The Last Primal

Remembering a particular memory, while Aiden was caught completely off-guard, he was hoping to not have to get into this question as it would raise several unwanted complications. Still, since they were spotted, he could only roll with it.

"They?" Acting as cool as he could, Aiden spoke in a nonchalant manner. "They are my two human servants. They are healthy and good fighters whose duty is to serve as my guard. Why?"

"Oh, really?" The grey, old orc shaman raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, looking at Aiden in surprise. "Not often do I hear about a goblin who has human slaves or slaves of any kind for that matter…" Grabbing the base of his long beard with his left hand he started caressing it, as he looked at the lush-haired goblin with increased interest. 

"Aren\'t your race mostly cowardly and weak? How did you acquire those two?" 

Knowing that the old orc was once again testing the waters a bit, Aiden revealed a slightly offended grimace, frowning at the aged shaman with a contemptuous look.

"What is that supposed to mean?! Are you this rude to all the other envoys? Can your attitude be considered the official stance of your tribe? You mud-dwelling bipedal pigs are getting more and more absurd with each year, I swear…" He sighed, looking at the orc with disdain.

The corners of the old orc\'s lips twitched when he heard the taunt from the small goblin. He gripped the hold of his stick tighter. Taking several, long seconds to collect himself and regain his almost lost composure, the friendly smile returned to his face. He gave an apologetic bow towards the goblin as he spoke in a much more respectful tone.

"Please, excuse me for my language. I\'m just an old fool, barely a member of the tribe anymore. My words carry no weight, it\'s just the ramblings of a senile elder."

Keeping his bowing posture, the old shaman waved towards a pathway that went behind his rundown shack towards the distance. 

"My lord, you should not mind my rambling any longer. Go and meet with the rest of the leaders. They have already started gathering in preparation for the next phase."

Raising his head, he revealed the friendliest, most inviting smile the old orc could muster as he continued.

"However, let me remind you of two things, young lord. First, you will have to take your slaves with you and leave them with the others in their designated building. Don\'t worry, they won\'t be abused but they can\'t be allowed to listen in on important matters. Second, and I am sure you are already aware of this, but due to the fact the majority of the leaders are from Orcish Tribes, the meeting will be held in Orcish, and not in the young lord\'s otherwise rich tongue."

The new information caused Aiden to frown. Turning around he looked at the spot where he came from, as he raised a question. 

"Can I leave my guards outside? I don\'t want conflict between the slaves, you know both of them are quite… feisty. They should be fine to wait for me where they are now."

The old orc shook his head upon Aiden\'s question.

"Not possible, sorry young lord. You have to bring them to the designated holding area, you can\'t keep your pets wandering around aimlessly."

"I see." Aiden sighed in defeat. This complicated things by a great deal. Looking at the orc shaman, he raised his shoulders and continued.

"And where can I find this holding area? Is it further inside the tribe\'s land?"

Chuckling, the old orc shook his head once more.

"Ahaha, no, why would we let the filthy animals inside where we live? No. The holding area is the other way. Go back, and on the crossing turn toward the right. You will find the Slave Pen there. Talk to the guards and they can place your slaves inside a free cell for you, completely free of charge of course."

Giving a silent nod, Aiden turned around and silently began to walk back towards the gate to reunite with the girls and think of the next steps. However, only after a few steps, he was stopped as the orc spoke out once more.

"Just one more question, young lord!" He asked, his tone slightly mischievous, his lips curved into the earlier nasty grin. "Would you mind selling those two to the tribe? We could pay a fair price for those two… Or even trade them for 2, no, for 3 males for each female!" The elder shrewdly offered. Healthy looking females were a commodity after all.

Clenching his fist, Aiden took a few moments before he managed to calm down enough to answer in a cool manner.

"No. Neither of them is up for sale nor for trade. They are with me, so please don\'t ask about it again." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I will now go back and place them in the pen and come back." 

Not waiting for any responses, Aiden walked back to the gate with hurried steps. Using both of his hands, he opened a path between the branches and began to cross through to get back to the other side. 

Meanwhile, he decided to transform back to his default state, much less to scare the girls. Still, he knew that if they wanted to get more information, they either needed to find another way inside, or he had to reveal some of his secrets to the girls. Although he felt he could probably trust both of them, he still wasn\'t willing to reveal such details to anyone besides Lilly.

So far it seemed that his race was either erased from history, or they vanished from the world so long ago that there wasn\'t anybody with knowledge about the once-powerful race of Primals. Revealing such information could cause unwanted attention or even dangers that he himself wouldn\'t be able to handle, at least not yet. So the best approach would be to remain cautious just like he was before.

Meanwhile, on the other side, both girls were busy searching their respective sides ever since Aiden went through the brush and they lost sight of him. They wanted to be the ones to find a way through and meet up with the boy first. 

As they were busy looking for possible ways to cut through the vegetation the sounds of someone crossing through from the spot where Aiden vanished hit their ears. Both jumped up at the noise and quickly rushed back to their places. Although they hoped it was the boy that was coming through, they had no way to check, and just had to be cautious, both of them were tightly holding the handles of their weapons, ready to swing at any potential green or brown skins appearing.

With their weapons at the ready, both girls looked with apt attention at the bursting branches as the noise became louder, closer. Not much later, a pair of familiar-looking hands pushed through, followed by a pair of tan-skinned arms. Next, a right leg pushed itself through the thick resistance, and a moment later Aiden stepped out arriving back at the luminescent magical clearing. 

No words were exchanged as the relieved girls immediately jumped on his left and right respectively, hugging him tightly, and welcoming him back with their warm embraces. Not knowing what to do Aiden could only remain standing still, while the girls continued to enjoy their acquired body parts in their own way.

Almost a minute had passed before the strength in their holds began to weaken, and they started to let go of the boy that although only left for a couple of minutes, it seemed to have impacted them more than it should have.

"Uhm, what is the problem with you two?" As they refused to let go completely even after a minute, Aiden couldn\'t help but finally raise the question.

Refusing to let go or answer, Naybeah, the tall, blonde amazon, continued to hug the top of Aiden\'s head, planting his head into her generous bust.

Seeing the display, Sarah could only click her tongue with annoyance as she reluctantly let go and began to answer whilst a slight blush colored her cheeks.

"Aiden, even though for you, you just crossed through some branches, we were unable to follow you. Some strange barrier appeared, preventing us from following you, and trapped us here. We tried to search for another way through but couldn\'t find any… What happened to you? Did you encounter any trouble? Are you okay?" She fired question after question, with clear worry dominating her expression.

"Yeah, even my axe was repelled when I tried to cut my way through. Whoever created such magic, I will cut him or her to pieces for trying to harm you!" Naybeah spoke as she finally let go of Aiden so he could actually respond to them.

"Huh? Barrier? Repelled?" Surprised by their words, Aiden looked back at the branched pathway. Was there something else at play here? He did see the runic symbols activate and block his attempts when he tried to peak through with his skills, but he did not expect that they would somehow block the girls as well… Why did it let him cross through then?