The inside of the chief's house was nice, although I noticed that Alina and Delphia looked slightly uncomfortable, no doubt because of what happened to them behind these very walls. They were eventually told that they didn't have to stay, but they both were insisitant on remaining, their eyes always coming back to me. It wasn't just them, but Delphia's husband, as well as Alina's mother and father, whose names were Lia and Takesh respectively.
I was currently sitting on a couch with my girls, while Ezra took a chair across from us. Everyone else sat in various places around the room, with Benji sitting in a large chair big enough for him and the fox girl who molded herself against his side with her arms firmly wrapped around him. The pair's parents decided to sit together on another large sofa to the right of me, with Serena, Sheila, and Valerie sitting on cushions in front of them at their feet. Terroth and Marina just stood behind us, as Marina's work instincts to safeguard her lady had kicked in ever since the fight, and Terroth seemed to be wherever she was these days. I did not have the heart to tell Marina that her job was kinda redundant at this point. Anyone even thought about harming Clarissa would be erased from existence.
As we all got comfortable, my two lovers pressing themselves into me, I waited for the man to speak. When he finally did, he did not address me first, but instead, he turned his head to Delphia.
"To you, Delphia," He said, a dejected look in his eyes, before they shifted over to Alina, "And to you, Alina... I am so sorry. To all of you that I swore to watch over, and to keep safe, please... forgive my lack of strength to do so. I feel... like a failure."
"Ezra... we don't blame you for this..." Alina said, a sad look in her eyes as she watched this man, who looked on the verge of tears.
"That's right. Raizen was strong, and his men, while not as strong, were stronger than any of us. None of us could have predicted this would have happened." Delphia said, giving Ezra a sad smile, "By that logic, we should all be blaming ourselves for not being able to do anything."
"I do..." Benarious said, his fists clenching as they rested on his legs.
Delphia reached over, and forced her hand into his, which relaxed as it gently wrapped around hers. She kissed his cheek, before leaning into his shoulder.
"That won't help matters, dearest. The fact of the matter is that we are safe now, and we have the chance to rebuild, and heal." Delphia said, before her head turned to me, and she gave me a bright smile, "Thanks to this nice boy, we will be okay."
Her words caused my face to feel a bit warm, which was honestly starting to get annoying. I did not do this that much, but this woman was... built different I supposed. For Cici and Clarissa's part, they just giggled with amusement in my head, and I had to hold back my sigh. That just made their mental amusement grow even further.
"We can't thank you enough, Mr. Elias. What you did for us, for my little girl... words can never express how truly grateful we are to you." Lia said, with her husband echoing her words as they bowed their heads to me.
"Please, don't bow. I came to help, and that's what I did. I'm sorry we didn't come sooner." I said, and Serena and Benji immediately jumped in.
"That's not on you, Eli..." Serena said, her eyes gaining a bit of moisture.
"If we weren't so scared of coming back..." Benji said, with Alina comforting him by rubbing her cheek against his. The sight made me smile.
"You had every right to feel that way. No one here should blame themselves for the actions of that rotten man and his group of degenerates." Clarissa said, her words containing more bite than I expected from her.
"It's disgusting. For so long... the humans have called us animals, beasts, monsters, you name it, and here this man was... doing his best to prove them all right." Cici said, a hiss in her tone that I rarely heard from her.
"That is true..." Ezra said, but then his gaze then went to Marina standing behind me, before settling on myself and Clarissa, "Although not all humans are like that. None of you seem to hold many of the prejudices your kind have."
"I have never once saw that as a reason to dislike or disparage someone. In fact, I am quite fond of this one here." Marina said, and from the small cough and then the grunt from Terroth, even without looking, I figured she had wrapped her arms around one of his a lot tighter than was necessary. She did seem to have a fair bit more strength than he did.
"I grew up around someone like that... and I refuse to be like him. I have grown to truly care about people that are different than myself, and some of the people I love the most are not human." Clarissa said, squeezing my arm tighter as her affection hit my brain like a landslide of plush pillows.
She did care about everyone else, and saw many of them as her friends just like I did. Cici and myself were obviously the ones she loved, which warmed both of our hearts. She was my newest bond mate, my lover, and my future 2nd wife. For Cici, they had become close friends, and now, bond sisters. I also noticed how while she didn't explicitly say it, she was talking about about both myself and Cici when she mentioned those she loves people that weren't human. For all these people knew, I was, and for now, I'd keep it that way.
"Eli is the most wonderful man I have ever met of any race. He has never commented negatively about me being a Beastkin, and truly me for who I am." Cici added after a moment, before adding, "And Clarissa is my sister, and one of the kindest women you'll ever meet. I have met a lot of bad people in my life, and had a... bad experience with humans... but my life now is better than it has ever been, because of them."
I felt her kiss my cheek, and the other women in the room gave cute little "oos" and "awws," as well as a few snickers. I couldn't help but smile like an idiot in front of all of these people. My life was too damn good, and that feeling was doubled when Clarissa's lips quickly met my other cheek, although she was blushing a lot more than Cici was as she did it.
Ezra smiled at us, although there was a hint of pain behind his eyes. As I looked at him, I could see more than just his physical appearance. I was getting better at reading people's souls, as I saw it anyways, the more I did it. He was a good man, with a good heart, but there was a large sense of longing and loss permeating his heart. I felt that, at one point, he had someone he had loved, but either that person either left... or worse.
"Well, that is good to know. I didn't have any doubt, but the confirmation is appreciated. I can tell a lot about a person from their eyes." Ezra said, his eyes locking on mine, "Your eyes are intimidating, but they hold more than that. You are a man of strong character and resolve, but I also see compassion in those eyes. That is something the truly strong often lack as their increased power goes to their heads. Why show kindness when you can just force your will upon others? I think now... we all know that all too well."
The silence that hung in the air after that statement was heavy, and the haunted looks in Delphia and Alina's eyes especially made blood run hot. These people had been so nice to me already, and their souls would have been as bright as the sun without that darkness of fear and trauma filling them. I hated it. These sick assholes taking advantage of good people just because they could. They all deserved the fate I gave them, and would no doubt give to others in the future.
"Darling, you're doing it again." Cici said, breaking me from my thoughts.
"It's okay, Eli." Clarissa said softly.
Both women each put one of their hands in mine, calming me down significantly. It was only thanks to them that I realized that I had let my emotions get to me, and in my anger at the world at large, my aura had began to subtly leak from me. The wide eyes of those around me caused me to curse internally as I sucked it back into my body, and gave an apologetic smile.
"Sorry." I said, lowering my head to those around me.
"You... did not even have to try to defeat Raizen, did you?" Ezra asked, his face trying to portray a calm demeanor, but even his eyes had opened wide.
I thought about what to say for a moment, but it's not like I truly hid what I could do. I only used as much power as I had to most times.
"I could have ended him instantly if I wanted to. I just... didn't think he deserved to get off that easy." I admitted, and Ezra stared at me for a moment, before surprisingly, he chuckled as he shook his head.
"I should have figured with how you seemed to be toying with him. I'm just glad that you seem like a good man." Ezra said.
"I think he's a very sweet boy. He's been nothing but kind and respectful to me and everyone else." Delphia said with a smile directed at me, once again making me feel a bit warm in the face, but I did my best to hide it.
Everyone else, seemingly over their shock at my power from before, nodded at her words as they smiled at me. After that, everyone began introducing themselves properly. Ezra was very impressed with Serena, Benji, Terroth, and Sheila in particular as they explained about how their happenstance meeting led to them all forming a tight knit friendship that led to them forming their own adventuring party.
Everyone was also very interested in Valerie, as none of them had ever met a Dhampir before. However, unlike how she had been treated by most people in her life before meeting all of us, none of those present were afraid of her, or treated her negatively simply for being a half vampire. More than anything, they were excited, and even interested in knowing more about her.
The kind words, and curious questions caused Valerie to blush, but more than that, I saw happy tears gathering in her eyes. I smiled, and that only widened as Serena hugged her from the side, while her mother reached down and gently ran a hand through her hair, and marveled at how soft it was. This was good for her, and for me as well. In a world full of such shit people, it was refreshing to meet people like this.
Marina didn't really say much about herself, only that she was Clarissa's personal guard, and Terroth's mate. Terroth choking on his own spit made me snort. The man was a large and stoic individual, but he was no better than a teenage boy sometimes when it came to women. Made me wonder if Terroth really could handle two women. I guess we'd have to see.
Cici and Clarissa properly introduced themselves next. They had already become quite popular among the villagers in a short time, and that was no different for the newer faces in the room. My ladies both had their own unique charm and personalities that you couldn't help but love. They both talked a little bit about themselves, and where they came from, and of course, they both sung my praises. They left out much that was personal, which was fine. Not everyone needed to know everything about us or our lives.
Once that was done, Ezra finally shifted his gaze to me. He wasn't the only one, as Alina's and Serena's parents also looked at me expectantly. It was a bit uncomfortable having people stare at me like this, but I didn't let it show on my face.
"So, as you know, my name is Elias. Elias Crosse. I came here on behalf of my friends, Serena and Benji. They asked for my help in saving this village, and I agreed to help. I also couldn't very well in good conscience do nothing after I heard about what was happening. I... do not agree with the notion that power is everything, nor that the strong should oppress the weak. Raizen needed to be stopped." I said, feeling more comfortable the more I spoke, and I let out a small chuckle, "Seems like it's almost a personal goal for me to tear down as many of these power hungry assholes as possible these days."
While everyone new to us listened to my words, everyone else either nodded, smiled, or in the girls' case, let out small giggles.
"You have an interesting way of putting things, darling." Cici said mentally.
"I think it's endearing." Clarissa agreed, also speaking into my mind.
"I see. A man with your ideals would have no doubt clashed with others already... given how many powerful people act. May I ask where you are from?" Ezra asked me, and I paused.
I didn't necessarily care too much about keeping secrets, but I also didn't believe I needed to share everything about myself with others. I had shared many things with the people in my life so far, because I had grown to trust them, and I knew them well. Martin was a good example, as he quickly became a man I saw as a real friend, just like his wife, and everyone else around me. For a while, my best and closest friend was Cici, which I still saw her as. I wouldn't say I'd never tell anyone here about my origins, but for now... I didn't feel it was necessary. Ezra seen my hesitation, and held up his hands.
"You do not have to tell us if you do not wish to. What you have done for all of us is more than enough for me to believe your intentions are good." He said, but then his face hardened as he stared to the left, his eyes landing on the person on the ground in the corner of his living space, "On to the other reason I wanted to speak to you... what do you plan to do with him? You said he was to be... what was it? A guide?"
At his words, my eyes tracked where his were, and I locked eyes with the terror filled gaze of Garreth, who was still lying immobilized as the shade I had summoned had a foot on his back. I was asked about the shade many times by many people, including those in this room, but all I had said was that it was a skill, and surprisingly, that stopped any further questions about it. It was amusing that the simple answer of, "It's a skill," or "magic," was all it took for people to not ask too many questions. I then turned my gaze back, and nodded at Ezra.
"While I do think he deserves to pay for what he's done, I need him alive for now. As you probably know, these other Beastkin are from a village far from here, near the Dead Lands." I said, and Ezra, as well as the other residents, nodded.
"I had heard them mention it a few times before." Ezra said, frowning.
"Raizen talked about his village a lot when he got to rambling." Delphia said, a look of disgust twisting her admittedly elegant features, "He would talk about how much better his life was here, having everything he could ever want. He bragged to us about how beautiful all of us women were compared to the boring ones from his village."
"He would often mention his family, and how naive they all were compared to him. From the sounds of it, they don't seem to be anything like him... at least, I hope not." Alina added, her body trembling, as Benji held her closer to his body.
"That's what I heard as well. I interrogated this man and his friend before I came into the village. From the sounds of it, Raizen left because of their clashing ideals. That being said, I doubt they knew how truly far gone Raizen had truly become. My plan is to make sure that they aren't a threat to you, or any one else... and even if they aren't, I do feel they have a right to know what happened here, and what Raizen and his group of sickos did to you all. If nothing else, even if they didn't know what would happen, it sounded like they had some idea that Raizen wasn't right in the head, and they just up and let him and these guys leave." I explained, which caused everyone to nod at me.
"I... see. I have never been to the Dead Lands, but I think everyone has heard of it. Even so, the Dead Lands are quite far from here. It would take... weeks to reach it by land." Ezra said with a pensive expression, but I just waved my hand.
"Not an issue. We traveled from Arbigold to your village in less than an hour. I can fly, and am quite fast." I said, which caused Ezra, Delphia, her husband, and Alina and her parents to gape at me.
"I... hmm... that does make sense." Ezra said, although his tone implied that he was actually still trying to make sense of it, "If that is what you are going to do, then perhaps I should accompany you. Having someone with you that experienced what Raizen did would be smart."
I thought about that, and nodded in agreement. I did have Garreth still, and if I was going to make him show me the way, I might as well see if he'll fess up to what these fuckers did here. That being said, he could just lie, or they might think he's just saying things out of diress. It wouldn't be a good look if I beat the answers out of him in front of these people either.
"No, Ezra, I think you should stay." Delphia said, giving the man a smile, "The people here need you now more than ever. You may not think so, but everyone still loves and respects you as our village chief, and they need your guidance now more than ever."
Ezra opened his mouth, looking like he was going to try and counter her argument, but he closed it. Her words did make sense. These people surely looked up to him, and him leaving so soon after they had been freed from that asshole could very well lower their morale. That didn't even mention the fact that he was strong, but that currently didn't matter as much. A lot of us were powerful, and I didn't plan on taking every single person with me. I don't think these people would respond well to a group of people showing up to their village and hurling accusations at them.
"You... have a point, Delphia." Ezra hesitantly admitted, before he asked, "Do you have another idea instead?"
Delphia looked at him, smiled, and then turned to me, giving me a smile that I didn't know if I liked or not.
"As someone that was... more directly impacted by Raizen, I think I should go." Delphia said, causing me to raise my eyebrows, and for everyone else to stare at her with confused looks.
"Del... are you sure that's a good idea?" Benarious asked, and she gave him a sad smile as she put her hand on hers.
"I am. I was around him pretty much the whole time, so I have a lot I can tell them about that... man..." She said, growling the last part, "I will admit that I'm... not quite okay, but the other girls are so young... they shouldn't have had to deal with any of what happened, and I sure as hell won't make anyone else deal with this. I'm holding it together the best compared to them."
While it pained me to hear that, I also couldn't deny that having her help with this would be good. Having more people to corroborate this would be helpful. If things went south... I guess I could just do my thing, but I didn't feel like I had to here. If Raizen and his goons were the outliers, then this could very well be resolved peacefully.
"If that's the case... then let me come too." Alina said, but Delphia looked at her and shook her head.
"No honey, you should stay here. You shouldn't have to deal with this. Can you honestly tell me that you will be able to keep it together if you have to talk about what we experienced?" Delphia asked, her words making Alina flinch.
The girl didn't say anything at first, but as I watched her, her eyes became a little distant, before I saw tears gathering in her eyes. The look on her face almost made me take Raizen's corpse out of my storage just so I could beat the shit out of him, dead or not.
"...n....no..." Alina said, her words clipped as the tears fell down her cheeks.
Benji pulled her face into his chest as she let out small sobs, and Delphia had a guilty look on her face as she looked at the girl. Alina's parents had gotten up at this point, going over to help comfort her, with her father rubbing her back while her mother ran a hand through her hair, their own emotions showing on their faces.
"It might be hard... but I think I can manage it." Delphia said, before her gaze locked with mine, "Elias, dear boy, what do you think?"
I looked at her for a moment, as well as the people around her. While Benarious looked worried, Serena appeared to have a hesitant acceptance in her eyes. She could see that it was a good idea too, even despite her not feeling too good about it since it was her mom. Serena was incredibly intelligent, but I had never once doubted that. Sometimes it was just hard to separate logic from your emotions. I knew that all too well.
The others didn't really seem to think one way or another about it, at least from what I could tell. Sheila was actually looking at her with respect in her eyes, while Valerie just bit her bottom lip. I finally brought my gaze back to Delphia, and I could definitely see where Serena got that determined fire I sometimes saw in her eyes.
"I like her a lot, darling." Cici's voice said in my head.
"I do too, and she's right. She has her head on straight, and given what happened to her... unfortunately, she's one of the best people to bring with us." Clarissa added, and I mentally agreed with them both.
"That's what I thinking. She seems to be really good with people, and with her words. She'll probably be able to tell them things that only their family would know." I said, before looking at Delphia, and giving an outward chuckle, "Plus, with that look, I doubt she'll take no for an answer."
The girls giggled outwardly as well, making the others not in the know to give us a strange look. I cleared my throat to regain my composure, before I looked at Delphia and gave her smile.
"If you can handle it, I would definitely appreciate your help. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise." I said, and Delphia gave me a radiant smile.
"I'll help as best as I can. I know a few things from listening to Raizen that only their family would know." She said, but then she looked at me with a mischievous grin that actually made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, "Plus, it'll give me more time to chat with you."
Hmm... I actually began to wonder if it was a good idea after all to bring her with us after all.