New Leaf

The sunlight ahead announced the end of the tunnel. He actually outran them! Clover leapt into the daylight with a delighted laugh, as if the sunbeams were the finish line to a race. His eyes made a rapid adjustment to the strong sun, then he came to a sliding stop in front of the cave. Why would the gods ever let this moment last any longer than it did?

The clearing was full of people, nineteen to be precise. They all looked at him in just as much alarm as he did them. There were only four women among the group, but two of them were chained together with a man. Those two women and one man were in very rough clothing and looked like they hadn't been eating well. All the others looked full of life. They were also all armed.

"Slavers!" Zultri gasped. "Clover, this is bad. We need to go get Jino and Amy!"

As if it was going to be that easy. Those two were still underwater. Even if he ran back inside, there's no guarantee they would hear him calling their names. These slavers could kill Io, Leshka, and chain him up before they ever broke the surface. Even if Io and Leshka fought with him, there were too many for them to deal with. Him and his lovers weren't combat trained. A one-on-one was incomparable to a three-on-sixteen.

As always, all he could do was talk.

"Just what the hell are all of you doing on my doorstep?" He demanded as confidently as he could while he slid his backpack back off and tossed it out of the way, along with Zultri's scabbard.

One of the slavers laughed. "Who the fuck are you, runt? What the fuck are you? Ain't never seen something like you. You some sorta mutant?"

"The only thing I am that matters is the personage of Ley. This is her church. Unless you've come to pray, your kind isn't welcome."

The slavers all burst with laughter. Good, let them laugh it up. Right now, all he could do was buy time in hopes that Jino and Amy got their asses up here. Without them, there could be some serious injuries.

One person caught his eye. One of the female slavers wasn't laughing. She was standing with their slaves and had taken a step in front of them when he announced who he was. Her expression looked fearful. Did she actually believe him? Was she protecting the merchandise? Something about her was different from the rest. He needed to keep an eye on her.

"You're hilarious, guy." One slaver called out as he stepped forward. Clover guessed he was the leader, judging on his flashier clothes and overwhelming confidence. "If you're the personage, why don't ya prove it?"

All Clover had to do was show the mark on his chest. If he did that, then the slavers might run away. No one wanted to deal with Ley, after all. However, there were the slaves to consider. He didn't personally care about them. They got dealt a bad hand in life, so what? His mates, though... they would want to rescue the slaves. Io and Leshka wanted to see him be better. He wanted to make their wishes come true.

"Fuck off." Clover replied. "Get the fuck out of here and let those slaves go. I'll be the only one left smiling if you don't."

"One of them on the right has a crossbow." Zultri warned.

"That so?" The leader tapped his jaw with a thumb as he regarded Clover. "You'd make a great toy for some collector. Bag him!"

Clover snapped his head to the right, locking his eyes onto the man with a crossbow. Then, a bolt pierced Clover's left side. He staggered from the impact and looked over toward the other side. There was a bastard standing behind two others, hiding. No wonder Zultri didn't see him. Pain exploded from the bolt's wound, but then it began going numb immediately. Within a second, he couldn't feel the area where the bolt had pierced.