Chapter 25

  Tough Choices Plus Names

  Luna was already halfway across the square when Lux emerged from between two half-collapsed buildings, wiping his blade clean. Her sharp eyes caught the blood along his shoulder, the dirt smears across his face, and the goblin shaman’s corpse lying behind him.

  “You’re in one piece,” she said, ears twitching as she scanned for movement.

  “For now,” Lux replied, nodding to the wolfmen to start rounding up anyone still outside.

  Luna turned sharply, her voice carrying across the settlement. “Everyone inside! Barricade doors and secure the windows—now!” The freed demi-humans moved quickly, the rabbit girl shepherding the children while the older dog woman supported the injured.

  Lux stepped in close, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “When they’re in and safe… we talk.”

  She didn’t meet his eyes. “We’ll see if there’s time—”

  “No.” His tone cut through her words like a blade. “We make time. If you don’t talk with me after this… I’m done.”

  Her tail flicked once, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she strode away, issuing more orders, forcing the conversation to wait—but the weight of his words followed her with every step.

  The heavy wooden doors slammed shut with a dull thud, the iron latch sliding into place. Outside, the last echoes of monster screeches faded into the distance. Inside, exhausted former captives huddled together, catching their breath.

  Luna was already moving to check the barricades when Lux stepped in front of her, eyes hard.

  “We’re talking. Now.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “It can wait—”

  “No,” he cut in, voice low but sharp. “If you don’t talk with me now, I’m done.”

  The air between them tightened. For a moment, it looked like she’d walk away, but instead she turned on her heel and led him to a dim storage room at the far end of the hall. The door clicked shut, muting the sounds of the group outside.

  Lux didn’t waste time. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked—every damn test, every errand—without knowing if you even trust me. I’ve risked my life, bled, carried strangers through hell because I thought it mattered to you… and still, you keep holding me at arm’s length.”

  He raked a hand through his hair, voice lowering but tightening. “I’m not your enemy, Luna. But if I’m going to keep fighting for you—for them—then I need to know what the hell we’re doing. I can’t keep chasing shadows while you decide if I’m worth the truth.”

  Luna leaned back against a stack of crates, amber eyes watching him in silence for several seconds. Finally, she spoke, her voice softer than usual. “You think I test you because I enjoy it? No. I do it because I’ve trusted the wrong people before—men who smiled, fought alongside us… then sold us out when the coin was right. I can’t afford another mistake. Not with lives depending on me.”

  He stepped closer, meeting her stare head-on. “Then stop treating me like I’m one of them. You’ve seen what I’ll do—you’ve seen who I’ll kill—to keep people safe. I’m not asking for your trust overnight, but I am asking for a straight answer: are we in this together, or not?”

  Her jaw tightened… then she gave the smallest of nods. “We are. For now.”

  It wasn’t much, but it was something. And for Lux, that was enough to keep moving forward.

  Luna’s nod had barely settled before Lux pressed on.

  “Good. Now we deal with the other problem.”

  Her brow furrowed. “What problem?”

  He gestured toward the door, where muffled voices of the rescued group carried faintly through the wood. “Them. We can’t keep having two leaders barking orders. Either you lead… or I do. But we can’t keep confusing them with conflicting calls in the middle of a fight.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “So you’re telling me to step down?”

  “I’m telling you to decide,” he shot back. “Because right now, they’re looking to both of us. That means half of them follow you, half of them follow me, and eventually someone’s going to get killed because we weren’t on the same page.”

  She crossed her arms, tail flicking behind her. “And you think you’re the one to lead?”

  “I think I’m the one who’s been in more fights, made more life-or-death calls, and got them here alive. But if you can do better, I’ll follow you without complaint. What I won’t do is play tug-of-war with lives on the line.”

  The words hung between them like drawn blades.

  Luna’s gaze didn’t waver, but her breathing had slowed. She was weighing him—not just his words, but him.

  Finally, she stepped closer, her voice low. “You want me to choose? Fine. I’ll lead. But you’ll be my second. I give the orders, you make sure they happen. No undermining, no splitting the group. If you can live with that, we keep going. If not—”

  “—then we’re done,” Lux finished for her. He held her gaze another beat, then nodded once. “Second it is. But if you freeze up or make a bad call, I’m taking the reins. No hesitation.”

  Her lips curled into a thin, knowing smile. “Deal.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  For the first time since they’d met, it felt like the line between them was clear. Now they just had to survive long enough to see if it would hold.

  They stepped out of the back room together. The chatter in the hall died instantly—thirty pairs of eyes, tired and wary, shifting between them.

  Luna didn’t waste time. “We have half a day before anything from the city finds us. First priority—barricades and sentries. I want the perimeter sealed.”

  Lux’s voice came right on her heels. “Wolfmen, you’re with me—check every entrance point in the settlement. Rabbit girl, take the goat man and start reinforcing the eastern wall with whatever you can scavenge.”

  The rescued demi-humans didn’t hesitate this time. Orders came in one voice, even if it was split between two mouths. They moved with purpose.

  Luna turned to the older dog woman. “Food and water inventory. Get me numbers.”

  Lux pointed at the fox-eared couple. “You two, sweep every building for anything we can use—rope, nails, tools. If it looks useful, grab it.”

  It was seamless. No one second-guessed, no one froze. For the first time since this all began, the group wasn’t scattered under pressure.

  Luna glanced at Lux as the first barricade beams were dragged into place. “Looks like they’re listening.”

  He gave a short nod, scanning the perimeter. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

  Luna looks at lux and says we neednames for everyone so we don't get confused.

  Lux’s mouth twitched—not quite a smile, but close enough. “Good. Names matter. Shows them they’re not just another face in the crowd.”

  Luna finally glanced at him, a faint glint in her amber eyes. “We agree on something, then.”

  “Guess so,” he said, turning toward the wolfmen already hauling boards toward the east side. “Let’s make sure none of those names end up on a grave marker.”

  From there, the work moved fast. The wolfmen reinforced doorways with scavenged furniture, wedging heavy tables against thresholds. The goat man and rabbit girl dragged bundles of salvaged rope to secure the barricades, while the fox couple began patching gaps in the settlement’s half-collapsed wall with scrap wood.

  Lux moved between groups, offering quick instructions—sometimes even demonstrating a faster knot or a more secure bracing technique. Every time someone hesitated, he locked eyes with them and said, “We keep moving. Hesitation gets you killed.”

  By the time the sun began to dip, the abandoned settlement looked less like a ruin and more like a holdfast preparing for a siege.

  Luna walked the perimeter, checking each section in silence before giving a short nod. “It’ll hold. For tonight, at least.”

  Lux crossed his arms, scanning the wall. “Then we keep working until holding for tonight becomes holding for the week.”

  By the time the barricades were secure, the older dog woman returned from a corner of the settlement with the rabbit girl at her side, a sheet of rough parchment in her hands. The faint scent of scorched charcoal clung to it.

  “It’s done,” she said, handing it to Luna.

  Luna glanced at it briefly before passing it to Lux without a word. He took it, scanning the cramped writing line by line.

  The Thirty:

  ? Lizardwomen: Sera, Veth

  ? Fox folk: Hali, Reth, Renn

  ? Wolfmen: Dorrin, Toln, Jerr, Rath

  ? Goat man: Dorn

  ? Rabbit girl: Lys

  ? Dog folk: Alva , Garron, Maera (older dog woman)

  ? Sheep folk: Elryn, her infant son Ryn

  ? Horned man: Korr

  ? Avian folk: Lio (injured boy)

  ? Monkey woman: Strenn

  ? Elf woman: Neria

  ? Green-haired sheep woman: Sael

  ? Bird woman: Chyra

  ? Three unidentified beastmen from labor camp: Brakk, Tollek, Varn

  ? Three freed unidentified sewing beastwomen: Ilra, Mossi, Kel

  ? Two fox cubs: Lani, Rethin

  ? Young demi dog girl: Yill

  Lux traced a finger over the list before folding it and sliding it into his satchel. “This is more than names,” he said, looking up at Luna. “It’s a promise.”

  No one argued. The weight of that paper was heavier than any weapon they carried.

  By the time the sun had burned low and the settlement fell into shadows, sentries had been posted along the patchwork barricades. The night air was cool, but heavy with the smell of damp earth and old timber.

  Lux sat near the east wall with two wolfmen on watch, eyes scanning the treeline. At first, the forest was still… then, faint and far off, a flicker of torchlight winked between the trees.

  One torch.

  Then another.

  Then several, moving together in a slow but steady approach.

  Lux didn’t say a word. He simply tightened his grip on the short sword and glanced toward the center of the settlement, where Luna stood listening to the wind, her tail slowly flicking side to side.

  The flicker of light wavered through the black timber line, bobbing like will-o’-wisps in the mist.

  Lux’s hand stayed on his sword hilt, but his brow furrowed as the shapes came into focus.

  Not armored soldiers. Not the measured march of patrols.

  These were unsteady, staggering movements — the uneven rhythm of exhaustion.

  “Hold,” Lux muttered to the wolfmen. “Not yet.”

  The torches drew closer until the light spilled over a cluster of ragged figures — demi-humans, a dozen at most, their fur and feathers matted with grime, clothes torn from flight. A sheep woman stumbled at the front, clutching a small boy to her chest.

  By the time they reached the barricade, Luna was already there, her hand raised for the sentries to let them through. The gate scraped open just enough for the first few to squeeze inside.

  One of the arrivals, a hawk-eyed beastman with one wing hanging limp, gasped between breaths, “The… the city… Springvale—” He bent forward, almost losing his footing.

  A green-furred dogman steadied him, then spoke hoarsely:

  “It’s Baron Blackwood. Word spread after his son’s death… he’s hunting anyone suspected of treachery. Anyone seen with strangers. They’ve shut the gates, doubled the guard, and the wagons—” He swallowed hard. “The wagons are leaving every day now.”

  Lux’s jaw tightened. “Where to?”

  The dogman met his gaze. “North. They say… to the quarries. But…” His voice faltered, the weight of what he’d seen in his eyes. “…no one comes back from the quarries.”

  Luna’s ears flattened as she stepped closer. “You came all this way to us?”

  The hawk-eyed man nodded. “Some of us escaped during the chaos in the city. We heard there was a place… a safe place.” His gaze flicked between Luna and Lux. “We were told to look for you.”

  The air in the settlement grew heavier. Even the crackle of the torch flames seemed too loud. Lux could feel the eyes of every demi-human on him, waiting for his next words.

  The hawk-eyed man steadied his breath, eyes darting between Luna and Lux.

  “There’s more… Baron Blackwood’s called for mages from the surrounding lands — says it’s to ‘help maintain order’ after the attack on his son. They’re working the gates, sniffing out magic signatures, tracking runaways.”

  A murmur of unease rippled through the settlement.

  The green-furred dogman picked up the thread.

  “There’s been more slaves brought in and more leaving than usual. Not just work gangs — whole wagons loaded down. He’s moving them fast.” His voice dropped, hard as stone. “And the baron issued a public decree. Any escaped demi-human slave will be captured and sent to his mines in the north. No trials, no mercy. Everyone knows no one comes back from the mines.”

  Luna’s tail lashed once, slow and tense.

  “Then the question becomes,” she said, eyes narrowing, “how long before he finds out about this place?”

  Lux’s mind was already moving. “We were careful… but after what happened in Springvale—” He cut himself off, thinking of one face in particular. Jack.

  Luna caught the glance. “You think it could be him?”

  “I don’t know,” Lux admitted. “Last I saw him, he was bleeding in the sewers, but not dead. If he made it out…” He clenched his jaw. “…he could’ve talked. Or he might still be working an angle.”

  The hawk-eyed man shifted uneasily. “We came here because someone in the city told us there was a safe haven. A place in the wilds. We… don’t know who they heard it from.”

  Lux exhaled slowly. “So either Jack lived and opened his mouth… or someone else has been watching us.”

  The air felt thicker with each passing second, the torchlight flickering across wary faces.