Reincarnated as a Dark Elf

  Chapter 3

  Chapter title: Enslavement

  “Mom, Dad, I miss you both, I’ve been alone for a week with Genja” Grace thought as she woke from inside a tent that had once belonged to her now dead parents.

  The tent was a tall triangle shaped structure that looked as if it was made from green canvas.

  “I found this tent my first day alone” Grace thought “It’s a good sturdy tent that adventurers in this world use while on a quest or a dungeon crawl” she added in. “I wonder what it would be like to be a real adventurer in this world” she thought briefly.

  After waking up and feeding Genja her bottle of milk that came from the Magical Storage Space her parents gave her, Grace put the sleeping bag she’d been using through the blue magic circle she’d made with the help of her parents' wedding rings that helped as the catalyst for the Magical Storage Space. Then she put back all the books and journals from her parents back into the Magical Storage space too. She read them by candle light.

  Grace came out of the tent and searched for what she had intended to cook breakfast of monster meat and wild vegetables after starting a small fire. She had long since removed what might kill her thanks to the help of a book she had read. She had hunted the meat and scrounged the vegetables the other day.

  Grace’s thoughts roamed again “I know that I have a task from the Gods to stop the spirit of the Goddess of Death and save the Multi-verse from her machinations but c’mon I wanted to enjoy my second childhood a bit longer, When do you get a chance for a second childhood” she lamented.

  Grace sighed “Life just sucks at times” she lamented out loud. She began to frown “In my last life, I was used to being alone. It was easier to be like that. Being the odd one out in your own family is hard on you, more so than in society. I know there's an upside to that but to me those moments are few and far in between” Grace thought with images of her last life as a guy going through her head. “But right now this is torture, how much longer must I endure this” she thought.

  Then some large winged monster with feathers and a head of a flamingo made a diving attack on Grace as she cooked and held Genja. She was non–chalant and made no effort to defend herself. At the last minute a magic barrier activated stunning the monster and it came to the ground in a crash. Protective runes could be briefly seen on the side of the tent. They had protected both sisters from countless monster attacks already.

  The Dark Forest is a truly dangerous place. It was a big forest filled with vines, green moss, and plenty of green plants on the ground. The trees were huge. Climbing them was possible if you knew where to grab to climb.

  “I should be glad that Dad put protective runes on the tent and extended them several feet around the tent,” Grace remarked. Then she looked at the downed monster carcass “I’ll deal with that later and a few others that are probably around. But now it’s time for breakfast” she remarked.

  Then she chowed down to some monster meat and some wild vegetables. Which all tasted pretty good. They put a real smile on her face. The first since her birthday.

  “Yeah know sister, this isn’t a bad moment, but it would be better with mom and dad here” she said to Genja who was cooing at the moment trying to cheer her sister up. “I should’ve insisted on a camping Birthday. But it’s too late now” she remarked.

  After finishing breakfast Grace backed up the tent and prepared to move out.

  “I’ve been alone in the Dark Forest for two weeks now or that much I’ve counted” Grace thought.

  She was up in a tree watching a snake monster called “A Tyrant Viper” slithering towards a trap Grace had set up with some tasty monster meat as bait. It was a little complicated to set up.

  The Tyrant Viper was fifteen feet tall and a foot wide. It was of average size.

  It snapped up the meat and it got caught in a giant snare trap. Up it went with some logs being used as a counter weight to make the trapped monster go up. It was hissing in anger as it was swung up. Grace swung down on a vine much like Tarzan and turned one of her memory spheres into a giant circular saw blade and decapitated the Tyrant Viper’s head. Its head and body fell to the ground in a loud crash.

  Sounds of laughter and happy cooing were heard inside Genja’s pod slung on Grace’s back. She came to the ground, turned the saw blade back into a memory sphere and turned the pod around and asked her baby sister “Should I be concerned that you enjoyed that young lady.”

  Drawing her sword Grace began to cut into the Tyrant Viper’s hide “If your wondering what I’m doing little sister well I’ll tell you, I read one of dad’s books on how to dismember monsters and since were going to search for Dad’s family it might take awhile and having some extra spending money available helps and selling certain monster parts for money is often helps towards that” Grace explained.

  Then she stopped the dismemberment process for a moment. “But then again, I don’t know how willing some are to negotiate with a five year old little girl, but I will try” she said then continued the process. “But still it’s disgusting” she remarked as she put her hand over her nose.

  Then a familiar sickening feeling that said danger was approaching was felt. All thanks to that pendant she never took off. She had a good idea where the danger was coming from. Behind her.

  Grace dodged a tail attack just in time. “Another Tyrant Viper,” Grace said. “I forgot they like to travel in pairs,” she remarked. “Ugh, I’m not going to enjoy this,” she lamented. “Genja watch my back” she said unnecessarily but she needed to say it to feel a little better.

  The other Tyrant Viper Grace noticed was slightly smaller than the other but was just as fast if not faster.

  It attacked Grace again and she used her Dark Elf Agility to dodge out of the way. But she was hindered by the pod strapped to her back so she couldn’t counter-attack quickly.

  A stalemate quickly ensued and remained as such for a time. Grace dodged all of the Tyrant Viper’s attacks while she had a hard time landing any type of counter blow. She kept on missing the Tyrant Viper. It was too agile.

  Grace was fearful of what might happen and it took awhile for her to tamp down on her fear which helped make her more agile when she dodged an attack. Then somehow she managed to land one hit on the Tyrant Viper’s neck. But it was a minor wound.

  This seemed to alarm the monster for it revealed a blade of sorts from its tail. It looked like the head of a spear.

  “Oh I forgot, Tyrant Vipers reveal that thing when they get angry or panicked, I won’t enjoy this” Grace lamented.

  The Tyrant Viper struck with its spear tail so quickly Grace almost failed to dodge. “I have no choice but to bite the bullet” she thought.

  As soon as the Tyrant Viper struck with its spear tail Grace used the Quick Step to counter-strike and cut off the spear tail. The monster screamed in total pain. This time the monster was really angry. It was desperate and it tried to bite Grace.

  But she was ready. She used what was left of her mana to activate Quick Step again. But it appeared to the naked eye that she moved just enough to get out of the way and then put herself in striking range. One good clean strike and the Viper monster's head was lopped off.

  It fell to the ground dead in a loud thud. Grace sheaved her sword and fell to her knees exhausted “I need a better grasp on Quick Step because using it now is brutal” she said quietly.

  Then she looked at the dead Viper monster “Now I have to butcher this monster too when all I want is to relax for a while” she lamented. “What an ordeal that was,” she added.

  But then she noticed a shadow blocking out the sun and the same sickening feeling occurred that said danger was coming again. “Oh no not another monster” she thought as she looked up. “Oh, it’s a person-shaped monster,” she lamented.

  This person shouted something and picked up Grace like she was some doll. Someone else grabbed her cheeks and pinched them. A third person grabbed her arms.

  “Oh great they’re bandits” Grace thought as she looked at them. “Yep, they’re armed and dressed as bandits and they even feel like bandits, and since I’m a child and exhausted from that fight I’m in no position to resist them” she thought non-chalantly as she listened to what these miscreants were talking about.

  “Oh ho, what do we have here?” the bandit leader asked. He was the one pinching Grace’s cheeks and looking her over like a commodity. He was some bald man with a goatee beard and eye patch. “Looks like we have a Dark Elf Girl” he remarked with a malicious grin as if he had something unpleasant on his mind.

  “A Dark Ears” someone remarked with a malicious glee. They all appeared to have malicious grins on their faces.

  Dark Ears a deeply insulting term given to all Dark Elves which Grace knew about. She frowned when the term was spoken aloud.

  They must’ve noticed it because someone remarked “Looks like we have a spirited one on her hands.”

  The bandit leader then said to Grace “I’m going to sell you into slavery girl, Dark Elves from the Isle of Jamon are very rare outside of the Colosseum and when I’m sure you grow up someone might turn you into someone’s brood mare.”

  Grace didn’t like the sound of that. Genja began crying and only added to the stress of this situation. She sounded hungry.

  “We’ve got another Dark Ears” another Bandit pointed out.

  :”Someone shut that brat up,” someone demanded in annoyance. The Bandits all looked cross.

  Grace feared something might happen, something bad “Wait, let me calm her down, please” she pleaded out of desperation.

  They all put her down.

  Grace reached behind with nervous bandits drawing some weapons. She put her hand into a pouch behind her and activated the blue circle when her hand was inside and pulled Genja’s baby bottle out of the Magical Storage Space and fed her baby sister after opening the pod she was in.

  They watched with Greedy looks on their faces. Once Genja was fed both she and Grace were enslaved by the bandits.

  “I’ve spent one horrible week with these terrible bandits” Grace inner monologued.

  “Hey Dark Ears bring me more booze” a bandit demanded.

  “Coming” Grace replied joylessly. Then she brought the man a mug of beer.

  “Dark Ears, where's my food?” another bandit demanded.

  “Coming” Grace replied just as joylessly. She soon gave another bandit a plate of food.

  As she rushed around a third bandit threw a throwing knife at Grace. It missed her by only a few inches. It was a form of harassment to which Grace showed very little emotion as she moved on.

  The Sun was setting on another rotten day.

  “These terrible miscreants are called the Unigen Gang. Their leader was the man with the eye patch. His name is Unigen. He and his other ten cohorts rob people on the roads and hunt monsters for their parts, which was what they were looking for when they found me” Grace inner monologue.

  The Unigen Gang’s secret base was an abandoned Fort at the edge of the Dark Forest. It was run down with weeds and vines growing over it. The Gate was left open and the walls were falling apart. Stolen goods were scattered all around. Boxes and crates all. Plus one or two wagons. It had the look of a secret hideout.

  Someone threw some mud at her. A common occurrence. Sometimes they threw worse at her. Now Grace’s clothes that she had not been able to change since her birthday party were caked with mud. Her face was very dirty. Her hair was a mess. A few small blood stains were seen here and there.

  But she remained unbroken.

  “Hey Dark Ears where’s my clothes you weak piece of shit” a particularly loud bandit shouted.

  “Yes,” Grace said joylessly.

  “Yes what” the loud bandit said arrogantly.

  Grace had on a slave collar made of some dark metal and it forced her to answer this horrible man “Yes Master” she said as the slave collar hurt her.

  “That’s better” the loud bandit said, looking satisfied. Then he walked away.

  Grace began washing clothes in some wash tubs. “I’ve been given a slave collar. It makes me unable to disobey any order from any master that I have. It also prevents me from harming anyone or myself. It can also suppress magic that harms another person but not healing magic” she inner monologued.

  The loud Bandit as he walked away slipped on a bar of soap and crashed into a wall. Everyone present laughed. They failed to notice that said bar of soap was turning into one of Grace’s memory spheres. It came back to her before anyone noticed it. The loud bandit never caught on.

  “I should be glad that these bandits are idiots too,” Grace thought as her memory sphere came back to her. Then she kept washing clothes. “Apprently, their’s no classification for memory sphere’s, which is good. And I still have access to my magical storage space, none have caught on and I’ve been very careful to use it only to take care of Genja. Glad they let us stay together. Guess they need someone to look after her. Lucky us” she lamented internally.

  “All I have to do is pretend to be submissive for now,” Grace said in a tiny whisper. “I’ve been quietly planning my escape,” she said under her breath.

  “Hey Dark Ears, dance for me I’m bored” yet another bandit demanded. This one had a whip and used it.

  She had no choice but to get up and start dancing.

  “Faster” the whip bandit demanded as he whipped the ground next to Grace.

  She went faster. "Be careful" Grace said calmly “Your boss did order all of you not to cause me any physical harm or it will hurt my selling value” she pointed out.

  “Yeah so what” the whip bandit remarked with a stupid look on his face.

  “If you make me dance too hard, I’ll become injured and your boss will know who to blame,” Grace pointed out.

  This time the Whip Bandit understood with a fearful look on his face “Alright stop” he ordered. He walked away as Grace stopped.

  “Yep Unigen is feared by his own men” Grace thought “If you’ll excuse me I have chores to do” she said and went back to washing clothes.

  Before anything else could happen, a call went out.

  “Is that a company of knights coming to save me” Grace thought for a hot minute “Nope silly me, knights in shining armor coming to save the damsel in distress,don’t exist. It’s just a story” she thought with an embarrassed look on her face.

  It was Unigen himself coming with some of his gang wheeling along a makeshift wagon of sorts carrying a dragon. This dragon was sixteen feet at its tallest with a body you could only see in Western Fairytales with a Triceretopes head. Except its scales were both Red and Gold. That set it apart from other dragons Grace had seen in books in this world.

  “If I remember reading some of my Dad’s books, Golden Dragons are the monarch’s of the Dragon World being the most powerful of all in combat power and in making very wise judgements, while Red Dragons are considered exceptionally fierce in combat” Grace thought.

  She was geeking out over the sight of this beautiful creature. The Dragon was covered in a net with what looked like flowers attached to it. “Chances are that the net is made of Dragon’s Bane which is a plant that can be woven into ropes and nets that could capture and immobilize a dragon. And they’re nearly impossible to burn through. Perfect for capturing dragons” Grace thought.

  She wanted so badly to make contact with the creature. But knew the bandits wouldn’t allow it. Grace wasn’t sure if she could talk with the dragon. A known language barrier existed between them and others.

  Also this dragon looked particularly terrified of everything and everyone. Understandable given the circumstances. It looked dangerous. “I don’t care if this dragon is dangerous. If I can befriend it I might have a good chance of escaping, so I will try to talk with it” Grace vowed in her head. She had a good idea on how to make it happen.

  Grace spent several abusive hours working and dealing with the bandits. They all had scummy habits. But after cooking their dinner and putting something in them that made them sleep a little more heavily than normal. They were all out. It was something she had been doing a lot lately.

  “Normally I would scout out the place at night but tonight I’ve gotten permission to feed the dragon” Grace thought. “I just need a good time and place to escape. My slave collar is the only thing stopping me. The key to my collar is in Unigen’s pocket and he sleeps in separate quarters than the rest of his men, he might be scum like his men but he’s a little smarter than the rest of them” she also thought.

  The sun had by now gone down the bandits had eaten, drank, been merry mistreated Grace and now they were all out cold.

  Even though Grace had gotten the job of feeding the Dragon she wasn’t trusted alone with it. Unigen watched her.

  Now Unigen had been the last to fall asleep and he locked Grace to a chain that was attached to a large post. Then he left. Grace waited for a little while making it look as if she had fallen asleep.

  After sometime Grace removed a lock pick from the Magical Storage Space and undid the lock quietly. She had carefully oiled the lock on her chain so it would make less noise after it came off. Said oil also came from the magical storage space.

  Once free she made her way to where the Gold n Red Dragon was located. “Shame I can’t get out of the slave collar like that but it’s a very unique lock requiring a very unique key and only Unigen has the key” Grace thought as she snuck around.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She used Hawker’s vision to check around and make sure everyone really was asleep. All the bandits were snoring. Her Dark Elf ears also helped to confirm that Genja, although awake in her pod, was making quiet cooing noises. But still she needed to quiet down a little bit more.

  Grace found the dragon in a depression in the ground chained to several large posts with the Dragon Bane’s net sill covering its scaly body. It also has a muzzle on its face also made from Dragon’s bane ropes. All designed to make any dragon immobile and unable to do much of anything.

  Except for maybe speaking.

  The Gold and Red Dragon watched Grace approach warily. She carried Genja’s pod in front of her. It’s straps still around the older girl's shoulders.

  Narrowing its eyes at Grace the Dragon spoke first “So another of you two-legged creatures before me to force me to submit, should I eat you and suck out your marrow, like I did so many others.”

  “So I can understand what the dragon is saying. Good. But I saw the word for lie come out of its mouth, she must be afraid, is that a boy or girl dragon” Grace thought. “I need to go the careful route with this one” she thought.

  “C’mon friend you don’t need to pretend with me I know you're afraid” Grace said in a whisper to the dragon.

  Pure shock came over the dragon’s face.

  “Shhh” Grace said, putting her lips over her mother before it could let out a noise “You're so expressive that’s so cute” Grace complimented.

  But the Dragon began to panic “One of you understands me, first your people try to kill me, then you capture me, now your trying to torture me” it said.

  Grace lifted up her hand and some of her memory spheres were used to cover the Dragon’s mouth before it panicked more and she put her finger over her lips “Calm down and be quiet. I might’ve drugged these bandits but that doesn’t mean they won’t wake up somehow and I don’t want them to find me here” she admonished.

  Then she removed the memory spheres so the dragon could speak again “Please tell me about yourself” Grace asked in a whisper.

  “Why?” the Dragon asked.

  “Because I want to be your friend, which I’m sure is an improvement over the other Barbarian attempts made to force you to submit to them” Grace replied.

  This seemed to surprise the Dragon. “From the very moment I hatched I was fearful and I seemed to make others around me fearful, few chose to approach me, those that did tried to hurt me” the dragon said.

  “Most likely they were trying to tame you by forcing you to submit to them,” Grace pointed out. The Dragon got a look of anger on its face which Grace noticed “But I can see how that might upset you. I’m sorry they tried to do that to you” she said back peddling.

  “Please continue,” she said.

  The Dragon did so. “My Father was a Red Dragon and my Mother a Golden Dragon for some reason they mated and produced me, I have no idea how old I am but it’s been awhile since I’ve come into this world” the Dragon said.

  “Chances are their riders wanted to breed a new type of dragon into existence only for unintended consequences to arise” Grace thought.

  “All of their attempts to force me to submit. I couldn’t take it anymore and I attacked them” the Dragon said.

  “That was the worst thing you could’ve done. You must’ve burned down the place you were in and the nearby town” Grace remarked.

  “It was a large place where you two-legged creatures dwell in many dwellings” the dragon mentioned.

  “The nearby town and I’m guessing that after attacking, your dragon parents, their riders, and a bunch of others attacked you intending to kill you” Grace said with a guess.

  “What was I supposed to do? Let them hurt me” the dragon asked, sounding annoyed.

  “Okay, that’s not an unreasonable question,” Grace remarked.

  The Dragon looked less fearful.

  “Why don’t you let me ride you” Grace asked.

  “What” the Dragon couldn’t believe their ears and looked fearful again.

  “C’mon think about it, if someone was able to ask you if you were willing to let them ride you, would you consent to letting them ride you” Grace asked.

  “Unlike you none of them could” the Dragon pointed out.

  “Yes but would you consent to being ridden by someone—by me” Grace asked, reaching out her hand.

  “Why are you asking?” the Dragon asked.

  “Well it’s time to get to the point” Grace thought “I don’t trust these bandits” Grace started “It’s only a matter of time before they sell me and my baby sister into slavery proper, and they’ll likely sell you off to someone horrible. I propose we escape together with me as your official rider. I’m sure you will be forgiven for rampaging if I’m your rider” she pointed out.

  “How do you know about dragon riding?” the dragon asked.

  “My late Dad left behind a book on Dragon Riding and I read it” Grace replied.

  “Of course he was also a Dragon Rider” the Dragon remarked with doubt and sarcasm.

  “Hey don’t be like that, wouldn’t it be nice to have your rider also be your best friend? One that knows you, understands you, and can sympathize with you” Grace asked with a smile and images of friends from her last life going through her head.

  She put her hand on the Dragon’s scaly nose and she kept smiling at the dragon. The Dragon was silent. They didn’t know what to say. “That’s to be expected, I was the same way at one time” Grace thought.

  “So what do you say?” Grace asked.

  “Very well, I’ll let you ride me,” the Dragon agreed.

  Grace’s smile got bigger “I knew you would agree” she remarked. Then she thought “Do you have a name?” she asked.

  “No, I was never given one,” the Dragon replied.

  “Makes sense, A dragon rider is supposed to name their dragon upon taming them or that’s what I read” Grace remarked.

  “Would you give me a name?” the Dragon asked, sounding anxious.

  “Okay, but are you a male dragon or female dragon, it’s important” Grace asked.

  “I am a female dragon” the dragon replied “You couldn’t tell” she added in.

  “Sorry no” Grace replied. And she took a moment to think of a name. “Leah, your name is Leah,” Grace said after a second.

  “Leah” the Dragon seemed confused.

  “Yes, Leah is the name of a fierce princess that fought alongside a group of trusted friends against the machinations of an evil empire. I read it in a few books somewhere and I loved the story” Grace explained. “Well it’s not completely a lie I did read it in a few books after seeing the movies” she thought.

  “Yes, it’s a good name for me,” Leah agreed.

  Something suddenly passed between them and they both glowed together for a second.

  Grace could suddenly feel a ferocious yet anxiety filled personality that feared everything. She could also tell that Leah was feeling everything about her too.

  “Grace I—” Leah tried to say but was speechless.

  Grace just hugged Leah tightly on her large head and simply said “I promise in due time I’ll tell you everything but for now let’s just enjoy this warm feeling that’s come with our connection as Dragon and Rider” she promised.

  “And that was how I befriended the fierce Gold and Red Dragon that I named Leah” Grace indeed monologued.

  “You have been granted the ability known as Blessings” came Aries’s voice. Which gave Grace a huge start.

  “It’s been two weeks since I’ve been forced to live with these awful bandits” Grace began with an inner monologue “And they're still scum of the Earth or Argea if you prefer.”

  Grace was busy doing chores and being at the whims of the scummy bandits.

  “Since befriending and naming Leah she had been harassed by the scummy bandits too. I’ve covered for her as much as I could. But the best I could do was keep her from being physically harmed by dropping Unigen’s name. He was so feared by his men” Grace inner monologue.

  As she was doing her chores she had a hood of hers up and a dark cloak on with her head down. Grace found it among the stolen goods at some point. She had a basket of raw meat in hand “I’m going to feed Leah as I usually do at this time of the day no one else will go near her. They were too afraid of her. I talk with Leah as much as possible behind the Bandit’s back. They were so ignorant” she thought.

  Grace could feel Leah getting concerned and impatient. She knew this needed to be addressed, now.

  “What’s wrong?” Grace asked through their connection after putting the raw meat in front of Leah on a large plate.

  Leah quickly gulped down the raw meat before answering Grace “How long must we linger in this wretched place” Leah asked.

  Grace sighed then she activated Hawker’s sense to look around and make sure no one was close enough to hear them. Once satisfied she answered her dragon’s question and deactivated Hawker’s sense.

  “Beleive me, I want to be out of this wretched place too. But theirs is one problem” Grace said.

  Then with some effort she used her memory sphere’s to create several unique looking keys whose shapes were unusual. Some were pointed at an angle others were jagged. None looked normal.

  “You see these are the sizes, shapes, and look of the keys I need to unlock my slave collar and your chains, except I need to know the right composition and metals the keys are made from” Grace explained.

  “Are they important?” Leah asked.

  “Very, I read about these keys in a book my dad left behind and I vaguely spotted the name of the metal and the most likely composition these keys are made from but I can’t remember them” Grace explained. Then she undid the keys and put the memory sphere’s away.

  “Well Hurry” Leah urged “I’ve got this feeling something is about to go wrong.”

  “Hey Dark Ears” came from Unigen's voice.

  “Yes Master” Grace said meekly pulling her head down pretending to be timid. And feeling it too “Oh great, I’ve spent so much time pretending to be meek I’m starting to feel like it. I need to get out of here” she thought.

  “Have you finished feeding the creature yet?” Unigen asked, sounding impatient.

  “Yes master” Grace replied meekly and quickly.

  “Good, now scram, I’ve got business here” Unigen quickly ordered.

  “Yes master” Grace said quickly, bowed slightly and began to run out of there as she took up the basket that had the raw meat.

  “Who is this?” came a mysterious man’s voice as Grace ran into him.

  “Sorry,” Grace said.

  Then she looked up into the man’s face and saw a mask and cloak that looked exactly like the terrible miscreants who killed Grace’s parents but his mask was less intricate. It had no image on it. Sure enough she saw the image of a Spider on top of a temple with a spider’s web in the background.

  She looked at this man with fear in her heart and also a deep rage inside “This guy works for them, I know it” Grace thought.

  Making it look like she was hurrying along, Grace decided to stay close and listen in on them. She was suspicious.

  “Is this the creature you were talking about?” Unigen asked the mysterious man in the mask.

  “It’s a dragon” the mysterious man replied “You should know you lived in Carrahe the country where Barbarians ride dragons haven’t you” he asked.

  “Those damn creatures never let me near them. They called me a little unhinged” Unigen said bitterly with some past images running in his head. “Where’s my money?” he asked, changing the subject.

  The Mysterious Man removed a large bag of gold coins from his cloak and threw them at the bandit leader. “That’s only a portion of the money you demanded, the rest will be delivered upon completion of our mission” the mysterious man pointed out.

  “How do I know you’ll deliver the rest?” Unigen asked suspiciously.

  “My friend” the mysterious man turned to Unigen “You have my word” he said then turned back to Leah.

  Unigen had no choice but to accept the mysterious man’s word. “How are you going to force this one to follow you?” Unigen asked out of curiosity.

  “With this” the mysterious man said and he took out a large metal ring that looked like it fit around a beast or a dragon. It had the dark metal of a slave collar. But it was far bigger. “The Dragon Slave Collar, it forces a dragon to submit to you fully” the mysterious man explained.

  Leah looked pensively at the mysterious man. It was if she could tell he intended to do harm.

  “Wow, the dragon’s neck is thicker than expected. I heard that it was much smaller” the mysterious man asked. He looked at Unigen with suspicion, “What have you been feeding it?” he asked.

  “Don’t look at me. We haven’t fed it anything special, only just enough to keep it alive, it was smaller when we captured it. Now it’s doubled in size and gotten fiercer in deposition, if it grows any bigger it will bust out of the Dragon’s Bane net all by itself" Unigen said defensively.

  “Regardless, I am committed to this” The mysterious man said. And he put the Large Dragon Slave Collar onto Leah’s neck. It was just barely attached. But with difficulty. Then he got onto Leah’s back and tried to force her to submit to him.

  But Leah would not submit. She resisted the mysterious man with all the ferocity she could muster. Which was considerable.

  The mysterious man made a sudden realization with horror “Oh no, something is wrong here” he said.

  A few seconds before.

  “Of course Leah is much bigger than expected; she's been subject to the blessing ability that Aries granted me” Grace remarked under her breath. “But it’s now or never I need to figure out the metal and the composition to the key or we’ll never escape” she remarked.

  Grace had taken out the book on key metals and compositions from the Magical Storage Space and began reading through it fiercely. She was so focused on reading it that she didn’t notice a bandit sneak up on her until her pendant gave her that familiar sickening feeling. But it was too late. They were too quick.

  “What are you doing Dark Ears” the Bandit demanded. It was the Loud Bandit. The one who forced Grace to dance the other day. Genja inside her pod began to cry. Grace dropped the book she had been reading.

  “It’s alright little sister” Grace tried to assure her. But couldn’t do much more as she was grabbed and forced to go along with the loud bandit.

  They got to where Leah was with Unigen and the Mysterious Man were just when the latter said with horror “Oh no, something is wrong here.” Then he got off Leah. “The Collar isn’t working” the mysterious man said “And that is because someone has tamed this dragon, now who is it Unigen, you or one of your men” the mysterious man furiously demanded. “The plan is in jeopardy if the dragon is tamed,” he added.

  Unigen looked at a loss for words.

  “Hey boss look who I caught spying on you” the loud bandit shouted. And he pushed Grace forward.

  “YOU” Unigen said angrily and also feeling relieved to have a distraction.

  He walked over to Grace and he punched her. She fell to the ground dazed. Letting out a small scream as she did. She was coughing on the ground.

  “You're the only one who's been near this dragon since it’s been captured. You're the one who tamed it” Unigen said angrily.

  Everyone present already knew the answer.

  “No point in pretending” Grace thought. She got off the ground and said “I didn’t tame Leah, I befriended her, something no one seems to have thought of till I came along and now her name is Leah” Grace proudly said.

  Unigen was furious “DOWN” he screamed.

  The Slave Collar activated and Grace found herself on the ground writhing in pain “Damn Collar” she said in English.

  This caused momentary confusion. It was forgotten when Leah let out a mighty roar. The fiercest, most terrifying roar you can imagine “Leave her alone” Leah demanded fiercely even though no one could understand her. And she began to furiously pull on the Dragon Bane nets.

  “I thought you said the dragon was immobilized," the mysterious man said.

  “It is,” Unigen defended.

  But they watched with horror as Leah was working herself free of the Dragon’s Bane nets. Little did they realize. Grace had turned her memory sphere’s into small steel blades that cut the nets and ropes. She even and finally remembered the right metals and compositions and made a key that unlocked Leah’s chains.

  So it looked to the mysterious man, the bandit leader, and his cohort that a miracle was being performed right in front of them as Leah completely broke free. But it was a miracle laced with terror for all present. Except for Grace.

  The Loud Bandit ran for it but he was the first to die. Leah used her claws on him and he fell in bloody chunks. Then she flew up and began attacking the rest of the bandits. They tried to run for their lives. But Leah was faster and she dispatched them with brutal efficiency like the war machine she was born to be. Sounds of fires were heard plus of terrified bandits begging for their lives were heard. Leah was merciless.

  Unigen was too mad to care “Down” he demanded. Grace was on the ground again and in pain again. “You cost me a huge pay day you little bitch” he said angrily.

  “She needs to die or the dragon won’t submit,” the mysterious man pointed out.

  Unigen almost drew his own sword but then he grinned maliciously. He took out the sword and knife that Grace’s parents had given their daughter and dropped them next to her “Take these weapons and use them to kill yourself” Unigen ordered.

  Grace did her very best to resist that order and gritted her teeth. But her body seemed to have a mind of its own. She fiercely resisted trying to pick up her short sword while just barely drawing it with trembling hands. She still trembled as she held the sword to her throat.

  Unigen and the Mysterious Man looked on maliciously grinning. Expecting to see Grace kill herself.

  Grace then put up two fingers and a memory sphere in mid-air turned into a strangely shaped key. She directed it into the lock on her slave collar. Unigen noticed it too late as the lock was turned and the slave collar fell to the ground in a loud clunk.

  If Unigen was mad before he was now livid. He tried to draw his sword. But Grace was quicker with her Quick Step ability and used it to sever the bandit leader’s sword hand. He screamed in pain.

  The Mysterious Man tried to run away only for Leah to land in front of him and cut off his escape with a glare from her eyes. She roared at the man. He staggered back completely fearing for his life. A far cry from the confident man he’d been minutes before.

  Grace gave them a look of contempt with her unsettling presence ability. While making sure a now calm Genja was shifted behind her and inside her cloak so she could see what was going on. Grace looked as if she was emitted a Dark aura with her unsettling presence ability. Leah seemed to be emitting the same aura due to their connection. They had become two terrible monsters. That was how Unigen n the Mysterious Man seemed to be assuming looking upon them both. They felt like their souls might be devoured.

  The two of them were restrained by Grace’s memory sphere’s once they turned into large metal spheres that covered their hands and feet weighing them down and making it impossible to move. They looked as if they were cow-toeing to her and begging forgiveness. They were so afraid they soiled themselves.

  “Oh look Leah, two grown men have soiled themselves before two little girls and a dragon” Grace mocked with crazy eyes.

  Both Unigen and the Mysterious man began begging for their lives and making offers. Anything not to die.

  But Grace wouldn’t have it. She wasn’t in a merciful mood “Leah slid Unigen’s throat” Grace ordered pointing at Unigen. In one second Unigen instantly became a former bandit leader when his head was separated from his shoulders. His head bounced away.

  “Okay, that will have to do” Grace remarked. But now it was time to fry bigger fish. Then she noticed Genja crying again and her voice softened briefly “I assure you little sister this won’t take long” she said. She sheaved her sword.

  “Please spare me my lady, I beg of you” the mysterious man said pitifully.

  “Shut Up” Grace said harshly. And used a memory sphere to slap him. “Now listen to me you piece of shit, I know who you are and what you are and don’t you dare deny it.”

  “I don’t know what you're talking about,” the mysterious man said, trying to deny it.

  She saw the word lie come out of his mouth. Grace used a memory sphere to hit him again. “Lie to me again and suffer horrendously” she warned.

  The mysterious man saw that lying was futile. But was still unwilling to cooperate “You don’t want to go down this path little girl, it will kill you” the mysterious man warned.

  “It’s a bit late for that, I was already forced down this path by powers higher than the both of us” Grace said cryptically.

  “I have nothing else to say to a brat on a power trip” the mysterious man said.

  “I disagree,” Grace said.

  She made a gesture with her hand and the big metal sphere’s restraining the mysterious man tipped him over. Now he looked like a man who had been put on a skewer over an open flame. Minus the flame.

  “Leah open your mouth please” Grace asked with a smile.

  The Dragon did as asked and the Mysterious Man floated over to her and dangled there. The mysterious man began shouting in fear and wriggled around mightily but futilely. He simply couldn’t free himself.

  “Since you were here to force Leah to do your bidding I’m guessing you and your order were going to attack someone or somewhere and you're going to tell me when or where” Grace said.

  It looked crazy with a little girl torturing this guy even if she was a reincarnated person.

  The mysterious man kept on screaming. “Oh delicious human” Leah said mockingly.

  “Just so you know, being eaten alive is right up there on the list of worst ways to die” Grace pointed out a little mockingly.

  “Princess Hilda,” the mysterious man finally said after sometime.

  “Who is that?” Grace asked curiously.

  “She’s the first princess of Carrahe and the heir to the throne. She’s also the kingdom’s foremost expert on Dragon’s. She’s been spending the last week searching for the Gold Red dragon after it rampaged in the kingdom’s capital of Johannesheim” the mysterious man explained out of fear.

  Grace gave Leah a brief look “You rampaged in the kingdom’s capital” she thought. But then turned her attention back to their prisoner “So you were going to use Leah to cover up your assassination of the Princess” Grace surmised “What did she do to earn a death sentence from you people” she asked.

  The Mysterious Man seemed reluctant to answer yet again. Until Leah tried to snap at him again “Alright I’ll tell you” he said with tears in his eyes “The Princess has been aiding our order’s enemies primarily the Ashe our greatest foes. She’s been getting in our way one too many times. The Golem has ordered her to be killed” he said quickly and with fear in his voice.

  “Not if I have something to say about it,” Grace said. Then she gestured to Leah and put a hand under her chin.

  Leah understood what this meant and the Dragon decapitated the mysterious man.

  “Helping the Princess will mean she owes me. And she could help me find my Dad’s family in Carrahe” Grace remarked as she retrieved her memory sphere’s.

  Then Grace found a map off the dead mysterious man’s remains that showed the attack and how it would happen and where. Then she figured out a plan.