Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) by V.A. Lewis (autobiographies to read .TXT) 📕

The catgirl held onto the Horned Panther’s neck. She grappled with it, maintaining this pseudo-headlock, and clawed its head back whenever it tried to bite her.

After a minute, Rin finally managed to get a proper grip while on its back. The Cat Beastkin grabbed tight as the Horned Panther tried to shake it off, but it was too late. She dug her claws into the Monster’s neck, clasping tightly, then she twisted.

A snap echoed through the camp, and the Horned Panther collapsed. Dead.

The young woman got off the back of the dead Monster, then sprawled herself on the floor.

"Whew. That was tiring." She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead, then turned to face Feri. "Nn, I’m back by the way. Got some food!" Rin pointed at a bag of meat dropped by a tent.

Feri looked at the meat, then back to Rin. He was wide eyed. He knew the young woman was amazing, but this? He was speechless. He did not even know what to say. But someone else did.

"Thank you." The man who was originally attacked limped up to the catgirl. He was still injured, and was being supported by his wife and daughter. Even still, he bowed his head deeply. "Thank you— thank you so much. I owe you my life."

The father started to tear up, and his family cried with him. They kept thanking Rin, as Feri just watched the heartfelt moment happen. And the young man realized something.

He put a hand to his chest, then looked at his palm. He stared at it for a while, before he was snapped back to reality by a gruff voice.

"Hrn, it’s a good thing that you did. But you need to be more careful. If Rin did not show up in time, you and that other man would have died." Shang rested a hand on Feri’s shoulders, and Dawa was right behind the Dog Beastkin.

"When did you guys get back?"

"Eh, we just did. But we heard what happened. It’s a good thing Rin ran back to the camp ahead of us because she was hungry. You know how she is."

The young man nodded. Then he stared back at Rin, as she puffed her chest with pride as more people came and thanked her.

"You guys are so… amazing. You bring food to share, and you save the lives of others. I— how do you guys do it?"

"Well, we believe that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. Only by doing good, can you die great."

"I see." Feri felt the words sink in, and he realized there was something he needed to do. But Shang was not done talking.

"Plus—" the Dog Beastkin heaved a sigh. "Plus, we want to help out as much as we can. Before we leave."

Feri was broken out of his thoughts. His head snapped up, and he met Shang’s gaze, then Dawa’s, and knew they were telling the truth.

"Leave? When—"

"After we leave Besha. Once we pass by Boleria, when we exit Besha, we’ll be going southwest."

The former slave opened his mouth to say something, but Dawa spoke over him.

"I told you, didn’t I? The Rem Republic does not have a Hunters Guild. And this group will be heading straight south to Rem to get out of the Free Lands as soon as possible. We’ll be out of a job there. So we’ll be splitting away, to head to Elios first. Plus it’s the last country we were in. So we’re just returning back to where we started."

Feri looked at the two Beastkin, and saw that there was no changing their minds. He stood in silence for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand."

Shang breathed a sigh of relief, glad that there was no arguing over it. But he froze when he heard what Feri had to say next.

"I’m coming with."

"What?!" both Beastkin said in unison.

"I said I’m coming with. I’ve got nothing else to do, and I’ve been thinking for a while. I want to be a Hunter. Plus, I like you guys."

"But it’s dangerous—"

"You can’t—"

"Sounds good to me!" a third voice spoke over the first two.

Rin was standing behind Feri, and grinning to herself. "Nn, I don’t see a problem with it. All of us started out not knowing how to fight. And Feri can learn."

"But—"

"He stood against a Horned Panther and didn’t back down. Sure, it was injured. And sure, he’d have died if I didn’t save him. But he has what it takes to be a Hunter."

Shang sighed, exasperated. He turned away from Rin, then gazed deeply into the young man’s eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." There was no pause. No uncertainty. The former slave spoke without missing a beat.

"Fine. But don’t do anything reckless, got it?" Shang finally gave in.

Feri felt his lips curl up into a smile, and he felt happy. He was going to be a Hunter! I’m going to—

"Yay! Welcome Feri!"

Rin broke out in a cheer, and the young man blinked. The catgirl threw her arms around Feri, and he felt something… soft.

He looked at Rin, really stared at her. At the young woman. Realized she was hugging him. Then his face turned red.

The next day, the group of over ten thousand slaves passed by Boleria without a problem. They crossed through the border of Besha, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they made it one step closer to freedom.

There were still 600 miles of the Free Lands filled with cities and towns of slavers ahead of them. But leaving Besha was a sign of progress.

It was a reprieve, even if a brief one. And so everyone was happy. Feri looked around at all the smiling faces as they stopped to make camp, but he did not find the