Quinn

If Juan looked dazed and a little lost last night, he was even more so this morning, his eyes darting here and there, gazing at his surroundings in marvel. I guessed it'd take him at least a couple of days to get used to his new environment, especially when he had been used to living in squalor, which was a vast contrast to the fine luxury.

The dining hall was packed, as usual, but unlike normal, it was rowdier with the soldiers and Norsewood citizens forming a thick wall, crowding around Juan. It had been late last night when he arrived, so most of them hadn't seen him until now. And that little squirrel, Red, seemed to love the attention, too, now that he had gotten used to the new environment, perching on Juan's shoulder and being stroked and petted.

I chuckled and said, "Juan is very popular, isn't he?"

Beside me, Aldric said, "He's liked by everyone."

I raised a brow. "Are you implying you're not liked by everyone?"

"Most are afraid to approach me," he said.

I said, "They're afraid to approach you simply because you're the lord of the land. They know you're busy and stealing your important time away from your important work is considered rude in their minds." I nudged his shoulder. "Besides, they bow or curtsy at you when you pass them, don't they? That's considered a greeting."

"Mm-hmm." He nodded.

The throng of people finally dispersed, and Juan came to the lord's table, taking a seat next to Aldric. When he saw the trays of scrumptious food in front of him, a dark expression appeared on his face. I leaned over and asked, "Is the look of the food not to your liking?"

He shook his head and said, "No. I... There is so much food here, unlike back at the dungeon. Norsewood has never had anything like this before. I suddenly remember my men and the captives."

I had yet to get the full story of this dungeon and the captives, but I'd find that out soon enough, in detail, at the meeting after breakfast.

"We're very blessed to have this food," he said, and then started digging in, a mixed expression of joy and sadness on his face. He seemed to like the meal tremendously, especially the eggs Benedict, and of course, the crispy bacon, and he had multiple helpings. Indeed, he was an eater just like Uncle Colt. Must be a Templeton thing because Aldric and Mark, too, had big appetites.

Since Red couldn't eat what we had for breakfast, I summoned my circle and showered him with a pile of nuts, seeds, and dried berries. He seemed overjoyed and eagerly hopped from Juan's shoulder to the small mound and started chipping away.

"Uncle Juan!" It was the voices of Jonah and Leo.

Juan looked up, and when he saw the boys, he burst out laughing. He stood, and with his arms opened wide, he said, "Jonah! Leo!"

Both Jonah and Leo rushed over and threw themselves into their uncle's powerful arms. When the other youngsters came in, Abi and Alex included, there was delightful shrieking and more hugging. Indeed, Juan was loved by everyone in his family.

"A squirrel!" Abi said excitedly at seeing Red on the table, his mouth filled with nuts.

Juan chuckled and said, "That's Red."

"Is he your pet, Uncle?" Jonah asked.

"He was my guide," Juan said.

"Can we play with him?" Abi begged.

"Of course," Juan said, and immediately, Red was surrounded and being pampered. It looked like he was in heaven.

It was an hour later when we were in the conference room up on the fifth floor of the administration building. The people present were Aldric, Uncle Colt, Allan, Jacob, Mark, Miles, Caine, Theo, Vincent, Connor, Elio, Chris, Liam, and of course, me, the only woman, since Eden, Frances, and Sara were busy at the health clinic. We listened attentively as Juan imparted to us what had happened to him and his men.

"Lord St. Clair, Norfolk, and Devon were generous enough to offer us aid despite they themselves having procured very little harvest this year due to drought," he said. "We had three wagons loaded with sacks of wheat, rye, and barley by the end of our mission. Upon our return journey, we encountered a group of Mountain Dwarves and Wood Elves who were returning to Egral and Wodria respectively, having compiled their stock for the winter. Since we were taking the same route, we journeyed together, and the captain of the Mountain Dwarves' group, Klein, offered us a wagon of their supply, grains as well as dried fish and meat and cheese. The head of the Wood Elves, Les, was also generous enough to offer us one upon hearing about the raid. The wagon they gave us was filled with grains, dried produce, and salt.

"Salt?" Allan said. "That is very generous of them. Salt is very expensive."

"As well as meat and cheeses," Jacob said.

Everyone nodded at that.

Juan continued. "We were close to the Norsewood border, at the base of the alps where we would be parting ways the next morning. However, the attack came that night. It wasn't from monsters, which we had been on guard and prepared for, but humans. We have no idea who they were or what they wanted. The surprise assault came from all around us, and some of the Mountain Dwarves and Wood Elves were killed. They threw some sort of devices that released smoke, and it burned the eyes and made one sick. I, as well as everyone, collapsed and blacked out from it, and when we came to, we found ourselves imprisoned. Every day, we mined deep in the dungeon, and every day, I worked on finding a way out. It wasn't until two weeks ago when a little girl, Lilly, showed me a secret passage." He patted the little squirrel, Red, perching on his shoulder. "He guided me out. Lilly is a tamer, and this boy listens to her."

A monster tamer, eh? How interesting.

Juan said, "We must return to the dungeon to free the others. There are not only me and my men, the Mountain Dwarves, and the Wood Elves, but a small number of Norsewood folks, too, those who had left many months before, as well as the Valley Elves, and Athol's and Roven's citizens."

"Can you guess as to how many captives there are?" Aldric asked.

"I suspect around at least six hundred, possibly more."

I nearly dropped my mouth open. Six hundred? Or more? Just how big was an organization to have captured six hundred or more people and forced them to do dirty, laborious work? Indeed, it was kidnapping and enslaving.

Aldric said, "Let's move on to this dungeon." He turned to Chris Orson and asked, "Did your men manage to find anything with the drones?"

Chris stood and the screen on the wall changed from blank to a map that was the border of Norsewood. Naturally, everyone here had seen a detailed map before, but not Juan, and he widened his eyes, looking as stunned as could be.

"That..." He pointed, his mouth open in disbelief.

"Is a map of the Norsewood border, my lord," Chris said.

"A map?" he said. "How is it possible to get it that detailed? It looked so lifelike."

"Because it is made by high-definition cameras," I said.

"High what?" he asked.

"High-definition just means the cameras can capture everything in detail." I turned to Chris and asked, "Did you send the drones out to map the border?"

He nodded and said, "Once Lord Juan was found and the night trolls were annihilated yesterday afternoon, Lord Aldric directed we send the drones out to map the alps, especially in the direction in which Lord Juan had indicated he came from. Hence, this image of the east section of the alps." He said, "Vicky?"

Vicky? I see she had been keeping this quiet, eh?

Vicky stated, I've only just managed to complete the map moments ago.

Only moments ago. Was she implying she wasn't keeping this from me after all?

Zooming in, there are signs of abnormality deep in this mountain here.

The image went up close to ranges of rugged snowbound mountains. To me, the area didn't look any different from any other mountains out there, but I guess that was not the case to the trained eyes like Aldric and the captains.

"Paths," Theo said, pointing to something there.

"That particular one," Aldric said. "Looks abnormal. There are activities there." He pointed to the base of the mountain, and the map zoomed in closer. And there, I could see some sort of tracks, like a path, that curved around the mountain's edges.

"Roads," Connor said. "That must have been much activity there, as Lord Aldric stated, to keep it that well-worn."

Everyone nodded.

Aldric turned to Juan and asked, "Do the tracks look familiar?"

Juan shook his head. "No. Perhaps we can view the other side. When I left, it was through a burrow, and outside of it, there was a field of thick pine trees. There are no tracks or pathways of any kind, and I had to climb down the mountain via the cliff's edge. Other men wouldn't have survived going that way, but I somehow managed."

The screen shifted scenes and scanned about the mountain until, voila, there was a field of thick snow-covered pine trees wedged between two mountains, and down below that, a deep drop to the base. Indeed, no ordinary man would be able to climb down, let alone up, that. A Templeton would be an exception, of course.

"That!" Juan said. "That's it. I remember it clearly. It was morning by the time we made it out. It took me all night crawling through the burrow and then all of the next day just getting down that cliff."

"Then it must be where the dungeon is," Aldric said.

"And the captives," Juan said.