We took a shortcut, crawling through the bushes to hide behind the crew's rubbish pile. Rotting crates, a couple broken barrels, furniture etc. I snuck past Leif and started prying loose boards off the side of a large box. Its lid was broken and very old, just over half remained, but of course, entering from the top wasn't possible.

  Leif looked inquisitively at me. Two boards removed, I checked inside. Some remains of a meal, bones, peelings and a broken cup. I gestured for Layla to get in.

  As soon as she did, she drank a potion handed to her by the pink witch. She didn't have a mana potion but did have a magic effect boosting potion, it made mana go further by making magic used more effective.

  She waited for the potion to kick in, then made a realistic looking spirit of a housecat appear.

  I attached one explosive potion, with a bandage, like a collar. The other, it took in its mouth.

  The final carriage/wagon of slaves was loaded, there was extra energy in the air, as the crew finished up their preparations to leave.

  The potions couldn't be active/primed, there was a risk the force field would block them if on a timer for example. Paige had made the trigger a specific loud meow Layla demonstrated she could do consistently, and through the cat.

  Layla seemed to meditate as she guided the cat to the ship, up a gangplank.

  Fuck, I thought it smelled of piss. A sailor followed by a friend were heading over to the rubbish pile. I loosely placed a plank back over the entry to the box and followed Isabelle and Leif to hide in the bushes.

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  The two men didn't just piss against the front, they walked around and got their dicks out where we'd just been shuffling about.

  The lid of the box that hid Lyla was in a poor state. Don't look at it... the closest to the box looked toward it, scowling.

  Isabelle and I, blades in hand, approached from behind.

  The man closest to Layla, shook up and down, then rubbed his hands as he took a step toward the box to look down into it.

  I pulled his head back and kneed the back of his knee as I started cutting into his throat. I heard gurgles from beside me. Both men were dragged down.

  I heard meowing from the box, but not the trigger meow. I pushed the board aside. Layla was shaking, hand raised toward an invisible foe.

  "No please, get away!, no... MEOWWW!"

  B-BOOM!

  Layla pitched forward and threw up. I got in the box, knelt in her vomit, I didn't care. I held her tight as she sobbed.

  A sailor had got curious, and approached the cat. Luckily at the second mast. She had to detonate seeing the face of a man about to die...

  CRASH! CRACK! CRASH!

  Masts collapsed, we couldn't waste time. I gave Layla a squeeze, pushed her back and gave her a forceful jolt.

  "Time to go, bury this feeling till later, we have to go."

  . . .

  We stayed near the cove, waiting. 20 minutes later we finally heard the wonderful thunder of a hundred riders approaching, even I cried.

  Royal mages made short work of the forcefield. Then the archers decimated any crew outside that didn't surrender. High level knights rode down. A few high level mercenaries and slavers put up a short fight against overwhelming numbers.

  I couldn't rest, I ran to assist healing the stream of girls and women being led from the ship.

  So many small injuries, I put healing mist to use, spraying crowds. At first they were afraid, then the effects kicked in, there were weak smiles and a few tears of joy.

  Any feelings of relief were soon outweighed by thoughts of the darkness that had almost befallen them.