The Road To Neverand City

-Alexis Lycan, 18 years old-

Alexis looks at the two young girls before him and feels great sorrow. They remind him of his own mother and the countless village girls whose innocence were stolen. They tremble under his gaze. He slowly takes off his cloak and drapes it over the two women on the ground. He tries to soften his expression before he speaks softly to them.

"My name is Duke Alexis Lycan. You're safe now."

The women flinch at his words and shrink back from him ever so slightly. They grip his cloak and cover their bare chests with it while adverting their eyes. A high ranking noble was never a good thing.

Alexis steps away from them and sits on the ground a little distance away. He smiles softly at the scared girls, hoping to reassure them, before speaking softly again.

"What are your names?"

The two girls glance at each other before the older of the pair speaks. Her voice is quiet and wavering, hoarse from crying out.

"Samantha" she whispers. The younger glances at Samantha for confirmation, who gives her a small nod.

"Tilly" The small girl mumbles.

Alexis smiles at them and nods his head a few times.

"Those are beautiful names." He says gently.

He reaches his hand towards the small satchel he has tied onto his sword belt and procures two large pieces of bread. The young girls perk up slightly at the sight of the food. They are clearly starving, their captives had likely fed them very little, opting instead to use them as playthings. He sets the bread on the ground before them and steps back. They snatch the bread up and devour it almost instantly.

He could give them more, but he decides to hold off on it, he doesn't want to make them sick. In truth, there is nothing inside of his satchel. He had stored the food inside of the satchel's shadow. He could place an item inside of a shadow and it would be able to be withdrawn from any other shadow. Unfortunately, time did not stop in the space, so he only keeps simple food such as bread and jerky there.

Alexis waits until they are done eating before speaking again. They look quite embarrassed after they wolfed down the food.

"How old are you two?" Alexis asks simply.

The eldest watches him warily before answering. She is still very much on guard. But that doesn't bother him in the slightest.

"15" the eldest, Samantha, says softly. She then nudges Tilly, the younger of the two.

"I just turned 12" She squeaks.

Alexis' face goes expressionless at their answers. Rage fills his heart and black blood pumps rapidly through his veins. He is absolutely furious. 'I should have killed those vile animals slowly, tearing them limb from limb!' he thinks. Such vermin didn't deserve a quick death after what they did to such young girls.

As his murderous thoughts churn, the girls stiffen and shrink back from Alexis one again. They are scared of the murderous look in his eyes.

Alexis belatedly notices the girls are trembling. He swears at himself and calms his raging heart.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you." Alexis says quietly, bowing softly at the girls. "I was just angry at the men who hurt you."

The girls are shocked at his behavior. Nobles never bowed their heads to peasants such as themselves. Much less get so angry on their behalf.

"It-It's okay Duke Lucan!" Samantha says loudly, clearly flustered at his actions. "Please raise your head!"

Alexis slowly raises his head and smiles slightly at them.

"You can just call me Alexis." He says playfully. "Everyone only calls me Duke. I so rarely hear my own name nowadays."

Samantha jolts at his words.

"Bu-But I couldn't do that!" She says quickly waving her hands frantically.

Tilly tilts her head to the side, confused. She doesn't really understand the reason Samantha is so flustered.

Alexis quickly turns his head away from Samantha, adverting his eyes.

"Samantha, please quit waving your arms, it moves the cloak." Alexis says gently, hinting at something.

Samantha freezes, wondering what he is talking about. She then looks down slowly and sees her bare chest, visible as she was throwing her arms about. Her face reddens as she covers herself again quickly.

Alexis looks back at her with an eyebrow raised.

"So, you can call me Alexis, yes?" He says, clearly amused.

She gets even more red in the face.

"Yes." Samantha mumbles.

-

Alexis walks in front of his horse, leading the gentle steed by the reins. Perched on top of the horse are Samantha and Tilly. They are wrapped in a blanket procured from Alexis' shadow. He decided to take them back to his domain, as they had no home left. The bandits had raided their hometown and slaughtered the men. They had then kidnapped the women to rape whenever they pleased. Samantha and Tilly are unfortunately the last ones left.

They are wary of every noise and sight of the surrounding woods. An understandable reaction given the circumstances. They are currently using Alexis as their cornerstone, a tether, to keep themselves from succumbing to trauma and despair. They reluctantly believe in the young Duke.

Alexis has no problem walking. The contract with Arabella had granted him superb stamina and fitness. He is in peak human condition.

The City of Neverand wasn't too far away from Starfall village, so their destination should be coming into view very soon.

-

A few hours later, the trio arrived before the gates of Neverand. They are sturdily made, fashioned from oak and fitted with iron supports. The walls are also equally impressive. Two well armed guards are standing with spears at the ready, screening travelers as they enter.

Alexis joins the short line of people waiting to enter the city. Curious glances shoot their way from the people around them, but no one said anything. Alexis' blood stained cloak keeps them at bay.

When they are next in line, Alexis steps forward to meet the guards.

"Whoa there." One of the guards says, eyeing the blood covering him. "What happened?" He asks waryly as he grips his spear tightly.

"Met some bandits on the road." Alexis answers smoothly. "Left them a few hours back." he points the way he came.

The two guards steal a glance at each other before turning back to Alexis.

"I see. And do you have some identification or papers?" The second guard asks.

Alexis smiles before peeling back his cloak, and revealing the pin fastened to his shirt. The unmistakable sight of two wolves between a sword, and a crown above their heads is gleaming. The symbol is only worn by the leader of house Lycan.

The two men instantly recognize the symbol as almost everyone knows the banner of the Lycan family.

"Duke Lycan!" The first guard jumps to attention. "We apologize for not recognizing you!"

The second guard quickly steps aside. "Please enter!" he says somewhat quickly. "And welcome to Neverand City!"