth, my lips stiffened trying their best to not look guilty. As casual as the words that came out of my mouth, I had some lingering fear remembering the experience.

Ned let out a sigh of relief and trailed after me down the stairs.

"Ah, that is nice at least. Though it seems I need to work on my mental power or... willpower? I don't know, something like that. The aftereffects really are too much for me."

Keeping one hand on his temple, Ned glanced at me.

"Say where do you learn the healing spell and... whatever that other spell was?"

Right when I was about to relax, my anxiety shot through the roof.

"Uh... I had taken a glance at Alyx's book and in the heat of the moment, I learned how to cast it. I watched someone do the healing spell and I was able to learn it."

Ned's eyes widened and stopped rubbing his knuckle on his temple.

"Eh? You actually learned a spell just like that? That is pretty cool."

Ned's foot froze midair as he was about to put it down the next step.

"Who did you learn it from? Could you teach me?"

Holding my fist in front of my face, I coughed, hoping to hide my expression as much as I could.

"I... don't know who I learned it from. I could teach you, but I am unable to shape the spell outside of my body, so it may take a while."

Ned continued walking down the steps.

"Ah, alright, just forget it then."

Ned went off to cook while my lack of motivation told me to go to the dining room.

Rubbing my forehead as I walked into the dining room, my eyes immediately met with Ela's.

"Oh, you're already here?"

Wait, she stayed up later than me, how is she not tired? Ela hid her expression behind her fist and coughed.

"Yes, Alyx and Erin insisted they would prepare our meal so I am waiting here."

Although I couldn't see her expression, thinking of what I just did, my mind started to come up with possibilities of what she was hiding.

"Ah yeah..."

I took a seat that was close to the entrance. Ela kept her usual stern expression on her face, seemingly unwilling to talk.

My thoughts drifted, making worries fill my mind.

"Ela... will people have enough food?"

Ela rubbed two fingers on her forehead.

"Although the last five years in the winter will be problematic, there shouldn't be a problem for now. I am sure I will come up with a solution before then.

My breaths calmed from a panic I was unknowingly experiencing.

"That is good..."

Ned, Erin, and Alyx came with some food prepared. We ate it quickly, moved to the palace entrance and Ela taught us spells once again.

I suggested we learn some more basic spells since Ned, Erin, and could use any traditional element as well as any other element. Especially for Erin, I imagined it would be useful.

After teaching us the basic thunder and wind spell, then went to help Alyx in her spells.

In the meantime, the rest of us simply pondered the spells, memorizing and refreshing our memories of old ones. Ned was not in the best condition to cast spells, neither was I. As for Erin, she was fine. She didn't case her spells since she knew her spells may be a bit too strong to cast casually.

"Eh? Look over there!"

Erin suddenly jumped out of her seat, pointing towards the palace entrance. The rest of us stopped what we were doing and followed Erin's finger.

There was a little girl running towards the palace entrance, she was in ragged clothes and had many lash marks across her skin.

"Someone... help me..."

Those words made me dizzy and forced me to vividly recall the screams of the slaves. Gritting my teeth, I shook off the memories in my mind. Ela was the fastest of us to react and was briskly walking to the palace entrance.

The girl ended up tripping before she got close to the palace, falling face first in the snow. There was a young man that came into view, he was running towards the girl, with a whip in hand. He was similarly in ragged clothes and had a few small scars across his arms.

"Hahaha, I told you girl! There is no point in running."

The man's eyes bulged from their sockets and had an unnaturally wide grin on his face. He held his whip high in the sky and viscously swung it down. The girl started to weep.

There was a loud smack.

Ela's eyes were bloodshot, scales covered her body, wings grew from her back, and she possessed claws. She was holding onto the whip that was about to hit the girl.

The man fell back and used his hands and feet to start crawling backward. It seemed he didn't realize how far he had run out.

"Wait! There is no need to get all worked up over her. She is just a lowly slave!"

The man pointed towards the girl resolutely with a shaking finger, as if he was confident this excuse would work.

Squeezing sounds came from the whip Ela held.

"Be quiet."

The man shut his mouth and swallowed. Ela turned to the little girl and helped her stand up.

"What has happened dear? It's ok, you can tell me."

Ela gently brushed the girl's hair, it didn't seem to bother her that it was covered in filth and grime.

The girl hugged herself and started to sniffle.

"They... they took me from mama and papa. Papa tried to save me... they... they... killed papa!"

The girl started to cry profusely. The man clenched his jaw and pointed accusingly to the girl.

"Damn you, you're just a slave, how can-"

"BE QUIET."

Ela's fist was shaking.

"Little girl, do you know where your mother is?"

The girl nodded indecisively. Ela looked at the man.

"You are coming with us."

The man tried to form words but none would come out. Ela stood back up. loop

"Little girl, please take us to your home."

The little girl nodded and started to shuffle towards her home, looking behind her back occasionally. The rest of us followed. The man was following us with shifty steps. I got close to Ela and whispered to her.

"Why are we bringing him along?"

Ela hardly moved her lips.

"His purpose is to guide us to his association."

Nodding, my steps slowed, pulling away from Ela.

It took the girl a little bit of backtracking here and there, but it did not take long for her to find her house.

The girl quickly fell down, curled into a ball, and started to rock back and forth.

"No... No..."

The house was one story high. The roof was gone and other than part of one wall, the rest was torn down. There was a thin layer of snow over broken furniture.

Ela frowned and rubbed her forehead with two fingers

"...Could you all take her back to the palace and take care of her? I have further arrangements with this fellow."

Ned nodded while Alyx and Erin did not show any opposition, as for me...

"Could I come with you? I'm sure Mildred could help take care of her in my place."

Speaking of... where was Mildred? Ela shook her head.

"Mildred is taking care of an issue. If you wish to come with me... I suppose I can allow it."

While nodding my head, my lips were firmly shut so I didn't let out a sigh of relief.

With that, Ela picked up the man with one of her claws, pulling him up by the shirt, and Ned, Erin, and Alyx parted ways while guiding the child back to the palace. The man started sweating, even with how cold it was.

"Wh- What do you want from me?"

I was surprised the person's clothes hadn't torn from Ela's claws. Ela herself had a small frown.

"Take us to your association, and there will be no need for your limbs to go missing."

The man shook his head and pointed in a direction.

I guess we were going to the base of the slave traders.