Damien guided the refugee elves toward the nearest tribe for shelter. Walking beside him was Hlif and his dryad familiar, Willow. Following behind him were the dozen or so elves that he recently saved from some Orcs.

After rescuing the elves, Damien and Hlif interrogated the Orcs to see what they knew. Sadly, the hulking monsters had very little knowledge regarding the High Elves' plans or current locations. Essentially, they were simply grunts that followed the commands of a higher-ranking figure.

This explained a lot since when Damien and his companions confronted them, he noticed that all of their levels were below level twenty, making them rather weak to them. All he had to do was wrap some vines around them, and they were easily captured. And getting them to confess was rather simple as well. Of course, they didn't get much information out of it anyway.

As the group steadily made their way to a refugee base for the runaway elves, Hlif whispered to Damien.

"The high elves have been crossing over the border a lot more frequently compared to before."

Damien nodded. "Yeah, and they're becoming bolder and attacking any tribes that were positioned near the borders as well."

Ever since the civil war started in Meir, there was a sort of border established to separate the two sides in the war. There were the High Elves and then those who were against the High Elves, like Damien and the rest of the Mapleash tribe.

In the beginning, the High Elves rarely crossed over the border that led to their opposing enemies. There were a few spies and such that were positioned on enemy lines, but the high elves didn't do anything excessive or bold. This was mainly because they were more preoccupied with managing the territory that they claimed on their side.

However, now they're sending their forces over the line and into the opposing side's territory. This could mean that the High Elves had full control over their current territory, and they were now moving on to the rest of the forest of Meir, bit by bit.

"We'll have to increase the security near the border," Damien muttered.

"Should we stay near the border ourselves?" Hlif suggested. "We'd probably be able to do more compared to sending out our people."

Damien shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Not when there's still a spy somewhere within the Mapleash tribe."

Although the Mapleash tribe was opposing the High Elves, even they were unable to root out all of the golden eye tyrants' influence over the village. Damien and Hlif were certain that there was still a traitor within the tribe, feeding their enemies valuable information. The problem was that they couldn't locate them.

They knew that the spy was somewhere in the Mapleash village, but unlike the other spies/conspirators they caught and imprisoned, the last one somehow slipped through their fingers. The only reason they believed this was because of how a few of their reconnaissance missions ended in failure, despite how they tried to keep it a secret.

Because of this, Damien and Hlif needed to stay in the Mapleash village until they caught the traitor. If they were away for too long, the enemy would use their absence as an opportunity to get one up over them. And that was the last thing either of them needed right now.

Damien then turned to his familiar, Willow. "Any threats up ahead, Willow?"

The dryad shook her head. "None so far, master. Has Skye found anything of note?"

Damien closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. A second later, they opened as he shook his head in response. "Nope. No flying enemies or anything of the sort yet."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He then raised his arm, as if waiting for something to land on it. A split moment later, a large flying bird descended from the sky and burst through the trees above them, making a beeline for the druid lord. Damien simply stood there as the creature then landed on his arm.

The bird was a large hawk that was around half the size of Damien's body. Despite its size and fierce appearance, the creature calmly perched on his arm, as if it were its rightful spot.

Damien smiled before petting the bird. "You did good, Skye." He said while tossing a treat at the bird, to which it immediately caught in the air.

This was his second familiar, which was a Dire Hawk named Skye. Including Willow and Skye, Damien possessed another familiar as well. That meant he possessed three familiars under his command. And all of them possessed different skills and traits that were valuable to their master.

Willow acted as Damien's partner and aide. Both familiar and master were able to control nature at will. In fact, when Damien first summoned the Dryad, she taught him a few tricks and spells since they both possessed an affinity with nature-related magic. She was essentially his teacher, in a sense.

As for Skye, he was Damien's eyes in the, well, sky. The dire hawk aided in surveying the land around them, seeing if there were any threats that were closing in on them. Then there was his last familiar, who was currently staying in the refugee tribe to act as the village's protector until Damien and his companions returned.

It didn't take long before the group finally returned to the refugee village. Just as they approached the gate leading inside the village, a large wolf suddenly bolted through the open gate and barreled toward Damien.

The elves panicked and cowered at the sight of the wolf, but Damien and his companions barely looked fazed by the rapidly approaching four-legged creature in gray fur.

Just as the wolf was mere feet from the group, Damien then spoke up in a stern voice. "Heel, Ace!"

At his command, the wolf suddenly stopped in its tracks, digging its paws into the ground to slow its momentum. Stopping in place, the wolf then sat down in front of Damien as its tongue hung from its mouth, looking ecstatic to see him.

Damien smiled when he saw the wolf. He walked over and rubbed the four-legged creature's head, to which the wolf nestled its head against his hand, similar to Ace.

"Hey, Ace," He said with a cheery tone. "I'm glad to see you, too."

This was Damien's third familiar. A dire wolf named Ace. He obtained all three familiars while he was stuck in the Tutorial Dungeon for thirty days. It was thanks to them and his elven companions that all of them were able to escape the dungeon in the first place. If Damien had tried to survive on his own, there was a very small chance of him actually succeeding.

After petting his dire wolf familiar, Damien then walked further toward the village refuge with his companions and refugees following behind him. Once they entered the settlement, Willow guided the refugee to a place where they could settle while Damien and Hlif roamed the village for a bit after successfully rescuing the elves.

As they roamed the village, Hlif looked at Damien with a worried expression.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

"More or less..." Damien shrugged. "Aside from the fact that I'm trying to stop a civil war while worrying over the well-being of my mom and sister, I'm doing well."

Hlif sighed before getting closer to Damien, letting their shoulders touch. Damien didn't say anything, but his body reflexively tensed from this. Hlif noticed his stiff expression and giggled.

"You know you can always talk to me about this stuff, right? After everything we went through, shouldn't it be a given?"

She wasn't wrong. Hlif was one of the ones that Damien encountered while trying to survive in the Tutorial Dungeon. They've been through a lot together and saved each other's lives multiple times. It was thanks to these life-and-death scenarios that they were able to grow closer to one another.

Damien hesitated to answer...but after looking at his elven partner, he let out a heavy sigh.

"I wish I could go to Portland and see for myself whether my sister and mom are there. If there even..."

"They're alive," Hlif interjected, not letting him finish that morbid conclusion. "You told me yourself that both your sister and mother were tough as nails and didn't go down easy. So, all you have to do is trust them and wait for Tine and Runa to return with answers."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it. Through this simple act of comforting him, Damien managed to relax a bit as his shoulders sagged a bit from slight relief.

"Yeah...you're right. I should focus more on this stupid civil war."

"You just have to be patient, okay?"

Damien nodded. "Yeah. Just got to be patient."

Little did he know, his reunion with his family was imminent.

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