Chapter 17

  A soldier resolved

  Luna studies mr for a long moment, the dim light catching in her eyes. The dog girl shifts slightly under her arm, but Luna keeps her close, protective in a way that’s almost instinctive.

  Finally, she speaks. Her tone isn’t angry, but it’s edged with something sharp—testing you.

  "You broke my rule," she says simply. "And you risked everything. For her."Her gaze flicks down to the girl, then back to you. "Tell me… was it worth it?"

  The dog girl’s breathing is quiet now, though her grip on Luna’s sleeve hasn’t loosened. The air between us feels tight, like one wrong word might close the door Ive been trying to open with Luna since the moment we met.

  "Damn right it was," you say, your voice firm, no hesitation.

  I step closer, meeting Luna’s gaze head-on. "Monsters like the ones I saw tonight deserve nothing more than death. I’ve seen their kind before—not here, but back where I’m from.

  People who think power means they can take whatever they want, break whoever they want."

  I glance toward the dog girl, my voice softening just enough. "She wouldn’t have survived him. Maybe not the night. And if I’d just stood there and done nothing…" I shake my head, jaw tight. "Then I’d be no better than they are."

  Luna’s ears twitch, her expression unreadable for a beat. Then she looks down at the girl in her arms and back to me, eyes narrowing just slightly—not in anger, but in calculation.

  "You talk like someone who’s fought before," she murmurs. "And not just with words."

  The dog girl’s grip on her sleeve eases, just a fraction.

  "I was a soldier in my past," you begin, the words heavier than you expect.Luna’s ears tilt toward you, curiosity flickering in her gaze.

  "I fought an evil dictator named Adolf Hitler," I continue. "A man who thought he was above everyone else… who believed some lives were worth more than others.

  He started a war that set the whole world on fire. And in that war, millions died—men, women, children—because of his hatred."

  I glance away for a moment, memories pressing hard against my mind—smoke-filled skies, the screams, the smell of iron and burning flesh. "I saw things no one should ever have to see. Did things I wish I could forget. But every time I came across someone like him… someone who thought cruelty was their right… I didn’t hesitate."

  My eyes find Luna’s again, steady and unflinching. "So when I saw that man tonight, with her…" I nod toward the dog girl, "I saw the nazi’s shadow. And I did what needed to be done."

  Luna studies me for a long moment, the night air thick between us. The dog girl looks up at me now, still wary, but something softer flickers in her eyes.

  I hold her gaze, letting the silence stretch. The only sound is the faint rustle of fabric as Luna leans down, whispering something I can’t quite catch into the dog girl’s ear. The girl nods, clutching Luna’s arm tighter, but doesn’t look away from me.

  Then Luna straightens and closes the distance between us in three quiet steps. She stops just close enough that the dim light sharpens the gold in her eyes.

  "Tell me everything," she says, her voice low but firm. "Who you really are. What you’re doing here. Where you’re from." She pauses, her tail flicking once behind her. "Then—and only then—will you have started to gain my trust."

  Her tone isn’t hostile, but it leaves no room for half-truths. I can feel she’s weighing every breath I take, every twitch of my expression.

  The dog girl stays tucked in the shadows behind her, peering out from Luna’s side, her ears twitching as if she’s listening for my answer.

  I take a slow breath, feeling the weight of the moment pressing down. If I'm going to gamble on her trust, I have to go all in.

  "Alright… everything."

  I start with the splintered memories—how i awoke in darkness, floating in a void with no sense of breath or body. How a voice called itself the Creator, telling me my death was a mistake, an accident in the cosmic order.

  "I died on a world called Earth," you say, your voice steady but low. "One moment I was alive, the next I was gone. My memories were… broken, scattered. Some came back slowly, pieces of my past—my home, my work, my family."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  I tell her about Earth’s technology—how it’s nothing like Evermore. Machines that fly faster than the wind, lights without flame, weapons that can kill from miles away. How my people conquered distance with wires and waves, and how it made my world both wondrous… and dangerous.

  I don’t shy away from your death—how I fought in wars, how my skills came from battlefields littered with the dead. How the Creator offered me a choice: remain gone, or begin again in this place. And how I arrived here in Evermore with nothing but the clothes I wore, my watch, and a pocket knife from my old life.

  "I did choose this world," I finish quietly. "I’m here now. And I can’t just… stand by when I see the kind of evil I thought I left behind."

  Luna listens in complete silence, not even blinking through most of it. When I stop speaking, the pause stretches long enough for doubt to creep in.

  Finally, she exhales slowly through her nose. "You speak truth… or at least, you believe it’s truth." She glances down at the dog girl, then back at you. "I don’t trust humans. I’ve seen too much. But…" her eyes narrow, searching mine, "…you’re really not like the rest."

  Luna’s gaze drifts away from me, scanning the darkness as if making sure no one has followed. Only when she’s certain I'm alone does she ease her grip on the dog girl and step a little closer."The auctions aren’t just Springvale," she says quietly, her voice carrying a cold, steady weight.

  "They happen in every major city, some out in the open, some behind locked doors. Nobles, merchants, even guards profit from it. They call it trade. I call it what it is—slavery, sanctioned by coin and crown."Her tail flicks sharply, the only sign of anger breaking through her calm exterior.

  "Most of the victims are demi-humans. Some are taken in raids, others sold by desperate families, a few… born into it." She glances back at the dog girl. "And the youngest… fetch the highest prices."

  Luna shifts her stance, eyes finding mine again. "I’ve been trying to track the routes, the buyers, the ones high enough to shut it all down. But I don’t have enough reach alone. Every time I get close, someone disappears… or ends up dead."

  She lets the words hang, studying my reaction, as if silently asking whether I truly understand the depth of what she’s telling me.

  "I’ll help you," I say without hesitation. "I only just arrived here a few days ago, so I don’t know how much use I’ll be… but I can offer what I have. My skills, my hands, my time—whatever it takes."

  The words are barely out before another memory slams into me, so vivid it steals my breath.

  Broken houses.

  Shouting men.

  The deafening crack of weapons fire.The smell of smoke and blood so thick it clings to your skin.

  People are running—men, women, children—pouring through the wreckage toward a makeshift perimeter of sandbags and razor wire. Somewhere behind me, an explosion rattles the earth, showering the street with dust.

  A voice cuts through the chaos—hoarse, commanding: "Fall back to Alpha Base! Move! Move!"

  The memory fades, leaving only the ghost of adrenaline pounding in my chest. I blink, realizing my hand has drifted toward the hilt of my short sword, gripping it tightly.

  When my eyes refocus, Luna is watching me closely, as if she saw the shift in my expression.

  You exhale slowly, loosening your grip on the sword hilt before speaking.

  "That wasn’t just some random thought," I tell her, my voice quieter now. "I remembered something. Back in my world… I was in a war zone. We were protecting civilians, trying to get them to safety while everything around us burned."

  I glance past her for a moment, almost seeing the ruined street again. "The enemy hit us hard. People were running toward our defensive line, but the order came to fall back—to pull out and leave them. I remember the shouting, the gunfire… the look on the faces of those we couldn’t save."My eyes lock back on hers, steady. "I think that’s why this hits me so damn hard. I’ve already lived through one hell where the innocent were left behind. I can’t watch it happen again. Not here."

  Luna’s ears tilt back slightly—not in distrust, but in something closer to thought. She studies me for a long heartbeat before nodding once, slow and deliberate. "Then maybe," she says, "you’re exactly the kind of human I’ve been waiting for."

  The dog girl shifts closer to her, glancing between the two of us as if trying to understand the weight of what’s being said.

  "I… I think we need to make a place outside the city," I say, my voice firming as the idea takes shape even as I speak it. "Somewhere the rescued demi-humans can go. Somewhere safe. Otherwise, we’re just… putting them back into the same world that put them in chains in the first place."

  Luna’s eyes narrow slightly—not in disapproval, but as if she’s weighing the thought carefully. Her tail gives a slow, thoughtful swish.

  "You’d need food, shelter, water… protection," she murmurs, almost to herself. "And it would have to be hidden. If the wrong people found out, they’d tear it down and drag everyone back to the auction block."

  Her gaze lifts to meet mine again, sharp and searching. "It’s not a bad idea, Lux. But it’s one thing to speak it. Another to build it."

  The dog girl’s ears twitch, and for the first time, there’s a flicker of hope in her eyes. She doesn’t speak, but she leans just slightly toward me, like she wants to believe it’s possible.

  Luna straightens. "If you mean this, really mean it, then the first step isn’t the shelter. It’s resources. Allies. A way to strike without drawing every blade in Springvale to our throats."

  The dog girl says in a tiny voice. "Mommy with animal skins and daddy worked with rocks.

  I glance down at the dog girl, her small voice cutting through the heavy air. She’s still pressed close to Luna, eyes darting between us both as if afraid she’s said something wrong.

  "Animal skins… and rocks?" I repeat gently, crouching a little so I'm closer to her height.

  She nods, a tiny, cautious motion. "Mommy made clothes. Daddy… made things with rocks. Walls, floors… sometimes fire pits."

  Luna’s ears twitch, and I can see the thought forming in her mind at the same time it forms in mine. "Leatherworking and masonry," she says quietly. "Two trades that would be invaluable if we’re to build something hidden… and keep it standing."

  I nod slowly, the idea taking root. "If we could find them—if they’re still alive—" I glance to Luna, "they could help make the refuge more than just a dream."

  The dog girl’s ears droop, but there’s a flicker of hope in her eyes. "You… you’d look for them?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Lux’s voice softens as he meets her gaze. “I promise you,” he says, steady and certain. “I’ll try to find them. Both of them.”

  The dog girl’s ears twitch, and her eyes well just slightly, but she nods, holding onto Luna’s sleeve like it’s the only thing keeping her upright.

  "Can you tell me what happened?" I ask gently. "How you… ended up there?"Her words come in broken common, halting and uncertain.

  "Mommy… there, with Daddy. Gone day before… something ’bout road work… north wall." She stumbles over the phrasing, her young voice carrying the weight of what she can’t quite say.

  Luna’s jaw tightens, her tail going still. "The north wall is where most of the work gangs are sent," she murmurs. "Dangerous jobs—mining stone, hauling timber. Slaves, ‘criminals,’ debtors… and those the nobles want to disappear."

  I glance between them, my mind already turning over the possibilities—and the risks. If her parents are alive, they could still be at the work site… or already moved deeper into the system.