James woke to the soft snores of a certain nekorian in his ear. When her tongue suddenly licked his cheek, he startled. Before he could turn to her, she whispered, "harder, James…"

Chuckling, he rolled his eyes. Of course she was having a sex dream. Zenaria giggled by his stomach and when he glanced down, he saw her watching Amber with a smile.

"You would think she had enough of you last night," she teased.

"Is that possible?" he countered.

Amber twitched against him before yawning and opening her eyes. "Ugh…you two are too loud."

"Happy dreams I take it?" he asked.

"Very," she purred.

"We need to get up. We have a horde of Pact members guarding their walls and we need to handle them so we can move on."

Zenaria sat up and yawned before saying, "We need to disappear for a bit while Amber works. Coral can take us into the city to get her things."

Nodding, James rolled over to his mate. "Will you be okay handling The Pact members?"

"I'll be fine, James. With the dragons here, they wouldn't dare do anything to me. Not to mention, I'm sure Shadow Paw would love to rip a few of them apart."

Speaking of the panther, the large animal sat up from behind them and yawned. His mate sat up next and nuzzled him before they both turned to James and nodded.

"Keep her safe, please," James said.

Shadow Paw nodded again before stepping up to Amber and crowder her personal space. With a chuckle, Amber rubbed his head before getting up and stretching. "You two have fun with Coral today. I'll work on The Pact."

Getting up, James put away their sleeping equipment before leading Zenaria over to Coral, who was surrounded by a dozen dragons. The woman was nervously watching them all snore as he approached.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Not good," she admitted. "Dragons scare me."

Mother chuckled as she sat up. "I'm sorry, little one. But we needed to protect you. I hope you can adjust."

Everest bound over and crashed into the woman, taking them both to the ground. "You're awake!"

Screaming, Coral tried to recover while everyone started laughing. Everest knew how to make an entrance, and hopefully she would break down some of Coral's walls and fears.

"Ready to grab your stuff?" he asked.

Coral nodded and warily slid away from Everest. The little dragon was dismayed however and followed.

"Are you coming with, Everest?" James asked.

"Yup! You'll keep me safe!"

Glancing at mother, James earned a nod. Returning her nod, he waved for everyone to follow him. Once they were beyond the dragons, he could already see Amber drawing the attention of over one hundred Pact members. Father and Shadow Paw were standing by her side, keeping watch.

"I'm happy you all gathered!" she shouted. "I have a few questions for you!"

Ignoring her, James led the way to the gate. When a few guards tried to block them, he pulsed his soul gently, pushing them back. "We aren't here to fight. We just want to get her stuff and then we'll leave."

The Pact members regarded Coral for a moment before a young woman stepped forward. "Are you okay, Coral?"

The pink haired woman bounced forward. "I'm perfect actually! James has been telling me the truth about the world and even helped me kill a nest!"

All of the nearby Pact members turned to face him. With a sigh, he pushed open the gate and strolled inside without responding to any of them. That was what Amber was for.

***

Amber crossed her arms in front of The Pact members. Several of them had turned towards James as Coral announced them defeating a nest. Which was annoying because Amber was about to tell them the same thing.

"Listen up!" she shouted over the murmurings.

Father growled, his red scales flickering with power and stopped the discord as it was building. "You will listen to her."

"Thanks, Father," Amber said with a smile. Turning her attention back to The Pact members, she said, "it's my opinion that The Pact deserves to be eradicated to the last man. Your families should be burned out, and your heritage removed for what you have done. But alas, my anger has been tempered by Coral, so make sure you thank her."

Several of them drew weapons upon hearing her announcement. But when over a hundred dragons stepped forward, they quickly paled.

"I'm going to come to each of you," Amber announced. "I will ask a simple question and that will determine if you get to live. If you try running, I will kill you before you can make it three steps. If I don't one of my friendly dragons will. Is that understood?"

Many of them nodded, while others glared at her with hatred that made her smile and happy.

"Now, let's start with what has happened recently. Venice attacked my mate and killed his wife alongside several of our family members. For that alone, The Pact is going to be removed from this world. How you survive will be up to me to decide. If you are fortunate to not have hurt a Valiant before, or don't even know what they really are, you will be safe. James has destroyed the nest on the surface as well as the one down here. He's also defeated the rent nearby and is going to be destroying the others. The very rents that The Pact created."

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Outrage filled the air and Amber was forced to smash down with her soul, crushing the discontent before it could build. Those on the weaker side dropped to the ground, while a few of the leaders stood strong.

"It's the truth!" she growled. "Your organization killed the Valiants and created the rents. The very forces they were trying to remove from the world left energy behind that powers the rents and is eating the world. It is your fault that the worlds are dying. It is your fault that billions have died. How many have starved to death because you have lost ground? How many cities and historical sites have you lost because of your greed? How can you even sleep at night, knowing that The Pact caused genocide of an entire race? Especially one that was trying to save the world? In fact, the Valiant I know is still trying to save the world." Lowering her voice, she added, "how can you all live like this?"

Silence filled the air as she took a deep breath. Rubbing her eyes, she found them moist before she shut down her emotions. She had a job to do and she needed to get answers. "I'm going to start now. Don't try to run."

Moving to the rightmost person, she stopped and smiled. "What do you know about the Valiants?"

The woman shivered. "Nothing, ma'am. My teachers said they were legends."

"So you've never hurt one?"

"No, ma'am!"

Patting the woman's shoulder, she moved to the next person. A young man that was still in his teens. "What about you?"

"The same, ma'am."

"Why did you join The Pact?"

The boy slumped. "To save my father, ma'am. He's dying and they promised treatment."

Thinking on Coral, Amber had to admit the woman was right. How many of these kids was she going to talk to that had similar stories? How many of them needed a better life?

I'm not going to enjoy this as much as I wanted to and I have a feeling each town is going to be the same.

***

James kept a casual pace as he moved into the city. Demi-humans of all variety were huddled in the street, gawking at him and Everest. Zenaria and Coral weren't getting as much attention, but he also wasn't trying to hide most of his power.

The air rippled around him, warning people away and stopping them from causing trouble. By his side, Everest hummed happily, her head bobbing to the beat as Zenaria made sure Coral was safe.

The demi-humans were vastly different than what he was used to. Dwarves were burlier and stout. The elves were slender and darker in appearance. Beast demi-humans were covered in fur and showed more animalistic traits. They mostly looked human still, but also slightly feral.

Turning, he caught Zenaria watching a group of young Kitsune staring at them. Her golden tails were swaying happily, matching the group's as they looked like they wanted to talk to one another.

Bringing them to a stop, James touched Zenaria's shoulder. "Go say hi."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Nodding, he gently pushed her forward. "They look eager to talk to you."

Beaming, Zenaria hesitated for a moment longer before walking over to the trio. The three girls happily embraced her before they started whispering to one another.

Coral stepped up to his side. "You're a softy, aren't you?"

"At times," he admitted. "It's been a while since Zenaria has been around her own kind and not employed by evil pricks."

"Should we keep going?"

Everest bumped into him. "I want to taste some good food!"

Chuckling, he rubbed her head. "Coral is paying, so why not."

"Hey!" Coral protested.

"Zenaria, we're going to keep moving. Have fun, okay," he said with a wave.

"I will!" she called back happily.

Pulling in his soul tighter, he nudged Coral to take the lead. The woman led him through the crowded streets and past stone structures that looked like they were carved from the ground. He caught sight of very fine seams where the bricks were connected, and marveled at the skill of construction. Cultivators roamed the streets, but none of them were very powerful. In fact, they acted like normal citizens and not like the sects from the surface. They hawked fruit and worked stalls. Some of them even summoned water to wash the streets and buildings. The only ones that didn't make sense were The Pact. They were a version of cultivation that he didn't understand. Almost artificial if he had to guess. How they had skills was something he was going to have to ask Coral.

"Nearly there," Coral announced while taking them through a residential sector. Stopping before a squat home, she pushed open the door and threw out her hands. "Welcome!"

James peered inside and grimaced. The whole home was just a single room with everything crammed into it. The kitchen was tiny while pushed up against a toilet and shower. The bed doubled as a couch and based on the crumbs, he guessed she ate on it too.

"It's not the greatest," she admitted.

"It's really not," he agreed. "Thankfully our future home will be a lot better."

Smiling, she moved to the bed and flipped it over. Attached to the underside was a small chest that she opened and removed a pouch from. The jingle of coins could be heard as she attached it to her belt. "I'm ready now."

"Not going to bring anything with?" he asked.

Nodding, she started grabbing all of her clothes and adding them to her ring. Once she had folded the blankets and added them as well, she happily walked over to his side.

"Breakfast?" he questioned to both ladies.

"Yes, please!" Everest chirped.

Coral giggled before taking the lead again. "I know the perfect place!"

***

Zenaria was giddy with excitement as she walked with the three girls.

"How are your tails gold?" one of them asked.

Beaming, she pulled her tails around to her front. "They are made from energy. Humans cut off two of my tails when I was younger."

All three of them gasped and quickly grabbed their own tails. "How could they?"

"Monsters!"

"It's okay," Zenaria said. "If it didn't happen, I wouldn't have met James. He gave me the power to grow these two and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Can I touch one?"

Handing it over, Zenaria giggled. "Of course!"

The small woman ran her fingers through the fur, her mouth open as she marveled. "It feels so real. Is it really made from energy?"

"It is," Zenaria confirmed. "I love them personally and pretty soon they will change colors."

"They will?" one of them asked excitedly.

"Yup. When I get stronger, they will turn violet. That way everyone knows that I shouldn't be messed with. The only man that is allowed to touch them is James."

"Does he wash them for you?"

Nodding, she pulled her tail back into her hands. "And pampers them. The way he brushes them practically has me melting every night."

All four of them giggled as they stopped at an eatery.

"You're from the surface?"

Zenaria turned to the woman. Her fur was a burnt orange with highlights of white. Jenny, she believed. "Yup. I've been traveling with James to destroy the nests and rents. We're trying to reclaim the world."

The silver kitsune, Marcy, beamed. "That's amazing! I didn't even know that was possible."

The third kitsune was a subtle shade of steely blue with hints of white. "How long are you staying?"

Zenaria remembered her name as Marissa. "Just a few hours. The Pact needs to be tested before we leave. They killed several of my family members, including James's wife. None of us are happy and we originally planned on murdering them all."

All three ladies fell silent.

"Sorry," Zenaria said softly. "Killing people has become normal to us. It's hard to remember what a normal life is like."

Marissa grabbed her hand. "Maybe we can show you, just for a few hours."

Zenaria felt tears form in her eyes as she nodded. "I'd like that."

Marcy raised her hand and called over the server. "A round of Yentle Wine for each of us and many donuts."

The server bowed her head before hurrying away.

"Yentle Wine?" Zenaria questioned.

"You're going to love it!" Jenny said while taking her hand. "It's a favorite for kitsune in the Underworld. It softens our fur."

Perking up, Zenaria greedily looked forward to drinking it. She'd do anything for softer fur.

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