James found himself feeding Everest strips of fried meat in a spicy sauce that drippled from her lips. The dragon was whimpering with each bite.

"It's so spicy!"

"Then stop eating it," he argued.

"I refuse! Get me more!"

Coral giggled while getting another bowl and handing it over. Despite the dragon being miserable, she still wouldn't stop eating the strips of meat. James had tried them briefly but found that he might as well have been eating fire. The spices used were beyond anything he could tolerate.

"It's really good," Coral commented while nibbling on her own.

"You called this good food," he grumbled. "I'd like to be able to taste something after this."

"And here, I thought you had good taste, James," she teased.

"Don't you have something that isn't like swallowing molten lava?" he questioned.

"Cake!" Everest voiced.

"Cake?" Coral asked. "What is cake?"

James rubbed his head. "It's a sweet dessert with lots of sugar."

"Sugar?"

"Oh, you poor child," he said with a chuckle. "Wait until you get to the surface."

"Is the sun really blue?" she asked.

Glancing into her curious gaze, he shook his head. "No, it's not…it's yellow."

"Aww…"

Rolling his eyes, he finished feeding the dragon her meat. "That's enough spicy food for now. We need to go see how Amber has handled The Pact and prepare to leave." Spreading out his soul, he found Zenaria only a few streets over, swaying and nearly falling down.

Is she drunk?

Getting up, he wandered toward his kitsune. Coral and Everest stayed close, still licking their lips as they tried to snatch every little bit of sauce they could. When they stepped onto Zenaria's street, they found the kitsune being propped up by the other three. All four of them were giggling while swaying.

"What did you do to her?" he asked as he joined them.

The silver kitsune held up a wine glass. "We shared a drink to soften her fur!"

"She's lovely!" the red haired one said.

"James!" Zenaria called out. "Carry me!"

"No," he protested. "You're going to throw up on me."

All four kitsune folded their ears down and whimpered. Their eyes teared up and their lips trembled in unison making James groan.

"Come here," he said after a moment.

Like a switch flipping, Zenaria beamed and threw herself into his arms. "I love you!"

"Come on, trouble," he murmured.

"Good bye, Zenaria!" the other three called out as he walked away.

"I love you three!" she called back.

Sighing, he cradled her against his chest. "How much did you drink?"

Holding up three fingers, she squinted. "Five glasses…"

"You're only holding up three fingers…"

"It looks like six," she mumbled.

"That's not any better," he protested.

Giggling, she closed her eyes and started snoring as they left the city. The walk was quiet as everyone parted for him and it wasn't longer than a few minutes before they were at the gate. The first thing he noticed was the scent of blood and he prepared himself.

Stepping out, he found Amber waving around an arm. Not one of hers, but it was covered in fur and there was a number of corpses around her.

"Now that you all learned your lesson!" she growled. "I'd like to finish questioning you!"

The rest of The Pact members shivered against the wall as Amber marched up to them. Clearing his throat, he drew her attention. "Are you almost done?"

"Just a few left, love!" she answered with a wide smile. "Why is Zenaria sleeping?"

"Drank herself to oblivion," he answered before walking away. "Hurry and finish with them. We are leaving."

"You heard the man!" she shouted. "Give me one good reason to speed this up by killing you!"

Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the last small section of soldiers shivering and shaking as they waited for her judgment. Moving further away so his aura didn't cancel out hers, he found Mother watching with amusement.

"She's very good at what she does."

Nodding, he stood next to her. "She is. How long until we get to the next nest?"

Coral cleared her throat and pointed to the north tunnel. "We'll head straight there if you are okay with bypassing a few towns. It'll take us a few weeks of travel with the dragons and animals."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"We're stopping at each town and city," he stated. "The Pact needs to know they are being culled."

Grimly nodding, she added, "that's what I thought, but had to be sure. Give me a month and I can get you to the nest and from there, the rent."

"And then you get to the see the surface," he finished. "We have to destroy that nest as well."

Mother tapped her claw against the ground. "We're ready when you are, James. Priest is checking over the animals and making sure they have plenty of food. He shopped for vegetables while we were here."

"Good." Gently shifting Zenaria, he said, "as long as we have plenty to last until the next village, I'll be happy. But The Pact needs to know to clear out the abandoned towns and cities and start reclaiming ground. That's why we had to leave them alive."

"Thank you," Coral said softly. "The Pact are the only ones trained to fight the monsters. We just want our land back."

"You'll have it."

***

It didn't take longer than an hour before Amber was done wiping the blood from her hands and they were on the road. James didn't hesitate to leave the shivering and shaking Pact members behind as Amber ordered them to clear the nearby cities of monsters. They also needed to elect new leaders with the promise that she would be back to clean house in the future.

That wasn't exactly something she was going to be able to do, but the threat worked enough that they jumped to follow her orders, creating squads to get started.

"You enjoyed that," he teased as he continued to carry Zenaria through the tunnels.

Priest chuckled from his other side. "You should have seen the group that tried to attack her. With one slash of her claws, she ripped them apart."

"How did you get around their shields?" James questioned.

Smirking, Amber summoned her claws and held them up. "For one, I didn't try to affect their souls. Two, I didn't use my Soul Claws. These babies are plenty deadly on their own and they weren't exactly defending against my skills. They thought I was easy prey."

"Remind me not to piss you off," Priest said while shaking his head. "They didn't even have time to scream."

"Why would I let them scream? They weren't even worth my time."

With a small laugh, James thought back to only a few weeks ago. "I can't believe you've grown strong enough to kill them that easily. Level eleven already."

"Thanks to you, my mate." Purring, she rubbed against him, nearly making him trip as they navigated the dim tunnel.

Zenaria snored loudly in his arms, making them all laugh. Lifting her head, she opened one eye a slit. "Wha…" Trailing off, her eyes closed and she started snoring again.

"How much did she drink?" Amber questioned.

James shifted the kitsune so she was more comfortable. "She held up three fingers and said five drinks."

"Oh!" Barking out a laugh, Amber lifted Zenaria's and let it fall limply back down. "I didn't know she had it in her."

Coral jogged back from the front of the march, slowing to walk beside them. "The tunnel goes straight for dozens of miles before the first branch. We'll be able to rest in a few hours."

Nodding, James said, "keep me updated. There's a chance The Pact sent out a message when we left. I'd hate to be ambushed before the next city."

With a confirming nod, she ran back to the front to talk with Mother. The dragon was leading the group, keeping Everest with her as the overeager child talked about spicy food.

"What kind of pace are we going to set?" Priest asked.

"As steady a pace as we can with Shadow Paw's mate being pregnant. She should be having the kids around the time we reach the next nest. From there, we can carry them for part of the days and speed up our progress."

"I'm glad you are thinking of her," Amber said with a warm smile. "You really do take care of your family."

"I try to take care of you, but you seem to take great joy in making it difficult," he teased.

Cocking a brow, she turned to him. "Really? I make things difficult for you? I think Zenaria and I are going to withhold a few privileges you seem to enjoy. That will be making things difficult for you."

Whistling, Priest stepped away. "You might want to apologize."

"I guess I'll have to withhold bath time," James said with a shrug. "It would be a shame if Zenaria learned her tails wouldn't get cleaned because you were being difficult."

Glowering, Amber crossed her arms. "I feel like you just challenged me to be difficult. I'm going to make your life hell tonight."

Laughing, he blew her a kiss. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Sighing, he glanced at Zenaria. "When do you think she'll wake up?"

"When she hears the bath running," Amber joked.

Changing subjects, he thought of the next city they were going to be coming to. "We have to repeat what we just did in a few days. The Pact is going to know that we are making rounds soon and they might respond with increased forces to counter us."

"We'll be ready for them."

Priest nodded. "We will be. At some point I might even get to fight."

"You're right. Soon I won't be able to keep you in reserve." Frowning, James pressed his lips together. Things were changing and even though he wanted to save lives, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. Going forward, each city they visited would see more deaths. More blood would stain the world as The Pact tried to counter him. But soon, he would be level fourteen after claiming the next rent.

From there, he would go to Australia and reach the immortal soul. Then, he would be back with his family. Luna would retake her place by his side as they finished the fight and the final rent.

***

James had barely fallen asleep when he found himself awake in the white realm. Fog drifted around him as he waited for one of his family to show up. To his surprise, it was Linda who walked out of the mist.

"I've come to bother you," she announced.

"Hello to you too." Confusion furrowed his brows as she sat down and gestured for him to join her.

"Thank you, James," she said after nearly a minute. "Having Bronson with me again is like a dream come true. I'm looking forward to the day that you bring us back and our children can play together."

Smiling warmly, James said, "you know you need to have a lot of children to keep mine company."

A bell-like laugh escaped the elf as she shook her head. "I'm blaming Luna on that one. She's on a crusade to repopulate the world with Valiants. If she had her way, you would be bedding a hundred women."

Raising his brows, he earned another laugh from Linda.

"I'm joking. But she is happy that you accepted Amber and Zenaria. They are like sisters to her and she's happy to welcome them as sister mates. Just remember who's in charge."

"I am?" he questioned in more confusion.

Linda snorted. "Oh no, you are so very wrong, James. I dare you to cross Luna. I dare you to joke that she won't have the first child. I'll pray for you afterwards."

Snorting a laugh, he touched his chest. "I should have known that she would be the leading presence in my life. She's perfect for me."

"You better tell her that." Sighing, Linda crossed her arms. "What are we going to do about The Pact, James. As fun as it is to joke, we need a plan. Killing their leaders won't be enough. Will we ever eradicate them?"

Frowning, he closed his eyes for a moment. "While there are still threats of monsters and cultivators in the world, the Underworld needs its soldiers. As much as I hate The Pact, the best we can do is turn them onto a different path. We're still going to kill their leaders and anyone strong enough to threaten us."

"You're a softie after all." Running a hand through her silver hair, she added, "that makes me happy in an odd way. We have the power to ruin this entire world. We could control everything, and yet that isn't what you want. If it was, we'd be behind you one hundred percent."

"I just want a home for our family," he said softly. "Just a small parcel of land for us to retire to."

Poking his chest, she beamed. "That right there is why you are loved by your whole family, and why we are going to follow you forever. Although, we need to be close enough to a rent that I can go hunting. My trigger finger is getting itchy."

"Thank you, Linda. I'll make sure we pick a good location. One away from the world where we can be at peace. One that the dragons can call home as well. Not to mention we are going to have a bunch of panthers running around soon."

"And many other animals," she added. Sighing, she stood. "My time is done, James. When you wake up, smile fondly, knowing that we all love you. Also, I'm supposed to let you know that Grace isn't allowed to climb into your lap again. But if she was pulled…"

The room shook slightly, and Linda paled. "Damn, she really does hear everything."

"I'll see you again soon, Linda," James said as the elf started to fade. The misty world started to break up as the dream came to an end. Soon he'd be at another nest, and he knew things weren't going to go as smoothly as the last one.

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