Approaching the second to last pen, she peered inside at what appeared to be a perfectly normal looking man, if it weren't for the fact that he had been very carefully bound at multiple points.
He was looking back at her, calm and relaxed. His arms were stretched out at his sides, his legs bound together and to the chair he was sitting on. He had a set of horns that arched up and around in a large 'm' pattern and long, waist length black hair. Deep grey skin and an incredibly toned, muscular body.
"Who are you?" she asked warily, immediately suspicious of the sheer amount of binding it took to contain him.
He looked to be in his forties, white eyed and clean shaven. Perfectly normal, but she knew better.
"Typhon," he said simply and she drew back, her heart beginning to race. How had Alaric managed to capture him?
"How were you captured?" she whispered, not at all understanding.
"A trap was set using my wife, I believed she was in danger and they captured me. I was sold to this King to be used as a defence."
Nodding slowly, she considered him. He looked like a normal man aside from the horns, but that may be the work of the chains.
"You are one of mine," he said after the pause dragged on.
"Yours?" she asked sharply, looking up at him.
"A monster," he said simply. "All monsters are mine, you are one."
"What does that mean?" she asked warily.
"Nothing really, only that I will cause you no harm if you release me."
Letting out a slow breath, she decided she should risk it. Having Typhon in the control of Alaric would be devastating.
"You're a Fae," he said as she collected the blanket and slid the bolt free. "Fae are not mine."
"I'm a half breed," she explained as she approached, watchful of him but when he made no move against her, she set to work releasing him from the chains.
"You smell like a great many things. Vampire, death, Fae, but also others. You smell like the Fallen, of Bean sidhe, of witch," he was sniffing at her and she edged away from him, frowning.
"If you keep doing that, I'll leave you here," she quipped.
"No, you won't. You don't want that King to hold me," he was smirking at her, knowing her mind it seemed.
Hissing at him, she managed to get one arm free and froze as he took her wrist, his fingers tracing over her skin before he smiled and let her go, allowing her to finish her work.
"You're young for a hero," he said as she knelt before him, working on releasing his legs.
"I'm not a hero, I just don't like seeing my own kind enslaved," she muttered, watching as the skin on his legs darkened with each removal of chains.
"That sounds like a hero to me," he teased, patting her head when she glared up at him.
Tugging the last chain off his foot harder than was necessary, the man grinned, and the room exploded.
***
Falling back on her rear, she stared up as serpentine coils began to move around her. He had changed, his legs becoming that of a long, black and grey tail. Out of his back sprouted white feathered wings.
He looked terrifying, but at the same time he was radiantly beautiful.
Lowering himself onto his hands before her, his long hair trailed on the ground and he inched closer.
"You have my thanks, little hero Fae," he breathed, jerking forward to kiss her cheek before he seemed to simply vanish, the incredible length of him whipping out the open doors.
The last pen appeared to be empty at first, confusing her but when she turned to look around for more prisoners, something behind her moved and she squeaked as someone seemed to step sideways out of reality.
"Hello," he said conversationally, grinning with razor sharp teeth.
His skin was deep black, along with his eyes and hair, naked though he seemed to have no male anatomy. The only part of him that wasn't black was his unusually large number of very white teeth.
"You're a shadow walker…" she whispered, staring at him.
"I am, and you're a Fae," he said almost playfully.
Shadow walkers were exactly that, beings who could walk between shadows and were able to manipulate them. If he pinned your shadow down, it stopped you from being able to walk. It made them dangerous and useful in many ways.
"How are you contained?" she asked warily.
He pointed towards the back of the room and she looked to see a simple jar wrapped in golden chain. Inside there was nothing but a small pool of what looked like black liquid.
"Free me and I will cause no harm," he murmured from close behind her. "I swear it."
Looking around at him, she wasn't sure if his kind could lie, but she was going to risk it because he deserved to be free.
Carefully releasing the golden chains, she undid the lid of the jar and turned to him, tipping the jar out onto his hand.
His form rippled and he sucked in a breath, growing in mass before settling down again and looking up at her.
"Thank you. I will remember this day, the Fae who freed us all," he murmured, reaching out to touch her cheek before he melted down into the ground before her eyes.
Stepping out into the open space, she looked around slowly and jumped as a pillar of fire appeared at her side, the dragon looking rather confused and ruffled.
"Did you know Winter doesn't much fancy unaligned dragons?" he asked, looking down as he flicked icicles from his skin.
"Thank you," she said, turning to him.
"You got them all?"
"Yes, they are all freed now. What is your name?"
"Mune," he said simply, smiling down at her. "I will be leaving now; my mother will be worried."
Smiling, she reached out and took his hand, pressing a gentle kiss against his fingers.
"Thank you Mune."
"You're welcome Etani, I hope we can meet again in the future," he said, watching her face before he bent down and kissed her cheek, smiling at her before he stepped back and was gone in a pillar of fire.
Left alone in the stable, she stared around and as she let out a slow sigh of relief. She felt her soul beginning to heal just a little bit. It wasn't enough to repair what had been done to her, but it was something to start the mending process and saving the lives of all those people certainly started to make her feel a little better about herself.
Picking up the hat, she placed it atop her head and left the stables, knowing Alaric would be furious, but knowing she had done the right thing.