Enslaved

Chapter 44

Ryuu watched the opening to the tunnel, the rest of his force behind him ready as he restrained himself from running into the tunnel. Where was she? He could hear the flapping of wings behind him in the air, all of them seemingly holding their breath in anticipation. Ryuu knew that he should give the order to hide in the trees in case Kaida got caught but he couldn't find it in himself to give that order-he couldn't find it in himself to not have his force ready to charge in and get her. His mate was inside that cave all by herself, breaking his rules in the same way he himself almost had a million times before. He strained his ears to pick up any sound in the tunnel, his eyes glued on the spot he had last seen Kaida.

"Why don't we follow her?" A timid voice spoke up behind him and he resisted the urge to whirl around. "At the very least we could offer her some backup..."

Ryuu bared his teeth despite the fact that they could not see him.

"You know as well as I do that we are not allowed to do that."

He heard slight muttering behind him from his people but still didn't turn around, straining his ears and eyes to see or hear anything from that long tunnel.

"What if we-"

Ryuu raised his hand, his heartbeat accelerating as a yell sounded from the tunnel, sounding all the world to be happy. He frowned, stretching out his wings behind him slightly and readying his stance to be able to take off at a moments notice. He heard a few people land behind him and just as he was about to turn around to see who it was, a flash of movement down the tunnel caught his eye and he took a step forward. The figure was taller than Kaida and Ryuu's heart sunk for a second before he noticed the shackles the covered their form and he frowned. What was a slave doing just walking back to the exit of the tunnel? Where were the slavers? As the slave continued to walk toward them, Ryuu noticed that more and more were following them, all of them shackled but not connected and their eyes were up and looking directly at him.

"What do we do?" A hybrid behind him asked, their voice as quiet as the wind. "Ryuu?"

Ryuu felt something snap in his chest and he folded his wings back in, staring down the tunnel as his thoughts whirled. Had she freed the entire colony by herself?

"We go help them, of course."

He took off running into the tunnel to the sounds of his force cheering and landing behind him and he allowed himself a grim smile before focusing his attention back on the stumbling slaves. His eyes scanned over all of them, searching for the mismatched gaze of his mate. He reached the slave at the front of the line and was surprised to see they were wielding one of the slavers rusty blades, which they pulled in front of them as Ryuu stopped only a few steps from them, noting the red blood that dripped from the metal. They were also a girl and looked like they had not been a slave for very long, the place where the shackles met skin rubbed raw instead of scarred over.

"Who are you?" Her draconic was flawless, another thing that told him that she had not been a slave for long. "And what do you want?"

Ryuu blinked in surprise, flaring out one of his wings in a message to his people behind him to slow down.

"I am Ryuu." He said, keeping his voice calm. "I am the leader of the rebellion. What happened here?"

She lowered her sword, letting the tip rest in the dirt.

"Thank goodness, I thought you were reinforcements from the Empire." She blew a filthy strand of hair out of her eyes. "One of your rebels freed us. She snuck up on all of them and slit their throats. They never even knew what was coming!"

Ryuu's eyes flashed before he smiled slightly.

"I am glad to hear that. Where is she now?"

The hybrid motioned behind her.