"Oh, it looks like Randall was lucky this time and pointed you in the right direction before those filthy slavers got to you."
I was a bit unsettled at the thought that slavers were active in this town. I knew that in this world there would be slaves and such but just never crossed my mind that I would be in a city that was a hotspot for them.
I look up at her with an inquisitive stare. "Your telling me there are slavers in this city? what exactly is the ratio of enslaved versus the ones who made it here?" I couldn't help but asking her.
She looked down for a little bit and next a small sniffle comes from her as she raises her head with teary eyes. "Unfortunately you are the only one who has made it this far, The others usually get enslaved almost as soon as they enter the city. It seems like any demi-human or intelligent monster draws their attention. We have rescued a few of them before but the state they were in when we rescued them were so awful to the point that they just could not survive once freed."
At this point she started to weep and cry thankfully there was a chair located nearby as her legs started to buckle. I rushed over and helped her to the chair and looked around while she continued to cry. The inside of the house was definitely built to house anything other than humans. The flooring was a sturdy stone in some parts while in others there were patches of lush greenery with sweet smelling flowers, The whole first floor was open with only a small desk in front of the entrance as you walk in. The upstairs I assume was made for more lightweight beings as I could see above me was a wooden ceiling.
After a few minutes she eventually stopped crying and after wiping away the tears she spoke up in a cracked voice.
"Pardon me, I'm so sorry its just that the thought of what those poor creatures had to endure only to end up being so reliant on those torturers sickens me and its just to overwhelming." She squeaked out the end of her sentence a she started crying again.
'Good lord this lady is to damn emotional, granted I didn't see what she saw but still.... Ahwell it looks like this is as good a hiding place from that crazy werewolf bastard and his Necromantic master as any I guess.' I use the few minutes that she was crying to look outside the windows to hopefully get a general idea of where I am, but unfortunately it looks like this house was based at a center point with an alleyway like dirt road leading in the 4 directions towards each of the gates, and surrounding each of those roads was houses and small off shoots in between.
I can see how a city like this would be perfect for slavers to work kidnapping with how the city layout is. "Ma'am I'm sorry I don't mean to be a bother, I didn't mean to dredge up all those awful memories. I myself am on the run from 2 very powerful people and need a place to hide, can you help me?"
She looks up with tears still rolling down her cheeks but a questioning look was now the only thing in her stare. "Who exactly are you running from dragon." She gets up and steps closer to me and with each step a sense of dread and heaviness start to wash over me almost forcing me down to the ground.
"Tell me now dragon, who are you running from." As she steps one last time to stand over me her eyes change into slits and her body morphs into that of a Huge lamia. Her upper body being the form of a beautiful woman but her lower body changed into a coiling snake body with a rattle tip at the end. She came closer to my face and stared directly into my eyes. I could feel my mind begin to get hazy as a notification popped up.
[User is being targeted by a Lamia charm. Does user wish to block?]
With my mind in a haze I could barely comprehend the words the longer her eyes bore into mine with such an intense hypnotic power. Using the last of my willpower I whispered "yes" and the next instant my mind clarified and I could think rationally again. The Lamia shook her head in frustration and shock.
"How did you break free from my charm, No mortal man has ever resisted me before. Who are you and what power do you have to resist me?" She was backing away slowly to a safe distance but just close enough to strike if the need arose.
I smirked as first I saw a pop-up.
[User has gained Charm resistance]
"It appears that I gained a new skill thanks to you. Now I am running away from the Necromancer and the Master Lucan. They kidnapped me and 3 of my friends to train as fighters against Shadow Eaters. This might not sound bad at first but Lucan showed his true colors and after a slight provocation from me decided to try and kill me so after a short fight in which I got my ass handed to me in just a few short hits I ran away, and found this town."
She only looked at me in disbelief as I told her the basics of my life story up until the current moment. During which she turned back into her human form, and after a few moments of silence rushed at me and embraced me in a motherly hug.
'The hell is this first she charms me, now she's hugging me, this woman is a hurricane of emotions.'
"Little dragon I am so sorry for everything you went through up until now, but I promise that I will do my best and help you to survive in this city. But in exchange you have to help me find and protect others like yourself, Deal?"
I was a bit confused by all that just happened but thinking on it for a few seconds I figured that 'What the hell she doesn't seem that bad besides the emotional rollercoaster I just went on.'
So I shook her hand and agreed, Afterwards she helped set me up a small area in the from corner of the house on the flowerly garden area. I was hoping she would give me a spot over there just because the smell was so lovely I wanted to wake up to it every day. Next she got me some warm food, which was some form of bird and a huge bowl of some kind of fruit juice. The taste alone of the bird was close to chicken and I was in heaven while eating it. It was Juicy and moist, the portions were huge and after I finished one plate she would bring me another. Next when I drank the juice it was sweet and citrusy almost like a pineapple mixed with an orange but had a slight sour ending that kinda tied it all together into an amazing drink that would make any person pucker.
After Eating she suggested I get some sleep and we would talk about what my duties would be tomorrow. So I went over to bed and almost didn't make it with how tired I was getting, I was a little surprised by how quick I was getting tired but I just chalked it up to how much I had eaten. But I got to my new bed and laid down and was soon falling asleep. But right before my consciousness faded away a warning message popped up.
[WARNING, WARNING, WARNING, User has ingested a powerful fast acting sleeping agent, recomme... U...r.... Ru....]
I woke up with a huge headache and to the sounds of multiple people yelling nearby.
"I told you to be easy with the merchandise Hilda you always go overboard with the sleeping agents and end up feeding the products to much. We need them awake in order to fully showcase them to the buyers."
"It's not my fault that you sent me a damn dragon, How was I suppose to know how much was enough to knock him out. But the thing is he resisted my charm shortly after coming under my spell. But even then what if he wasn't lying about being on the run from the Necromancer and one of the Masters? Do we really want to risk it this time? The stakes could be alot higher than we want to risk."
"Baby doll, listen to me this dragon alone can pay our way to the next island. There we can wash our hands of this whole slaver business and become rulers ourselves." I hear laughter shortly after so I slowly open my eyes to see slit snake eyes looking at me.
"Good morning dragon. I didn't suspect you to be awake so soon after eating so much of my potent sleeping agent. By the way as a Lamia I can sense heat like a regular snake and when a person wakes up the increase of their heartbeat in turn increases their body temperature. But hey good try acting asleep, If it was anybody else it might have worked."
The Lamia lifted me up and behind her I was able to see that it was the guard who directed me to the house, Then a new voice was heard from behind them.
"It looks like this dragon is a bit unique maybe when the auction starts we raise the opening bid to oh I don't know Lets say 20,000 how does that sound little dragon." A man walks out of the shadows and into the room that was lit up with lanterns with some kind of reflective surface that was focusing the light in towards me. Almost like a interrogation light from the detective shows I watched.
"Look I don't know what's going on here but please this doesn't have to be like this I can work man just don't sell me off to some buyer that has who knows what planned for me." I begged them as they lifted me off the floor by chains that were wrapped around both sets of my legs and even wrapped around my neck then attacked to some pulley on the ceiling.
They look at eachother before laughing loudly then the guard walked towards me and threw a hard kick right into my ribs. "HAHAHA listen here, we are the ones in charge and you are a hot ticket item right now. Once our buyers heard we had an actual dragon up for sale they went berserk and sent in multiple offers trying to get you before you went up for auction. So be a good little boy and act right so that we can make millions off of you tonight HAHAHAHA, Hilda put this boy back to sleep we can just juice him up a little bit before the auction to wake him up."
The next thing I see is the Lamia's face stretch horrendously and 2 fangs about as long as my foot popped out from the roof of her mouth and she sunk them into my back. I could feel a pulse from her teeth as a liquid spread throughout my body and my consciousness left my body.
"I'm sorry but you are worth to much and I cannot keep living this life I want to be free and have a family away from all this torment, Please forgive me." Was the last words I heard before the world faded away.
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[Charm Resistance] 0% - User is able to resist any charm effects
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