The next morning. "Jenna, I'm uneasy about the pack that tried to capture your group on its way here. I think... you, Lyssrah, and I should journey to the location those filth had come from. Maybe you could encourage a few to chase you so we can remove them before they notice me. I think with how many we killed, it's only a matter of time before they attempt to gain support to find out why they lost that many."

  Jenna, somewhat grim, replied. "My Queen, isn't it too great a risk? So soon after the idiots made a fuss? Marta is amazing, but can we truly leave her right now? That group came from over three days' journey from here!"

  I nodded. "I share your concern, but we can't risk discovery here just yet. We need to clear that settlement and remove another headman. Save all our people, and the Lizardwomen and their eggs, while making it look like a disaster. In two days after we leave, a group can travel to the midway point and bring supplies. In the meantime, the construction project will continue. Disciplinary risks are far less than alerting the entire Lizardman force of our presence."

  Marta nodded firmly. "I can handle it, there are some good people to help me, and besides, the assault forces are going to patrol, so I only need to focus on the defense of the Castle and its denizens. It'll be fine, or we'll fix it when you return. I swear, My Queen, I won't fail without a fight!"

  Jenna bowed. "I'll prepare for our trip, and bring a bronze mace too, so it won't look as odd when I'm running away from them." She departed.

  "My love, what can I do on thisss trip, assside from ssslowing you down?" I hugged her.

  "You are most important, even if it weren't for our bond, I'd still need you there. The Lizardwomen of that settlement need one of their own to reassure them that their eggs will be safe, as they themselves will. We must be able to depart quickly, while disguising our numbers so anyone following won't realize what happened, until it's too late for them to escape us." I kissed her, and we went to prepare our own equipment.

  Lyssrah had taken to wearing a loose robe to keep the heat of the day longer than would otherwise be possible. We packed our satchels with as much food as we could carry, and extra water skins for the trip back. Our trip started within an hour after our talk. We left the Castle and followed the original track back so as to not leave new trails on the way out.

  When we reached the ambush site, several scavengers and a few predators were swarming over and fighting over the remains of the Lizardmen. Dispatching them to reduce the risk to our people, we collected some fangs of larger predators, as they had uses in medicine, otherwise we left the carcasses behind to hopefully attract more so that we could cull their numbers further.

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  The remainder of the trip was uneventful, and we arrived at our destination in slightly less than the two days expected. Not only had I set a somewhat brutal pace, but much to their protest, I had carried both Jenna and Lyssrah in order to move faster. Lyssrah clung tightly to me during the nights, to keep her body temp higher for the morning, so we could move sooner and quicker.

  Lyssrah, armed with a spear just in case, and I with my sword, lie in wait for Jenna to lead her first group of Lizard filth. It didn't take long; the arrogance of these creatures knew no bounds. The six guards were cut down in a trice, and Jenna attempted to lure another group to a different location. Pretending to run scared, as if she had somehow slipped the previous group, and accidentally run the wrong direction. Three more corpses soon littered the grasslands. "Only four more in the Settlement, at least that I can see. If the Headman is in his hut protecting the sanctum, then I'd guess maybe eighteen or so Lizardmen left, counting the Headman."

  "Yesss my love, that ssseemsss to make sssenssse. Be cautioussss, though. More may be ssssleeping than exssspected." Jenna replaced her mace with the steel one, and the two of us snuck into the settlement. A swift, decisive strike later, and the four remaining active guards were slain. Carefully, we crept through the village, slitting the throats of the sleeping men, as the slaves looked on in silent shock mingled with joy. We urged the slaves to wait for the all clear to be called, and to not be alarmed at the sight of Lizardwomen, for they too are slaves to these filth.

  Having cleared the last hut, we stood outside the Headman's house. "Ssskarlack, where'sss my food?!" Shouted the headman, and clearly frustrated, he came storming out of the hut, only to find a sword through his gut, as his shocked eyes stared in horror at my coronet, emerald stone gleaming in the morning's light.

  "Die filth, join the rest of your foolish brethren in the pits of damnation for your betrayal of your own kind." The light of life faded from his slit pupiled eyes, and he slumped down his weight enough to finish cutting him apart. Jenna and I quickly cleared the hut and the buried sanctum behind it. The few women slaves who had been left to attend the Lizardwomen looked in wonder at our heavily armed arrival.

  The Lizardwomen, however, looked terrified at us, except for one, who calmly strode toward Jenna. "If I mussst die, let it be you that deliversssss the blow!" Jenna, eyes wide, pulled her new lover in for a fierce kiss. The woman, slit eyes wide in shock returned the passion.

  "It seems, My Queen, that I, too, have a wife. Perhaps Lyssrah wasn't technically needed after all, but I wouldn't risk her life by leaving her behind, any more than I will this lovely lady. May I know your name, love? I am Jenna, General of Offense for the Queen of Shallarah."

  "I am Glissselda, my love! It isss sssurprisssing that you know of the bond, doesss that mean the queen'sss wife isss alssso a Lizardwoman?!" In answer, we moved them out of the sanctum and into the daylight. Lyssrah came running as she noticed us exit the headman's hut, and flung herself into my arms. "Sssshe isss wearing ssssomething, why?!"

  Several of the other Lizardwomen were equally confused as to my wife's robe. "It helps her stay warm when the Sun's light can't reach her, but it won't block the heat when it can. I'll get you one as well, since, like Lyssrah, you'll be traveling whenever I do, just as Lyssrah must with the Queen. That will come later, once we get home. We must collect your eggs, and break the collars and shackles of our people." The Lizardwomen aided in freeing the remaining slaves, much to the shock of the humans. As before, I packed the eggs myself, with plenty of warm sand to protect them. This settlement had been placed under a cliff, and once the people were cleared out and the eggshells put where the eggs used to be, I brought the cliffside down, burying the settlement, leaving no chance of survivors.

  We then set out in small single-file groups towards our first camping spot. There was little sign left of our travel, and we carried all the food from the settlement along with every water skin we could find. No scrap of Bronze was left behind either, and one woman in particular carried as much as possible.