Chapter 37
"This town will be OURS!!" A voice roared out in anger in the streets of Ha-Khun. Amid the fleeing people of the town, two groups of Beings stood facing each other. These was just two of the gangs of Beings which had formed after the defeat of the succubus impersonating Johan Cross. Each member of the two gangs held a weapon in their hands, gripping them tightly as they stared menacingly at each other.
"You gotta be joking! You assholes ain't gonna take his town! WE are!" A brown furred canine shouted out from the other gang, followed by cheers of agreement from the other gang members. However, the furre who had made the initial declaration, A blue-furred, black-striped raccoon, only stood his ground with the others, a smirk on his face as he watched the other gang ready their weapons.
"So be it..." he muttered, before roaring out a battle-cry, rushing forward with his fellow gang members to do battle with their rivals. As this went on, bystanders were fleeing, not wanting to get hurt by being in the way of the fight. The battle was fierce; casualties on both sides quickly increasing in number as the gang members used their weapons to devastating effect.
Just when it would look as if the fighting would never stop, a gang member suddenly went flying after a fist from a newcomer thundered into his jaw, quickly followed by another one being knocked to the floor thanks to a knee slamming into his gut.
"I suggest you all stop fighting," Gareeku declared to the surprised gang members around him and the others, looking at them all with a stern eye, "or we will force you."
"Stay out of this, wolf. This is none of your business!" one of the gang members growled in anger, before raising his weapon to strike.
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you, though." Gareeku growled, before quickly reaching for his katana, using his blade to parry the gang member's attack before sending a fist crashing into the fur's jaw, knocking him unconscious.
As soon as this happened, the other members of the group sprang into action, facing off against the gang members as they charged in to attack the wolf had downed their comrade. From the beginning, the fight was relatively one-sided. Despite their numbers, the gang members were being forced back by the group, until it seemed that they decided to flee. Surveying the damage, Gareeku frowned.
"We need to get the injured to the hospital as quickly as possible. There may be gang members as well as innocent civilians, but they're still people." Gareeku stated as he turned to the group, knowing that Gabi couldn't heal them all on her own, even with her strength returned to her. Offering to tend to the injured while the others continued to try and stop the gang wars, Gareeku, Jakob, Gabi and Ryn said their farewells to the others.
"Here, take my sword, kid." Gareeku said to Nero, a smile on his face as he handed the young demon his weapon. Looking at Gareeku, Nero's face displayed the vast happiness that he was now feeling.
"Thank you, Mr. Manoko!" He exclaimed happily, fastening the sheathed katana to his waist before running off to join the others. Watching Nero run off with the smile still on his face, Gareeku then turned to Ryn, Jakob, Gabi and Li.
"Let's move! We probably haven't got much time. Gabi, I want you to check for any major injuries and use your abilities to heal them slightly. Li, once we get everybody together, teleport us to the hospital." Gareeku said in a commanding voice, the others nodded their heads in acknowledgement before running off to tend to the injured. Once all the injured had been checked over, Li then used her teleporting abilities to transport them to the hospital.
"Oh my goodness!" Raine suddenly exclaimed as a large group of injured furs suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Raine, these people need to be seen to right away!" Gareeku said urgently as he appeared. Not one to argue due to the state many of the injured were in, Raine immediately rushed off, before returning a few minutes later with a group of doctors and nurses. Helping them to put the passengers on beds, the small group watched as the injured was tended to by the medical teams. Looking at Jakob. Ryn grinned.
"I'm surprised, Jakob. I didn't think you would offer to tend to the injured. I thought you were squeamish." the succubus said teasingly.
"Don’t remind me..." Jakob said somewhat weakly, feeling quite queasy after being in contact with the blood.
"Well, they -do- say that the first step towards overcoming something is to face it." Gareeku said with a grin of his own, before sitting down on a nearby chair, petting Li as she curled up in his lap. Sitting down next to the wolf, Gabi smiled.
"You know, I don't think we been properly introduced to each other. I'm Gabi, nice to meet you." the vixen said, the smile not leaving her face as she spoke, Gareeku also smiling as he heard her words.
"I'm Gareeku, it's nice to meet you too..." the wolf said with a grin, shaking hands with Gabi as the two of them laughed slightly, "...do you live here in Ha-Khun?"
"I was just passing through here. If I hadn't stumbled across one of the killings which the impersonator had ordered, I doubt I would have stayed in the town, but I wanted to get the bottom of what exactly was going on." Gabi explained, before laying eyes on Li, "is she yours?"
"Kind of, I guess. She's my uncle's, but he insisted I take her with me for this journey." Gareeku replied, smiling as he continued to pet the warp-aci in his lap. It was then, however, that the electrical machinery in the hospital suddenly shut down, conjuring up a great amount of surprise as a result.
"What the heck just happened?" Ryn exclaimed, clearly confused as the lights turned back on again.
"The power ran out, so the hospital's now running on back up power." Jakob said calmly, also trying to work out what had happened. It was then that Raine reappeared, a clear look of worry and panic on her face.
" The generators in the fortress aren't being looked after anymore. They must have shut down!" Raine exclaimed, "This hospital won't last for long on the back-up power, we need those generators back on!"
"Jakob...how good are you with generators?" Gareeku asked the wolf incubus.

Chapter 38
"Well, I designed the original system," Jakob began, "but that was about a century ago. The generators would have been replaced long since, although I'm sure I can pick it up."
Suddenly, Jakob swore. "That bloody succubus - I bet she hasn't done ANY maintenance in all the time she's been there!" Jakob exclaimed with a mixture of annoyance and slight sadness on his face, "Worse, it looked like she got rid of the Beings I left in charge of it all before. I hope she didn't kill them all.. I knew their grandparents."
Thinking about the situation some more, the incubus spoke again. "Let's see...it's probably something fairly simple. If we're lucky, we might just need to reset the breakers to bring the system back online. If it's a problem with the generator shafts themselves, we're in deep shit. Those rotors weigh about 300 tons each." Jakob explained to the others.
"Well then, we'll just have to find out for ourselves." Gareeku stated before turning to Li and Raine, "Li, I want you to go with Raine and help to bring any injured you find back to the hospital."
"Ok then. Be careful you guys." Raine said in reply, before Li left Gareeku's shoulder and, with a flick of her tail, sliced through the fabric of reality and teleported Raine.
"Let's go." Gareeku said to Jakob, Ryn and Gabi, the three of them nodding their heads in acknowledgment before leaving for the fortress.

****

"That's gotta be at least 10 fights we've put to a halt now..." Ramsey said with a smirk as he watched another unconscious fur fall to the floor.
"Yeah, but we've gotta keep going. We need to stop as many of the fights as we can," James replied calmly, "we've been damn lucky there haven't been any fatalities so far."
Hearing approaching footsteps, the group whirled round to find themselves surrounded by a group of guards, including the white furred horse guard they had encountered when first trying to enter the town. Upon noticing Paladin's presence, the horse guard ordered the others to stand down, giving a small salute to Paladin once he had done so.
"What's the status of the fighting, captain?" the horse guard asked his superior.
"I believe we've managed to stop most of the violence in the town, but there may be other fights going on elsewhere," Paladin explained in reply, "Greggor, I want you and your men to search the town for any trouble and stop any violence that may be occurring. Once that's been done, I want you and your men to make your way to the hospital. Some people being treated there are responsible for the fights. Once they have been dismissed by the doctors, arrest them."
"Yes Sir!" Greggor said in reply, saluting again before dashing off, accompanied by the other guards.
"We'd better make our way back to the hospital. Gareeku and the others will probably be there." Sioffra suggested, the others agreeing with her before the group dashed off back to the hospital, not knowing that Gareeku and the others had already left for the fortress.

****

"Hmmm...I wonder why that succubus chose to replace the lighting in this place with torches..." Jakob muttered as he, Gareeku, Ryn and Gabi entered the turbine hall inside the fortress.
"Heh, it was probably for atmospheric purposes...some people just love those old clichés..." Gareeku replied with a smirk on his face as the group walked up to the torches and began lighting them with small amounts of fire magic.
Using a light spell, Jakob then began looking for, and soon located, the breakers for the system. However, his facial expression turned to one of annoyance when he found that upon resetting them, they popped again almost immediately. Walking over to the electronic control panels, the wolf incubus' expression of annoyance became even more apparent when he found that the control panels were dead.
"Damn it, now I can't do any diagnostics!" Jakob exclaimed in frustration, before his face lightened up as he remembered something, "Wait a minute, there's a diesel-powered back up generator around here somewhere!"
After a little while of searching, the group finally found what they were looking for. However, it appeared that it would need a small amount of maintenance due to neglect.
"Hopefully this shouldn't take too long..." Jakob commented as he grabbed a spanner from his tool belt and set to work, the others keeping a lookout in case anybody appeared to try and stop them. A little while latter, after much cursing from Jakob as he tried to fix the machinery, the back up generator whirred into life, the control panels flickering on as a result. Looking at the instrument panels, Jakob's face once again displayed a look of annoyance.
"Damn it...it looks like one of the generators has stopped, and the other generator can't compensate for both. It's probably because the demand for power in the town has risen since I first designed the complex.”
"Does it say why the generator's stopped working?" Gabi asked, looking at the screen as she spoke.
"It seems that there's some sort of blockage in the inlet. I think something upstream in the mountains is blocking it." Jakob replied with a worried look on his face.
"But what about the hospital? It can't have much power left by now. We don't have much time!" Ryn exclaimed worriedly.
"Then we'd better get moving." Gareeku commented, a grim expression on his face as he spoke.


Chapter 39
"I totally...forgot how...far the inlet is..." Jakob puffed as the group climbed the mountainside. A short while later, the group had finally reached the inlet that they had been searching for.
"Right then, better get started on clearing it." Gareeku commented, before beginning to try and unblock it, the others joining in the effort. The unblocking proved to be more difficult than the four of them had first thought. Rock and vegetation had covered most of it, but with the help of Gareeku’s sword and collective strength, the problem was quickly taken care of. However, less than a minute after clearing the inlet had been finished, Gabi turned around to find herself face to face with a large gang.
“And just what do you guys you punks are doin’?” one of the strangers, a black furred canine, sneered, holding the crowbar in his hand menacingly, a look of grim seriousness evident on all of the strangers’ faces as they stood off against the group. Hearing the voices, Gareeku turned around to face them, a small smirk on his face as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
“What does it look like? The city needs power, and that’s just what we’re going to give them.” The wolf replied, staring straight into the eyes of the canine who had spoken before. “So I suggest that, if you don’t want trouble, you back off and let us finish what we started.”
“I’m afraid that we can’t do that.” The canine sneered as he and the other members of the gang advanced slightly. “You see…a city without power is a city for the taking…”

****

“What do you mean they’ve already left for the fortress?” James asked Raine, who had just explained to him and the others as to why the other four were not there. Their surprise was easy to see on their faces, as they had expected Gareeku, Jakob, Ryn and Gabi to still be at the fortress.
“I mean what I just said. They’ve left for the fortress.” Raine replied, rolling her eyes slightly at James’ question, all the while tending to a patient as Li hovered just above her shoulder. “The main power supply in the hospital has run out, and it’s only a matter of time before the back-up power goes as well, so they went to see if they could get the generators back up and running. I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing though. Unlike Jakob I’m not all that familiar with technology other than what is found in the hospital.”
“Fair enough…” Xzeliea replied, deciding to join in the conversation. “My guessin’ is that fixing somethin’ like a generator ain’t exactly that simple.”
“You’re probably right. Regardless, some of us had better get up there and see if they need help, anyway.” James said in response to Xzeliea’s comments.
“I doubt we’d be much help in something like fixing generators. I’m not exactly a mechanic or anything.” Sioffra commented, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke. Listening to what Sioffra said, James nodded his head slightly.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The squirrel responded, rubbing his chin slightly as he spoke. “Still, I can’t help but worry what might have happen if we missed a gang or something. They might have found Gareeku and the others.”
“Oh come on, it’s not like they can’t fight.” Paladin said, chuckling slightly as he put a hand on James’ shoulder. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

****

“Too bad that you’re not going to be taking any cities anytime soon.” Gareeku replied to the gang member, his voice possessing a light growl to it as he spoke. He was considering reaching for his sword, but stopped himself as he was about to. Even though these people were out to hurt them, he didn’t exactly want to do any lethal force. After all, they hadn’t been going on any murderous rampages, not that their actions and attitudes were excusable, of course. It looked like he and the others would have to use non-lethal force. Thinking about this, Gareeku smirked slightly to himself. This might even be fun, in a weird sort of way.
“Oh really? Wow, I’m quaking in my boots.” The canine replied, snickering with the other members of the gang as they looked at the four of them with sneers and smirks, beginning to raise their weapons as they began to advance. “You idiots just made a grave mistake. There’s no use trying to be heroes when all you’re doing is making fools of yourselves.”
“Oh really? Then come and prove it, big and mighty warriors.” Gareeku replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he beckoned them forward with a hand. Seeing this, Gabi looked at the wolf next to her that screamed ‘what the hell are you doing?’
“Gareeku! In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly a fighter, I’m a healer, and I don’t think Jakob wants to exactly be the aggressive type either!” the vixen hissed into Gareeku’s ears.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, these guys are nothing more than thugs with crude excuses for weapons.” The wolf responded in a low voice. Luckily for him, the gang hadn’t heard what he had said, otherwise their mood would have turned slightly more aggressive than it already was, and that was saying something.
It was then that suddenly, the fight kicked off. With a growling roar, the canine gang member suddenly dashed forward, his crowbar raised above his head, ready to bring it down. Seeing this, Gareeku quickly shoved Gabi out of the way so that she would not be struck, before barely managing dodge the crowbar’s path himself. Seeing that the weapon had been brought down to the left side of him, the wolf took full advantage of the fact that this move had left the canine wide open for a counter attack, quickly bringing his left hand, now balled into a clenched fist, and sending it crashing into the canine’s jaw. As he did so, a loud -crack- rang out, signifying that Gareeku had broken the canine’s jaw. Watching his foe’s now unconscious form fall to the floor, the wolf then looked around his immediate surroundings, finding that the other gang members had gone after the others.
“Time to rejoin the party…” Gareeku muttered to himself, seeing that more gang members were approaching him. As he preparing, he quickly looked around the check on the others as they fought against the attacking gang members. Looking over at Jakob, the wolf found that the incubus was coping well against his foes, utilizing judo-like moves to throw the attacking gang members to the floor. Ryn was also holding her own, utilizing her cubi talents to disarm and knock out her foes. Gabi, meanwhile, looked like she was struggling somewhat. She was dodging the attacks made by the gang members quite effectively, but she didn’t seem to be making any attacks of her own. Gareeku had thought about this before the gang had attack, as Gabi had said herself that she was no fighter.
“Looks like you could use a hand.” A voice suddenly said to the side of Gabi, before a familiar-looking hand came crashing into the side of the head of an approaching gang member. Looking to see who it was, the vixen saw that Gareeku had come to aid her, having seen off his own attackers previously. She had no time to respond, however, as another thug had decided to advance, brandishing a rather menacing-looking axe. Without thinking, Gabi suddenly picked up a weapon left by one of the downed gang members and swung blindly as she closed her eyes tight. As she did so, a resounding -thwack- rang out as she felt the weapon collide with something hard. Opening one of her eyes, Gabi looked down, her mouth slightly open as she found out that she had struck the thug in the side of the head, knocking him out cold in the process.
“Heh, nice shot.” Gareeku commented as he too saw the unconscious form of the gang member, a smirk on his face as he looked. Once he had disposed of another advancing thug, the wolf then looked around. Apart from the two thugs that Ryn and Jakob were in the process of taking care of, all of the others had been disabled or knocked out. “Well, looks like that little bit of excitement is over with.”
Having checked that all of the thugs couldn’t get back up and attack again for the time being, Gareeku then walked over to an area of thick vegetation nearby, seemingly searching for something and somewhat confusing the others in the process. It soon became clear what the wolf was looking for, however, for a couple of minutes later Gareeku emerged from the area of thick vegetation, a very large pile of thick vines in his arms. After using some of the vines to tie some of the thugs’ hands together, the wolf then handing the vines to the others. It wasn’t long before all of the thugs’ hands were tied together.
“Not as good as rope, perhaps, but it’ll do for the time being until we hand these guys over to the authorities.” Gareeku commented as he looked at the work that they had just completed. It was then, however, that a familiar voice suddenly caught his ear.
“Hey guys!” the voice called out. Turning to look, Gareeku, Gabi, Ryn and Jakob watched as a group of familiar quickly approached them.
“We decided to come after you. We thought that there was a chance that you might run into…” James began, before looking around and seeing the tied up thugs. “…trouble…”
“Trouble…?” Gareeku responded, noticing James’ facial expression as the squirrel took in the scene that was now before him and the others. “…no trouble here.”


Chapter 40
"Okay," Jakob said as he rubbed his chin slightly. The group was now back in the turbine room of the fortress, having left the tied-up thugs outside while they went to finish fixing the machinery. "Let's give it a shot."
He pressed a button and a sound began deep beneath the group’s feet.  It was not quite continuous but changed in a strangely jarring manner as the turbine came up to speed. Once the lupine incubus had done this, he then saw Gabi reach for the breakers.
"Not yet!" he yelped.  "They'll be out of sync!  But we should be able to sort that out soon enough." he scanned the console for the appropriate switch.  "We used to have to do this by hand," he said, "but I can't see a synchroscope anywhere so I guess it must be done electronically.  It should be automatic once I find the control to engage it."
"If it's so important, why isn't it readily to hand?" Paladin commented, his eyebrow raised slightly as he spoke, not completely understanding the way in which everything was set up.
"It only needs to be done when we bring a new generator online," Jakob replied as he shrugged his shoulders, before turning back to the machinery with a grin. "Hah!  Now the fun begins."
As he pressed the button, a light began flashing - quickly at first but then slower and slower until it was completely steady.  At the same time the jarring sound faded away as both generators became phase-locked together.
Spotting a screen, Jakob turned it on and the group was presented with a black-and-white view of the city, as seen from the mountainside power plant. The only illumination came from the hospital and the flickering light of a few random fires.
"And this is my favourite bit," Jakob commented before gesturing to Gabi, who threw the breakers once more.  This time, they stayed in and Jakob felt his fur stand on end as the city lit up like a Christmas tree under the darkening evening sky.  "Happy new year…" he murmured, satisfied that things seemed to be returning to normal as far as the city’s power was concerned.
The rest of the group also felt relief as they witnessed the power return to the city, especially as Ha-Khun’s hospital now had its normal power supply back up and running.
A little while later, the group was back at the hospital by Aisha’s bedside, who was now virtually fully healed aside from a dull ache thanks to Raine’s decision to use magic in the healing process, along with Raine herself, who was visibly happy to have everything in the hospital running smoothly again.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for helping us out.” The squirrel said the others happily, a smile on her face as she spoke. “Thanks to you, we don’t have to worry about tending to our patients without power.”
“Well I’m just glad that everything seems to be returning to normal.” James said, a satisfied look on his face as he spoke. “At least we managed to take care of those thugs as well, which reminds me…”
“Are we going to have enough room to put all these trouble-makers?” Greggor said, sporting a raised eyebrow as he looked around at all the thugs and gang members who had been taken in and were being placed under arrest.
“Well we’re going to have to make room if there isn’t enough.” Paladin replied with a serious look on his face as he spoke. “These people have caused enough trouble with their activities, I don’t want them roaming around free until they’ve been properly punished.”
With that Greggor gave Paladin a salute, before turning and walking over to his troops and explaining that they may have to get started on building some more cells in which to hold the criminals. After watching him do this, the tall lupine incubus turned back to the others.
“Well then, now that this messy business has been resolved, what do we do next?” Paladin asked the others, which now included Aisha as she had been released from hospital after being deemed well enough, with a slight grin on his face. “I’d say that after all that we’ve been through as of late, a celebration is in order.”
“A celebration? Sounds good to me.” Gareeku replied, also sporting a slight grin on his face, before it turned into more of a smirk. “As long as that celebration involves a drink, because I sure as hell need one.”
The next morning, Gareeku awoke to a dull headache in a room in the inn that he and the others had decided to stay in; an after-effect of the night before. Opening the curtains in the window and looking outside, the wolf observed the dull, cloudy sky above, before looking down to the ground below where various people seemed to be doing some construction work of some sort. With curiosity getting the better of him, Gareeku quickly hopped into the room’s ensuite shower and had a wash, before getting dressed and heading down to investigate.
Upon arriving outside, the wolf realised what was going on; citizens of the city were rebuilding the buildings and décor that the gangs and the Johan Cross imposter prior to their rampage had vandalized or outright destroyed. As he thought of the succubus who had been under Charline’s spell, Gareeku wondered what had become of her now that she was no longer a slave to the diabolical lioness. Curious about this and deciding that he would ask someone about it later, the wolf walked up to the people and, after asking if there was anything that he could do to help, began aiding in the repairs and reconstruction.
After a while of doing this, Gareeku turned round to glance back at the inn where he spotted the rest of the group, who had also decided to head outside to find out what exactly was going. Well, everyone except Paladin, as he and the other troops were already helping when the lupine warrior had first arrived outside.
“I never thought I’d see you up in the early morning to do hard labour like this, Gareeku.” Ramsey said jokingly, before he and the others stepped in and helped also. “We’ve all just had breakfast, by the way. You might want to grab some yourself. I’ll take over whatever you’re doing while you go get some.”
Nodding his head in acknowledgement and thanking the feline, Gareeku then headed back into the inn to grab some breakfast. A little while later he reappeared, having had his fill of food, only to find that the repair work in the local area was virtually finished.
“Wow. That was quick.”  The wolf commented, his eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at the last of the repair work around him, before realising how dusty he had become from aiding in the reconstruction. “Damn. And I’ve already had one shower today as well…”
The next hour was spent by having his second shower of the day while his clothes were being washed by the inn’s staff. While he did this, the rest of the group took the time to freshen themselves up too, as well relaxing a little after yesterday’s events. Once everyone was ready, Gareeku was about to head for the door, when Sioffra spoke up.
“Hey Gareeku…um…” she began, twiddling her thumbs a bit as she spoke. “I…I think I’m gonna stay here in Ha-Khun for now…”
“Oh?” the wolf replied, his eyebrow raised slightly as he spoke. “Well I’m sorry to hear that. Is there any particular reason why, or am I being too nosy?”
“Well…it’s just that there so much more work here to be done, and I feel like I need to stay here and help as everyone here tries to figure out where to go from here. I just want to help Ha-Khun get back on it’s feet again, especially after what the city’s been through with the Johan Cross Impersonator and then the gangs vandalising the city”
“If I’m going to honest Gareeku…that’s the same way we feel as well…” Ryn said as she walked up to him and Sioffra. “We want to stay here and help as well.”
“I understand.” The wolf replied, smiling and nodding his head slightly in acknowledgment as he looked at the three of them. “I hope that someday we will meet again.”
“Where is it you’re headed?” the bartender, a burly looking panda Being asked from behind the bar as he cleaned a glass. “Is it over the mountains?”
“Well yes, as a matter of fact, it is.” Gareeku replied as he turned to the bartender. “It’s the shortest route to where we’re headed.”
“I see…well if I were you, I’d be wary of the mines that are up there.” The bartender said to the group with a frown.
“…Mines?” James asked, curious about these mines that the panda spoke of. “Are there mines in the mountains, then?”
“Oh yes.” The bartender replied, setting the glass that he was cleaning down on the bar. “They were fully operating up recently, when the city authorities decided to shut it down. Something about too many accidents happening inside them or something.”
“…Accidents?” Aisha asked, curious as to what he meant by saying that.
“Yep. No idea what accidents there were, though.” The panda replied, shrugging his shoulders. “But if you ask me, something fishy was going on.”
“What do you mean?” Jakob asked, his own curiosity rising as the discussion about the mines developed. “What were they mining for anyway?”
“Iron ore. Apparently the mountains are, or were at least, rich in the stuff. Great for industrialisation from what I hear.” The bartender explained as he began to clean another glass. “Anyway, the mines have been closed for a good twenty years or so now. But I’ve heard stories about them. Apparently there’s something down there. No idea what or even if it’s true or not, but I heard one it from one of the guys who used to work down there. He used to be a really nice guy. You know, really chatty and outgoing and stuff.”
“…And now?” Gabi asked.
“Now he’s just…well…he never ever comes out of his own house anymore. Something about not wanting go outside in case he’s caught or something. I don’t know. The guy’s a bit crazy now anyway.”
“Right…well…thanks for the information.” Gareeku said, before turning to leave the inn. “I have no intention for going into any mines if I can help it anyway…”
Once they were all outside, the group said their farewells to Sioffra, Ryn and Xzeliea, before setting off through the city and towards the mountains. As they walked, Gareeku turned to Jakob.
“I would have thought you’d be staying behind as well.” Gareeku commented as they walked. “After all, you did used to run this city.”
“That was a long time ago now, Gareeku.” The wolf incubus replied. “Ha-Khun has changed a lot since I used to reside here. The city’s moved on. The last thing it needs is the guy who used to rule it with an iron fist hanging around.”
“Well… if you say so.” Gareeku replied, not saying anything more on the matter as he knew that Jakob may not have felt comfortable talking about it.
“What did you make of that bartender’s ramblings?” Jakob asked his fellow lupine after a few moments of silence. Turning to look at the incubus, Gareeku saw the curiosity glinting in his eyes.
“I don’t know what to make of them exactly, but in my experience, when a person speaks of something like that, there’s a very big chance it could be true.” The white furred wolf replied to Jakob. “But anyway, it doesn’t matter, because we’re not going anywhere near those mines. Not if I can help it.”