Operation: Trident Pt. II
A perpetual chorus of grows had been let loose as a group of former Imperials came back to mock him and those left of his pack, no doubt also trying another futile attempt to grab one of the woman they were guarding. He stood as at his full height and bared his teeth as one of them tried to open their cell, somehow finding the courage to put his hand on the cell bars. The depravity of the human before him made him sick to his stomach, his eyes didn't betray the ever-present lust within his eyes for the human females that were thrown in with them. A bitter thought of how the Empire boasts of honor crossed his mind as these men were far from it, controlled by their deepest desires like animals. Ironic since he was a Volralden, something the fools would only consider to be nothing greater than a mindless beast.
"Filthy demi-human trash! If you'd stop getting in our way from having some pleasure, the lot of you wouldn't have been grazed by our spears." The Imperial taunted as the other four soldiers with him lunged slightly with their spears, purposely missing their captives as they all began to laugh.
"Morro is my name, Imperial, and you best remember it when I rip your throat out with my bare claws!" Morro snapped as the spears settled back into position, the jailer feigning fear as he pulled out the key from the lock.
"My, what a frightening thought!" He mocked as he stepped away from the cell, taking a large swig of his ale before throwing what was left at Morro. "I'd be wetting my undergarments if it weren't for the fact that we were the ones that corralled your pack and imprisoned you!"
Laughter boomed around the room from his captors while the remainder of his pack stood up in defiance, snarling at the humans that dared to mock their leader. Whimpers began to ring from behind him, but he paid little mind as he glared down at the human who continued to laugh at him before leaving. Morro gripped the cell bars tightly, finding it vexing that this cage was all that stood between him and a righteous kill. He hated being trapped in this forsaken cage, his pack's weapons and gear stripped from them and if it weren't for their natural weapons then the females of his pack would have been taken away as well. It angered him how they were captured, but most of it was internally placed as it was because of his decisions that this happened to them in the first place.
"Morro, we need to escape soon! We can't keep this up for long."
"I know, Gantis! The problem is that we don't have the numbers to fight off all of them above ground. Not to mention the rest of the humans stuck in here with us." Morro said as he turned to face the rest of his cellmates; humans of both sexes along with their cubs and the other four of his pack mates.
"Leave them, they'd only slow us down. Even you have got to agree to that." Gantis said and Morro had to mentally agree that the thought had crossed his mind, but as an Alpha, he had a duty to protect those too weak to do it themselves. Even if they weren't of his pack, let alone his species.
"If only they hadn't arrived a few days later than of us, then I'd have already planned out our escape a while ago. Not to mention the fact that Nalani has grown attached to one of the males and wouldn't want to leave him behind." Morro took a glance at Nalani as she tried her best to lay down the charm on the human that caught her eye.
"Then we bring him too if we must! It's not our fault the human had some sense of chivalry to protect her from the Imperial's spears when she was protecting the lot of them." Gantis wanted to escape soon since he couldn't shake this dreadful feeling from his self, a foreboding one that meant he had to keep survival his top priority.
"I need time to think, for now you need to keep your guard up." Morro ordered as Gantis followed through without question, even if his face exposed his worry of their situation.
Left to his thoughts again, Morro looked back at how they ended up at their current lot in life, holding back personal curses to himself for thinking it was a good idea to go on a bounty quest for a lord in search of his son. The mention of a battlefield meant that anyone lingering would pose a threat and the amount of bodies that would no doubt be littered around would take time to get through. The Volralden had initially thought of only bringing five on this job, but decided that the larger the pack the more could get done with the possibility of a higher pay out. He remembered how boisterous they were when they set off, only stopping at a handful of villages to rest and picking tales of how dangerous the Artisian Valley had become in recent time. There was also talk of a new royal newcomer to their part of the world which some of his pack thought would be a good investment to get some jobs lined up with him, since every royal needs at least a band of mercenaries on hand. For the most part, they didn't need to pass by the valley, but it did prove problematic as it meant they had to venture near Italica to avoid what had made the valley its home. That's when things went downhill for them.
A small band of bandits had attacked them while they were traversing the roadway through the forest to save some time on Morro's order. The attack was not costly on their behalf and the bandits laid dead before them, but it turned out that the arrows that had been fired in the melee had killed their horses. They ended up having to continue on foot and off the roadway to avoid another ambush, but this proved to be another mistake as they unknowingly stumbled upon a goblin encampment. Killing the little bastards proved to be more of a job than what Morro had thought as their disregard for their own lives meant that they didn't stop for anything until one of them was dead. Morro and his pack managed to destroy the encampment, but it costed them a majority of their healing salves and elixirs since they didn't emerge out of the fight unscathed.
From the direction they were headed, they would make it to Italica in three days and would need to spend what coin they all had on them to resupply. Morro had to accept the fact that it had been nothing but bad luck since they started and it only got worse when they were ambushed again by bandits. It was during the fighting that Morro learned that they were Imperials by the usage of their tactics, calling for a retreat when one of his pack mates was disarmed and his paw landed beside him. They moved swiftly through the forest, but archers had been set up as three more of his pack were shot down with arrows protruding from their backs and heads. Morro decided that it was better for them to disperse in order to confuse their enemy, but he watched as two more of his pack were pierced by spears and their blood splattered onto the forest floor.
No matter how much he tried, Morro inevitably found himself captured by the Imperials along with what was left of his pack. He couldn't understand how the Imperials could have mastered such tactics with their rigid code of military strategy until he bore witness to the actual number of Imperials they attempted to escape from. They were led to an outpost where their weapons and gear had been confiscated, the leering looks of lust evident on most of the Imperials as they eyed the females in his pack. Morro could only guess that the bastards had gone weeks without the touch of woman, so their prejudice for demi-humans had been outweighed for the need of sexual release.
A brave one of his pack, Canis, stood defiant and retaliated when they tried to separate the females from the rest of the group and no doubt rape them before their eyes. Canis fought tooth and claw against the Imperials, killing a handful as he was stabbed, shot and cut by any that tried to fight him. His blood lust powered him through the pain and his primal instincts guided him to the bitter end as he ripped the throat out of a commanding officer that wanted to deal the final blow.
When everything settled, another commanding Imperial wised up and thought it best to leave them as is, the occasional tidbit of slave markets going about as they took them underground and into their current cell. Morro had to admit that he had formulated a plan to escape with his pack a few days after their capture, but when they began hauling humans in did it seem to fall apart as the females were thrown in first, followed by the human cubs and lastly the males. It had surprised him to see that the females weren't taken away to be used as pleasure tools when they arrived, but a tinge of anger shadowed his curiosity as the Imperials manhandled the cubs. Of course, once the humans had taken notice of them, they became very cautious of sharing the cell. The males all stood before the females and cubs to protect them, though it was pretty much a fruitless endeavor. Morro had to give them credit for their bravery, although misplaced it had been since none of his pack were bound to bother the group of humans if need be. The exception being Nalani who had a habit of teasing those weaker than her, which she always thought about humans even when they were at times larger than her.
When the Imperials came around to take the females for the first time, they were intent on taking the human ones this time and were met with the resistance of the males. Creating a wall of them, the human males stood tall and wouldn't falter even at the threat of a spear. This continued on a few times over the course of days until what was assumed to be nightfall had come and the Imperials had done their best to sneak in discreetly. Three had entered and reached for a human cub hostage through the bars in order to have the human males surrender four females to them or else the young one would die. It was easily seen that their spirit waned at the idea of having one so young be killed right before them, but the anguish four others would suffer troubled them as well since that torment would continue even after the deed was done. Morro had advised the pack to let the humans settle their qualms on their own as it had nothing to do with them, but it was Comi who had other thoughts on the matter.
She managed to sneak herself over and with great speed did she twist the Imperial's hand, freeing the cub and smirking triumphantly as the coward cried out in pain. Morro had questioned her about her actions and Comi merely replied that they were prisoners together. Though Morro could make the argument that maternal instinct kicked in as Comi had a soft spot for cubs, even if she was a daring mercenary. Thanks to that, the rest of the pack was involved in defending them as well and in time Nalani's teasing and taunts got to an Imperial as Morro could see the rage bubbling in his eyes. When she wasn't looking, the spear wielder quickly came as close to the bars as he could and he thrust his weapon at her with all his strength. That's when her favorite human had come to her aid and pushed her away from the deadly strike, though he wasn't as fortunate as the spear managed to strike him in the abdomen.
Nalani threw a mound's worth of insults to the Imperial for being a coward for attacking her from behind, then more words to the wounded human although those were halfhearted as she tried to stop the bleeding. It took some time, but they had managed to subdue the wound long enough for the human to, what Morro assumed, spell cast as a turquoise light enveloped both his hands as he placed them over his wound. More time had passed until he lowered his hands and removed the cloth that was acting as a clot revealing a blood covered scar underneath. Nalani offered to lick his wound in appreciation for what he had done for her, but Comi suggested otherwise due to inter-species customs and decided to do it their way of using a cloth. Since then, Nalani has been trying her best to seduce the human with anything that she deemed useful from the past times other Volralden males wanted to mate with her, not once asking Comi for suggestions or Alis, the last female Volralden of his pack. The alpha could only be puzzled that it only took an act of chivalry to win Nalani over instead of the usual bravado other Volralden males tried to impress her with.
Overall, Morro had an interest in the human as well since he was a healer, which were valuable assets in numerous operations the Imperials had use for them. It puzzled him to find one captive with them instead of conscripted into the military, adding to the fact that he almost sacrificed his life for a demi-human. Something that is at times rare amongst those who are ruled by the Empire.
The Volralden alpha had come out of his memories to see the cowardly fools return to mock them. Comi made her way to the human cubs, many willingly hiding behind her as she approached as Alis stood with the human females. Males of both species stepped forward to shield all of them, including Nalani who stood beside her favorite human as the Imperials all sneered at their meager defense. Nothing would please Morro more than to rip out their throats one after the other, but he knew he had to bide his time for the right moment to strike. Especially if he wanted to grab the keys that would release them from their cage.
The Imperial that insulted him drew close, but the keys were no longer dangling from his hip so Morro couldn't really do anything as he spat at their feet. Growls filled the room after the Imperial's actions and Morro could see Gantis barring his teeth at them. He was about to tell him to relax until his hearing began to pick up a strange sound. Morro was not alone as the rest of his pack's ears all began to twitch at the sound that began to pick up volume as it drew closer. It was strange to them as it sounded almost like rolling thunder getting ready to pass over them, but none of the Imperials seemed to be wet from the outside so it couldn't be the weather.
The leading Imperial was about to question them about what was going on with their ears until the very ground around them began to shake uncontrollably. It rocked for a few seconds all around them, the sounds of something pelting the surface were powerful and the earth continued to shake with each one. It stopped after a few seconds of powerful explosions and shaking as the rolling thunder passed overhead, everyone within the cell room was bewildered by what happened until the same sound was coming back again. In an instant the explosions and the ground shaking happened once again, the Imperials screaming for their lives as the world was coming to an end and Morro gritted his teeth at the idea that the world was ending while he was stuck in a cell.
The lead Imperial ordered two others to stay behind and watch them as he and the rest scrambled for the surface, the rolling thunder finally passing and Morro could tell that it wasn't coming back again. Everyone waited with bated breath to find out what in the gods' names was happening on the surface, though the pack had to try their best not to gag at the smell of urine now that the Imperials had wet themselves. It wasn't long before the faint sounds of screams were being heard, a commotion of men screaming battle cries and blades clanging together echoed down into the lower chambers underground. Morro watched the staircase that the Imperials fled up to and kept his ears trained for whatever was causing the commotion on the surface and if it was coming down after them.
The sounds of a struggle continued, blades slashing at the air went on for a few seconds before the thud of bodies hitting the floor echoed down the cells. The pair of Imperials left behind quaked in their boots with fear at what waited for them up the stairs, but they would never get the chance to find out.
Morro could've sworn he had seen a shadow move for the briefest of moments in his peripheral vision as he tried to follow the movement. He scanned the room as hard as he could for any irregularities until he caught sight of one of the Imperial's own shadow growing unnaturally long right behind him. He watched as it stretched a bit more before a shadow blade pierced him through the chest, the soldier crying out in agony as the blade sunk deeper into his back and out his chest. Morro couldn't believe that someone had been killed by their own shadow, it was as if demons had made their move and attacked the mortal plane. Like the rest of his pack, he too was about to panic at the idea of the shadow creature coming for them while they were trapped like rats, watching as it pounced onto the other Imperial and killing him just as quick.
The shadow remained, as if examining the room for something before it began to ripple like water at the center and slowly a tuft of dark hair emerged. Morro watched in cautious fascination as a young and scarred human male rose from the shadow, flicking his hand of some blood as he checked the room once again. He took one look at the cell and something in Morro froze in a primal fear as his eyes scanned over him, it was if he made eye contact with a much greater predator than he in that instant and willed himself not to squirm underneath the young male's gaze. He finally showed emotion in the form of relief as his eyes landed upon the other humans within the cell, communicating with them in a strange tongue the Volralden was unfamiliar with. It was all too strange for Morro as this young male came from the shadows themselves and just as he appeared from thin air, he disappeared once again into the shadows after talking to the other humans. He watched as the other humans begin to relax immensely and some even start to cry after his departure which Morro deduced to mean that they had been rescued in some way, which he was justly answered as a group of humans wearing similar outfits spread throughout the room.
One got to work fast on the cell's locks while others fanned out around the room and began searching for something, though Morro couldn't care enough to think what it would be. All he could think about was the fact that they were freed, but of course he couldn't get too ahead of himself as these humans still outnumbered the remainder of his pack and could be just as deadly as the young male was earlier with weird abilities. He watched as the newcomers in uniforms directed everyone to follow them until Morro and his pack were the last within the cell, the lead liberator holding the door opened looking at them expectantly.
"We're here to rescue you, hurry and come with us! We're on the clock and every second counts!" The liberator said and Morro was just as surprised as his pack mates were when he spoke the common tongue just as simple as he spoke to the human captives.
Morro was about to take the first tentative steps out of the cage, but was beaten by Nalani who raced out of the cell and towards her favorite human. The alpha Volralden was surprised how fast the newcomers reacted to her sudden burst of speed, but relented their weapons at the sight of her clutching at her human's arm. They had translated her actions to that of affection somehow as they began to put away their weapons, of course Nalani's human also explained to them in their tongue.
"Why are you freeing us? Humans care little for demi-humans, unless they seem to be in the way of their true objective." Gantis was ever cautious when it came to humans as even Morro had heard the rumors about what happened to the Warrior Bunnies, so he understood that they couldn't leave anything to chance.
"We know what they planned to do to you, something we couldn't abide by. We are nothing like these people, follow us and we can show you how." The liberator said as he made his way after the group of human captives, instructing his people to different flanks as they placed their pups in the center.
"Quickly grab any weapon lying about, we'll follow them to the surface and fight our way out of this outpost." Morro ordered as his pack split up to find any available weapons, Gantis picking up a spare to give Nalani since she was still beside her human.
Morro had the belief that the liberators would be cautious and draw their weapons on them as they were arming themselves, but didn't make an attempt of retaliating. Then it clicked in his mind that since they understood the common tongue, they knew that they'd fight alongside them for their freedom. The Volralden let his thoughts wander off as he picked up a hefty long sword, displeased with its dulling blade and off-balance hilt as well as the fact that it was far older than what was the standard Imperial blade. He cursed the bastards for taking away his trusty blade and vowed to find it, wherever it was.
"Morro, what do you think awaits us on the surface?" Comi asked as they climbed the staircase after the humans, the uniformed ones lagging behind them and the sound of battle growing louder.
"Judging by the size of the rescue party, it's most likely a band of rebel guerrilla fighters. They're causing as much mayhem outside the walls in order to secretly infiltrate the outpost, rescue everyone and escape just as nimbly." Morro had deduced these tactics as it was something his band would've done in its original size if the job called for it.
"There are too many prisoners, it would be impossible to move this many without attracting attention. Even if they attacked the walls with full force." Comi countered as their numbers were well into the double digits and they had cubs in their midst to boot.
"They probably have a plan to get this many out, that human with strange abilities didn't seem phased by the number of human captives he found." Morro was willing to bet that was the case, but he still had doubts on how they could all successfully escape with the lowest number of casualties.
As they passed by rooms, the Volraldens witnessed the amount of dead that were left behind and how their lifeless bodies left them feeling satisfied that someone was managing to avenge their fallen. Morro had to give them credit for being effective killers and would've liked to see them in action, but his freedom awaited him just beyond the door everyone was stopped in front of. Battle rung in his ears and his grip on his weapon tightened as he prepared for action, watching as the lead liberator pull up an object from his pouch. Morro had no idea what it was until the visage of a beautiful woman emerged in a blue light, she spoke a few words with the man before disappearing once again. The alpha Volralden had theorized that she was the boss of this band of rebels, but a part of him wished to know what made her special to be at the top. Before his thoughts could go any further, the liberators began shifting around the group of prisoners as the pups, wounded and women were moved to the front.
Although healed to a degree, Nalani's human was still considered one of the wounded and was pushed to the forefront. It was likely that they would be extracted first before the more able bodied, but it took both Gantis and Comi to hold her back as the liberators moved him. Morro was just as surprised to see him show minute signs of remorse at leaving her side, but it was hidden away as he was pushed out the door with the others. The ground quaked a number of times as the door to the outside opened when a new batch were taken out, which continued until only a few human prisoners, Morro and his pack mates were the last ones left. The lead liberator waited for a few seconds for a rhythmic knock to sound as he ordered everyone to move out and head towards what he called a "breach".
"This is it, follow the rest of my team to safety and we'll get you out of here in one piece. I suggest that you don't stop for anything since we're working as fast as we can." The lead liberator said to Morro and the alpha nodded his head in agreement, though a part of him thirsted for Imperial blood.
"We'll follow behind the rest of you humans; we shall defend your backs." Morro would rather not be indebted to humans, so protecting their lives would be a suitable payment for them.
"Alright, do your best to keep up." Morro smirked to himself as this human must not be familiar with how fast Volraldens naturally are.
The lead liberator said something to the rest of the humans before pushing past the door and leading the humans away from the battle. Morro and his pack tightened their grips on their weapons and followed right after the last human captive to exit, the last two liberators at their side. Morro had expected some level of chaos as per the standard of guerrilla fighters, but what he saw was way beyond anything he could have imagined. The very understanding of war he had, which he's been hired to participate in a number of them in the past, was thrown away by what he was witnessing.
Morro was met with streams of blue light flashing across the air in bursts of three that took down an Imperial with little effort, but it was the sheer number that drew him back as arrows couldn't dare to compete. Around him were soldiers armed with swords and shields, but their tenacity and free form caught his interest. They each were deadly with their skills in close combat as a solo fighter, but they all understood teamwork to a point that they were a force to be reckoned with when grouped up. Point proven when three of them took out a large squad's worth of Imperials on their own. What really ended up captivating his attention the most was the two who stood at the center of all the chaos, the young male from earlier and the beautiful woman that the lead liberator spoke to. What those two could do was beyond the scope of anything Morro deemed a human being capable of accomplishing as the young male moved swiftly across the shadows to eliminate his enemies with ease. The woman seemed phased by little that happened around her as with a simple flick of her wrist or the point of a finger she would cause a mighty explosion leaving nothing behind in its wake.
Above that was the way the two humans could synchronize with each other so well; the woman would attack near the young male's blind spot to protect him and if she were distracted then some sort of shadowy tendril would shoot forth from her own shadow to protect her. It was one thing to lead the battle and hold your own, it was something completely different to control the battle like they did. They held no fear within them, they fought in tandem like a dance and never batted an eye to an opponent as if they weren't worth their time. He watched them for a few more seconds before he saw an Imperial run away into a storage room, it wouldn't have mattered to Morro if it weren't for the fact that he was clutching his trusty blade. Morro couldn't stand his sword being in the hands of a coward like that, if one wields the blade then one must be willing to die with the blade in hand.
Against better judgement and instructions, Morro sprinted across the battlefield as he cut down any Imperial getting in his way and making sure to kill the ones that had the blood of his pack mates on their hands. The alpha Volralden had gone through eight Imperials before the streams of blue light began to fire overhead, cutting down his enemies before they could reach him. He didn't care to turn around and see why they began to help him, so he continued his charge for the storage room. Kicking the door down with great force, it splinted and littered the floor before him as Morro used his keen sense of smell to find out where his prey was hiding.
"Thought you could escape your fate so easily, coward!" Morro challenged as he knocked over objects in his way. "That blade you wield is not yours and no coward shall dare wield it while I still draw breath!"
The scurry of movement drew his attention as it made for a staircase at the end of the room, but Morro was naturally faster as he lifted a nearby chair and threw it. The wooden seat soared for a few seconds before crashing into a body that was only four steps up the stairs before falling onto the floor. The Volralden heard his prey struggle to get back onto his feet before he got himself into a rigid sword stance.
"I wanted fame, I wanted glory and all I got was nightmares and a broken army with not enough bodies to fill it! Those things outside are monsters bent on ruling this world, but you are demi-human trash and if this is my last night alive, then I'm making sure to cleanse this world of one less piece of filth before my end!"
The figure finally stood into the candlelight and Morro could tell it was foreign general, no doubt coming from a land that was forced to ally with the Empire. His bleak expression told the Volralden that he has given up hope and was prepared to die, but Morro wouldn't give him an honorable death. Such things were reserved for those ready to die on their feet and not cower in fear, for those who could live by honor instead of shedding it to become the scum of the world.
The fallen general charged at Morro, blade coming up for a horizontal slash that was far too easy to read and just as sloppy. Morro blocked it with ease as the general was fighting a desperate battle now, where he'd either die at the paws of "filth" or be eradicated by the monsters just outside the building around them. The human was staggered for the briefest moments before coming back with an upward slash, leaving the alpha to back pedal a step since he didn't have the time to block. A simple twist of his wrist allowed the fallen general to swing another horizontal slash, but Morro was prepared as their blades clashed although he cursed the fact that his weapon wouldn't hold up against his own sword.
Morro's superior strength allowed him to hold and overpower the general in their stalemate, but it came at the cost of applying too much pressure on his aged sword. It began to feel like the blade would somehow dislodge itself from the hilt, but he had to push forward as he exchanged blade strikes. He found his opening as the fallen general set himself up for a wide swing which the Volralden capitalized on by parrying the strike, knocking him off balance and kicking him in the stomach with his back leg.
The strike had enough force to knock the general back a few feet and had also caused him to drop Morro's sword where he last stood. The alpha was pleased to be reunited with his sword and firmly gripped it in his paw as the human got to his knees, his expression that of a broken man filled with hatred.
"You won; it sickens me to know that I lost to such filth but this is the outcome. Go ahead, end it. Just know it won't bring back the rest of your pack, the filth died like the dogs they were and I at least fought to the end while they ran with their tails between their legs." The general sneered, trying his absolute best to anger Morro and the Volralden feared the fact that he was succeeding. "Thanks to you, I helped to rid this world of your worthless band of flee ridden scum, just a shame that these fools I was stuck to lead didn't get the chance to reduce what remained into heat driven bitches."
Morro's anger exploded as he lifted his blade into the air, ready to cleave the brazen human's head off his shoulders. He made it so easy, made it acceptable to take the pathetic human's life, but it took every fiber of will in his body to lower his blade. He was justified in ending the bastard's stay in the mortal plane though the general would have the last laugh in the end.
"I won't kill you, a hypocrite like yourself doesn't deserve to have an honorable death at the hands of the opponent that bested you." Morro felt an inner rage at the fact that the human played him in the end; he couldn't kill him since it's what he wants and his need for revenge couldn't justify the mistakes that lead to the end of many of his pack mates.
"He's right, you don't have the right to honor." A voice in the dark said as a black tendril shot forth and struck the general in the chest, coughing up blood as his eyes widen at the sudden attack. "Marauding scum like you can never hope for such a luxury."
The tendril retracted out of the general as he began to convulse before finally going limp and Morro was left to look at the blankness of the dark room as a figure sprang from the ground. He watched as it took shape and was met once again by the scarred young male from earlier, his expression still neutral but there was a hint of silent anger hidden within his eyes.
"You were told to stay with the group no matter what and because of you, the carrier had been delayed. Be glad this little incursion of yours only lasted for a handful of minutes." The young male said with controlled speech, even if anger seeped through his words. "Get back to the carrier immediately, if more prisoners hadn't been discovered then it would have surely left you behind."
Morro nodded his head in understanding as he quickly made his way right back out onto the battlefield, turning to see if the young male would follow after but had already disappeared. His body shuttered now that he was out of sight, some part of him unable to shake the predatory feeling from the young male. The alpha did his best to put it behind him and ran towards a gaping hole that was made in a defensive wall, one of the liberators waving him down to his location. He crossed over fallen bodies of Imperials and did his best not to make himself out like an enemy, though he was positive that the rebel force saw him as an ally. He crossed the battlefield in great time and as he managed to get to the breach, he was met with the last of his pack waiting for him in front of an iron carriage. He assumed that that was their mode of escaping the outpost, but the problem he saw in all this was where were the horses that'll move the thing.
"Where are all the horses?" Morro couldn't help but ask, but was met with a short chuckle from behind him.
"Horses? You won't need horses with how you're leaving." The lead liberator said as he urged Morro and his pack towards the opening of the iron carriage. "Now hurry up and get aboard, you're leaving this place!"
They climbed aboard with the rest of the humans, Nalani already standing next to her human as the metal doors began to close and just as they did, did they begin to feel themselves rise. The iron carriage shook a bit as it lifted itself off the ground and Morro would never admit that he was just as scared as the females of his pack once he noticed that they were above the tree line. His initial fear that he was actually flying fizzled out very slowly as it replaced itself with imaginative wonder at the fact that he was flying through the air like the birds. He looked out and saw that the iron carriage they were in wasn't the only one as four others joined them, followed by three smaller ones. Morro was beyond himself with the idea that these rebels had found a way to overcome the Empire with the tools they had on hand. Feeling glad that they were reasonable people who didn't mind allying themselves with demi-humans, having the side thought of possibly working out a contract with whoever the woman in charge of them was.
"Where are you taking us?" Gantis asked aloud, wondering if any of these rebels would answer him, but none did so he decided for the direct approach.
He asked one more time to a man working on a long metallic device with two others, catching him as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The man had been surprised by Gantis' suddenness, which Morro could understand, but it didn't take long before the man settled and had surprisingly answered him in a friendly tone.
"We're headed back to our base, don't worry about anything. We'll provide any necessary items you'll need once we land and get you documented." The man replied as he went back to helping the other two repair the metallic object that began to glow blue with power.
"Why must we be documented?" Gantis was a curious one, so his questions were more or less expected of him when it came to a new environment. Something Morro was glad for this time around.
"You're being taken in as refugees, that's why. That's as much as I can tell you, you'll get to know more once we make it back to base." The man replied and Gantis had to accept it as it was, Morro being grateful for knowing what fate awaited them.
"Refugees in our own land!? How could that be possible!?" Gantis said lowly to Morro, already disliking the idea of having to be taken in by another nation on their own land.
"For now, let us see how this plays out. Be wary of what may occur, but don't be so outwardly hostile. We may find benefit here, something we need to find more of since it's just the five of us now."
"Fine, but stick close to us this time. The last thing the rest of us need is to lose our Alpha."
"Very well, we play nice and things can go our way for a change. I've got a good feeling about this. We can trust these people...for the time being." Morro still had his doubts mainly because of the scarred young male, but he thought better than to add onto Gantis' worries.
"Let's just hope you're right this time, I don't want to lose any more of my pack mates." Gantis said offhandedly, but even Morro had to agree with him that his poor decisions have costed them greatly.
"Me too...me too." Morro muttered to himself as he watched the tree line blur by and dawn breaking across the horizon.