A few days of peaceful travel passed as they stopped by Rysa's territory to drop her off. It did not take them much longer from there for Stonefall to come into sight on the horizon. Kace's eyes went wide as he spotted a familiar sight anchored in the fields just outside of the walls. 'The Freedom! Joshua is here!' Kace's eyes lit up with excitement as another piece of his plan had fallen into place on its own.

It basically meant that as soon as he spoke with Sophia, they would be able to leave soon after. Kace could only hope that she would agree to go along with them. Even if he was sure that she would, there was always going to be that slight bit of doubt nagging at the back of his mind. Until she confirmed it for herself, it was something that he would not be able to let go of.

Kace stood at the forefront of the airship with an expectant look on his face. He hoped to see Sophia as soon as possible, but as soon as he could make out the figures waiting for them, his expression turned grim. All the leaders of the council were gathered together. Along with a small army of monsters. That would be perfectly normal, except these monsters were armed to the teeth.

Kace cast his eyes over the gathering and knew that something was wrong. It was only then that he noticed that Joshua and his crew were waiting on board the Freedom instead of relaxing inside of the monster city. 'Why do I feel like this is not going to be a happy reunion?' Kace groaned as they came close enough for him to make out the expressions of the council members.

He stared at Shagrat in particular, who did not appear happy as he glared at the other leaders. It seemed that some kind of internal strife had taken place in his absence. He was unsure how he felt about that. After all, he wanted to leave anyway precisely for these reasons but at the same time, he did not want to see the others ganging up to bully the goblins. 'He's probably going to ask me to stay with the goblins for a while to show where I stand.'

Kace let out a long sigh as he realised that this may be the start of each race openly trying to recruit him. After all, his expedition had been a great success. But it would still depend on whether or not the council would go for Rysa's deal. Kace squinted as he tried to figure out who was the one who had sparked this event into taking place. But each of them appeared as guilty as each other in his eyes, which did not help his situation.

The only ones that actually appeared glad about his return were the vampires. Who had refrained from joining the main crowd by the dock. Instead, they gathered on the grounds of Sonja's mansion to watch what would happen. Kace could make out a small smile playing on Sonja's lips as she sipped a glass full of red liquid. He narrowed his eyes as he wondered where she had obtained the human blood from, but he guessed it was possible if she took a journey to the front lines herself.

As the hum of the airship faded, and their altitude decreased. Kace turned to face Shadow and the Tu'Thrag who were standing behind him. "All of you, stay close or hide in the shadow realm. We better be prepared for things to turn ugly..."

Shadow nodded his head solemnly before choosing a group led by Lorget to hide in the shadow realm. The rest of them drew their weapons to project an image of strength! If the council wanted to drag Kace away, then they would definitely pay the price in full with their own blood! Kace put on a grim expression as he waited for the deck to draw level with the dock. Until he found out the reason for what they were up to, there was no way that he would take a single step off of the airship.

Kace's eyes met Elderbeard's first. There was a pleasant smile on his face, but his eyes were cold and calculating. Perhaps they had always been like that, and he had just never noticed. But that just made it even more worrying that he could see it clearly right now. Kace waited until he could read the facial expressions of every leader, and he did not like what he saw. Each of them was looking at him as if he were a valuable treasure. One that belonged in an extremely capable vault, with no hope of escaping from their sight.

Kace snorted and raised an eyebrow at the council as the airship came to a halt. However, Gyn had the presence of mind to keep the magical engines running, in case they had to make a quick getaway. Kace was trying to decide who he should address, that simple action alone could change the dynamics of power among the different races. In the end he let out a mischievous grin before speaking.

"Esteemed council members... This is a surprise to say the least... To what do I owe the pleasure?" Kace's tone oozed sarcasm as he glanced from side to side with his arms raised out to either side.

"Hm, Kace. It is good to see you in one piece... How is my granddaughter? Is she well?" Elderbeard spoke slowly, as though he were only just deciding what words to use as he attempted to make it clear that there was a special relationship between Lilly and Kace.

Kace grinned at the easy to recognise hidden meaning in his words. He had spent a lot of time analysing how the ancient treant spoke so that he could understand him better. "She's fine, Lord Elderbeard. You can probably find her in her 'own' cabin around about now."

More than one eyebrow was raised by the way Kace strained the word own. If they were to believe Kace's words, then it seemed like he was trying to make it clear that there was no special relationship. At least, not yet. This was undoubtedly good news for the other races. In fact, many of them revealed brief flashes of relief at this exchange. After all, it meant that Kace was still up for grabs, and all the hot air that Elderbeard had been blowing recently was nothing more than exactly that. Hot air.

"Is that so?" Elderbeard grumbled as he squinted at Kace's tiny figure in comparison to himself. "I assume you found her presence on your expedition to be most satisfying..."

Kace rolled his eyes as he realised that the treant had not given up on creating a misunderstanding. 'How can I get him to shut up? The rest of them look as if they are ready to tear each other apart if my talk with Elderbeard breaks down.'

Kace's mind was not just imagining that. The other races truly were ready to start a brawl right there if they thought it would allow them to claim Kace for their own faction. It was just that they were all of a mind to make sure that Elderbeard did not already have his roots in him. From the way things were going, the council members had already begun to make plans in their heads.

Most of these plans consisted of calling out the leaders who had deliberately tried to manipulate Kace in order to gain his favour. Granted, their plans were pretty thin. But these guys could rarely see past the immediate benefits that such underhanded tactics could gain them. At the same time, they seemed unable to consider the fact that Kace may see completely through them. Therefore, sparking enmity between them instead.

Kace groaned as he looked around at the gathered crowd before choosing his next words carefully. It was important that he left no room for debate.

"Of course..." Kace nodded while flashing his warmest smile. Elderbeard allowed a slight smirk to appear on his face as he thought he had managed to trap the Chimera with his own words. But Kace was not finished speaking yet. "The presence of a good friend is always enjoyable on long trips... Don't you agree?"

Elderbeard's eyes went wide at Kace's choice of words. Many gasps erupted from the gathered crowd as the other leaders looked as though they were now out for the treant's blood. Kace had labelled Lilly as nothing more than a friend in front of all of them! This was nothing short of a declaration that he was not tied to the Treant faction!

Shagrat wore a worried expression. He was glad that Kace had not fallen for the trap but now he had to find some way to make Kace admit in public that he was part of the Goblin faction. Even though it should be undoubted in the first place. Shagrat tried to catch Kace's attention with his eyes, but Kace always managed to overlook him without it appearing awkward.

"Esteemed Council members... I hope that you'll excuse me. It's been a long, tiring journey and I would like to rest a little." Kace made a theatrical display of showing that he was exhausted. "If you don't mind, I'll take my leave for now... If anyone needs me... You can find me onboard the Freedom..."

*Please read the Authors Thoughts*