Chapter 292: The early rescue party.

Sleep had completely knocked Maverick out, a side effect of the antidote he had taken. He woke up now to the harsh screech of a beast which split the air.

"Ah, damn it_ transport beasts." Maverick groaned, clutching his chest.

He had been stabbed plenty of times in his life, but this pain was on another level. His lungs felt like they were full of hot needles. It had to be the effects of the poison, or the antidote had not worked as well as he had thought it had. Every breath was torture.

He winced, twisting his body to peek through the bushes. The beasts slammed onto the dirt with a loud thud, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

As the dust cleared, Maverick spotted a giant bejeweled silver eagle. On its back sat a young man with glaring, burnt-orange hair.

Maverick let out a ragged sigh. Achilles. Thank the heavens. While he didn’t approve of the young man’s lush orange hair or the way he decked his half-life beast out in jewels, he appreciated Achilles’s abilities. Be if financially, or in strength and wisdom. When he was not changing girlfriends and whispering bad ideas to start chaos in the family, he was useful. Still, it was shocking that he was the first from the family to find him.

Ignoring the agony in his ribs, Maverick crouched down and began frog-hopping through the dirt toward the Slave Territory’s border.

Ahead, Azur was already walking out to greet the newcomers.

"Welcome, welcome!" Azur sneered, rubbing his hands together. "Are you fine gentlemen here to buy some slaves today? We have strong ones, fat ones, tall ones, beautiful ones, ugly ones...it all depends on your tastes and preferences."

Achilles didn’t even answer. He was looking around like a madman, his eyes sweeping the dirt. He snapped his fingers and motioned to a heavily built man behind him. "Julian. Bring them out."

Julian and a few men hauled heavy wooden crates off the beasts and dropped them in front of Azur. Achilles stepped forward and kicked the lids open.

Inside were mountain loads of high-grade energy stones and herbs.

Azur and his men froze. Their eyes turned into the size of dinner plates.

"I am looking for the people who were in that plane," Achilles said, his voice cold. "Tell me where they are, and this is yours."

Azur’s shock turned into a dirty grin. Then, he pulled an ordinary black handgun from his waist and pointed it straight at Achilles’ forehead. "How about I just keep the treasure and your life?"

Before Azur could even blink, every single one of Achilles’ men was pointing their disruptor-rifles, at his face. The raw, terrifying aura coming off those weapons made Azur’s bandits sweat bullets.

"I’d lower that toy-gun if I were you," Achilles said calmly. "Unless you want this disgusting shit of a place turned into a bloodbath. I am not someone that you can mess with and right now, I am not very patient."

"You think I’m scared of your machines_ ours work just the same!?" Azur roared. He raised his gun higher. "Striker! Get your ass over here!" He looked at his men and gestured for them to bring their half-life beasts.

Within two seconds, shadows began to grow. Half-life beasts emerged, roaring with violent fury. The scariest one stood directly behind Azur_ a medium sized stone elephant made of solid granite, snorting clouds of grey dust.

Maverick, still hiding in the tall grass, widened his eyes. So that’s why the little midget is the boss around here. A mid level granite elephant_ annoying. He desperately looked around for a sword or a spear. Nothing. Just dirt and jagged stones.

"Guess this will have to do," he muttered. He grabbed a heavy rock, weighed it in his palm, leaned back despite the fiery pain in his chest, and threw it with every ounce of his inner strength.

It happened so fast nobody even saw the rock fly.

Azur’s head snapped sideways. A loud crack echoed across the clearing as his skull caved in. The little man flopped onto the dirt like a sack of potatoes, dead before he hit the ground.

"Boss?!" one of the slave guards screamed.

That was all the distraction Achilles needed. "Kill them!"

"Charge!" Julian yelled.

Achilles’ men moved like lightning. They locked the rocky Elephant, suppressing its power, while their rifles blasted the remaining slave guards into dust. Within ten seconds, the entire fight was over.

A group of newly arrived ragged slaves sitting in wooden cages near the entrance to the town watched the whole thing in dead silence. They didn’t know whether to cheer or cry. Were these new guys rescuers, or just worse monsters?

Achilles lowered his gun, panting softly. He looked down at Azur’s dead body, then looked at the tall grass and trees.

"Where the hell did that stone come from?" He muttered. He scanned the tree line. It has to be him_

Right on cue, a tall figure stumbled out from the shadow of a huge oak tree. He was clutching his ribs, dragging his feet, and looking like a walking corpse.

"Took you long enough, kiddo," Maverick wheezed, coughing up a tiny drop of dark blood.

"Maverick!" Achilles’ face lit up with massive joy. He ran over, looking like he wanted to hug him, but held back when he saw Maverick’s chest. "You’re alive!"

Then, Achilles paused. He looked behind Maverick. Left. Right. Nothing. His smile dropped instantly. "Wait_ where is Grandpa? Is he dead?"

"Relax," Maverick coughed, leaning against a tree. "The Grand Elder isn’t dead. He took a transport beast to the capital. He’s fine."

Achilles let out a huge breath, his shoulders slumping in relief. "Thank God, I thought I was going to have to tell my mother he really died."

"Yeah, well, worry about me first," Maverick grunted, his vision blurring. "I’ve got poison residue cooking my guts right now."

"In a minute," Achilles said as he looked at the slaves. "You are all free. Release the other slaves, kill the captors in hiding and burn this town down when you are finished looting it."

His men released the slaves. Those slaves grabbed weapons and ran deeper into the town.

Maverick led Achilles’s men to where the plane had been taken. Achilles ordered for two bodies to be placed in the plane and burnt to ashes. "This should waste some of your time cousin." he muttered.

When he was satisfied with what they had done, He looked at the team "Claudia open the portal now." Achilles yelled, grabbing Maverick’s arm to support him.

A teenage girl with hair split in two buns stepped forward and opened a portal. The half-life and transport beasts belonging to their group went through first.

"How did you find me?" Maverick asked Achilles, curiously.

Achilles smirked. "Trade secret. Now, let’s get out of here," he said with a smile, slinging Maverick’s arm over his shoulder and stepping into the light, heading straight back to the Valley.