Amber rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck as she looked over the two dozen meager workers. "So, this is going to go smoothly, isn't it?"

"Don't hurt us!"

"No!"

"You're pretty!"

Frowning at the last one, Amber walked over to the first man and grabbed his throat. Lifting him up, she asked, "what were you doing in this facility?"

Everyone started shouting out answers at once.

"Making cultivators."

"Enslaving children."

"Creating cores."

Blinking a few times through the answers, Amber pointed to everyone. "I only want to hear from one of you at a time. If I'm holding your throat, you may speak. If you keep yelling out answers, I'll kill you until one is left."

Quickly nodding, the cowering men tried to hide behind one another. With that handled, Amber turned back to the man she was holding. An elf that was bone thin, with his cheekbones showing.

"Why were you experimenting on children?"

The man gasped for each breath as he answered, "we…were tasked…with creating an army."

"An army for what?"

"Don't…know."

Frown growing, Amber snapped the man's neck and tossed his corpse to the side. "Does anyone know why you were creating an army?"

They all shook their heads.

Rubbing her hands together, Amber walked over to the next man. Grabbing him, she picked him up and asked, "how were you creating cores?"

"Enchantments…tissue samples from the old world…"

Eyes wide, Amber scanned the room for any signs of containers and found them resting in a glass doored fridge. "You were activating souls."

"Trying to!" The man gasped. "It…wasn't successful."

Nodding, she threw the man back into the group. "Why were the adults and children turned into Forsaken?"

This time a man held up his hand.

"Go ahead."

Standing, the human said, "injecting the tissue did something to them. They mutated and went insane and had to be contained."

"They had soul powers and Qi," Amber stated. "Were you trying to merge soul and core?"

"Yes. It wasn't successful."

Rubbing her chin, Amber looked over the group. "Who was in charge of you?"

"Lucian," they all answered.

"Who was in charge of him?"

This time only one man spoke up. "I believe it was the city lord, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am!" Amber growled. When they all cowered from her, she delved into her thoughts.

They were creating an army for some purpose that the city lord likely knows. But who was in charge of the city lord? Why didn't the sect come down and help? I have too many questions that these men can't answer.

"Who made the enchantments?" she asked after a moment.

"Grand Master Yue," one of them answered. "She periodically checked on us."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she added that piece of information to what she would tell the others. For now, she had at least one more question. "When were you supposed to release the Forsaken?"

"When the other cities were ready."

Amber could already feel her headache growing. She needed to finish this conversation and talk with James. He needed to know that for some reason, there were more cities out there with these Forsaken.

Summoning her flaming cats, she pointed into the room. "Kill them quickly. I have work to do."

The men started to scream as the cats descended on them. Leaving their burning bodies behind, she found James waiting for her at the entrance to the bunker.

"I have bad news," she announced before falling into what she learned. James stood patiently for her to finish, his eyes never leaving her.

After she was done, he turned to Tian. "Can you find Yue?"

"Yes," he answered right away.

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Nodding, James turned to Jamie. "I need you and Amber to search the city lord's manor and find him. Also, there are still children under the lake that need to be saved. You two are in charge of getting answers."

Jamie asked, "when do you want us to start."

Amber waited for the answer as well, her anger slightly growing.

"Tomorrow," James said at last. "We are all too tired to do much today and we have thousands of people to help still."

Luna blew out a slow breath. "Let's head back for now. We can gather the others and explain what's going on."

Turning to Amber, James added, "find Pom and bring him in. We are going to need his help stabilizing the district."

With no further orders needed, Amber started her climb back up the crater.

***

James returned to the inn as the day turned to evening. The cultivators had moved most of the residents into buildings throughout all of the districts, housing them until they could fully take stock of the city.

That meant when James entered the inn, he found it largely empty, apart from a sprinkling of the too injured. Blood and strips of cloth littered the floor and bowls of empty soup and porridge were piled up on the reception desk.

The restaurant was packed with those that could sit and eat, and it didn't take long to find Grace, Bunny, and Mave, reserving a table for everyone. Linda and Mender were still checking on a few people as James waved them down.

"Take a break," he ordered. "We need to talk."

Mender reluctantly nodded before holding out his hands. Running water over a cloth, James handed it over for him to clean the blood off. Linda took the towel afterwards before joining everyone at the table.

Mender joined his side as they looked out over the dining room. "How bad is it?" Mender asked.

"It's bad," James admitted. "It goes deeper than we are prepared to handle."

Patting his back, Mender sighed. "We'll handle what we can."

Walking over to the table, James pulled out a chair. "We learned quite a bit."

"Why is a cultivator here?" Grace questioned.

"He's in charge of the enchanters and in a moment you'll understand why he is here," James explained. "First…"

Explaining everything they had learned took nearly ten minutes. Questions were asked about the enchantments and the cells. Many more were asked about the city lord and the albino.

"What did I just get pulled into?" Mave asked.

Frowning, James glanced at her. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you and Bunny weren't part of this before."

Bunny shrugged. "After the day I've had, I don't mind learning some of the answers."

"You also like being by me," Jamie teased.

Humming, Bunny nodded. "You are good with those knots."

Rubbing his temples, James sighed. "I don't believe any of us has the focus for the evening. We need sleep and baths. I can set up tubs in each of your rooms."

"Please do," Mender begged.

Laughing, Luna brushed her tail against James's arm. "I believe you owe me something."

"He owes me too," Grace stated. "I need more answers about what you lot are."

Agreeing, James stood. "Once you all eat, I'll answer whatever questions you may have about my cultivation. For now, I'll set up the tubs and there's something I want to check on."

Everyone frowned at him, but it was Mave that asked, "don't you need to eat?"

"No. I don't eat very often and if I do need to eat, you all better be far away."

Not wanting to explain that warning, he left to place the tubs. He needed to check on his latest Soul Skill, Familial Bonds. He believed that was why he had such a reaction to the Elson brothers dying. If that was the case, what else would it help with?

***

Luna rubbed her head, massaging her temples as she waited for her food. Thankfully, Bunny had jumped up to help the staff bring everything out.

It wasn't like she needed to eat, but good food always helped make the day better. That, and being away from James for a bit helped as well. She didn't think he knew he was still radiating power. He had been subtly using his soul to part crowds and impart his strength for hours. Even she could only take so much, and that was one of the reasons she couldn't be with him.

"Everything okay?" Jamie asked softly.

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly.

"Amber will talk to him." Taking her hand, Jamie added, "he just needs to sleep and everything will be better."

"For how long?" Luna asked. "If he goes after the city lord, he's going to flood the city with power again."

Sighing, Jamie let her go. "It's not that bad, Luna. When he releases his control, I feel protected and safe. I know he'll come for me in my time of need."

Linda cleared her throat. "If it helps, I feel the same and I know Bronson did as well. James proved it when he sent you guys to help the moment he knew something was wrong. He did everything he could."

Switching her gaze between Jamie and Linda, Luna said, "he still scares me…"

"And yet, you run to him every time something goes wrong," Mender pointed out. "You are always by his side, helping him take charge in the worst situations. I don't think you are truly scared of him. I think you are scared that you'll never reach him."

Frowning, Luna stood. "I'm not hungry."

"Luna…" Jamie trailed off as Luna started walking away.

What do they know? They all feel protected by him and sheltered. I'm the only one that he's tried to eat. I'm the one that helped him figure out his faults.

Reaching the stairs, she headed to his room. She didn't know why she wanted to find him, but she was being pulled to his side once again.

Opening his door, she found him stripping out of his worn clothes. Claw marks littered his shirt and pants, reminding her that he didn't have a chance to put on his armor.

"Luna?" James asked softly.

"Hey, James…"

Walking over to her, he wrapped his arms around her. It was only after he pulled her face to his neck that she realized she was crying. She didn't even know why she was upset.

Running his fingers over her ears, he whispered, "everything is okay. I have you."

Clutching his back, she felt her body shake as she released pent up emotions she didn't even know she was holding. Everything from the time she knew to break up with him, to actually doing it. The frustrations of working the market and having people crowding her and overwhelming her senses. The near loss of Jamie, and the real loss of the Elson brothers. It all came pouring out.

Carrying her over to his bed, he laid her down and held her back to his chest, his chin resting between her ears, just like they used to cuddle.

"I miss you," she whispered.

"I miss you too," he whispered back. "I don't want to, but it hurts so much when you aren't by my side."

Pressing into him, she hummed. "You scare me, James. Terrify me with your power, and yet, I can't run away."

"That's because you know I'll do everything in my power to protect you and love you. You are meant to be by my side."

"More than Amber?" she questioned.

She could feel him nod. "I'll admit she resonates with my soul just as much as you do, if not more, but you're the one that I miss. You're the one I would run away with if you asked me to."

"Can we?" she whispered.

"Whenever you are ready," he whispered back, "but I want to know why."

Closing her eyes, she used his arm as a pillow. "I don't want to be involved with this city anymore. I don't want to worry about armies of created Forsaken. I don't want to deal with the sects. I don't want any more of our friends to die…"

"Will we bring the others with?" he questioned.

"Maybe. But for tonight, can it just be the two of us. Just the two of us under the stars?"

Nodding again, he pulled his arm out from under her. "I'll get dressed and bring the tub. I still have your brush and shampoo."

Tears sprang back up as she turned to him. "Thank you…"

"I meant it, Luna. I would do anything for you."

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